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Carphone Warehouse Smashed My Streak

Crap 1st post I know. A word of warning to anyone considering getting a Streak from these guys..
So I took my Dell Streak back to Carphone Warehouse as it had reception problems. They refused to replace the device and insisted on sending it to be "Repaired". 2 weeks later it finally arrives back in store for me to collect. Now, not only was the back plate bent but the screen is smashed...Storm back to the Store where they ummed and ahhed and proceeded to "Call Support" who, apparently, had to email their repair center to investigate as they didnt know their phone number?! Cant tell me IF they will replace the device let alone when...I would seriously warn people against buying devices from this company. Simply the worst service I have ever seen.

just phone dell directly and tell them what happened, be very demanding they will send you new device... that's what I did when I bricked my streak while updating to 2.1. Just got the new phone this morning

Interesting. Might give that a go in the morning. So gutted, was really looking to firing 2.1 onto it!

Please keep us informed how you get on

Despite my protests they are going to repair it again. Noone can tell me how long this will take. I truly cant believe this is happening! It took them 2 weeks to screw it up this badly. How long will it take them to actually get it back to me working?! Anyone got Charles Dunstone`s email address? I have some choice words for him regarding his so called company.

I would phone dell and inform them what is going on and how unhappy you are about it plus i would be Bombarding CPW's Head office with complaints via email and letter

Been going at it via Twitter, Phone, Reddit and Email.

have you put it in writing?
Have you given them a definite time period to replace/repair it ?
if the answer is yes then go to your trading standards department and get them involved to help you out..

Yes that is a good idea Fards and you can never beat a good old letter to one of the board members.
I had an Acer lappy broke, cut a long story short they would not repair it so found out who was on the board from PC WORLD as i got it from there and sent a letter every day to a different Board member a week later i got a voucher to go and choose a new lappy to the value of £600 but i originally only paid £400 so good result in the end

lufc said:
Yes that is a good idea Fards and you can never beat a good old letter to one of the board members.
I had an Acer lappy broke, cut a long story short they would not repair it so found out who was on the board from PC WORLD as i got it from there and sent a letter every day to a different Board member a week later i got a voucher to go and choose a new lappy to the value of £600 but i originally only paid £400 so good result in the end
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heh, i did something similar back in the day when woolworths was about. brought minidisc player from them and a week later it died, after multiple visits,emails,letters, phone calls they wouldnt replace it or refund it so i started to send 3000 xrated post cards to multiple woolys stores aswell as the head offices of kingfisher,managers,shareholders. it made the news/local papers and 1month later i got vouchers worth 3k through the mail. totally made up for all the money id spent of postcards n stamps

Waiting for a call from them today. Have consulted trading standards and will be proceeding with a letter if I get no joy from CPW today.

mrdegriz said:
Waiting for a call from them today. Have consulted trading standards and will be proceeding with a letter if I get no joy from CPW today.
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That's ma Boy, keep us informed

