On the 20 February 2012 I booked in my Blackberry 9780 for repairs which is under warrenty as the unit is only about four months old at the vodacom repair center at the Gateway shopping mall in Umhlaga,Durban.The fault was when browsing the internet the handset would switch off intermittently.The consultant asked if I would require a backup of all the information on the phone so I said yes.
An hour later I recieved a sms saying that the phone is ready for collection,I collected the same day and was told the phone required a software update which was done.The same afternoon whilst browsing the internet on the phone it swicthed off so I called the repair center and informed them and they requested that i bring the handset back.
On the morning of the 24 February 2012 I booked in the phone for the same fault and this time the consultant informed me that the phone would be sent to Johannesburg Vodacom repair center.
On Monday the 27 Febraury I recieved a call from voadcom infroming me now the handset is liquid damaged and had to pay an amount of R2600.00 for the repair which pissed me of right that minute cos the phone was working when it was booked in,the consultant did a backup,now all of a sudden the phone is liquid damaged and the warranty doesnt cover that and I must pay R2600.00 for a repair when the cost of the phone is R3499.00.
I rejected the qoute,reported the matter to Tim from RIM South Africa,posted on Hellopeter but nothing.no help what so ever,all I got was email this person or email that department.This is sick
I called vodacom repair center in durban where i booked the phone in and asked to speak to the manager Rishi,I complained to him about the situation but all I got was an emailed attachment showing two pics of a liquid damaged handset which was apparently mine but looking at those pics does not justify it is mine,it could be a pic that vodacom uses all the time to scam people into paying for something thats under warranty.
With being from pillar to post I requested that they send back my handset in the same condition that it was booked in.
Yesterday the 7th March 2012 I recieved the sms from vodacom stating I can collect my handset so around 6.30pm I got the colllections department to collect the phone .I asked the lady at the collections desk to swicth on that handset for me to verify the handset was still in the same working order as when I booked it in,To my amazement the phone switched on but with a blank screen,upon further investigation of the handset I found the a piece that cover the screws of the hanset missing and my screen protector removed,now totaly pissed off i asked to see the manager Rishi and was informed that he had left for the day.
I refused to take the hanset and informed the consultant that i would return the next morning to see the manager.
8 March 2012 9.20 am I returned to the store and requested to speak the manager Rishi.I complained to him about the service and about my handset vodacom is returning to me.He just started giving me a story of the warranty does not cover liquid damage which i myself am well aware of as I am a business owner.I asked Rishi to test the handset in my presents so he could see for himself what the problem was.
He swicthed on the handset and again white screen so I told him that I dont believe that the handset is mine so he remove the battery to verify the I.M.E.I number on that back sticker which corresponded to the job card and altough it did I was not impressed and still did not believe the mother board was mine.I ask him to verify the I.M.E.I number from the phone itself and was told in order to get it to work he needs to do a software upgrade in order to get the phone to display,I told him I will wait so long as I can seen my I.M.E.I number being displayed on the screen so I can believe that it was realy may handset,a minute later he comes back to me and says he rather send the handset back to Johannesburg,SOMETHING FISHY!!!!!!!!!!
I QUESTIONED HIM THE FOLLOWING:
1. WHEN THE PHONE WAS BOOKED IN FOR REPAIRS WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED THAT THE HANDSET WAS LIQUID DAMAGED BUT WAS RATHER TOLD IT WOULD BE DONE UNDER WARRANTY.
2.THE LIQUID INDICATOR THAT CHANGE ITS COLOUR FROM WHITE TO PINK WHEN A PHONE HAS BEEN LIQUID DAMAGED WAS STILL IN ITS ORIGNAL STATE WHEN CHECKED BY THE CONSULTANT AT THE TIME OF BOOKING.
3.IF THE PHONE WAS LIQUID DAMAGED AND IN THE SAME STATE AS IT WAS BEING RETURND HOW THE HELL DID THE CONSULTANT DO A BACKUP OF MY HANDSET.
4.HOW THE HELL DID A SOFTWARE UPDATE BEING CARRIED OUT AND THERE AFTER TESTED .
THERE WERE NO ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTION AND WAS ONLY INFORMED THAT I WAIT ANOTHER WEEK NOW.
I HONESTLY BELIEVE THIS IS THEFT UNDER FALSE PRETENSE AND AM SORRY TO SAY TO YOU VODACOM THAT I NOW HAVE TO OPEN A CIVIL CASE AND A THEFT CAHRGE AGAINST YOU.
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Was the problem resolved? I had the same experience with vodacom
i just want to learn how repair any blackberry phone hooe who ever it may be can helo me in my quiss for knowleage and i will most greatfull
I am having a similar experience with Vodacom/Blackberry. They issued me a refurbished phone that they passed on as a new one when the trackball on my phone was faulty. The refurbished phone had a battery life of 4 hours so i took it back only to be told that the phone is water damaged. Only then i discovered that they issue refurbished phones on repair. I am still fighting this with them but keep on getting generic cut and paste responses. Do you know to whom i can escalate the matter?