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I sent my Imate JasJar in to the repair company in the UK (SBE). The problem was an extremely loose screen hinge. It was so loose that the screen would move freely past the usual 180 degree stop. It would also click when opening and closing the screen.
I decided to email Imate and ask there opinion on what to do about this. They immediately responded saying that I should send it in for repair, and they duely issued me with an RMA number, and procedure for getting it shipped to SBE. All of which I did with no problem at all. so far so good.
7 days later, and I get a letter in the post from SBE, stating that they have found the screen to be dead and have replaced some screen connectors, and that it is not covered under warranty and that I now owe them £40 before they will repair and send it back to me. They have got to be kidding me..
There has never been any form of electrical problem with the device whatsoever. I only had a purely mechanical fault that I-Mate themselves agreed to fix under RMA conditions.
I am absolutely furious, as I have tried to get hold of the i-mate representatives on 4 occasions with no success. I think they are ignoring me now. And i cant even get through to SBE on the telephone..
What the hell is going on.......I bought this device at considerable cost, for the price of a small laptop, and it has lasted me less than 3 months, and now I have this to deal with....
Anyone have any contacts within Imate or SBE that I can talk to? Or any advice for me in progressing this further.
I dread to think what my JasJar will look like when and if I ever get it back. Not to mention the fact that I've been without it for 2 weeks now, and that is very hard to deal with in itself.
My advice to anyone who is considering buying one of these devices would be - what a great bit of kit, has its little quirks, but nothing you cant work around, well worth buying, only dont buy it from I-Mate, go for the Orange, O2 or T-Mobile versions, because at least you will be able to use there warranty channels.
I'd keep trying Imate. Be polite but firm in your emails, ask if they authorised the repair of the screen and state that as far as you were aware this has been done when there was no fault there in the first place with no authorisation from you...
Then
It might not be a bad idea to write to SBE enclosing a copy of your original email to Imate describing the fault you had.
State very clearly in the letter that there was no screen fault when you sent the unit to them and that they have 7 days to repair the device and return it to you in a fully functioning state.
Copy everything you have on this then pass it all on to your local trading standards... you must give a company you have issues with reasonable time to respond, so 7 days should be fair enough.
I'm presuming here that you definitely didn't have a fault with the screen?
If Imate have told them to repair it under warranty I don't see why they are trying to charge you, if Imate or you didn't authorise the repair to the screen then the company doesn't really have a leg to stand on and trading standards should be involved. I can't see why dead screen wouldn't be covered by a warranty anyway..
It's concerning me, my MDA pro is currently away to fix this very issue (a dead screen).
Lots of people have problems with I-Mate support. Look here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=6599566#post6599566
oh boy! this worries me too as my Jasjar was already shipped to be replaced.
If it's been damaged in transit, then presumably the next step is to claim on the postal insurance you used.
Joe
warranty claim honoured, arrives back tonight
I've managed to convince them (Imate and SBE) that this is indeed a warranty claim, and they have now agreed to repair it as such.
They're trying to tell me that normally this type of damage is not covered under warranty, but will make an exception - this time only. (can you believe it)
All I know is that when I sent it in to them it had a mechanical fault that they originally agreed to repair under warranty and duely issued an RMA number. There was never any type of dead display (this is what they claim).
I've fought hard to get them to agree to repair it, what a battle it's been.
I only hope that when I receive it tonight, it will be in good condition, and look as it did when I sent it in, except of course for a repaired hinge.
I'll report back tonight when I recieve it.....
good luck.
I received a replacement MDA pro yesterday, after my screen died, under warranty, however the space key is dodgy on the new one, I'll see how I get on with it for the next week and decide whether to return it or not!
faulty, sent it back...ggrrrrr
Unpacked and examined it thoroughly, first impressions were.....very good, they have actually replaced the whole display case and hinge, looks gr8, and hinge is now very tight, as it should be. so far so good, but wait.....
Installed battery and powered it up......the screen is displaying everything upside down and back to front......can't believe it.
I soft reset it.....no difference.. I hard reset it....no success, still the same.
I even tried re flashing the firmware with factory imate release, but still the same......
I tried the screen in every possible position, but no matter what I do, still the same inverted bloody image.
