Database Users

Vodafone nightmare ends in tears

I've had a vodafone nightmare.
I called to get a pac code last week in order to migrate from vodafone to O2 to get an Exec. I was literally in the middle of ordering an Exec when Vodafone called me back and said, "We know you're leaving because you can't get an HTC Universal from us, well we've found one for you, we call it the Qtek 1620."
Erm, I said, that's not a Universal, it's a Blue Angel. Queue a long debate on the phone with them, the guy assures me it's definitely a Universal and even describes the rotating screen. I say fine, but please record my concerns...
Then followed days of broken promises regarding delivery... mistake after mistake, somehow they sent it to Newbury instead of Sheffield (easy mistake to make, of course!) and ultimately it arrived this morning... and guess what I received: A Vodafone VPA 1620, aka a Blue Angel. Grrr.
More long converstations resulted in, 'sorry but there's nothing we can do.'
So now I'm waiting for news on my order with O2 and deciding whether to return the 1620 or ebay it and maintain the minimum payments on the contract - I'd only be about £30 up in the long run but the cash in hand would be nice for Christmas.
And pity my poor work colleagues who've had to put up with my moaning about all this for the last week!
Matt S.

I'd return it - claim compo for being blatantly lied to and demand your release code and if anyone refuses you, escalate to the highest possible.

Returning my VPA 1620 to vodafone. They've given me some credit on my account (which is fine since my wife still has a vodafone handset on the same account) and made the expected copious apologies.
Ordered an xda exec from Mobilefun.co.uk which went through smoothly except for a statement at about 2pm 'yes it's in stock, in fact yours is being prepared for dispatch right now' to, at 4pm, "sorry we're out of stock - we should get some more in on Friday".
I'm beginning to think somebody upstairs doesn't want me to get a Universal!

This just isn't meant to be. Mobilefun now say they won't be getting any on Friday as O2 can't supply them, and they can't give any update on when they'll be able to. What a mess!

o2 stores have them in stock - either that or try onestopphoneshop

Probably because every man and his dog are buying them on cheap contract then ebaying them for a profit...
Not that its not a good idea, but a bit greedy and upsets the poorer people that want the phone and contract but dont have oooodles of money.

In Europe during the first 6 workdays after signing and 'activating the service of a contract' it can be cancelled without any reprecussions. During the first 2 weeks after something was 'bought' it can be returned to the seller to get a refund when a product doesn't do what you expect from it. Perhaps something to think of. This is settled by law and even if companies say it is impossible they never are above the law.
grtzzzz roel..

I'm not really sure whats going on with the o2 EXEC.
They are giving them away .. by the thousand weight.
I'm still waiting for one now, its on 'back order' and has been for some two weeks. They've even offered me an XDA IIi for free on o2 200!
I suspect they will either not have anymore of these coming in or something will change, probably the price or locking the sim/software to deter reselling.
Just hoping I get one now for the pre-agreed price and within my lifetime.
*sniff

onestopphoneshop don't have any. O2 say they do, but only at £150 :-(

hi
try this , a dedicated thread about how to get exec cheap
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=32105

Thanks but I am getting it cheap ..
£149 + £15 a month o2 400
I just dont seem to be getting the f*** handset.
Still waiting after two weeks!

Replacement Screen

Hiya, Does anyone know of anywhere in the UK I can get my screen replaced or where I can get a new screen from? Sadly, theres a crack developed on mine and a load of dead pixels. cheers

Mine too. I haven't a clue how it happened. I sent it away for repair but the supplier said that there are no screens available... anywhere!
If you have any look, please post.
Cheers.

Hi both
If you have the xda exec go to your local o2 store and pay to send it away for a repair (if you have warranty this will be free!) and you might be lucky like me and some others and get a FREE replacement
You need to be the orginal owner of the xda exec though I think as I had to show proof of purchase even to send it away to get an estimate for the repair via o2.
With what oyu say about their not being any screens this might explain o2's stance saying they can't repair it within 7 days so you have been given a replacement instead :?:

Yeah, im with T-mobile. I think I heard that HTC will repair them for any except O2 who do it themselves which seems to tie in with what you are saying. I shall keep you posted.

