I just want to get a bead on what is going on here.
I was window Shopping in the Sprint store this morning & a guy had an OG EVO with a faulty charge port.
Before I go on, note the following:
1.I'm not sure of what insurance plan he had (it could be either TEP+Asu, or just Asurion) so this is where I need your help in clarification. But he definitely has insurance.
2. This particular Sprint Store has the Repair Center.
3. I didn't see a repair tech chime in on the conversation. (Odd as usually the repair techs themselves tell you what can or can't be done. Duties & Policies change so you never know here.)
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He explained this issue to the floor reps & the floor rep told him that they would have to refer him to Asurion ($100+) & get the phone repaired or possibly replaced that way as he claimed it was physical damage.
This customer was no newb (assuming, sounded like he had a clue & a goal anyway) to how this works & explained that he knew this was a common issue as at least two people he knew of, had that same issue with the charge port failing. He did not mention their experience on getting this issue resolved. He called it a defect & it wasn't from him abusing or dropping the phone, which he happily showed in great condition. (I agreed, silently).
They talked back & forth- in small circles getting to this:
The Floor Rep (who sounded very sure of this) said there was nothing this Sprint store could do, they couldn't fix or get him a new/refurb phone because it was technically still considered physical damage.
This went back & forth for about 10 more minutes & the customer was pissed. (Didn't curse or get childish) but he was disgusted that we would have to pay $100 for a manufacturer defect & that the Sprint "repair" center couldn't help him.
He rode on this wave of anger & promptly asked to cancel his service with Sprint. The floor rep easily complied to start the process. (Me thinking: WTF Idiot rep, get the manager!) I face-palmed after that & I left while they were going over the termination.
Now my question/s:
Was the rep right about what they couldn't do for that time of damage/defect? Was this the result because the customer lacking the TEP portion of his insurance?
Are some repair centers more capable than others for this type of damage?
Has some portions of coverage been removed recently aside from the "rarely charged for" $35 screen repairs?
Question for Sprint employees/ former employees: What options can you use to deter a customer from leaving in a situation like that? I feel the rep could've at least put up an inch of a fight to assist in a situation like that or request aid from a manager.
Excuse any spelling or editing errors.
I'm gonna go on a limb here and say that the sprint rep just wanted to show him who the boss was. I've never had any problems with the tech stores here repairing anything from broken screens to broken power buttons. Unless you bring your phone in two pieces or has been physically damaged they should warranty it out.
IMHO
The rep, IMHO, was incorrect for arguing with the customer over what was physical or man. defect. Being a Sprint TC, we are usually asked to go out and inspect the device, open it up and see whether the soldering points are intact or not. you can spot the difference rather quickly when it comes to defect or physical. The rep should have either gotten a TC involved or better yet a manager involved immediately. Most customers, and i mean that with all due respect to both parties, would much rather hear the reasoning from someone who is supposed to know what they are talking about. for some reason customers that i talk to seem to leave in a happier mood after speaking with me over the issue. I have had to step in during a heated discussion between a rep and a customer over issues like this, and I'm not even a lead, just a simple TC. Personally, I think it tends to sound a little more official from the person hired to actually WORK on the devices rather than hear from someone who simply sells it. We spend more time on our job opening them open and inspecting them, just like the reps spend their time selling customers on the device. just my opinion, I'm not looking to start a feud by any means
your response sounds more like a regular store experience for me..
Hypeo said:
I'm gonna go on a limb here and say that the sprint rep just wanted to show him who the boss was. I've never had any problems with the tech stores here repairing anything from broken screens to broken power buttons. Unless you bring your phone in two pieces or has been physically damaged they should warranty it out.
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Yeah same here, I never had an experience like that. But it's been since the HTC Hero (2 years ago) that I've flexed my TEP. At this very store.
And then the sight of this floor rep allowing a current subscriber to leave without any counter-action. (IMHO: is worse than some random would be customer leaving). You don't have to be in retentions to save a subscriber.
I always have the golden rule of try trice (with different reps/stores) before deeming a crap policy as fact. But this guy was understandably baffled at how useless his experience was that led up to him cancelling.
dgomez720 said:
The rep should have either gotten a TC involved or better yet a manager involved immediately. Most customers, and i mean that with all due respect to both parties, would much rather hear the reasoning from someone who is supposed to know what they are talking about.
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Exactly. When he 1st came in explaining his visit, I thought he would log & direct him a TC.
dgomez720 said:
The rep, IMHO, was incorrect for arguing with the customer over what was physical or man. defect. Being a Sprint TC, we are usually asked to go out and inspect the device, open it up and see whether the soldering points are intact or not. you can spot the difference rather quickly when it comes to defect or physical. The rep should have either gotten a TC involved or better yet a manager involved immediately. Most customers, and i mean that with all due respect to both parties, would much rather hear the reasoning from someone who is supposed to know what they are talking about. for some reason customers that i talk to seem to leave in a happier mood after speaking with me over the issue. I have had to step in during a heated discussion between a rep and a customer over issues like this, and I'm not even a lead, just a simple TC. Personally, I think it tends to sound a little more official from the person hired to actually WORK on the devices rather than hear from someone who simply sells it. We spend more time on our job opening them open and inspecting them, just like the reps spend their time selling customers on the device. just my opinion, I'm not looking to start a feud by any means
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I agree with you, as a customer it does sound more official to hear the response from the person who is paid to actually work on the devices. A lot of people view salespeople as just that, salespeople. Someone to sell you something that you probably don't want or need, not someone to fix something that you have already bought and need repaired.
However, from a customer's point of view, he also may be arguing over the fact that it is for things like this in which he bought the insurance to begin with. If I'm spending $8 per month for God knows how long, the last thing I want to hear is "No, we won't repair your phone." In that case, Sprint could really do a better job of educating its customers as to what the insurance really covers. Most people view it as the equivalent of the add-on service plan that you can get at Best Buy or everywhere else, which basically will get your device fixed or replaced (or some money back) if your device fails after the manufacturer's warranty runs out. Apparently that isn't the case with TEP, however that's not how the salespeople sell it. I was in a Sprint store last month with my Dad upgrading his phone, and the sales rep offered it to us by saying "If anything goes wrong with your phone, bring it in and we'll repair it."
He had to backpedal when I started asking him questions about fixing water damage and extreme gross physical neglect...
