[RecklessFable]

Two things I learned a long time ago:
 
1) Sony customer service sucks and they were the tip of the spear on making electronics hard for regular people to service themselves.
 
2) Cell phones have a device inside that turns red when exposed to water.  If it triggers, it doesn't matter what you say happened, they assume it was your fault.  -Source, the Verizon Store Repair Guy (when they had them)

 

[ZMan2k2]

The thing that really gets me, is they advertise it as a waterproof phone.  Admittedly, I got it wet, but if you look at their ads, read the manual, etc., it states that you can get it wet, like submerse it in water for 30 minutes, up to 1.5m, or about 4.5ft.  I only got it wet for maybe, at the maximum, 30 seconds, and only about 6 inches.  I dried it off right away, and put it in a towel, to keep the sun off of it, and let it dry on the outside, not thinking that water got inside.  
 
Sony, when I sent it to them, said they would vacuum test it, to make sure that nothing is wrong with the waterproofing, and would take care of it.  All they did, according to the test sheet, was open it up, see the red strip, and put it back together and send it back to me.  No testing, no nothing.  That's why I'm upset.  I spent $600 on the phone for the very reason of going to the beach and pool at the resort we were staying at in the DR, and didn't want to damage the phone.  They got my money, and I have a brick.  Choked.

 

[alpha421]

I can empathize with you.  It seems that every advertisement/commercial touts how cool it use to use the phone near and in water.  Even if water did get inside, I would surmise the inside would have some water proof/water resistant coating to support "water fun" claim/advertisement.  After Sony got your hard earned coin, you got the typical "run around" treatment.
 
It's a a very tiring route and one that requires unthinkable patience, but go up the chain of command.  Being a PITA does have its rewards. You'll have better luck in numbers, so the more incidents, the merrier, so to speak.  Good luck.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Did you pay with a credit card by any chance? Often that provides some extra warranty.

Also speak to your cell provider for help.

 

[ZMan2k2]

Did you pay with a credit card by any chance? Often that provides some extra warranty.

Also speak to your cell provider for help.

Thanks for this. My cell provider told me to dispute the charge, so I went to the bank and got the ball rolling on that.

 

[kazuhikoaikawa]

  The thing that really gets me, is they advertise it as a waterproof phone.  Admittedly, I got it wet, but if you look at their ads, read the manual, etc., it states that you can get it wet, like submerse it in water for 30 minutes, up to 1.5m, or about 4.5ft.  I only got it wet for maybe, at the maximum, 30 seconds, and only about 6 inches.  I dried it off right away, and put it in a towel, to keep the sun off of it, and let it dry on the outside, not thinking that water got inside.  
 
Sony, when I sent it to them, said they would vacuum test it, to make sure that nothing is wrong with the waterproofing, and would take care of it.  All they did, according to the test sheet, was open it up, see the red strip, and put it back together and send it back to me.  No testing, no nothing.  That's why I'm upset.  I spent $600 on the phone for the very reason of going to the beach and pool at the resort we were staying at in the DR, and didn't want to damage the phone.  They got my money, and I have a brick.  Choked.

In compliance with IP65 and IP68, the Xperia Z3 Compact is protected against the ingress of dust and is waterproof. Provided that all ports and covers are firmly closed, the phone is (i) dust tight and (ii) protected against (low-pressure jets of water) from all practicable directions in compliance with IP65; and/or (iii) can be kept under 1.5 m of (fresh water) for up to 30 minutes in compliance with IP68.
 
Did you submerge it other than fresh water?

 

[ZMan2k2]

No I did not.  It was a chlorinated pool.  It was 6" deep, and it was for less than 30 seconds.  All ports were closed, except the HP jack, but there's nothing to cover that, and after I dried it off, my microSD card and SIM card were fine.  There was no water ingress in either of the flaps.  The water was no doubt let in by the unprotected HP jack, which Sony says is waterproof for 30 min. and 1.5M of water.  I have already started the claim with my credit card, and received my money back, but I have to wait a month or two, to see how Sony will contest it with the CC company.  Then I have to wait to see how the CC company will handle all the info. given by me and Sony.

 

[goodvibes]

  The thing that really gets me, is they advertise it as a waterproof phone.  Admittedly, I got it wet, but if you look at their ads, read the manual, etc., it states that you can get it wet, like submerse it in water for 30 minutes, up to 1.5m, or about 4.5ft.  I only got it wet for maybe, at the maximum, 30 seconds, and only about 6 inches.  I dried it off right away, and put it in a towel, to keep the sun off of it, and let it dry on the outside, not thinking that water got inside.  
 
Sony, when I sent it to them, said they would vacuum test it, to make sure that nothing is wrong with the waterproofing, and would take care of it.  All they did, according to the test sheet, was open it up, see the red strip, and put it back together and send it back to me.  No testing, no nothing.  That's why I'm upset.  I spent $600 on the phone for the very reason of going to the beach and pool at the resort we were staying at in the DR, and didn't want to damage the phone.  They got my money, and I have a brick.  Choked.

I want to make it clear that I'm not blaming you here but putting it damp under a towel in the sun may have a allowed humidity to enter the phone in a steam room sort of way. Same sort of thing that happens to watches. Had you just laid it on a lounge or table to dry, it may have been fine. Why it may pass a Sony test but failed in use. At this point, I'd open it myself, clean the lenses and assume it's no longer watertight if you can't get satisfaction. It's also difficult to be certain how perfectly closed a rubber flap is. It could be a case where neither of you are 100% wrong or right but I would also assume that Sony is being truthful about it passing their stress test. 