Andy....did you meant warranty or insurance.... in the UK I have been quoted £115 plus vat i believe for a oem lcd.... problem is placing the actual order as you can see from my attatchment :evil: ...I have dealt with this chap ages ago and see that his atitude twards buisness has not changed :?
BR

I tried looking on ebay / web for replacement LCD screens etc and it was going to be about £160 with a 3rd party repairer and that would have invalidated the 2 year warranty you get with the o2 exec so I went into the o2 shop and admitted that I dropped the xda and paid them £17.50 to send it away for an estimate.
They wrote on the form cusotmer dropped it and screen broke and as I say they sent me a replacement wihtin 14 days of me taking the exec in.
Putting what I experienced and PinkySlayer's comemnts together I think this is because they have no screens to replace them with so if you have an exec bite the bullet pay the £17.50 to send it away and you might get lucky too :lol:
Note I didn;t have their insurance or anything other than my receipt to say I purchased it form o2 6 months earlier.

Thanks for all the comments.
O2 suggested either an O2 shop or the XDA Repair Centre and as the shops as a PITA to get to, I decided on the Repair Centre. My mistake. I'll take the advice here and get to a shop and see what occurs.
Cheers,
Ged.

here in austria you will be charged about €300 for rapair...
spend another €200 and you´ll get an new universal :roll:
cheers!

Replacement LCD
Give this very helpful gent a call His number is in the auction his name is Joe and he is honest.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/O2-XDA-EXECUT...936600QQcategoryZ3312QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

UPDATE
I eventually took my Exec to an O2 shop and they agreed to send it away for repair but explained that I would probably have to pay at least a couple of hundred. I then happened to speak to our O2 account manager and she said that if I had called her, she would have sent me a new replacement without question! Obviously, I rang the O2 shop and asked if I could have the unit back but no, I would have to wait 28 days before I could request it's return.
Earlier today, 27 days after dropping it off, I received a text to say it was ready for collection and guess what? It was a brand spanking new unit, replaced under warranty - no charges!
Cheers,
Ged.

replacement screen
This thread seems a little old but I think it's still relevant and in need of an update. I broke the screen on my vodafone v1640 for the second time, and found it difficult to locate anyone who sells screens. Here are my findings:
There seem to be two ebay sellers that have them - this one and this one.
Both seem to be priced right around $160US shipped.
Beware of ebay sellers that keyword-spam and try to sell you other kinds of LCDs. If you find it for less than $100, it's probably not the right one. A seller that seems to do this a lot is called easyworldwidetrading.
Once you actually find one, it's actually not that hard to replace the screen yourself. It took me 10 minutes - you just need the soft pry tools that ipod hackers use, and the "confidential service manual" from HTC. It can be found elsewhere on this board(but you can PM me if you can't find it).
http://www.pocketpctechs.com seems like a reputable joint, but they don't say they sell the screen by itself, only installed - if anyone's gonna break my stuff, it's gonna be me. I'm going to give them a call and see if I can pick one up from them, as they are "stumbling distance" from me.

About Qtek 9000 LCD screen, I found this on Ebay.fr
http://cgi.ebay.fr/LCD-For-MDA-Pro-...ZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ACX526AKM-7-Ecra...ZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem
Comes from China...

O2 XDA Exec (aka Universial) porting desktop app to WM5.0

I have a project where I will be porting an application (VB and SQL) to WM5.0 and the target is expected to be an O2XDA Exec, Orange SPV M5000 etc... Universal??
Anyway I am trying to figure out if these are dodgey at all but there seem to be plenty of new O2XDA Exec on ebay with prices way below what the same units would/should cost from O2 et al without contracts.
I expect a few members might have bought from ebay??? so asking what peeps views are.
The sellers always seem to have 20 or so units but everything is anonymous and seem to have to part with money in advance and cannot do this in person so more than a bit cautious.
I am going to need a couple for development and testing.
Regards,
Dom

Universal from Ebay
I bought my brandnew O2 XDA Exec from Ebay for less than 2/3 the price you would pay for it from any 02 shop. No problems at all

OP, you've just described Ebay as whole ;-D
I suppose it's like everything else on that site: sometimes you get a good deal, sometimes you get burned. Personally I had good and bad experiences on Ebay, just like any other 'ad board' site or magazine.
EDIT: check out this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=53525&highlight= for a cautionary tale...

