Guaranteed Off

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday December 11, 2006

David Flynn

David Flynn follows up on globetrotting phones that leave their warranty at home.

Last month we detailed the case of David Feetham who bought a Motorola KRZR in Hong Kong but less than a week after he returned to Sydney the screen stopped working. Feetham was was dismayed to learn that the warranty didn't extend to Australia or indeed anywhere beyond Hong Kong.

Bemused at why a seemingly international product from a global company came with a warranty that was valid only in one country, we took his case to Motorola, which generously agreed to replace the phone with a made-for-Australia KRZR.

Delving further, we discovered that none of the big three mobile phone companies (Motorola, Nokia and Sony-Ericsson) has an international warranty. You're only covered in the country in which the phone was purchased.

Is there really that much of a difference between an Australian phone and an import? Yes, says Louise Ingram, communications manager for Nokia Australia. Manufacturers produce hundreds of variations on each base model, with each version tailored to specific countries and mobile phone carriers in the shape of different buttons, functions and features.

Other electronic items such as cameras work the same everywhere, she says, but "every mobile phone network in every country is slightly different and has different demands and set-up requirements for the handsets which are sold for use in that country ".

This gets close to splitting hairs when a model is available in both countries, such as Feetham's KRZR, and when the fault is a key component such as a screen. Obviously the phone companies have to draw the line somewhere - we just disagree with it being drawn around the borders of the country in which the phone was bought.

"The fundamental technology [in each model] is the same, so a problem there can be easier to repair, but there's no way that a repair shop overseas can know every variation on every handset sold around the world," explains Peter Joblin, PR manager for Motorola Australia.

Another case to cross our desk involved a Sony DVD home-theatre system, which seems to have spent more time sitting on the repair bench than in the lounge of reader Fergal Barry.

By any standards, Barry got stuck with a lemon that seems to suffer one flaw after another. At first the load mechanism was faulty and the discs got stuck inside.

After an authorised service centre charged $192 for repairing the "mechanical alignment" and replacing a resistor, the drive started to freeze when it went into "standby" mode and refused to give back the disc inside. Back it went for another repair, after which the drive stopped swallowing but it also appeared to stop doing much of anything else.

At what point do you just give up trying to fix a faulty unit and start afresh? And at what point should a repairer take responsibility for a product that's suffering from several seemingly related woes?

Troubleshooter reckons three times is enough, so we took Barry's case to Sony Australia. Derek Horner, from customer service, said he was "disappointed to hear about the reader's experience with their DVD player and the difficulty encountered with the authorised service centre". He agreed that Barry "did not receive the best possible service in this case".

Sony is replacing Barry's system with a new model, although it did not offer to refund the repair costs or even deliver and install the new system, instead instructing Barry to courier or deliver his old system to the company before picking up the replacement.

We're surprised that Sony didn't go the extra mile in looking after Barry, especially considering that Horner assured us that, "We are very committed to ensuring customer satisfaction during and after purchase."

If you're having problems with technology and can't get any satisfaction from a supplier, let Troubleshooter know and we'll ask the hard questions on your behalf. Email troubleshooter@smh.com.au or go to www.smh.com.au/troubleshooter.