BigJohn
Same exact thing happened to me. I called Sprint and still no luck. I eventually had a screen problem and the store replaced the phone for me.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
I think that is a prime example of ignorance and lack of care for customers. I have been to many crappy sprint stores who have done similar things. Fortunately I have found a sprint store in my neighborhood who treats their customers with respect and are mostly knowledgeable. Tbh that customer should have escalated it to talk to the manager or just go to another sprint store.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
The repair stores are filled with 1 good person to fix phones and 5 idiots. They all depend on 1 tech to actually fix things, and when they can't, the only solution to their problem is.. uh.. Ill have to have u call Asurion. Idiotttts.
This is exactly why the reps in my store immediately hand off any problem phones to a tech. They ask qualifying questions but never argue with the customer. It's up to the tech to determine what's wrong with the phone, and if necessary, "argue" with the customer.
I always explain TEP with a car analogy. You pay an insurance premium on your car in order to carry coverage. If you wreck your car, you pay a deductible and have it fixed.
Evo charging port is a very sensitive issue. I've had some that are obvious physical damage yet the customer still argues and calls me a liar.
So what does TEP actually cover?
cmsjr123 said:
So what does TEP actually cover?
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Ability to get upgrades every 1 year instead of every 2 years. That's about it.
Sent from my EVO
I find that going to an authorized retailer with a repair center works better, I went to a sprint store and they wanted me too buy this or that, battery, etc... Went to a reseller and they replaced my uninsured phone for $35, under faulty USB charger. Also try to go on days they aren't slammed with customers so they can give you the proper attention..
mbaseball3 said:
Ability to get upgrades every 1 year instead of every 2 years. That's about it.
Sent from my EVO
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Seriously?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
DirtyShroomz said:
Seriously?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
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Lol, yeah! I envy everyone else here with their success stories. Sprint stores do chit here for their customers! I'm on a 6 line business plan and they say sorry can't help you any time I walk in to a repair center. We been with sprint since a little before Nextel merger; how ever many years ago that was. I have yet to get a phone properly taken care of even with our insurance. I feel that when they see that there is an issue in device and that they should fix, they just point me to asurion. They never help. Feed us excuse after excuse. Anyone in the orange county area of California have good repair center experiences? Won't be surprised if all responses are No!
Sent from my EVO
mbaseball3 said:
Ability to get upgrades every 1 year instead of every 2 years. That's about it.
Sent from my EVO
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Umm, absolutely not.
Hmmm
I've had my share of issues with the Sprint store where I live. Almost from the time I got the phone I was having issues with it and all they were willing to was a factory reset. They actually let me sit in the store for over an hour (with my two year old son) the last time I went. After we were both tired of sitting I got up and asked the tech about it. He told me "Oh yeah, well the screen is locked and I couldn't get into it" I was floored and pissed off. Someone could have asked me considering I told them I would wait. After that I decided it was time for me to figure it all out on my own.
mskeys2xx3 said:
I've had my share of issues with the Sprint store where I live. Almost from the time I got the phone I was having issues with it and all they were willing to was a factory reset. They actually let me sit in the store for over an hour (with my two year old son) the last time I went. After we were both tired of sitting I got up and asked the tech about it. He told me "Oh yeah, well the screen is locked and I couldn't get into it" I was floored and pissed off. Someone could have asked me considering I told them I would wait. After that I decided it was time for me to figure it all out on my own.
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Wow
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
mskeys2xx3 said:
I've had my share of issues with the Sprint store where I live. Almost from the time I got the phone I was having issues with it and all they were willing to was a factory reset. They actually let me sit in the store for over an hour (with my two year old son) the last time I went. After we were both tired of sitting I got up and asked the tech about it. He told me "Oh yeah, well the screen is locked and I couldn't get into it" I was floored and pissed off. Someone could have asked me considering I told them I would wait. After that I decided it was time for me to figure it all out on my own.
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We have data preservation sheets for that, which all customers are required to sign. It includes a place to draw your pattern lock or write down any other codes.
Well it would have been nice if someone had asked/told me that when they took my phone. I like just stop talking and give me my phone back before I am unable to control this urge to punch you in the face.
Related
Because my Nexus one had a dead/stuck pixel, I called H.T.C. and requested a repair. I sent it to them, and a few days later they said that they had examined it and determined that I needed to pay for the repair. I asked them why, and they replied that it was scratched and cracked.
Well, when I sent it to them, I had an invisible shield (a full body one, mind you) on it, and there nary a blemish on the screen. I told them this, and after a few days (and a couple more telephone calls), one of their managers had a technician examine it, found that it was fine, and said that they would fix it for free.
I received it on Monday, but didn't touch it until Wednesday because I was busy at work and waiting for the new invisible shield that I had ordered. When I used it, I noticed that they had removed the invisible shield, which I expected, but they hadn't fixed the stuck pixel! (Besides this, I had returned it to them with the original box, which they didn't send back to me)
So I called them last night and requested another repair. The representative asked me if they had charged my account for the shipping, and I answered truthfully that no, they had not charged me at all. I suppose that I am fortunate that they didn't, considering the other things they did. So now I am sending my Nexus One back two weeks after I returned it to them the first time, hoping that they will fix it properly, and without any argument.
HTC never charges you for return shipping. You only have to pay to ship it to them.
I am sorry you are having these troubles!
I successfully swapped my Nexus One due to a dead pixel within 3 days! I made a call on Day one at 11pm and by Day 3 at 8 am I had my replacement phone.
uansari1 said:
HTC never charges you for return shipping. You only have to pay to ship it to them.
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That's a bit crap, in the UK they email you a pre-paid shipping label.
I live in the U.S.A., and they sent me a prepaid shipping label. I'm just ticked off because I sent it to them, argued with them for four days, and they didn't even fix it, and two weeks later I need to send it right back. Plus it cost me another Invisible Shield.
Swap method is always better, faster, and easier. Plus, you get a new phone. Who doesn't love that?
They said that they couldn't swap it because it was too far (a few weeks) the purchase date. Maybe the person I spoke to didn't know what she was talking about. That's sort of my impression of the support division of the company, though I know I'm probably having an unrepresentative bad experience.
keet said:
They said that they couldn't swap it because it was too far (a few weeks) the purchase date. .
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I think this is BS from HTC. I swapped my N1 after almost two months. They will put a hold on your credit card; if you can live with that the replacement is much faster than the repair.
I'll consider that if they don't fix it properly this time. I didn't want to swap it because of my engraving and the full-body invisible shield that I put on it, but if they don't fix it this time, I probably won't be willing to trust their repair department again.
I had much better customer service from Apple when I had my iPhone ..I'm getting really annoyed with HTC ...especialy with that multitouch issue..