I'm so pissed off. I've sent it back in to them for another round.
So much for quality control.
Will keep you guys updated.
I can add to this...
I do repair phones and there was one case in which Jasjar was rotating 360 deg and everything on the screen was looking as a mirror image..
If u carefully look at the manual u will see that there's a bunch of cable which pass thru a small hole and then again spread in the touch screen panel part...
the hinge is actually revetted and locked..but if somebody applies a bit of pressure the revet loses the grip and thus allows 360 deg rotation..
but by doing this it twists the wires so much that they get stressed and do not pass right info to the display..
What I did I untangled the bunch and I got back the screen working fine...only the switch outside(for taking and rejecting call when screen is shut) are not working....but everything is just fine...
so people at service center might not hv done their job perfectly
Re: faulty, sent it back...ggrrrrr
I sent an Imate sp3i to SBE and the hamfisted numptys cracked the aeriel cover when they removed it. Also, the chewed up the warranty sticker removing the screw and didn't apply a new one. Sadly I only noticed the cracked aeriel cover when taking it out of SBE's packing box 5 weeks later - I'd only done a cursory check on the fault repair when it arrived :-(
Warranty Issue
If you are going to check on jasjar when you buy it, it comes with a sticker in front giving you instruction to rotate the screen 180 degrees clockwise. When you try to rotate it the other way around, the coaxial cable that connects the lcd to the board panel will break giving you a white screen or sometimes display is there but touch screen is not responding. When the technician opens the device he will see it immidiately and from there they will consider it customer abuse meaning you voided the warranty and you will be charged for the repair
Warranty Issue
If you are going to check on jasjar when you buy it, it comes with a sticker in front giving you instruction to rotate the screen 180 degrees clockwise. When you try to rotate it the other way around, the coaxial cable that connects the lcd to the board panel will break giving you a white screen or sometimes display is there but touch screen is not responding. When the technician opens the device he will see it immidiately and from there they will consider it customer abuse meaning you voided the warranty and you will be charged for the repair
For the love of god....surely we dont have such stupid people in this world.
Latest Update: SBE say that the machine has failed quality control and is with the technicians.
They won't tell me anything more...I'll just to have wait and see what they blame it on this time. No doubt they'll come up with some **** and bull story blaming me in one way or another, and then try to charge me too.
Will keep you updated when I find out more. There is no sense of urgency with this company, so frustrating. At least my Sony Ericsson P900 is holding up perfectly while I wait.
I have to say the QC on these devices is very poor.
MDA #1: Clicking hinge, something to do with the plastic shell at the back where the USB port is I thought.
MDA #2: Metal plate not glued in correct and scaping my face during calls (it's quite a sharp edge)
MDA #3: Dodgy keyboard - keys sticking out and whole keyboard set at a rotated angle.
MDA #4: Dogdy hinge again, very loose, looked like a refurb to me
MDA #5: Camera fault - big white blown pixel in camera itself (not the screen)
Result? I got a Vario and took up the early Jan O2 Exec offer. Exec is fine by the way, but they creak more than MDA's (dunno why).
Vario is def. built more solidly. And the P900 you mentioned keeping you going just demonstrates the quality differences. A P900/910 is one of the few phones which will withstand a nuclear holocaust (probly) and is built like a brick sh*thouse.
Sony build em like Merc's and HTC build em like Vauxhalls (Holden for our antipodean friends, and Opel for our European friends).
Update
I've just been told that they're(SBE) awaiting spares from Dubai, but they cant tell me what's wrong with it????? so who knows how long this will take.
This is so frustrating, but hey I've got my trusty P900.
I've been told that they are still awaiting spares which should arrive by the end of next week. ???????? (They tell me 6 weeks to get the shipment in)
Can't f&*%ing believe this, do they send the spares over via ship? how can they expect a customer to be without a device for 2 months....This is a complete joke. Why don't they send them airmail.
They tell me that they have to replace the complete system board. Surely it would be easier to simply send me a new device??? Surely I can demand a new device?
I'm certainly going to get in touch with I-Mate again (3 million'th time), I will demand a replacement device.
GGrrrrr................
I received my JasJar tonight.......Yehaa, at last, only two months later...
