Smartphone buyer wins case against Sony India

A district consumer forum here has directed Sony India and its local service center in Delhi to pay a customer the price of a high-end cellphone which got damaged by rain water despite the company's advertisement claiming it to be water proof.

The district forum asked the company and the service centre to pay Rs 35,000, the cost of the mobile, and Rs 1,000 as compensation to west Delhi resident Dhanraj for refusing to repair his mobile saying warranty had become void under the terms and conditions of purchase. The complainant has been able to show that the opposite parties have adopted unfair trade practice. Therefore, there is negligence and deficiency in service on their part.

They are jointly and severally liable for the deficiency in service and negligence, the forum said.

Dhanraj submitted that advertisement given by the mobile making company showed that the handset in question was water proof. The advertisement also claimed that pictures could be taken while swimming for 30 minutes and the owner could dive up to 1.5 metres provided all ports and covers of the phone are firmly closed, he claimed.

According to the complaint, on January 18, 2015, Dhanraj purchased a Sony mobile phone from a store for Rs 35,000. On August 9, 2015, handset developed fault due to rain water despite its port caps being closed.

When he approached the service centre, he was told that the warranty had become void due to water ingress and would be repaired on chargeable basis, the complaint said.

Sony and the service centre also asserted that warranty of the handset had become void as per terms and conditions of the warranty and blamed the customer for handling the handset in a negligent manner.