Hi all,
I have to agree with the OP and seriously warn anyone off from buying a Streak through CPW as there support and customer service for the Streak is worthless although my story is a little different.
On Sunday 8th August my Streak suddenly started flashing the three lights and going into a reboot loop so first thing Monday morning phoned 02 who told me to speak to CPW. So phoned CPW who told me to take it into a store which i did was then told they don't and can't repair or exchange Streaks and to contact Dell. Spoke to Dell who told me to go back to CPW oh what fun escalated up to a manager who again insisted go back to Dell and that he would look at what could be done phoned me back to say he will call again tomorrow as had no news and haven't heard from him since.
Tuesday received an E-Mail from Dell with the phone number to call which i did was told it takes 48hrs to arrange UPS collection and the up to 10 days before i would get it or a new one back.
Thursday still no collection by UPS so phone Dell told to wait 24hrs more which i did and still no collection.
Friday call Dell again and explain it still has not been collected and ask what is going on told what i was told previously was wrong and that a Streak would be sent to me and arrive within 48hrs business days only. This sounded like the sort of service i expected.
Tuesday UPS turn up for my Streak battery and cover with just a freaking label and no new Streak lucky i had an old Jiffy bag to put it in for it's journey to Hungary and wait another 24hrs to see if my new Streak arrives of course it doesn't.
Wednesday call Dell yet again and eventually get transfered to a manager explain everything that has happened and has been said including the fact it took 8 days to collect via UPS and on Friday i was told i would have new Streak by Tuesday. I explain this is unacceptable customer service as i am paying line rental on a device i can't use that has hardware fault and it has taken 8 days just to collect and i was told i would have a new device with me by Tuesday.
He tries to tell me thier systems aren't set up right as it's new and sorry for the delay i explain as a customer that really shouldn't be my problem and that if they can't support selling a product they shouldn't sell it. Say's he will look into it and call me back with an update of course no return call as of yet.
So far i have been really calm and polite but enough is enough tomorrow i am not going to accept being fobbed of with promised call backs i want a new Streak sent to me within 48hrs especially as i read that Dell are doing this for people so why not me.
I would advise not buying anything not from the Network the reason i bought my Streak from CPW in the first place and not 02 was it was meant to be Sim Free as all CPW normally are and i was going to get it sooner. It turns out i got it after i could of from an 02 store it's not Sim Free as in unlocked and CPW are totally useless and offer no support even though they sold me the device.
I love my Streak and think it's a great device but Dell seriously need to get their act together or forget selling smart phones a not very happy Streak user right now.
Marc

Just rang the little dears to be told "We dont open til 10" They must need a lie in after a hard days ripping people off!!

Apparently, now it has gone to Birmingham..Bloody phone gets around more than I do!! I have to wait a week for my replacement...By which time CPW will have had my Streak for as long as I have...Superb!

@mrdegriz
I have no idea why yours has gone to Birmingham as i was told CPW can't repair Streaks as they don't have any parts or software to do so. As i said above mine took 9 days to be collected by UPS and is now on its way to Hungary and should be back within 10 days which i will be interested to see how true that turns out.
Both CPW and Dell have been utterly useless and after this i won't be dealing with either of them again nor 02 for that matter. I have just bought a Galaxy S direct from VodaFone and will sell the Streak or just use it for mucking around with if and when it ever gets back.
Marc

dell streak ordering problems.

I just ordered a dell streak. standard att one and its the carbon black one. I had one about a month ago and due to bills i sold it. Got what i paid for it. Well i purchased another and when i ordered it from dell i never received shipping. I called them today. A week after i ordered. They tell me the phone order is on hold due to the phone being unavailable. Anyone have any info on this or had the same problems?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=882465

I've been having to get mine replaced (I'll be on my fourth when I get my next replacement next week) and I just got a call saying they're on back order. Maybe because there's a new one or they're going to start loading them with froyo?

Dell Warranty Claim Rant...

