Posted by shrek
Hi,
I tried to upgrade my T610 firmware to a local SE service center. Because I was asked for money I sent an email to SE complaining about this thing (the phone being bought 100% legal and under warranty). This is their response:
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Pentru schimarea softului din telefon cu o alta versiune de soft mai noua, punctul service va taxa aceasta operatiune.
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The translation:
For upgrading the software in the phone with a new version the service will charge you.
As far as I know this is not normal. What can I do now? Should I contact SE headquarters, not the local one? Any sugestions are appreciated.
Posted by masseur
In principal firmware upgrades are provided under warranty and warranty work generally only occurs for free when there is actually something to fix.
However it has long been accepted that service centres will do firmware upgrades for free although more and more and trying to make money out of it which is bad because if they do it under warranty they send a bill to
anyway.
The surest way to get it for free is to go into the service centre complaining of some problem you know has been fixed by a later firmware
Posted by shrek
@Masseur,
Thank you for your response. That is why I asked a few weeks ago in a post for bug correction in the R3C compared to R1L. But I could only find enhancements. So I don't know if it counts as a problem that the Java applications run too slow or that I need to press one button more to send an SMS.
Posted by wrath000
Just say your phone crashes during WAP, or some other weird unexplained problem. The first thing they tend to do is update the firmware, and see if it helps....
Posted by shrek
@wrath
If this is the way SE Romania handles these things, I am afraid that if I go in the service center and tell them something is wrong with my phone they will downgrade my firmware version to R1A. It wouldn't surprise me at all.
I had 4 Ericsson / SE phones until now, but this t610 will be the last one if they continue in this way. I have to say I am completely dissapointed with SE, at least the Romanian branch.
Posted by wrath000
Ok..., and who else let's you upgrade a firmware of a phone that's not experiencing any problems for free?
Posted by shrek
Well,
it seems to me that everybody on esato did it for free.
Except me.
Then how can they explain that I lose my warranty if I do it myself or do it somewhere else then a SE authorized service center.
Posted by sosojerk
For shrek,
I had the same problem like you.
I bought a T68i from Germany, and Connex didn't want to make a free firmware upgrade because they told me that they have to send it to Bucharest (I am in Timisoara) and than they will tell mw if I have to pay something or not.
It was not acceptable for me, so no firmware upgrade for me under 1 year warranty. I have invoked a problem, but they didn't care about.
This is with Connex Romania (an authorised romanian SE service).
Posted by shrek
Hi,
I am from Timisoara too. I tried at connex and had the same problem that they have to send it to Bucharest. But on the warranty for the phone connex does not appear, only Germanos and two others. And Germanos can do it here in Timisoara, so ... that means no transportation costs, nothing.
Posted by ThreeX
@wrath000
QUOTE: " Ok..., and who else let's you upgrade a firmware of a phone that's not experiencing any problems for free?"
Siemens lets me do that at home using my own computer and cable.. and so far, in my case at service point as well
Sorry, couldnīt resist
Posted by wrath000
That's true, yet it's a phone feature. You don't have to take the phone to the service center to upgrade it, so it's not the same....
Posted by ThreeX
Too bad SE donīt package their FW-updates in a neat .exe-file and trust the end users to upgrade..
In that sense, I see it as a manufacturer feature, or in SEīs case lacking feature.. oh well, if my Ericsson employee-friend is right, we will indeed be able to upgrade FW soon.
Cheers!
Posted by masseur
well as you have probably read... its coming for the P900 so hopefully the start of a new trend!
Posted by shrek
So until that day will come... just for my own peace of mind.. the only bug I know it was fixed was some problem when receiving a phone call from a number that ends with 000. Because I cannot reproduce it, can someone tell me exactly what the problem was? Thanks
Posted by ThreeX
The (inside) information i got, stated that all current SE phones will be user-upgradeable via some table stand connected via cable to computer. I donīt know if the table stand exists already (only accessories i care for are passive car holders and headsets)
Posted by doddy7210
yea when i asked at my local CPW for a software upgrade no one in the shop new what this was when i showed them the secret menu they were amazed and didnt believe me that a software upgrade was possible WTF are it is only a small town and nobody has a clue but come on get real
Posted by Freeeeak!
Hi
I was wondering if someone could tell me how I find out where my nearest SE Service Centre is?
And also, can I still get an upgrade under warranty if I've lost the actual warranty (very stupid thing to do, I know!).
Cheers
(I have a T300 with R1B008)
Posted by shrek
I wish you good luck. If you will upgrade it for free consider youself lucky.... or should I consider myself unlucky. hehe
As for the SE service centers near you:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?page=gsapopup&Redir=template%3DM6N%26B%3Die%26PID%3D10055%26LM%3DSB_V
Posted by ESTOR
Firmware upgrade on SE phones is provided free of charge under warranty in most countries. I have personally got that done in Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore. Though in Asian countries they only do that for locally purchased phones.
Romania seems to be a rare exception.
[ This Message was edited by: ESTOR on 2003-10-30 17:44 ]
Posted by zol
@shrek: I know there are principles in life, like the joy of doing things for free, but is that damn upgrade so expensive? How many percentages of the price of your P800, or how many beer-equivalents?
Posted by jmburt
massuer
have you found the link on SE's site for the p900 upgrade?
Posted by ts_666
here is the link for the p900 upgrade:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/updateservice/P900/frameset.htm
[ This Message was edited by: ts_666 on 2003-10-30 21:11 ]
Posted by shrek
@zol
I know what you mean (it's about 22 Eur), but I'm just thinking if even Microsoft provides service packs for free (and Microsoft is the mother of all mothers of money making), then why the heck should I pay SE this amount, especially if no one else seems to pay.
What really gets on my nerves is not the service center which asks for money, but the SE official answer on this.
Posted by pawanr
In dubai, the SE service center always provide updates of Firmware for free under warranty, no questions asked. You can just throw you phone there and say pls update it to the latest firmware and they do it for you.
Since ive been down tehre a few times, the people down there know me. Lately, i had a non-warranty T610, and i requested if they could update the firmware for me, and they yet did it FREE OF COST. More than that i bought a new face plate from outside, since it was double the price in the service center, and they even changed that for me FREE. So i guess it depends on the service center.
Posted by shrek
@zol
Forgot to answer your question. One beer costs here about 25c. So 22 E is almost 100 beers