Despite my reservations and lack of trust in SBE, I have to say that they got it right this time around.
They've replaced the complete system board and as a result I have a new IMEI number too. In addition to this, they had previously replaced the entire screen housing and hinge, so the phone is, and looks as good as new.
I'm in the process of putting it back to my liking with all upgrades/software/hacks, but so far all is functioning really well.
I'm happy again, i just hope it lasts this time around.
Thanks to all for listening to my problems
I received my JasJar tonight.......Yehaa, at last, only two months later...
Despite my reservations and lack of trust in SBE, I have to say that they got it right this time around.
They've replaced the complete system board and as a result I have a new IMEI number too. In addition to this, they had previously replaced the entire screen housing and hinge, so the phone is, and looks as good as new.
I'm in the process of putting it back to my liking with all upgrades/software/hacks, but so far all is functioning really well.
I'm happy again, i just hope it lasts this time around.
Thanks to all for listening to my problems
I too had a equally bad experince with SBE (7 weeks, 2 returns, 10 phone calls and the threat of reporting them to trading standards before my phone was repaired) . I can't imagine why Imate tarnish their image with their ongoing association with such a company.
Hi,
I know I'm a n00b, and I just got my 8525 a couple weeks ago. I've enjoyed getting Custel's ROM on my phone and finally finding some decent cases (hard rubber and krussel from extremepda.com) and screen protectors (pocketpctechs.com)
I do have a question though, how easy should the keyboard slide out? I noticed that mine comes out fairly easily with little effort. It doesn't come out with gravity alone, but little effort is required on my part at all. Is this normal, or should I try and exchange it at the cingular store before my 30 days expires?
If this is normal that cool, I just want to make sure nothing is wrong.
Thanks everyone!
Edvard_Greig said:
Hi,
I know I'm a n00b, and I just got my 8525 a couple weeks ago. I've enjoyed getting Custel's ROM on my phone and finally finding some decent cases (hard rubber and krussel from extremepda.com) and screen protectors (pocketpctechs.com)
I do have a question though, how easy should the keyboard slide out? I noticed that mine comes out fairly easily with little effort. It doesn't come out with gravity alone, but little effort is required on my part at all. Is this normal, or should I try and exchange it at the cingular store before my 30 days expires?
If this is normal that cool, I just want to make sure nothing is wrong.
Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a reasonably common problem. I would certainly go for an exchange if possible. There is a fix available but it involves dismantling and will void your warranty.
See my site in signature link for details, but go for the exchange. It should click into position fairly firmly at both top and bottom.
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply! I guess my accompanying question is if this is a defect with certain units, or if it is just something that happens (ie mechanism just gets loose over time) if it just starts to happen and needs to be tweaked I'm ok with that, but if it is a defective unit and others don't have the issue at all then I'll take it back.
Thanks again!
Edvard_Greig said:
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply! I guess my accompanying question is if this is a defect with certain units, or if it is just something that happens (ie mechanism just gets loose over time) if it just starts to happen and needs to be tweaked I'm ok with that, but if it is a defective unit and others don't have the issue at all then I'll take it back.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you see my site in my signature you'll see that it is a problem related to the indents at each end of the runners/sliders being too shallowly embossed in the metal to provide a large enough bump for the sliding part to click over. In theory they might become loose over time, but my feeling is that folks with problems have ones that have always been pretty loose. Having increased the indents mine have retained a very firm click ever since, so I don't think it's a problem of soft/poor quality metal. Mine were so bad that just holding the phone to take a call would open the keyboard and it always opened getting it out of the holster. Otherwise my TyTn was perfect so I chose to void the warranty and fix the problem myself.
Edit some are better than others from the start (to answer your question!!)