I have a question. Did they release $28 after you got your 'repaired' phone?
bobdude5 said:
I had much better customer service from Apple when I had my iPhone ..I'm getting really annoyed with HTC ...especialy with that multitouch issue..
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I had a dead easy time with apple and my wife's 3G and her 3GS ... you walk in with the broken phone, they demand £150 (ish) for the repair which is always your fault. They then do an estimate and if its expensive (ie > £150) they turn round and say it's BER (beyond economical repair) and offer to sell you a new one. If it's a cheap fix (ie cracked glass) they repair it and pocket the £150.
Now that is customer service!
Other issues such as the 3G problem on the iPhone where it cascades from 3G to Edge to GRPS to No Service and the only way to get it back is to either power off or switch to airplane mode and back. Took it into two phone shops and then the Apple store in London and their solution? Turn off 3G.
Although their best to date is a macbook which I hardly ever use stopped charging. Rang up and they said bring it in to the Genius Bar in 2 weeks. I did, they then said it's warranty expired yesterday (13 days after I reported the fault) and refused to touch it. Demanded to see the manager said they would do me a favour and look at it for free as it was only 1 day outside warranty. They checked the battery and it had been charged 37 times in a year. The guy said this was quite heavy use and was a years worth and I would have to buy a new battery! Queue one massive kick off in the Apple store, resulting in them begrudgingly fitted a new battery!
Or the iMac 24" ATI I bought that crashed all the time, they gave me 3 units before I read on the internet that it was a software issue. I started running XP and voila ... sorted. Apple rolled out a fix quietly without telling anyone a month or so later.
Yes Apple support rocks!
All modern companies support sucks in some cases ... get used to it. Sell a million units and if you get 99% satisfaction you will get 10000 unhappy customers. Give them a platform to shout on and voila!
I bet not everyone gets Apple support like I do, some people probably can't believe how good they are.
Anyway, enough ranting, I wish google would fix the screen calibration issue although I only need to dab the power button and unlock it to fix mine.
keet said:
They said that they couldn't swap it because it was too far (a few weeks) the purchase date. Maybe the person I spoke to didn't know what she was talking about. That's sort of my impression of the support division of the company, though I know I'm probably having an unrepresentative bad experience.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Having worked in multiple call centers let me be the first to tell you that it's hard to find intelligence or common sense in them. I work in a call center for AT&T right now and I do work for the Vice President and Assistant Vice President because nobody else knows what they're doing. As soon as they realized that I had common sense and knowledge of technology they took me off of the phone, gave me a raise and converted me from Contractor to Employee. I asked my Director "Why do you let the managers hire people who are so ignorant" His reply was "I'm paying them $17/hr, I don't expect them to think. We have the information and tools set in place to think for them. If I wanted them to think then I would hire people with a higher intelligence and I would pay them more. Instead, I have people like you come up with tools and other things to think for them"
So this is why I hate when people say "I called T-Mobile and they said..." because that means nothing. You can get a different answer every time because most of them don't know the answer because your questions are above their level of intelligence. Now, I'm in no way saying that every person who works in a call center is an idiot. I'm saying that a large percentage of them do not understand anything about what they're troubleshooting.
I was reading a survey in P.C. Magazine about customers' ratings of the service and product quality from companies such as Apple, Toshiba, and Hewlett-Packard. They rated things such as the frequency with which hardware was found to be faulty soon after purchase, how easy it was to have it replaced, and other such topics. Apple did rank first overall, and Toshiba ranked second. This doesn't surprise me, since I have a ten year old Toshiba Tecra 8100 that still runs fine, though I've fixed the screen hinges.
H.T.C. was not in their listing, and I had never dealt with their support before. I replaced my X51v's screen myself after having it for three years and getting some water damage (I also replaced the backup battery later), and that's working fine now. I'm kind of nervous now -- I half expect my Nexus One to come back with real scratches on the screen, or more dead pixels, or some other problem that it didn't have before. After they already accused me of damaging it last time, I sort of wonder what they might damage to do with it this time -- something worse than sending it back unfixed.
jin1207 said:
I have a question. Did they release $28 after you got your 'repaired' phone?
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Yes, they did; they didn't charge me any money.
dumbestcrayon said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Having worked in multiple call centers let me be the first to tell you that it's hard to find intelligence or common sense in them. I work in a call center for AT&T right now and I do work for the Vice President and Assistant Vice President because nobody else knows what they're doing. As soon as they realized that I had common sense and knowledge of technology they took me off of the phone, gave me a raise and converted me from Contractor to Employee. I asked my Director "Why do you let the managers hire people who are so ignorant" His reply was "I'm paying them $17/hr, I don't expect them to think. We have the information and tools set in place to think for them. If I wanted them to think then I would hire people with a higher intelligence and I would pay them more. Instead, I have people like you come up with tools and other things to think for them"
So this is why I hate when people say "I called T-Mobile and they said..." because that means nothing. You can get a different answer every time because most of them don't know the answer because your questions are above their level of intelligence. Now, I'm in no way saying that every person who works in a call center is an idiot. I'm saying that a large percentage of them do not understand anything about what they're troubleshooting.
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dwl, classic!! Are you also saying any one with great talking skills can get the job as customer rep too?
keet said:
Yes, they did; they didn't charge me any money.
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Thanks, buddy. I can let mine go to repairing.
Hope you get what you expect
I sent it back to them last Thursday, of course, and received a message on Monday saying that they had received it. Today, I received another message saying that they had completed their diagnostics, and guess what my option was? Pay for repair, just like last time! I sent a response asking why and called them, but all the morons in their customer service department could do was 'escalate' it, so I just sent a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.
bobdude5 said:
I had much better customer service from Apple when I had my iPhone ..I'm getting really annoyed with HTC ...especialy with that multitouch issue..
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I would be careful saying anything pro apple on this forum, lol.
I have been pretty lucky with both of my htc products so far. My N1 is great and so was my G1.
keet said:
I sent it back to them last Thursday, of course, and received a message on Monday saying that they had received it. Today, I received another message saying that they had completed their diagnostics, and guess what my option was? Pay for repair, just like last time! I sent a response asking why and called them, but all the morons in their customer service department could do was 'escalate' it, so I just sent a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.
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By chance did they answer your question? or at least tell you the results of the diagnostics and how much they charging?
This updated bricked my non-rooted, normal, perfectly running no light-leak or battery issue EVO 4G.
