Warranty issue in Germany for a ZR bought online

[Sergiogio]

Hello!

I live in Germany but here the ZR is not sold.

So I bought it three days ago on an online shop apparently based in UK which sell it for a good price:

Mydigitaland

In the link you can find the info about their "Manufacture Warranty". 12 months, they say, in all Europe.

Now I receive bad news:

1) Sony told me that the Warranty is valid in EU only for products purchased in EU, and that the product can be fixed in a Country only if available for purchase in that Country.

2) the onlineshop is in UK, the company is in Honk Kong

So, the ZR is not sold in Germany. First problem. But it is anyway sold in Netherlands, so I could send it there.

But WHERE did I buy the phone???

In UK?

Or in Hong Kong?

What will Sony decide?

[Uliwooly]

It seems that the warranty is through them not Sony 

http://www.mydigitaland.com/c5503green.html

12 Months Local Warranty (for European Union & UK)

When you make your purchase on DIGITALAND, you purchase is covered by 12 Months Local Warranty Service.
This give you a hassle-free shopping experience and protection to your valuable product.
Not only confidence in our product, but providing an assurance and trust to our customer, is what we aimed to delivery.

12 Months Warranty Service Details:
This Warranty aim to provide a competialbe service, with same terms & condition as provided by manufacture standard.
And give you same advantage like you purchase from a local retailer, with protection provided by local manufacture maintenance scheme. 
Likewise, if your product experience an manufacturer default or fault, you can send the camera to local manufacture repair center.

Parts & labour costs, will be responsible by DIGITALAND Simply hand over to any local manufacture repair center to claim the warranty You don't need to return the item back to our office Warranty Terms & Condition will be followed by manufacture guideline

 
Note: This warranty service cover for 12-months period. Protection cover based on manufacture defect & fault, but not included any human error/ accident.
Details - Please refer to our Terms & Conditions (English)

Please visit following common manufacture warranty center location in Europe & UK:
www.canon-europe.com/Support/Consumer_Products/services_locator/index.aspx
www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/service_support/

[Sergiogio]

Hello Uliwooly,

and thanks for the answer and for taking the time to read their terms.

Yes I did notice that in the while.

I am not sure I trust that they will really do that, but the problem is: the Xperia ZR is not distributed in Germany. It cannot be repaired here. I phoned to the German Main Repair Center and they confirmed that they could not repair an Xperia ZR not even if I (or Mydigitaland) pay, because they do not have replacement parts nor Repair Instrucions.

[Uliwooly · Accepted solution]

Contact Sony UK, perhaps you can mail it to them, that's assuming that your Xperia ZR is indeed from the UK, contact a Sony Moderator with your IMEI number, make sure its through a Private Message, contact Sam or Johan.

[Sergiogio]

This is a good idea, I can do that when I receive the phone.

I did not yet receive it...

I am trying to understand the situation, to see if it makes sense to take the risks, or if it would be better to try stop the transaction.

I suppose that given the informations currently available, it is a matter of my personal decision, correct?

[swooc]

^warranty is only provided to the country where the phone was issued. being a company from hong kong and assuming it's stock from the official hong kong distribution, warranty is done in hong kong only. this means you will have to ship it back to hong kong.
with hong kong sellers, you never know where the stock is actually from (most of them are grey market resellers). in other words if you need to send it back for warranty, you will most likely have to send it back to the store you bought it from. however, my experience is that these hong kong sellers will usually try and repair it themselves, doing a dodgy job at that.

it is upto you whether you want to take the risk. if you get a perfect working phone, it's a great saving. but if something goes wrong, be prepared for headaches and quite possible a very expensive lesson.

another thing that you might need to consider is whether lithium batteries can be exported out of germany. the postal service in my country has banned the export. it can still be done via fedex or dhl, but only at a premium. we're talking $200+ to send a mobile phone overseas.

[Sergiogio]

Hallo Swooc,

yes I understood this of the Grey Market a bit too late, unfortunately. They told me that the Handy does not come from China or Hong Kong but from USA or other Countries. I cannot know it if not with the IMEI when I receive it, so, suspence

Yes the price is very good. I could have not paid 520 for a new ZR, too much for me.

If it works, you are right, it is a good deal, given that it will not have problems in the future.

Anyway. I wrote them and I will see how honest and serious they are, according to which kind of solution they are willing to offer.

Could you explain better this of the Lythium Batteries?

I do not understand what does has to do with the ZR. Do you mean that I cannot send it to repair outside of Germany because of its Battery?

[Uliwooly]

not from the US, we don't have the ZR here, in fact, we just got the Xperia Z back in July, yes July.