 

[ZMan2k2]

  I want to make it clear that I'm not blaming you here but putting it damp under a towel in the sun may have a allowed humidity to enter the phone in a steam room sort of way. Same sort of thing that happens to watches. Had you just laid it on a lounge or table to dry, it may have been fine. Why it may pass a Sony test but failed in use. At this point, I'd open it myself, clean the lenses and assume it's no longer watertight if you can't get satisfaction. It's also difficult to be certain how perfectly closed a rubber flap is. It could be a case where neither of you are 100% wrong or right but I would also assume that Sony is being truthful about it passing their stress test. 

Maybe I didn't handle the drying part completely correctly, I can agree with you on that.  But as soon as I dried it with the towel, before I wrapped it in it, I noticed the screen no longer worked, and all I could hear were button sounds.  About an hour later, I pulled it from the towel, and the camera's were fogged over, and I tried the buttons again, and it had shut off.  It would not turn back on, even connected to the charger.  It won't take a charge, so I would have to pull it apart, replace the motherboard, battery, and camera, dry the inside and put it back together.  I don't know how much those parts are, but that sounds expensive to me.  Especially since Sony advertises in pictures, and puts in their instruction manual that what I did, besides wrapping it in the towel, was exactly what I was supposed to do.  I don't know how the water got in, but it definitely did, and that's why I'm trying to get my money back.  The phone did not work as advertised, and Sony didn't contact me to see if I wanted it repaired.  They took it apart, saw the red strip inside saying water got in, put it back together, and sent it back to me.  They didn't test it, according to their own print out that they sent with the phone, so I wasn't impressed with the CS, and I think that I deserve my money back for something that didn't even last two weeks.  Had I purchased it at a store like WalMart, I would have probably had no issue returning or replacing it, so I don't see why Sony can get away with what they did.

 

[goodvibes]

If they didn't actually pressure test, the return was a total waste of time.

 It's not like there was a question about water get in. It's still possible they did but if they didn't pressure test as claimed they would, a new phone should be a done deal. I'd investigate CA's consumer protection or if you have any Credit Card protection services. Heck, see if you had trip insurance.

 

[ZMan2k2]

Nope.  No pressure test, even though that is one of the available check boxes on the sheet they sent back telling me why they didn't fix it.  The only thing they checked off was the "Red Strip Indicator" box.  So, I wasted $25 shipping it to them, for them to tell me, "Yup, water got in it."  That's why I'm so choked about the whole thing, and trying to get my money back through the CC company.  I'll find out in 4-6 weeks if it's been completely approved or not, but for right now, I have a credit on my card for the phone, so I'm just sitting on that, in case the CC company or Sony take it away.  What I have isn't actually a CC, it's a CC debit card, I don't have a real CC, but this allows me to buy things online, and it comes right out of my bank account.  So I don't want any surprises.

 

[seeteeyou]

It's sad that false advertising turned out to be so misleading, marketing materials just don't contain integrity at all and I'm glad Sony ain't sponsoring Head-Fi at all. Plenty of owners got duped as well and even the mainstream media in Australia got coverage last year
 
http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2014/10/15/4107561.htm
http://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/2iravw/looks_like_the_xperia_z3_isnt_waterproof_after_all/
 

The repair center isn't the ones making the claim of ip68 certification. The warranty blatantly states water damage isn't covered.
Just because something is rated for something doesn't mean it is covered by the damage should that rating fail. The rating is just there as a guideline.
Also they have a point by saying that you really shouldnt be taking electronics into water. Even to test the rating.
Long story short, it's their warranty, you agreed to it they don't have to cover you testing their product

 

---

 
Moral of the story, the marketing department and the repair center were working independently. They don't care about each other and that's why they don't care about their customers as well.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Moral of the story, the marketing department and the repair center were working independently. They don't care about each other and that's why they don't care about their customers as well.

 

I can't remember any case where marketing actually worked well with the rest of the company, much less with engineering, unless it's a small enough company where the owners are engineers and they also handle the marketing (like Schiit). Look at how NVidia is apologizing for how Marketing didn't explain how the memory on the GTX 970 actually works, because for one they rephrase what Engineering says when printing literature for "marketing purposes" (layman's terms, hype, etc) and then when you go into a trade show it's the marketing people standing there with their VP, and in some cases the President might be present (but in many cases this person isn't necessarily an Engineer either). Either way it's not the engineers standing there. 

Add to that how not all situations can be replicated by a lab so barring manufacturing defects it's hard to guarantee these even from an engineering standpoint.

That's also why when Sony (or Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, etc) claim that their cameras are weather proof I don't take it to mean "confidently plow into chest deep water holding the camera in one hand" (unless I do it for a living and I probably have this older camera for that anyway). Hell, I won't even run through a downpour with a simply "water resistant" bag - if I don't get enough sun (or if the power's out and I can't even use an electric fan to move air through that bag) the bag might at minimum stink of the damp. Worst possible scenario: the cam become a breeding ground for fungus. 

 

In any case, I encourage the OP to fight it and get a warranty, but of course for next time (and also for everybody else) buy water/weather-sealed equipment for extra peace of mind if it doesn't cost a lot more or at the cost of other useful features, but still handle it like it isn't sealed, given how these companies actually work.