To add insult to injury, when I returned the phone to the Sprint store where I got it, I was told that they didn't have any in stock and wouldn't until "Thursday or Friday". In addition, due to what I would consider to be a very minor scratch on the bezel (not on the screen), which they didn't even notice until I pointed it out to them, they would need to charge me a $25 restocking fee. I argued that this was Sprint's problem not mine, I just downloaded an OTA update to fix a bunch of bugs that were in their software. They said it was policy and there was nothing that could be done about it. And if I wanted to exercise my 30-day out, it would be a $50 restocking fee.
After getting home and calling Sprint to complain, I learned that the store I bought the phone at was actually *not* an official store, rather an independent store called "Sprint Store by InMobile" that only *looked* like a real Sprint store. There is honestly no way to tell the difference. I'm new to Sprint, ditched my beloved iPhone for this thing, how am I supposed to know the difference between a real sprint store and one that's just trying to look like one?
I feel like I've been totally duped. So now I have no phone for a week while I wait to pay $25 for a new phone that actually works the way it was advertised.
posting here will do what ? make you feel better ?
hey man. totally feel for ya. i feel front line employees in a lot of corporate stores have a personal vendetta against their customers... they'll use 'rules' to try to piss off anyone that comes across them...
anyways, i would email sprint customer care... they will take care of you in 99% of cases. this is better than calling because there is a higher chance of you getting tier 2 / tier 3 support and you have written documentation of their promises. just explain exactly what happened and those sensible people will hook you up. good luck and let us know what happens.
I didn't know XDA was the new LiveJournal.
Sorry you had such a bad experience.
I'm really sorry to hear about this, randy. I agree with muncheroo. I'd be willing to bet that if you emailed customer service, you'd find someone who was willing to put a $25 credit on your account for your trouble.
Look on the bright side: at least you can hold your phone with your left hand!
(just a little humor to lighten the mood) Hang in there!
Sporkman said:
posting here will do what ? make you feel better ?
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Posting here will document my problems, potentially alert other members of my issue (and hopefully helping them avoid an issue), and provide some small form of repercussion against Sprint and InMobile for potential new customers.
randymac88 said:
This updated bricked my non-rooted, normal, perfectly running no light-leak or battery issue EVO 4G.
To add insult to injury, when I returned the phone to the Sprint store where I got it, I was told that they didn't have any in stock and wouldn't until "Thursday or Friday". In addition, due to what I would consider to be a very minor scratch on the bezel (not on the screen), which they didn't even notice until I pointed it out to them, they would need to charge me a $25 restocking fee. I argued that this was Sprint's problem not mine, I just downloaded an OTA update to fix a bunch of bugs that were in their software. They said it was policy and there was nothing that could be done about it. And if I wanted to exercise my 30-day out, it would be a $50 restocking fee.
After getting home and calling Sprint to complain, I learned that the store I bought the phone at was actually *not* an official store, rather an independent store called "Sprint Store by InMobile" that only *looked* like a real Sprint store. There is honestly no way to tell the difference. I'm new to Sprint, ditched my beloved iPhone for this thing, how am I supposed to know the difference between a real sprint store and one that's just trying to look like one?
I feel like I've been totally duped. So now I have no phone for a week while I wait to pay $25 for a new phone that actually works the way it was advertised.
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I agree that the update bricking devices is unacceptable, but You have to wait because the evo is out of stock everywhere. Not the store's fault. Also, why in the world would you want to point out that your phone has a scratch? You're lucky they're even letting you exchange it, the phone is supposed to be in like new, mint condition if it's going to be returned.
Also there is no restocking fee for doing the 30-day return.
http://www.sprint.com/landings/returns/
Just tell the store to suck it. But if you're upset that you have to wait, you're in the same boat with a few people. I am waiting for my local RadioShack to get some so I can swap it out. Nothing can be done about it, the phone is in high demand.
Check your local laws for information on restocking fees. Most states have some type of limit or just outright make them illegal. But places continue to charge them because hey, who reads laws anyway, right? Hah.
That being said, while Sprint does not charge a restocking fee for cancellations/returns, third parties certainly can of their own free will.
Also, from Sprint's 30 day guarantee - "If for any reason you’re not happy and want to cancel service, just call us to deactivate and return to the original place of purchase to return your undamaged phone or mobile broadband card and we’ll:"
Notice the word "undamaged" there. So if Sprint were to review your unit and consider it damaged, that would essentially mean the benefits of the 30-day guarantee would not apply for your phone (and thus, you may be subject to a restocking fee). I don't know how anal Sprint is about that undamaged part, but just a heads up.
In any case, Sprint CS is absolutely wonderful so i would try giving them a call or shooting them an e-mail.
Appreciate the ideas guys, thank you. I told them about the scratch after they said the phone "has to be completely free of any scratches or marks". In my opinion, this is regular wear and tear, it's not like it's got some gash on the side and a broken front panel, and I didn't agree with the rule. If Sprint broke the phone with their dumb update, then Sprint needs to replace the phone. This is their fault, not mine. The scratch caused a small part of the edge to be roughed up, it didn't brick the phone.
Apparently though, the store can charge me the restocking fee because they're not an official sprint store...so, apparently the normal rules don't apply. I still contend it was misleading and really looks like a corporate store.
Good Luck Randymac. You guys being harsh are really being asses. Email Sprint like others have suggested. The only way to get anywhere with their telephone support is to say you want to cancel your account as soon as they answer the phone.
randymac88 said:
Appreciate the ideas guys, thank you. I told them about the scratch after they said the phone "has to be completely free of any scratches or marks". In my opinion, this is regular wear and tear, it's not like it's got some gash on the side and a broken front panel, and I didn't agree with the rule. If Sprint broke the phone with their dumb update, then Sprint needs to replace the phone. This is their fault, not mine. The scratch caused a small part of the edge to be roughed up, it didn't brick the phone.
Apparently though, the store can charge me the restocking fee because they're not an official sprint store...so, apparently the normal rules don't apply. I still contend it was misleading and really looks like a corporate store.
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Post Pics of the Store and one of its employees Let us make that observation.
All joking aside though. By posting something like this only adds to the Tech. bloggers that reads these forums and add fuel to the already big fire they like to flame to get readers. Sprint nor the store did you wrong. They are out of phones and I am sure they wish there were not as they only make money when phones are in stock. Ask customer service what you can do in the meantime to accommodate your unfortunate situation. Perhaps a temp phone you can use. If the sprint store reseller you purchased it from could let you borrow a phone they have laying around( I am sure they do ). I have had AT&T and TMOBILE accommodate me on that one before.
Good luck and be patient.
Sporkman said:
posting here will do what ? make you feel better ?