Hey Gang,
Been dealing with Dell customer care over 3 weeks now trying to get my Streak replaced and it has been a nightmare... I just wanted to share my story with the community...
So I have had my Streak for about 2 months. When i first got it, i noticed the LCD would bleed if i put any pressure on the corner of the earpiece, I didn't think much of it until the bleeding became permanent and my screen began to wither away like it was cancerous.... So I call Dell's mobile service customer care area and explain to the nice lady my problem. She was very helpful and took it very seriously and said they would go ahead and send me a replacement ASAP and I should receive it in a couple of days and would get an email that day with the details of the claim. Great! Case closed or so I thought... That was call number one...
Next day still no email, i call them back and the lady i talk to says they didn't have my phone number so they couldn't send the email? Ok, whatever, here is my phone number, and the email arrives an hour later. Check online at the status of my claim and the claim has no info, but i don't worry about it until a few days later when nothing is updated. Called back, guy i talked to was rude and said the order was pending and it should updated by noon, noon nothing happens, i call back and the guys says it is pending and that they are probably on back order, he has no idea how long. At this point i am pissed... the next day i check online again and the order has been canceled for some reason! Call back again (call number 5) and the guy is like, oh must have been a mistake i will open a new order for you, "fuuuuuuu!!!". Couple of days later, no update on the new order, call back and the guy spews the same BS, ask to talk to manager and he says he will take care of it. By the end of the day it is shipped out. Receive it last Friday, 3 weeks after initial call, pop in my sim card and the phone is locked to another network!!! Has the rogers crapware on it but wont accept a rogers sim... FML... call them back, Friday morning, the lady says i will have to call back on Monday as the department that does the unlocks is unavailable... Call back this (Monday) morning and the lady i talked to said the IM was down with the dept that does the unlocking and she would call me back before lunch, no call back so i call again, another lady i talk to looks into it and says i will have to wait 48-72 hrs to get the code. I ask to talk to the manager and he says the same thing, that the only way they can get it is to email the other dept and wait for a reply. "So you cant phone them?" "no" "You are saying that Dell cant contact Dell to get an unlock code for a Dell phone?" "no" "I can go online and spend $20 and get the phone unlocked in 5 mins and you, Dell, the makers of this phone, are telling me i have to wait another week to unlock the phone that they took 3 weeks to replace, all the while paying for mobile data services that i cant use?" "yes"
So this is where I stand now... who knows when i will get this beast unlocked...
Just wanted to vent, i know it is a long post but just wanted to warn people that you have to stay on top of these guys every day if you want to get anything done...

Fire off an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) to Michael Dell, using either of the following addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Follow these tips: http://consumerist.com/2007/05/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb.html . You won't have to do steps 3-5 because the list is already in this post. I do believe once the owner of the company is made aware of a problem from one of his customers, it will get resolved VERY quickly.

As the other post said, tell Mike. I did on an issue that was not getting resolved for weeks. It took literally 12 hours from when I sent the email to when I got satisfaction.

If you just call the main dell line, you'll bounce to india and then bounce to the dell streak call center. They should be more than happy to give you the unlock.
When I had to rma my phone they were quite easy about getting me my phone. In fact, I think it came unlocked. Can you not unlock your sim or something?
I didn't read the whole thread so I probably missed something about it.

Sounds pretty similar to my experience minus the unlock issue. Mine bled to death within hours of unboxing, then they sent me a still broken refurb to replace my dead of box new phone. In the end it took 3 weeks and 2 replacements to get a working one. Oh and that was only because I called and harrassed them constantly. I'd probably still not have a phone today since it was "on back order"

Update: Still no unlock code... Sent a nice email to Michael Dell explaining the problem but haven't heard back, sent the following follow up this morning after my conversation with "customer service"
This is an update to my previous email. As I received no reply from the supervisor who promised to call me back within the next 48 hours, I called back yesterday (Wednesday, May 18th). The representative I talked to assured me that the unlock code would be emailed to me yesterday. I explained that I had been given timelines before and was promised that I would be emailed the code yesterday. I was not emailed the code. I called back this morning and just got off the phone with another supervisor. He now tells me that I will have to wait another 2 days to receive the code. I have explained to him how many times I have attempted to get this issue resolved and the supervisor would not budge. He promised to call me back within 2 days, I explained that I had been made that promise many times and I did not believe it would happen, I requested to be transferred to a manager but the supervisor said that the manager was too busy to talk to me. Alas, nothing has changed. I am still paying for services that I am not using. I am continuing to vent my frustrations online at every opportunity and will go out of my way to ensure that consumers are aware of the poor service that awaits them if they chose to purchase Dell products.
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How did you get them to replace it? my screen under the glass has cracked from simply tapping the home button. They are telling me that the screen isn't "hardware" and not covered by the warranty and i have to pay $249!
my damage wasn't caused by "external causes such as accident, abuse, misuse, or problems with electrical power" and should be covered by warranty!