Mike
Thanks Mike! I ended up trying to take it back to Cingular, and tried some of the other ones and they were actually worse than mine. I'm probably just a little picky. If it gets real bad I'll definitely go through your guide!
i have a hairline crack which is getting slightly worse the more i use it. but device is still @ present usable would this be fixed under warranty with t-mobile uk i dropped the device but it didnt land hard its not like last time when i jumped into the car with phone in back pocket this was a small knock and unexpected crack could this be a manufacturing flaw or is the athena just badly designed and the screen just too big and fragile to be able to take the kind of life any other mobile or pda is expected to have. also i assume ill need to go back to WM5 to stand any chance if at all at warranty. also as the next insurance is a 60 pound premium i think ill 'lose it' at least that way i get a spare battery keyboard etc etc'
spzero said:
i have a hairline crack which is getting slightly worse the more i use it. but device is still @ present usable would this be fixed under warranty with t-mobile uk i dropped the device but it didnt land hard its not like last time when i jumped into the car with phone in back pocket this was a small knock and unexpected crack could this be a manufacturing flaw or is the athena just badly designed and the screen just too big and fragile to be able to take the kind of life any other mobile or pda is expected to have. also i assume ill need to go back to WM5 to stand any chance if at all at warranty. also as the next insurance is a 60 pound premium i think ill 'lose it' at least that way i get a spare battery keyboard etc etc'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you certainly wont be covered under warranty. for a cracked screen under any circumstances. as i recall the premium under t-mobiles fonesafe is 30quid although this could have changed.
with regard to wm6 - this affects your warranty but may not affect cover. of course you could 'accidentally' render your ameo useless so theyll never know what ROM was installed, though obviously i wouldn't recommend this.
I have to say, I keep mine in my pocket without the case, just the phone and keyboard.
Ive bashed it against desks, walked into corners and generally knocked it about a LOT more than I would like. It just sticks out so much! You have to learn a whole new body shape to allow for not walking into things with it.
It does however seem fine, with no cracks. I guess you may just be unlucky? Or am I the lucky one....
Thought I'd share my story. I recently got a swap out for a "dusty" screen. My new phone seemed OK. A few days passed by and my camera flash started acting up and not working... Today I woke up and NOTHING on the top half of my phone works. Meaning my ear peice, my 3.5mm jack, my camera, or flash, or proximity/light sensors... nothing. But the speakerphone works, my screen is fine. and my microphone works. kinda odd!
It almost like the top PC board got disconnected internally or something.
Just thought this was a strange issue. Already requested yet ANOTHER swap from HTC. Hopefully this next one can make me beleive this phone was worth it.
On another note. I did get my phone "ghost armored" at a cart in the mall pretty much immediately upon receiving it from fedex. And they do spray a small amount of soapy liquid on the outside of the phone to apply the skins. Do you think this could be enough to cause water damage? I'm afraid HTC is going to charge me for "non warranty problems" if the guys at ghost armor caused this! Its a very "fine mist" they use so I think it would be hard to penetrate the phones seals. But who knows? Whats your opinion?
dills84 said:
Thought I'd share my story. I recently got a swap out for a "dusty" screen. My new phone seemed OK. A few days passed by and my camera flash started acting up and not working... Today I woke up and NOTHING on the top half of my phone works. Meaning my ear peice, my 3.5mm jack, my camera, or flash, or proximity/light sensors... nothing. But the speakerphone works, my screen is fine. and my microphone works. kinda odd!
It almost like the top PC board got disconnected internally or something.
Just thought this was a strange issue. Already requested yet ANOTHER swap from HTC. Hopefully this next one can make me beleive this phone was worth it.
On another note. I did get my phone "ghost armored" at a cart in the mall pretty much immediately upon receiving it from fedex. And they do spray a small amount of soapy liquid on the outside of the phone to apply the skins. Do you think this could be enough to cause water damage? I'm afraid HTC is going to charge me for "non warranty problems" if the guys at ghost armor caused this! Its a very "fine mist" they use so I think it would be hard to penetrate the phones seals. But who knows? Whats your opinion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
water can literally penetrate the smallest most microscopic points. but i dont know think "mist" could do any harm. i think it sucks that you're having bad luck with all these though man.
I like straweberries, they taste good. When eaten slightly chilled they are refreshing as well. And the things you can do with them... fresh fruit topping for cereal, pancakes, yogurt, or you can make them into jam/jelly/compo(sp?)