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Why post in the first place?
Being an ass doesn't help.
To the TC, if you had the ability, I would tell them you were leaving and get a Droid X. That's just downright assholish of them.
Well it seems it's sprint's fault. You of course should get a refund of your billing since you bricked due to them.
Here's a quote from
https://twitter.com/unrevoked
@Sprint: If you accidentally apply the #evo4g OTA twice, your phone becomes a brick. We think it's the radio fw update. Plans to fix?
mrmomoman said:
Post Pics of the Store and one of its employees Let us make that observation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just might post pics to make my point here (I won't really). The outside of the store had only a big Sprint logo and "SPRINT" above the door. The employees wear black polo shirts with a small Sprint logo and the word "SPRINT" above the left breast. Looks real enough for me...
I don't fault Sprint necessarily...I just feel like I got the shaft here. I have to pay $25 for them to fix their problem. Because the store I bought the phone at, despite looking like a Sprint store, and is listed on the Sprint website, actually isn't a real sprint store. But its not a Best Buy, and its not a Radio Shack either. Maybe I should've known, but it just seems a little misleading to me, and because of it I feel wronged.
They have no loaner phones, so I am without a working phone until maybe they get one in at some point. They credited me for the days without, but that's it.
Go to a corporate store that does repairs. Use sprint.com to check this. They may be able to restore your evo.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk
I changed mine a week ago because of the screen separation issue, but let me tell you, the phone had mayor scratches in the 4 corners(it went down the very first day) and the girl in Best Buy not even checked it, she only checked the serial number, so i guess i was lucky.
Oh btw, i bougth this time the Black tie protection plan for 6.99 just in case
I changed mine a week ago because of the screen separation issue, but let me tell you, the phone had mayor scratches in the 4 corners(it went down the very first day) and the girl in Best Buy not even checked it, she only checked the serial number, so i guess i was lucky.
Oh btw, i bougth this time the Black tie protection plan for 6.99 just in case
If your phone is broken, you should be able to get it fixed under warranty. It sounds like you are only getting hit with the restocking fee because you are trying to return/exchange it rather than have it repaired.
Go get your phone back. You really should have never taken it back I'd bet for certain people on this site would have helped you and it really wasn't bricked
deleted , move along
TLTR !!!!!
I read it. Sorry to hear about your EVO man.
I got my EVO through Craigslist new in box because all the Sprint stores in my area who had them in stock wouldn't sell them to people not adding a new line of service. (Which is another story in and of itself)
When I brought it in to Sprint to activate they let me add insurance and told me that I'd still be covered under warranty for a year. I would be steamed if I was in your shoes too.
Thankfully I have a HW revision 0003 and my EVO hasn't yet to display any of the known issues.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/13/htc-evo-suffering-from-glass-separation-issues/
Just a short while ago I worked as a CSR for AT&T. Your friend got really lucky because 99.9% of the time a broken iPhone, even with a known issue, means you're SOL. In my experience, Sprint is much more flexible.
I mean you guys have any suggestions for me at this point? I know its just a phone and all but damn. i posted this on sprint forums, androidforums.com,xda, ppcgeeks, and of course my phone calls and visits to the repair center at MACOM
You bought the $7 plan for this very reason-- a more-than-likely behaviorally caused ding. (yes I read your post, but look at this from someone else's point of view. You had/used the phone how long before you saw this?)
Pony up the deductable and get a new phone. You realize you're costing yourself way more than $100 in grief and wasted time?
Lastly, just in case this is a defect and a recall is issued, keep your documentation on your calls to CS, claim filed, and out of pocket money. At that point you should be able to recoup your deductible among other things.
illogic6 said:
Just a short while ago I worked as a CSR for AT&T. Your friend got really lucky because 99.9% of the time a broken iPhone, even with a known issue, means you're SOL. In my experience, Sprint is much more flexible.
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Sure, bro. Sure.
00_MACKIE_00 said:
Ok, this is going to be a long post, full of detailed information regarding my purchase of an Evo. I will be posting this on every forum I am a member of and there are alot that I post on.
A buddy of mine contacted me to tell me he had bought an Evo on launch day from Best Buy. He activated it on 6/6/2010 from a Best Buy in Kentucky. He was told " The Evo has push to talk". Well he later found out that it did not in fact have push to talk and he needed that feature for his Sprint business account. He was outside his 30 day "happiness" window so he had to buy a different phone. He decided to put his Evo on Ebay and sell it to try and get some of his money back for his Evo purchase. He let me know he listed it on Ebay and provided me a link to it. I ended up winning the auction on 8/15/2010. I received the phone on 8/21 and received original box, original everything. Even had a cover. Phone looked and smelled BRAND new. I quickly called Sprint to activate it and within 10 min I was sporting my new Evo. Added my insurance/repair $7 dollar fee like I do with all my phones.
All was fine until 9/5/2010, I noticed on the bottom left of the screen over the home button, the screen appears lifted and a little dust had gotten under it. Ok no big deal to me at this point. I do keep my phones in mint condition but I was just going to monitor this situation. 13 days later is when I called Sprint asking for an explanation. I called the customer service line and explained the situation with the phone. They immediately started blaming me for it. I guess maybe they thought I used a screwdriver and lifted the screen, who knows. The girl told me she was in Charlotte, NC and that she had never heard of a screen separating from the adhesive and to go to the repair center.
On 9/17/2010, I went to MACOM here in Florida. A nice gentleman greeted me at the repair window and asked how he could help me. I said well I called customer service and explained to them that the phone screen seemed to be coming up and to pay you a visit so you could investigate. 4 screws later my Evo was in several pieces and then put back together. He asked me where I got the phone so I told him. He looked up my account and said "you’re inside your 30 day window according to the calendar here and you should go home and call customer service back". I told him I had no intention of being given a brand new phone. To me , that would be dishonest and I live by being honest and I teach my kids to be honest to people regardless of the situation. He handed me his business card, said call Sprint and call me back if you have problems. Seems he was trying to push me into a brand new Evo. I lay no blame on this guy; he was trying to do the right thing. He told me he could have it replaced but it would be a refurbished phone which I am ok with.