Done With Dell For GOOD!!!

Back in late January I had an issue with my DVP that caused me to call dell mobility and order a replacement (when I closed the keyboard the phone would restart). I received the replacement device and it seemed my problem with my original device stopped. So I called dell mobility and told them I would be returning the replacement. Sent it back with their prepaid label via UPS.
A couple weeks past and I received a call from Dell telling me they had not received the device back at their warehouse. I advised them of the approximate date of when I shipped it back and they noted my account accordingly. Another couple weeks past and they say they still hadn't received it back. I then provided them with the return tracking information which clearly showed it had been signed for back at their warehouse (TN or TX I can't remember where it went back to). From that point, the representative told me to disregard any further communications regarding the matter.
About a month ago I received a letter from D&S collections stating that my Dell account has been sold to them and they are trying to collect on a debt for $336. I immediately called dell mobility and spoke with a representative who initially gave me a hard time because I couldn't provide her with my service tag number. After having me on hold for 15 minutes she came back to me and apologized and said a supervisor (Robert or Heather if I remember correctly) would be following up with me the following Monday May 16th.
Monday came and went with no phone call. I called Dell mobility on Monday towards the end of the business day and immediately asked for Robert, the representative put me on hold for 10 minutes and Robert finally came on the line. I explained the situation to him and that the fix was simple: to withdraw the debt from the collection agency and advise them to remove any derogatory information that they may have reported to the 3 major credit bureaus.
He explained to me that the department that would handle this type of situation is the collections department within dell and that there is no way he can contact that department directly. All he could do on his end was file a request that would take 30 days to complete. At that point I asked him for his supervisors name which he refused to give me.
After arguing with him for the next 20 minutes berating him and what not he finally gave me his supervisors name (Josh) and advised me that he was the call center manager for dell mobility and that I could contact him the following business day.
I called back on Tuesday and asked for Josh and he told me some bull **** about the collections department doing these type of things and that he has contacts in corporate that he would be forwarding my situation to and told me he would be following up with me the following day. Wednesday came only to find he had one of his employees contact me and tell me they haven't made any headway regarding the matter and that they would be in contact with me.
With all the issues I've had with this phone (freezing while browsing over 3G, phone restarts while closing the keyboard yes the problem came back, and the ****ty camera) I will never EVER be purchasing a dell product for as long as I live. I am at the point where if they cannon resolve this matter in a timely fashion I am going to ask for a refund for returning my 6 month old dell venue pro IN ADDITION to them removing the collection account.
Sorry but I am absolutely furious with dell and I am sure I'm not the only one and just wanted to share my 2 cents with the community.

Dell Customer Support Sucks

I bought my Venue pro last week and got it on Wednesday. On Friday, I saw a deal on Venue Pro's for 3months live time, 3 months of zune pass, and 8000 live points for free when you buy a DVP. I have been trying since that day to get Dell to give me that free package and save me the hassle of having to return and buy the phone again. Finally today I have spent 3 and a half hours on the phone , still on the phone, with Dell Support and their only solution is to return and repurchase. This already seems stupid because it should just be a simple transaction on the computer stating i want to return and use the credit to buy the same phone. I do it all the time at work. However, Dell Support is saying it cant be done and that I have to do it there way which takes 15-30 business days to process the phone after it has been received at which point I may or may not receive the package depending on if its still available. This seems completely retarded to me seeing at 15-30 business days translates to 3-6 weeks by which time I'm pretty sure the deal will be gone.
So, to all the people who have a venue pro which falls under the return policy still I ask that you call Dell demand that you be given this package with out this nonsense that they are saying to go through. The package is definitely worth imo its got a regular value of about $160. By the amount of posts about issues with the DVP I think we deserve this package, all of us not just those within the return policy, for having still bought the DVP or having stuck with it.
Also, any help would be appreciated in regards with who to talk to at dell that you may know or what department may be of better help.
Currently I have been told that my call would always be transferred to Dell Mobility even though they only handle technical issues. I have spoken with the supervisor, Robert, he has told me he will send out emails and see if anybody knows another way to do it. ( Don't know if he will really send out an email though) The number for Mobility support is 1-800-308-3355. You might as well ask for Robert right off the bat since the people who work in that call center continuously defer to him when asked this question. (I know because I was transferred there about 3 times and also transferred to other departments before speak to him myself).
I would suggest expressing how disappointing it is that dell requires that and that you cant believe that somebody would require that much just so you can get a code from a offer which may not even be around anymore because it takes 3-6 weeks to process a phone once they receive it.
Post how it works out for you if you do decide to do this and I will also continually update this.

