Owners of several Sony devices in the United States are now eligible to receive either up to $300 in reimbursement or a warranty extension as a settlement for the class action lawsuit filed against the Japanese smartphone manufacturer. This settlement covers the extension of warranty, changes to the packaging, labeling, and advertising of the devices, and the claim process for the owners whose service requests were rejected. This lawsuit was filed after the manufacturer rejected warranty claims submitted by the users of several Sony products after their handsets broke down due to water intrusion.
Sony originally advertised that their devices are waterproof, resulting in many users immersing their phones in pools and other bodies of water. However, the actual certification given to the hardware was IP58 water resistance rating. This means that the handsets can only be submerged at a specified depth of water within a certain period of time. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs ultimately stated that what Sony did was a misrepresentation of their products’ capabilities. Now that a settlement is reached, people who bought Sony devices in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, may now submit their claims. They have the choice to ask for a warranty extension or file a request to receive reimbursement for the rejections of service claims. For the former, an extension of 12 months is given to the handsets whose warranties are still active while 6 months is given to smartphones which are old enough to exceed their warranty periods.
Meanwhile, the device owners whose service claims were rejected by Sony are eligible for a reimbursement of 50% of the handset’s manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP). This means that for those who possess the flagship products of the Japanese tech giant, the reimbursement could reach $300. The deadline for the submission of documents is set on January 30, 2018. A total of 24 devices is eligible for warranty extension or reimbursement. These range from the low-range products like the Sony Xperia M2 Aqua to flagship offerings like the Sony Xperia Z5 and the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact. Seven tablets are also included in the list, which includes the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.
