Warranty through IMEI no Invoice necessary?

[Dario51]

Hello,

got a special case and wanted to ask if someone can share their experience or knowledge.

Bought a second hand Z5 Compact through Ebay from a Privat person who said that there was a strange white sport in the middle of the phone (only noticeable when on light background) which never really bothered him, now I got the phone and noticed that too but I also found out that while checking the IMEI if the phone is legit, which it is, I found out that it is still under warranty until the middle of June, on the Website when registering the IMEI and on the phone itself it says that its still under warranty, unfortunately the seller had no invoice left and I only have the Paypal transaction invoice on which he also stated the IMEI Number, my question is now whether I can get this white spot problem fixed through the sony warranty without an original invoice or not? And if not, why does the IMEI then say that it is still under warranty until the middle of June? Does Sony know somehow when the phone was purchased originally or is the IMEI warranty date based on manufacturing date? I love that phone, but that white spot annoys me. I really hope Sony would be forthcoming in my special case, after all I can proof that I bought it second hand from Ebay and it is also not blacklisted.

[NunoSEN2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dario5;

The warranty date you see on the Support page and the Support app is based on the first time the phone was started and connected online and having in account the warranty time for the country he was produced for. Every country has specific warranty conditions that you can know better selecting the warranty date in the Support app, but most certainly as specified in point 1 of the warranty conditions you will need the original proof of purchase with date and serial number.

Let me also tell you that the warranty is normally only valid in the country where the phone was originally sold, but for better information you should contact your local Sony Support Team. 

[Dario51]

Thank you for the information, so in my case the phone originates from Germany and I did already contacted the Support Team who told me to proceed with the warranty claim but couldn't tell me whether the paypal solution will be valid or not, they simply said to send it in as they escalated the case to a superior department......the thing is that I have to pay 13€ for the courier and not knowing whether it will pass through warranty or not.

Can anyone please help, suggest on what to do? Should I proceed or are my chances = 0???

[Dario51]

Ok, after writing forth and back with Sony Support, it does seem that without an original invoice there is absolutely no chance to get the phone repaired......somehow pretty useless for displaying the warranty when inserting the IMEI if the phone in the end is covered only by invoice.

[Jonas]

Hi @Dario5, sorry to hear about this.

I understand your frustration and I can see that you have already been in contact with the person that sold you the device but this person does not have the invoice any longer for the device. Have you checked if the seller at least knows which store the device was bought from? Then the seller should be able to contact the retailer and see if they can send him a new receipt which the seller then can forward to you.

I also had a look at the warranty terms for Germany (the second part of the document that is written in English as I don't speak German) and if found this information:

Conditions 1. This Limited Warranty is valid only if the original proof of purchase for this Product issued by a Sony authorised dealer specifying the date of purchase and serial number**, is presented with the Product to be repaired or replaced. Sony reserves the right to refuse warranty service if this information has been removed or changed after the original purchase of the Product from the dealer. (** In some countries/regions additional information (such as a valid warranty card) may be requested).

If you have any further questions regarding your warranty, consumer laws and local service routines, please stay in touch with your Local support team as they will be able to provide you with much more detailed information than we can here at our Global user based forum.

[Dario51]

Hi jonas,

thanks for your support, basically it turns out that the original owner won this phone is some competition and hence no invoice was issued with it.....an endless story, as dissapointing it sounds to me.

**bleep** happens 😉

[Jonas]

Hi again @Dario5!

Oh I see, then it might be hard to get a hold of a receipt / invoice.

I guess the previous owner can ask them company that held the competition if they can get a receipt for the purchase of the product, since at some point, someone had to pay money for it and then there should be a receipt / invoice that transaction. This all depends on how helpful the seller of course and is kinda out of your hands, which is very unfortunate.

Did you explain the entire situation to your Local support team? I know you were in contact with them and asked about the PayPal invoice, but I'm not sure if you have told them about the whole competition aspect.

I really do wish there was something else I can do, but since all service cases are handled on a local level, my hands are kinda tied up.

[Dario51]

Hi Jonas,

eventually someone from the local team called me a couple of days later when I decided to cancel the whole thing as it was not clear to me whether the warranty in the end would apply or not.

As much as I loved the Z5 Compact, I've sold this phone further.....and actually bought myself another one on Amazon (weird story that one too) which actually came in its original box / sealed but with an weird invoice heading an US Company with the price in EURO for what I paid on Amazon.....no Idea how that will turn out in case I would require some repair regarding warranty, but fingers crossed it won't come to that.

I mean I love your phones that much that I went to buy another one but your customer service in all honesty is far from great....very confusing at times, especially in Italy when someone from Sony says something and the phone repair company (to where you have to ship the phone) tells you an entirely different story, maybe that was just in my case now, but it was a dissapointing one.

[Jonas]

Hi again @Dario5 and I'm sorry for the late reply, I have been out of office due to vacation.

I'm glad to hear that you went for another Xperia Z5 Compact instead and as you said, hopefully everything will work out for you with this one.

One important thing when buying devices online is to make sure that the model is launched in your market and that it's meant for the, in your case the Italian market.

I'm very sorry to hear about the experience you have had with the Local support team, they should be very well informed about service and warranty and as far as I know, the authorized repair centers have guide lines from Sony that they will have to follow, so you should not receive different information from them.