You are seeing another facet of the atrocious experience of owning the dell venue pro. Do yourself a favour and return it now for a refund, in a few months time far better devices will be available which will allow you to actually enjoy what you've bought. Continuing to give dell sales of this POS is what is giving them the balls to continue to sell faulty devices.

I actually like the phone a lot just wish somebody besides Dell had made it. It could still be alright if Microsoft takes control and tells Dell to fix this ****.
Sent from my Venue Pro using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Kenji117 said:
I actually like the phone a lot just wish somebody besides Dell had made it. It could still be alright if Microsoft takes control and tells Dell to fix this ****.
Sent from my Venue Pro using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
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We've been saying this since December, great phone, piss-poor support! Can you imagine 6 months using a phone that crashes on a whim? Nice as the phone is I regret buying it, more so now that I know Nokia will be making WP7 devices. I could have tolerated the HD7 till their phone was released but I fell for the good looks of the dell. But you know what they say, good looks hides an empty shell!

I can not seem to find a single tech person at Dell to reset my contract with AT&T. I urge all of you to not do business with such a crappy company. Spend your hard earned dollars with a company that deserves it. One thing is for sure if the Venue Pro breaks good luck on getting it replaced.

rsohne said:
I can not seem to find a single tech person at Dell to reset my contract with AT&T. I urge all of you to not do business with such a crappy company. Spend your hard earned dollars with a company that deserves it. One thing is for sure if the Venue Pro breaks good luck on getting it replaced.
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i just spent 15 minutes on the phone with a Dell Mobility technician who quickly arranged to send me a replacement DVP because some debris/dust got behind the camera lens. no problem at all.

I have had 2 replacements so far and been sent a SD card. I was instructed to switch out the sd card even after mentioning that it would void the warranty. I later called back because i was still having issues and was told that it was impossible to switch the sd cards when i told the guy how i did it he was confused and surprised.
Having he call center in India and removing the one in texas was a terrible move by dell. I wouldnt call them technicians they have no idea what they are doing. I have had to spends upwards of an hour to get simple things done; like getting a replacement device. The more times you have to call for a replacement the longer it seems to take for them to process it and it isn't because they are reading the notes from previous calls because I have had to explain my situation several times each time I call.
@bbowman
Your call was something that is easy enough to not have to see and just say w/e here's a new device. I am waiting on a replacement device I ordered 2 weeks ago that is supposedly coming sometime this week. When I called to have changes made to the dispatch the guy said he couldn't make changes or take it down until this week, a bit stupid since I am supposed to get the device this week. I tried telling him that the device will have shipped most likely before I call but he didn't seem to understand. Dell's Mobility Support team doesn't use DVP's and I would go so far as to wager that they haven't even seen one.