Re: Universal from Ebay
elkitos said:
I bought my brandnew O2 XDA Exec from Ebay for less than 2/3 the price you would pay for it from any 02 shop. No problems at all
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Click to collapse
From an individual or a trader outlet?
Sorry to ask but these are not cheap enough to make a mistake.
Regards,
Dom

mdaexecfan said:
OP, you've just described Ebay as whole ;-D
I suppose it's like everything else on that site: sometimes you get a good deal, sometimes you get burned. Personally I had good and bad experiences on Ebay, just like any other 'ad board' site or magazine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto, why I was asking. Don't want to get burned for £500 and no XDA's.
Found what seemed to be a good deal at about 2/3 (£280) of the RRP (£400 ish) from one ebay trader. I wanted to exchange cash in person and all of a sudden it wasn't possible and there was this reason and that reason why they couldn't... all sounded far too dodgey to me.
BTW it was someone from O2 shop that said look on ebay when I said I just wanted the phones without the contract.
Dom

I got my MDA Pro from eBay for £250. It was brand new and sealed, I am very happy with it.
You have to be very careful when you buy from eBay.
Always email the seller and ask if you can collect and pay cash. If they refuse then ask yourself why? Maybe its dodgy - sometimes it maybe genuine.
Also check their previous selling history - if they have never ever sold any pdas/phone and suddenly they have 20 PDA's for sale then be careful - usually very dodgy.
Good Luck...

On the matter of refusing to accept cash to be fair I suppose I'd be the same. When you bet on something it clearly tells you how the payments are accepted: usually paypal.
Personally if someone bought my 500pounds device and wanted to switch the payment mode to cash right after winning the option, the alarms bells would be ringing too. I'd probably just say no and explain the above but some people don't like saying no and rather make crappy excuses instead... in which case the alarm bells would then be ringing in the buyer's ears this time round...

From an individual.

mdaexecfan said:
On the matter of refusing to accept cash to be fair I suppose I'd be the same. When you bet on something it clearly tells you how the payments are accepted: usually paypal.
Personally if someone bought my 500pounds device and wanted to switch the payment mode to cash right after winning the option, the alarms bells would be ringing too. I'd probably just say no and explain the above but some people don't like saying no and rather make crappy excuses instead... in which case the alarm bells would then be ringing in the buyer's ears this time round...
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Click to collapse
Oh wasn't before winning, insisted on emails with bidders before he would accept any bids from you. Would cancel bids otherwise.
It looked like he had the items as a fixed price and would sell direct just not through ebay and so no ebay protection etc... why I asked face to face and cash.
Regards,
Dom

what kinda apps r u gona be porting?

I am porting amateur radio logging, prediction and rig control software(last one a bit of a non-starter as these do not have USB host and not sure can get rs232 connectivity working).
There will also be some additional Oracle, sql2000 and sql2005 monitoring apps written using VB .net
Regards,
Dom

I bought my O2 XDA Exec from Ebay, Paid $650.00 for it new in box and have had no problems with it. The seller was UK based and I live in the USA.

Well, my contract with O2 was up for renewal a couple of months ago and I said that I wanted my PAC code as I was going to switch to Orange as I wanted a Universal. In the end O2 said I could have a new O2 Exec for FREE on a O2 500 tarrif for £25/mth. Of course I accepted.

Dom,
I got a refurbished Vodafone V1640 from a business seller on ebay for £240! It came with everything in its original box. The only flaws were a small scratch on one of the hinges (stated in description) and a little polarisation flaw on the screen (NOT stated in description, but it's not too much of a problem). Overall I think I made a good purchase.