I arrive home on 9/17 from MACOM and about 7pm I start making some phone calls. I have been upfront with Sprint about the terms of my purchase. The first lady I spoke to said she understood my issue and that she would get someone on the phone to help me after we talked 10 minutes or so. She asked if I minded being put on hold and I said absolutely not. I waited for about 7 or 8 minutes or so and another lady got on the phone from a different department. I had a really hard time understanding what her name was, who she was with, etc etc due to the heavy accent. From what I could understand, she was from advanced exchange it sounded like. She asked for my telephone #, verified my pin and all that good stuff and asks me the reason for the call. I then had to go into the WHOLE story again. 10 minutes later she asked me where I bought the phone. I said I bought it off Ebay from a SPRINT customer, not some random power seller. She then told me well there is nothing she could do and that was there anything else she could do for me. I said I guess not and told her to have a lovely weekend. She then said I could always file a claim with Assurion and pay a $100 deductible for this obvious defect.
After speaking to my wife, I felt I needed to call back. Around 8:30pm or so I called back to customer service and once again explained the situation. I asked her over and over to tell me if I had done something wrong, or this was somehow my fault. She completely denied any knowledge of a screen separation issue and proceeded to tell me she was going to talk to her supervisor about it and placed me on hold. She came back on the line in short time and asked if it would be ok if I received a call back. I said ok and told the lady to have a nice evening. About 45 minutes or so later my phone rings. I go to answer it using the slider and because my screen is acting funny due to part of it being lifted, somehow the call was dropped and she left a voicemail and her name and phone number. I immediately called back off my house phone and received her voicemail. I left a message and asked that she call me right away. I have not received another phone call.
Remembering the conversation with MACOM, I woke up on 9/18, loaded up the kids and drove on over. The same gentleman was there again. He remembered me from the night before. I told him I had called customer service and had gotten nowhere. The tune quickly changed from ordering a refurbished phone to having to call his district manager but however the district manager was off and on his motorcycle for the day and it would be evening before he could have a chance to talk to him and it would be next week before he could get back to me. He was very nice and polite and told me to have a good rest of the weekend and he would get in touch with me.
Now that I have laid out the facts, I am now going to state my opinion on this. First off, Sprint denying the screen separation is a joke within itself. Searching on Google using the search criteria "evo screen separation" shows 6,700,00 results found. How could people not know about it that work for Sprint? The repair guy at MACOM had heard about it, but nobody else? How is that even possible? My next complaint is about the way I purchased it. If I was not tempted by all the Sprint commercials about the EVO and not being able to actually find one in Florida, I would not have had to go buy one of Ebay. I bought it from a valid Sprint customer not some guy on Ebay looking to make a few bucks. Sprint still should honor my purchase and either fix my phone or give me one that works, isn't that what I pay the TEP for?. I guess anyone who is buying either a barely used or brand new phone off Ebay should just stop doing it now before you run into a situation like what I am dealing with. I am a premier customer with Sprint; I have 3 lines as well so I consider myself an important customer. Plus it helps in the years I have had service, I have never missed a payment, been late, or anything. Sprint should not allow you to buy a phone from anywhere and activate it successfully if they do not want to honor an obvious manufacturing defect. This will not cost any money for Sprint to replace my phone because I am sure it would be sent back to HTC as a defect. I am not editing this post until there is a resolution so that the public sees what I have had to deal with. Once Sprint provides a resolution, I will then have this post removed and I will once again be a happy Sprint customer.
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Click to collapse
I've had better luck. I was once placed in this exact situation. Brought my phone into Sprint to have it repair the lifting of screen. In-house techs repaired it, no questions asked (or blaming). One hour later, they called me back and issued me a new one, as their investigation determines hardware version 0002 was a manufature defect. Perhaps it's all based on locations, reps, your attitude towards them, etc. Where I'm from everyone one's laid back, reps are always friendly and don't really have to put up with too much of people's ****, because non really gives them **** to begin with. They even accept rooted phones too, where as I read that many other users have to unroot before bringing their phone into Sprint for replacement/repair.
If you don't mind paying a deductable ($100 max), call into customer service and request a replacement.
And to the dude who was previously on AT&T with iPhone, sure buddy. SURRRREEE. If you EVER had service with them, you of all people should know that AT&T & Apple will put you through hell. I should know, that's why I dropped AT&T & the iPhone 2G.
illogic6 said:
I read it. Sorry to hear about your EVO man.
I got my EVO through Craigslist new in box because all the Sprint stores in my area who had them in stock wouldn't sell them to people not adding a new line of service. (Which is another story in and of itself)
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Click to collapse
That is actually illegal, they have to sell it to you, I actually did the same and had to mention that it is illegal to not sell it, after mentioning that they budged and sold it to me.
Back on your situation with your EVO, I would recommend posting on consumerist as that is more their territory. They have the phone numbers for executive customer support also, they WILL fix your issue ASAP. http://consumerist.com/2007/05/sprint-sets-up-consumerist-reader-executive-customer-service-hotline.html
tbh, I feel no simpathy since you being "honest" has nothing to do with the situation. You didn't steal the phone, the phone was defective therefore it's not like you were doing anything wrong. You should of returned it and gotten a replacement. There's been hundreds if not thousands of people that have done the same with the screen lifting issue.
Also if you didn't know before, google is based on keywords, it doesn't take the phrase and search for it. About 5million of those results were for the word "evo", other million were for "screen", and so on. Out of those results, only about 20-30 were for the evo issue. I've been doing SEO for a long time, so when it comes to google I know what I'm talking about.
Also sprint doesn't care if you took it apart, or if it came apart by itself, because they will tell you in the end to return it because of the issue. They know people do it, and it's perfectly okay, since you're not "cheating" anyone. The 30 day thing is made for a reason, it's not made for you to screw them over. Also the insurance that you put on the phone is made for a reason.
Either you're not telling the whole story, or you were too ignorant to return the phone.
Btw, side note for you. Check out the app TiKL for push to talk on your EVO.
sent from VooDooPhone
As a Sprint retention supersvisor, let me ask you something which I would have asked you if you were on my call. What makes you think SPRINT is responsible for a phone your purchased from somebody on Ebay wether it be a Sprint customer or not? You are LUCKY they even allow you to use TEP on a phone that was not purchased from them. Now, here's what we can do, make a claim, pay the $100 and have it replaced or go back to the store and speak with the idiot that told you to call in.
Let me put it in perspective for you, when your car breaks you take it to the mechanic right? You don't just call Ford and they fix it over the phone or send you out a new truck to your home. There is NOTHING someone over the phone can do, the repair center has to do it all, granted most the time they send you something over the phone or break policy it's to shut the customer up and get rid of them. The store has to fix it, if they can't fix it, make a claim for you through the warranty or asurion. I really don't understand why this is so hard to understand. And please don't take this the wrong way it is not an attack on you personally, but it is definitely an attack on what should be common sense.