I agree that Dell's customer support is no good, in specific, their call centers. However, after reaching out on Twitter I have just had two replacement devices sent out for my two DVPs and a direct e-mail address to someone within Dell's social outreach program.
I, like most of you, have been really frustrated with Dell and how it has "launched" the Venue Pro. I think many at Dell are aware of how big of a stinker it is - there was a reason Dell Mobility closed as a business entity and their president quit his job. The DVP is a beautifully designed device with excellent hardware (4 inch AMOLED screen, iphone 4 camera sensor, excellent keyboard) that has been marred by outsourced programming, development, QA and customer support. Anyone who has seen the code of the EM app or had to call for help can testify to this. It's a really sad story and if I was a journalist I'd be trying to write a huge expose on Dell and this super phone that died a slow death at the hands of poor management and outsourcing.
As big of a company as Dell is, there are still support people that want to help you and will do whatever they can to make you happy. In my case it was two brand new retail phones. All you really need to do is be polite and patient with your tweets. Try @DellCares or @AmyatDell as they have both helped me. Don't bother with calling in anymore, we all know that is a waste of time. The future of customer support is one on one interactions through mediums like Twitter and Facebook.

Arcarsenal said:
I agree that Dell's customer support is no good, in specific, their call centers. However, after reaching out on Twitter I have just had two replacement devices sent out for my two DVPs and a direct e-mail address to someone within Dell's social outreach program.
I, like most of you, have been really frustrated with Dell and how it has "launched" the Venue Pro. I think many at Dell are aware of how big of a stinker it is - there was a reason Dell Mobility closed as a business entity and their president quit his job. The DVP is a beautifully designed device with excellent hardware (4 inch AMOLED screen, iphone 4 camera sensor, excellent keyboard) that has been marred by outsourced programming, development, QA and customer support. Anyone who has seen the code of the EM app or had to call for help can testify to this. It's a really sad story and if I was a journalist I'd be trying to write a huge expose on Dell and this super phone that died a slow death at the hands of poor management and outsourcing.
As big of a company as Dell is, there are still support people that want to help you and will do whatever they can to make you happy. In my case it was two brand new retail phones. All you really need to do is be polite and patient with your tweets. Try @DellCares or @AmyatDell as they have both helped me. Don't bother with calling in anymore, we all know that is a waste of time. The future of customer support is one on one interactions through mediums like Twitter and Facebook.
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I did...in march

Bought a second hand DVP and had some screen issues, washed out colors and blacking out, so i figured i'd give customer care a shot. While it was frustrating for many of the reasons the OP has already identified, by then end of the conversation i had a new one being shipped to my house. I was also a little curious when the CSR told me to take out the microsd, but I had him document it in the file that he had told me to do so.
Overall, I wasn't too disappointed with the customer service, but i will hold my tongue until the replacement comes in.
bbowman said:
i just spent 15 minutes on the phone with a Dell Mobility technician who quickly arranged to send me a replacement DVP because some debris/dust got behind the camera lens. no problem at all.
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dell's consumer support does blow.. so don't call them. Make friends with someone in your IT dept and have them call the enterprise level support.

I too had similar experience as OP...
I order and pay $79.99 for my DVP on 6/14, get my DVP on 7/17 (ya, a month later). The day my DVP arrives at my house it goes on sale for .99 cents on the website. So I call Dell and plead my case respectfully for a price match, but no one cared. Finally I asked them point blank "Am I going to have to add another line to my plan, order a new DVP at the same time, then when that phone gets to my house, return my other DVP and cancel that line on my account", the rep actually said yes and that's what I did, still waiting for Dell to confirm to T-Mobile that my phone is returned but either way I am getting my 79.99 back. They did offer me $15 off if I wouldn't return it though, I told them $80 lol he laughed and said no...But I have had some terrible experiences with Dell customer service in the short time I have owned this Dell product and they are the worst, its like sprint was 4 years ago...It doesn't help that I have the hardest time understanding accents, its just dang tough for me, always has been

Got my replacement over-night shipped to Hawaii. Never seen that happen before in my life. Now to see if it works.

And to make things worse they closed the last North American call center, it's all out of india now!