On July 21st 2008, I switched over to Rogers and received my Sony Ericsson w580i. The phone, upon first inspection, was poorly constructed. I barely used the phone for anything other than phone calls and texting. If the intent of the phone was to be ‘useless’, then it fulfilled the description exceptionally well. The first issue came about on September 22nd 2008. This involved cracked keys, which I found were to be a common issue with this model. I sent the phone in and it was promptly returned to me with the keypad replaced. The next issue arrived on November 20th 2008. The softkeys were becoming detached from the frame of the phone. Again, I sent it in.

The third repair occurred on November 28 2008. For some odd reason, this issue (broken memory card cover) was not repairable and so, I received my first refurbished replacement phone. Next issue came about on February 3 2009. The slider phone stopped sliding vertically upwards and instead, began sliding diagonally, slightly, to the left. While not an issue with the phone function, I was not satisfied with the quality of the phone. So, I sent it in again and the service center again determined my phone was defective and sent me another refurbished replacement.

So, if you have been keeping track, that has been 4 repairs and 2 replacements so far. All in a little over 6 months.

Lo and behold, that replacement began doing the same thing – sliding diagonally, slightly, to the left. A little ridiculous, don’t you think? I call Sony Ericsson customer support and request to speak with a supervisor after I am told over and over again by customer service representatives (CSRs) that my only option was to send it in for repairs again.

The first supervisor I spoke to at Sony Ericsson was C****. When he got put on the line, I immediately got the impression that his only goal was to superficially appease me and get me off the phone. He very hurriedly suggested a swap, for a new or like new model, and then got me off the phone without even mentioning a reference number, RMA, or other details essential to the solution. So, I call in to Sony Ericsson customer support yet again. To make a long story short, I had to call in multiple times before I got the necessary documentation.

I finally got the e-mail from the repair center and the day after, February 18th 2009, printed everything off and sent the phone off. This counts as the fifth repair as it is the fifth time I have sent my phone off. I received a brand new replacement on February 23rd 2009.

Can you believe there was a problem with that phone too? The phone was missing the spring inside the memory card slot and so, I was unable to use the memory card with it (it wouldn’t stay down). Defective, once more. While still at the repair shop, I called Sony Ericsson customer support yet again. Instead of sending my phone in for the 6th time, which I was determined not to do – as this was getting beyond ridiculous – I was offered a swap by the Sony Ericsson CSR. She suggested that I go to a Rogers Wireless store and request a swap. To make a long story short, I was refused a swap at many Rogers Wireless stores. So, where does that leave me? I wasted countless time trying to actively solve my problem and was late to work twice. I still have a phone that does not allow me to use a memory card.

On February 26th 2009, I call in to Sony Ericsson again to see if there’s anything they can do. The CSR pretty much laughed me off the phone, telling me that all I need is a workable phone – why does it matter if it’s new or refurbished? I re-iterated my history of issues with the phone and the brand new replacement that I had in my hand. He informed me that my only choice was to send it in for repair (which would have been my 6th repair) and then laughed me off the phone. Discouraged, I called into Rogers again and explained my problem to a very sympathetic CSR who tried her best to solve my problem. She spoke with tech support and after concluding that there was nothing they could do for me, she transferred me to Customer Relations.

I then spoke with the most helpful CSR from either party that I have ever spoken with. She seemed determine not to let me off the phone until we had found a suitable resolution for me. She offered to upgrade my phone and while I was reluctant, since the w580i was the reason I switched to Rogers, she convinced me that my history with the w580i was too horrible to take another chance with it. I was offered the Sony Ericsson w760a. Hopefully, this replacement will be an improvement.