6ixtynin9 said:
I've had better luck. I was once placed in this exact situation. Brought my phone into Sprint to have it repair the lifting of screen. In-house techs repaired it, no questions asked (or blaming). One hour later, they called me back and issued me a new one, as their investigation determines hardware version 0002 was a manufature defect. Perhaps it's all based on locations, reps, your attitude towards them, etc. Where I'm from everyone one's laid back, reps are always friendly and don't really have to put up with too much of people's ****, because non really gives them **** to begin with. They even accept rooted phones too, where as I read that many other users have to unroot before bringing their phone into Sprint for replacement/repair.
If you don't mind paying a deductable ($100 max), call into customer service and request a replacement.
And to the dude who was previously on AT&T with iPhone, sure buddy. SURRRREEE. If you EVER had service with them, you of all people should know that AT&T & Apple will put you through hell. I should know, that's why I dropped AT&T & the iPhone 2G.
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Click to collapse
That is what he said, with AT&T you're **** out of luck
So, my launch day EVO started collecting dust under the screen on the top left corner and I took it to a local Sprint store to get it repaired. They put a screen that was all scratched and dented on the sides on and assumed I would be satisfied with it. Wrong!
After forcing them to put my old one back (apparently they didn't have any other in store), I called Sprint and got them to send me a replacement phone.
Phone came in and I noticed heavy scratches on the camera and the kickstand was completely loose (would open up by itself). Got them to send me another replacement...
Phone arrived last week with the bottom of the glass completely loose. I could lift it with my nail. Called and after *****ing for hours, I got them to send me yet another replacement...
Phone came in with exactly the same symptom. What's going on? I don't know what else to do from here on out. I know it is technically not Sprint's fault, but this is getting ridiculous. I thought my experiences with the Palm Pre were bad... that was nothing.
Now I know they most likely will not send me yet another phone unless I take it to a store. That's going to be another 5-hour ordeal. Is there any way I can get a new device or a fully-functional refurb? I tried retentions and they said there was nothing they could do. =/
akarol said:
So, my launch day EVO started collecting dust under the screen on the top left corner and I took it to a local Sprint store to get it repaired. They put a screen that was all scratched and dented on the sides on and assumed I would be satisfied with it. Wrong!
After forcing them to put my old one back (apparently they didn't have any other in store), I called Sprint and got them to send me a replacement phone.
Phone came in and I noticed heavy scratches on the camera and the kickstand was completely loose (would open up by itself). Got them to send me another replacement...
Phone arrived last week with the bottom of the glass completely loose. I could lift it with my nail. Called and after *****ing for hours, I got them to send me yet another replacement...
Phone came in with exactly the same symptom. What's going on? I don't know what else to do from here on out. I know it is technically not Sprint's fault, but this is getting ridiculous. I thought my experiences with the Palm Pre were bad... that was nothing.
Now I know they most likely will not send me yet another phone unless I take it to a store. That's going to be another 5-hour ordeal. Is there any way I can get a new device or a fully-functional refurb? I tried retentions and they said there was nothing they could do. =/
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Click to collapse
The only way is with the Asurion process.
If you call *2 and explain the situation they may refund all, most likely part, of the $100 deductible.
I suggest it though.
mattykinsx said:
The only way is with the Asurion process.
If you call *2 and explain the situation they may refund all, most likely part, of the $100 deductible.
I suggest it though.
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Click to collapse
I thought Asurion sends out refurbs sometimes though?
ffolkes said:
I thought Asurion sends out refurbs sometimes though?
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Click to collapse
I've only received brand new replacements.
I've never heard of them sending out refurbs.
mattykinsx said:
I've only received brand new replacements.
I've never heard of them sending out refurbs.
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Click to collapse
That might not be a bad idea after all.
UPDATE: I just spoke to what appeared to be a thug on the other end of the line at Sprint's Tech Support. A nice thug at that. After decrypting our conversation through his strong ebonics, I understood that he created an eTicket (which I received online already) and told me to present it to the store clerk where I will be handed a brand new device. Is this possible? On the ticket it states:
Description of Issue:
Battery Damaged/Swollen/Cracked
Battery Won't Charge
Which is nothing related to my issues and will be apparent when they see it. I sounded skeptical but he assured me that it would work. For me to bring all my stuff (box if I have it, cables, manuals, etc) because I will be handed a brand new one when I get there. I'm still skeptical but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyone experience something similar?
Also, he told me I can go to an affiliate store for this (doesn't have to be corporate). Should I even bother? I feel they're less prone to handing me a new device.
I really hope it works out as I don't want to go through the hassle of unrooting and erasing my phone to see that nothing happened.
Finally, will a corporate store have newer phones than affiliated stores or vice versa? If I'm getting something new, I want it to be brand spankin' knew to make sure they worked out all the kinks.
Thanks again!
akarol said:
That might not be a bad idea after all.
UPDATE: I just spoke to what appeared to be a thug on the other end of the line at Sprint's Tech Support. A nice thug at that. After decrypting our conversation through his strong ebonics, I understood that he created an eTicket (which I received online already) and told me to present it to the store clerk where I will be handed a brand new device. Is this possible? On the ticket it states:
Description of Issue:
Battery Damaged/Swollen/Cracked
Battery Won't Charge
Which is nothing related to my issues and will be apparent when they see it. I sounded skeptical but he assured me that it would work. For me to bring all my stuff (box if I have it, cables, manuals, etc) because I will be handed a brand new one when I get there. I'm still skeptical but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyone experience something similar?
Also, he told me I can go to an affiliate store for this (doesn't have to be corporate). Should I even bother? I feel they're less prone to handing me a new device.
I really hope it works out as I don't want to go through the hassle of unrooting and erasing my phone to see that nothing happened.
Finally, will a corporate store have newer phones than affiliated stores or vice versa? If I'm getting something new, I want it to be brand spankin' knew to make sure they worked out all the kinks.
Thanks again!
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Click to collapse
That's about the setchiest thing I've ever read lol
mattykinsx said:
I've only received brand new replacements.
I've never heard of them sending out refurbs.
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Click to collapse
All depends on stock. They will most certainly send out Refurbs. But they send new too.
Dust under screen doesn't sound so bad now, does it.
mswlogo said:
Dust under screen doesn't sound so bad now, does it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dust under the screen means that the screen is coming apart.
Eventually that will lead to touchscreen failure or something of the kind.
Getting that fixed is more preventative.
Plus, you pay $200 + for a device, you don't deserve to have a sub-standard device.
OT: what exactly made the guy a thug?