Anyways, yes, it is possible for your device to have received water damage, this is why I have not and will never put something on my phone that requires the use of water in the application process. And it might even be probable given that on the top of the phone you have a 3.5mm jack, speaker housing, and when you take the back off this gets exposed... and I am guessing they removed the back before misting it, so even more water can get into that area causing major issues.
pjcforpres said:
I like straweberries, they taste good. When eaten slightly chilled they are refreshing as well. And the things you can do with them... fresh fruit topping for cereal, pancakes, yogurt, or you can make them into jam/jelly/compo(sp?)
Anyways, yes, it is possible for your device to have received water damage, this is why I have not and will never put something on my phone that requires the use of water in the application process. And it might even be probable given that on the top of the phone you have a 3.5mm jack, speaker housing, and when you take the back off this gets exposed... and I am guessing they removed the back before misting it, so even more water can get into that area causing major issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, thanks for your opinion on strawberrys.
I believe they remove the battery, but put the battery cover back on before misting. They also leave the device off while they do this and tell you to leave it off for an additional 2 hours (i left mine off for 6 or 7 hours.)
Even leaving it off, if water gets it, it gets in, and starts causing the circuits and what not to corrode.
I will say, I think it is highly unlikely that you do have water damage causing this problem. If HTC says no go, water damage, those misty dudes are responsible and liable to replace your device/pay for repairs. But, I do highly doubt it.
Still, there is a chance of there being water damage, and even if it isn't causing the problem, HTC won't care.
All in all, I would put money that the swap goes just fine, and hopefull 3rd time is the charm for you. It seems some people, no offense, just have really bad luck with these, while others (not to brag), have bought 5 of them without a single problem.
pjcforpres said:
Even leaving it off, if water gets it, it gets in, and starts causing the circuits and what not to corrode.
I will say, I think it is highly unlikely that you do have water damage causing this problem. If HTC says no go, water damage, those misty dudes are responsible and liable to replace your device/pay for repairs. But, I do highly doubt it.
Still, there is a chance of there being water damage, and even if it isn't causing the problem, HTC won't care.
All in all, I would put money that the swap goes just fine, and hopefull 3rd time is the charm for you. It seems some people, no offense, just have really bad luck with these, while others (not to brag), have bought 5 of them without a single problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5 of them?! jeez!
I agree, I'm having really bad luck. I LOVE this phone. Its just getting annoying having to swap it out every other week.
I'm also angry that this broken one has the best screen I've seen on any nexus, no dust, no pink tint. its perfect! and i have to return it
Oh well. thanks for the advice. I feel a little better about the swap now, I cant really afford to lose another 530$.
One for me, and 4 others for friends that had me help them buy one...
Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
(update: after a number of returns, detailed below, I've thrown my hands up in frustration and moved on to another phone.)
tobin_o said:
Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my exprience:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52438047
so all in all, i dont have anything bad to say about em. heck they even changed the covers .D
HTC is a company from Taiwan. I have to say, they don't treat us like this over here.
Repair Story from Pakistan
I just got back my phone with camera purple haze fixed. They replaced the camera in my HTC One.
I gave them my phone yesterday and to my surprise holding my phone in perfect condition right now within 24 hours.
Amazed at their extremely efficient service
tobin_o said:
Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how long gonna take to repair it? i'm planning to replace the camera, on my vacation in HK.
Well, OK, time for an update to my original story:
So I got the phone back from HTC:
- Camera replaced, purple haze gone. Yay!
- eMMC (entire mainboard) fixed at a cost of approx. USD$213; oh well, my fault.
- Surprise - back casing replaced for free, without prompt from my side. Reason given was "Beats logo print quality poor" (ironically, the Beats logo on the new casing is wiping off even faster than before)
Anyway, so I had the phone back in my hands, and was initially pretty happy. Signal reception seemed a bit... off... but I figured it was maybe down to being in poor reception spot in China, or needing a factory reset, or even that I should get a new SIM card after more than 2 years.
Less than a day later, I realized there was something seriously wrong. 3G was seriously unstable in most places where it used to be strong, and even phone calls would drop out abruptly. Locking the phone down to 2G seemed to help a lot, but maybe not quite perfect, either. Regardless, staying on 2G is no good. Here's the unfortunate part: I was so determined to believe within the first evening that even *if* anything was wrong, that it couldn't possibly be the phone. By the time I realized it was the phone, I had already unlocked it, in order to root it. Why? Because I'm in China, and since the Tiananmen Square anniversary, anything related to Google is totally blocked, including Google Play, Mail, Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Translate, etc. which means SSH or VPN is a must, which means unlocking->rooting.