I STOOD ON MY XDA EXEC :: Q's about insurance

Hi I have looked on the forums and have found a bit about phone insurance. I stood on my XDA exec ( I know what a c**k) its knackered. The screen has popped the silver bit on the back has come up in one corner and the flip / rotate mech snapped so the screen flaps about in the wind.
Yes I was drunk
Yes I am stupid
Yes I have made a claim.
I have sent it in today to LSG (lloyds tsb phone insurnace). From looking at other web sites my concerns are as follows :-
1) They will not be able to get the parts to repair the exec.
2) If they replace my phone they will not be able to get an O2 one (I know the imate is the same but I like it in black).
From what I have read elsewhere people have had a real issue getting top of the range PDA's fixed (unless its by the network insurance when they mostly get new ones) Most of the time people get offerd a cash settlement.
Has anyone else claimed through Lloyds phone insurance or any other 3rd party insurance and got a replacement phone ?
If they want to settle for a cash sum. How much should it be ??
any help on this would be good ???

Have edited my first post to be more specific. Anyone ??

here is the answer to anyone who is interested. they tried to get me to take a nokia n91 or n80. I said no.
told them I wanted an exec or the cash. after about 10mins of holding ect I got a supervisor who tried to tell me how good the 91 was. I still said the same. put on hold again.
they came back on and said your exec is in the post.
here's the deal. full new boxed o2 xda exec.
I got my first on in feb 05. this one feels much more solid. the screen flip is much tighter it has come with new rom installed. seams faster.
phone signal is better.
the whole unit seams much more soild than the first one??
could it have been that my first unit was a recon ?
anyway very happy

It seams I spoke to soon. The screen has started to flicker (brown lines jumping all over the place) this is very random but the unit has done it about 5 times now.
It will have to go back.
Can I ask for Cash instead of a new phone ??

Phoned them. Sending it back.
Will make me a cash offer when the get the phone back.
Think im going to go back to Ipaq. Had nothing but problems with this phone.

Hi I have just had my claim paid up by the same insurance (lloyds bank) They told me they do not have any xda replacements and would either give me a nokia n91 or cash settlement I went for the cash they paid me £450 for a xda IIs (ba) £450 is the maximum they pay out so you would more than likely get the same.

I have been informed by a supervisor today that the max they will pay out is £600. They use GSMarena.com to price up what they pay out. Universal costs around 550 - 650 GBP depending on where you look.
The girl on the phone said they will price it on the day the get the damaged one they sent me back. They have 3 suppliers (she would not name them) and they take the average as the units value. I would think they then knock a bit off.
I expect at least £500.
andytl
How quickly did they pay you. I have read on other sites it takes them ages to sort it out.

If you look on there website it states a maximum figure of £450 I doubt they will go over it.

I am a platinum account holder and should be covered up to 600 GPB
We will see I will post when I find out.

Lloyds TSB insurance
Hi!
I've claimed for 2 Xda2i machines that I lost via lloyds TSB insurance which is part of my gold account. each time they've been great at sorting things out for me.
My last claim they informed me they had no replacements and so like others have already mentioned, went for the cash settlement. They paid me £450.
You can only claim twice in every yearly period so I've used up my 'allocation' as it were! I'll ring them next to see when I'm allowed to claim again if needs be. To minimise my risk, I've started carrying my phones in aluminium cases, in my pocket where they cannot fall out and get lost/broke screens again !
I recommend lloyds tsb insurance via lifestyle services group - quick hassle free insurance !
Cheers! Dennis! West London UK!!

Well got the call today. £569.00 offered and taken.
Going to jump ship to ipaq hw6915 here I come.
Ill no doubt be back.

Rant: Some newbie contractor smashed my TyTN :x

I am currently venting a lot of steam...
Today during the installation of a large machine at work, I left my TyTN on top of it whilst some contractors moved the 3 tonne equipment. Someone then put something heavy on top of my shiny new TyTN and next thing I know.... Screen smashed :shock:
Needless to say, I was speechless, and still am mortified.
Anyway, After coming to terms with the fact that no fancy reg hack or rom update is going to repair the screen, I realised that I am going to have to somehow have it repaired.
In essence, the LCD is not fractured. It appears that it is a glass cover over the LCD, but below the touchscreen sensor layer. I can't use the touchscreen over the smashed part but the LCD seems to be absolutely fine.
At some point, I'm going to need to send it off to somewhere for repair, but I don't yet know where to. Does anyone have any experience with physical repairs / costs / delay times of this nature?
It is my guess, that there are not many service centres in France where I live for HTC but maybe someone knows of an easy way out of this appalling mess?
Incidentally, I'm /trying/ to make an insurance claim through the customer, but they are so far unhelpful.
€850.... pah.... Gutted....

