BBC’s Watchdog investigates Xperia Z1 cracking screen issue; Sony responds

The BBC Watchdog programme has been running in the UK for close to thirty years. The consumer rights programme has had great success in reporting on the problems that consumers have faced with retailers, rogue traders and other companies in the UK. Earlier this week, Watchdog ran a short piece on the cracking screens of the Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z.

The Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z phones have been incredibly popular, Watchdog says that Sony has sold 10 million of these phones around the world. There are many people who claim to have a suffered cracked display without anyone touching it. We have covered this problem in the past. Watchdog says that it had received complaints from over a hundred people, who have suffered something similar.

The programme hears from a few people who have suffered from the problem, claiming that the phone suffered a crack when removing from a pocket or even if it was just idle on the desk. Sony insists to most people that this is not a design fault and that its standard warranty will not cover repairs. Therefore people are left in a quandary about where to turn, with most having to fork out around £250 to replace the display.

However, Sony released the following statement to Watchdog, highlighting for the first time that there is an issue:

“In a small proportion of cases, screens have indeed cracked with no identifiable cause and in these instances the phone has been repaired for free.”

For anyone who is affected in the UK, Sony has given a telephone number to call (08705 237 237) which is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm and on Saturday from 9am to 5pm. The programme which aired on Wednesday 28 May 2014 can still be watched on iPlayer, until next Wednesday. This only applies to UK residents, the Sony Xperia action starts at 18:52. For everyone else, check out the video below.