So I get it back to HTC in HK, and explain very kindly that while I appreciate the camera being fixed, that I think they've given me a borked 3G radio. I explain that it's unlocked, only because of the situation in China, and they're very understanding about this, as apparently they've heard this from many other customers, too.
I get the phone back later, and same issue. They state that they just replaced the "upper board" which apparently handles the radio. Worst thing is that they don't even know if they've fixed it or not, because I realize the 3G radio problem in HK is far less severe, and therefore far less obvious, although definitely still apparent throughout a day of usage. Even for myself, I didn't realize the problem was still there until after the service center was closed. This leads me to believe that it might be the antenna embedded within the back casing (which they replaced in the original repair because of the bloody Beats logo... which I didn't even ask for...), because of the far better 3G coverage in HK compared to anywhere in mainland China.
I get back in touch with HTC HK, and explain the situation. They try to be understanding, but they're unsure about what to do about this. I tell them I think it's the back casing. They seem open to that idea, but then go on to explain to me that their lenience with the unlocked status of the phone only extends to repairs that don't involve mainboard replacement. If it were to come down to that, they'd want to charge me another ~USD$213.
It gets better: I had been using an old Sony Xperia Play during the time that my HTC was out of my hands, and was using a SIM card holder in it. I stupidly placed the empty holder back into its SIM slot during the most recent HTC pickup, and when I tried to remove the SIM holder from the Sony later, it had snagged on something... probably one of the electronic contacts for the SIM card. Long story short, I got the holder out, but the SIM slot in the Xperia is busted. Yay...
Faced with my HTC One being gone again for a while, and no certainty at all about whether it would come back to me any better than before, and no longer having a backup phone, I bought a OnePlus One. Despite all the crap you read about delays with their invite system and shipping, etc... if you buy it domestically, it's delivered to your hands in less than 24hrs from clicking "Buy" on their website. Nice. Although OPO has a couple of issues, too, but that's for another post.
As for HTC... I hope they might try replacing the back casing this time (at no expense to me) and that this might resolve the situation. As troublesome as this whole service situation has been since the purple haze camera started it, I still love the phone, and think it's definitely the best phone I've ever owned, and one of the best phones ever made. Even with the improvements made, the M8 doesn't beat it, either. I'm very anxious to see what HTC does with the M9...
Final update on what started as a "nice" service repair story at HTC in HK:
Got my HTC One back from HK repair... again. Given the lousy signal strength, the fact that they'd already tried replacing the "upper board" which apparently hosts the radio, the hotter (than normal) temperature and lousy battery life, I figured the issue was probably with the antenna in the back casing (which they needlessly replaced the first time because the 'Beats' logo was wearing off), and told them so in a very polite and patiently-phrased letter I attached, concluding that this might easily be fixed with a replacement of the back casing - no big deal right? Since they replaced it the first time only because of the 'Beats' logo.
So, yeah, I finally get it back... and what's the result? They interpreted my letter as meaning the bad battery life must be the result of a bad battery, and replaced it. That was it. So my radio still sucks, the battery is slightly better, but still not as good as it was originally, the overall casing came back totally filthy, which took a good deal of cleaning... and the best part? Now my speakers, which previously worked perfectly, are constantly cutting out during playback of any song. Yay. Another problem that wasn't there before.
Basically, it seems can't seem to do a full and proper testing and evaluation of a returned phone, not even when I'm continuously pointing them in the right direction. Furthermore, they keep returning my phone with new problems that never existed in the first place. The former is greatly frustrating, but the latter really burns me.
To HTC (if you happen across this): you guys have great, world-class designers in your company, such that your products are beautiful and hit almost all the right keys for me... BUT... you have SERIOUS issues, both in your factory (my original phone had weirdly mismatching casing and the purple-haze camera) and even more in your after-sales repair. Your next phone (M9) is going to have to be out-of-this-world for me to even consider going down this road with you again. My OnePlus certainly isn't perfect, but it's awfully close, at less than half the price that I paid for my M7. Please get your act together... soon.