Rant turned into Repair centre test....
OK, so I've calmed down a bit now... and have decided to turn this into a repair centre test - just in case anyone is remotely interested in my woe - or indeed the performance of french HTC repair centres
I sent an email using the form on the HTC support website this evening telling them of my problem and asking about the best / fastest way to get the phone repaired.
I am located near Grenoble in France so we shall see just how well this proceeds - and how much cash I have to throw at it.
If anyone thinks that this is a waste of thread.. then let me know and i'll not post any updates
I sincerely hope no-one else damages their TyTN.... it hurts!

I think many will like to know about your updates.. and good to have a thread to 'point' to whenever someone has the same problem. LCD replacement is a common problems.. so common that they are selling LCD spares on eBay.

Ah thanks for that.
Anyway - just to report.. no reply email so far from HTC.

Re: Rant turned into Repair centre test....
rmorby said:
If anyone thinks that this is a waste of thread.. then let me know and i'll not post any updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But on the contrary, I am very much interested in your future reports about HTC repairs. And of course I wish you luck!
Cheers
Daniel

Good luck with a reply rmorby.
I dropped my TyTN last Friday (8th September) and emailed the HTC service centre in the UK via the website on the Saturday. Today, one week later I am still waiting for a reply!
I rang the UK service centre on Wednesday (13th September) as I had not had a reply and was told that the IMEI number for my device was for a Dutch handset. I was told that I would therefore have to speak to Danguard in Germany to get it fixed! The operator went on to say that the Danguard phone lines we down and that I would have to email them!
That I did, on Wednesday, but am still waiting for a reply from them too! I rang Danguard in Germay on Friday - only to get a permanently engaged tone!
Come on HTC - what is going on with your support!!! :twisted:

I'm much luckier. I had a problem with mine and had the UK service center to have it fixed. Mine is UK and under warantee. On average, it takes less than a week for them to fix and return. Although I have to send it back twice. That's, first, it was a dead speaker. Then, after I got the unit back, the there are something wrong with it that the in speaker mode, the unit gets very hot and drain battery like mad (e.g draining battery while in AC mode). After the 2nd time, it works like charm.

Well Christos, I sympathise greatly. I haven't had a reply yet from them either. I'm in France, and bought the device in France, but I guess no-one's on email at HTC. I'm going to be giving them a call on Monday to see if I can progress this. It's really frustrating not being able to use the touchscreen and having a dirty big crack over the LCD.... I think this is going to be expensive...
At least, like Hanmin said, if it just takes a week to sort out when they finally get going, then that's not too bad.

unbelievable.... I'm just stunned
Well, I haven't added to this for several reasons... Firstly, I'm on nights for a while and secondly... I've had very little news.
Since the 13th September I have had an insurance claim in for this. This is insurance from the shop I bought the phone from (FNAC) and I have sent the telephone to them for evaluation etc.
To cut a long story short, they periodically sent me automated emails saying that they were progressing it etc. They also appear to be using a QTEK repair centre because they called it a QTEK 9600 instead of an HTC-TyTN, so I hope that they really are the same.
Then - NOTHING.
So I phoned them, and they said that they sent the phone back to me on the 26th October - using a postal service that takes 2 days. I haven't received anything. They gave me a dodgy tracking number which didn't work and when I asked them for a good one, it's going to take 48 hours to find it.
I'm just a little bit frustrated. I want my TyTN back now - and I have no idea where it is!
I think they lost it!!!

Wahoo so sad...
Any good news????
Hope so for you.
I will just smash the shop! Get arrested! Get out and guess what!
Smash it AGAIN!
I can`t belive this disrespect for costumers!
Maybe becose I live in Japan and here the costumer STILL the KING..hope it last forever!