Sent from the void...
wuclan48 said:
OT: what exactly made the guy a thug?
Sent from the void...
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The numerous dawgs, yos, and the holla at the end?!
Nobody answered my questions, is it possible that this is legit and I'll be getting a new replacement tomorrow? Why wouldn't get give me some crap someone returned recently?
akarol said:
The numerous dawgs, yos, and the holla at the end?!
Nobody answered my questions, is it possible that this is legit and I'll be getting a new replacement tomorrow? Why wouldn't get give me some crap someone returned recently?
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Click to collapse
Lol.
He must have been from the dirty south. I've called a lot of times and have gotten funny characters.
What he told you is BS. Why would a. authorized retailer such as Best Buy take a new phone out of their inventory and give it to you?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I see... you must not be from an urban area or around a young people much. Thug implies criminal. Speaking ebonics does not. Some people might take offense to that characterization fyi.
Sent from the void...
wuclan48 said:
I see... you must not be from an urban area or around a young people much. Thug implies criminal. Speaking ebonics does not. Some people might take offense to that characterization fyi.
Sent from the void...
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Click to collapse
OP. Just edit your post to ''ghetto''.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
wuclan48 said:
I see... you must not be from an urban area or around a young people much. Thug implies criminal. Speaking ebonics does not. Some people might take offense to that characterization fyi.
Sent from the void...
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Click to collapse
Well, apparently he might just be a criminal according to the sketchiness of this situation and his alleged connections with stores. I guess the term would apply then.
I don't see thug as being derogative anyways. Have you not watched TV much? It's everywhere.
Anyways, if I give someone that works for Sprint and has access to their system my eTicket number, do you think they might be able to explain what it means and how it would be handled at their store?!
OP: I understood, and I LOL'd
Taking offense at ignorance just confirms it....
Back on topic...
Welcome to the world of refurbs.
Call customer service, ask to talk to Account Services. Tell them you will cancel your account if you dont get a brand new replacement. Tell them you are tired ot dealing with crappy refurbs, and dont have the time to keep going back to the store.
Go to a sprint store, tell them there's a ticket in the system. Before you do call sprint back an have them code the ticket correctly. When you go to the store don't tell them what the issue is, just say there's a ticket and have them pull it up. Once they do that the store is subject to a survey, they won't want you to give them a bad survey so they will fully fix or give you a fully functioning device.
Sent from your favorite carrier, black and yellow!
DirtyShroomz said:
Go to a sprint store, tell them there's a ticket in the system. Before you do call sprint back an have them code the ticket correctly. When you go to the store don't tell them what the issue is, just say there's a ticket and have them pull it up. Once they do that the store is subject to a survey, they won't want you to give them a bad survey so they will fully fix or give you a fully functioning device.
Sent from your favorite carrier, black and yellow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or so I thought... I called a rep from the store a bit ago and explained to them the situation. Basically, they told me that I would still have to wait for them to attempt a repair and if not possible, they would send me a refurbished device.
What's the f'ing point of having this eTicket in the first place? I could go there without anything and they would proceed in the same manner. This is really getting annoying... The local store is always extremely busy and getting out of there with 3 hours is unrealistic. I'm tired of wasting time dealing with this simple fix.
akarol said:
Or so I thought... I called a rep from the store a bit ago and explained to them the situation. Basically, they told me that I would still have to wait for them to attempt a repair and if not possible, they would send me a refurbished device.
What's the f'ing point of having this eTicket in the first place? I could go there without anything and they would proceed in the same manner. This is really getting annoying... The local store is always extremely busy and getting out of there with 3 hours is unrealistic. I'm tired of wasting time dealing with this simple fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The eTicket tells everybody how many times the phone has been checked or submitted to be checked so when customers call and say "I've had this phone replaced 3 times!!!" Sprint can say "No you haven't". They will ALWAYS have to look at/troubleshoot the phone before any exchanges are made.
I've had mine replaced twice and was able to get a new phone. But Jesus Christ was it difficult. They will only give you a brand new phone if the store agrees to it (they have to be reimbursed by Sprint) or if Sprint themselves, agree which is usually a special case.
Here's what you do:
Call up Sprint customer service, explain to them the situation. Don't expect it to go anywhere. Just keep escalating the issue. After you get as high as you can go, call Sprint's Executive Hotline Number: 703-433-4401
Tell them the same thing. 99% chance they will tell you that they can't just give you a brand new Evo. Ask them for a case number and then write it down somewhere. Then, email [email protected] telling them what's going on, and be sure to include your number, account PIN, and the case number (if you have one). This is Dan Hesse's email addresses. He reads the emails, but they are mostly answered by his secretaries. They will call you back on a weekday probably during the same week. You'll get a call from "_________, from the Office of Dan Hesse". Explain to them the situation and be sure to detail your frustration with getting the issue solved and how this is not how a company should handle things.
Also, one of them women that called me back said that refurbished doesn't necessarily mean that the phone is opened up, gutted, and the parts are replaced with working ones. She said that some of the phones are just those that are returned because of the 30 day guarantee and then just put back on shelves. She also said that the only things that are fixed are the things that are written down by the repair specialist in the store, which is stupid because they only write down 1 problem even if there are multiple issues with the phone. Obviously, there is an issue with quality control.
It will take a while, but this is what I went through, and they were able to work with the store near my house to give me a brand new Evo, in exchange for the store getting 2 refurbished phones from Sprint. It's a white 0004 with no issues at all. They will probably tell you that you need to take the phone to a repair center again to have it looked at (the one you have on you), but tell them you've spent way too much time on this issue and you just want it fixed ASAP. If you have a preferred store, let them know which one it is.
PS: Ask for a new white one. Because the white ones were initially only offered at Best Buy, so the ones that are in the Sprint stores now are mostly 0004s, and they have no issues.
Hope this helps,
Frederick
My god, how the mighty have fallen.
T Mobile customer service used to be the benchmark against which businesses were measured. But over the past year it's become a joke.
Get this.....
Over problems with multiple defective MT4G's I've gotten frustrated with unhelpful customer service reps 3 times and asked to speak to a supervisor. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at about 9pm.
On all 3 occasions the customer service rep immediately said, without missing a breath or actually taking the time to check...., that "the supervisor just walked into a meeting. He will call you back within 24 hours".
Now that's a hell of a coincidence, wouldn't you say? And those 9pm meetings really cut into the work day.....(sarcasm)
It's unimaginable to me that a customer service office has a canned lie to give as a matter of policy. And that's clearly what's going on here. I'm sure that policy isn't written down anywhere, but there's a supervisor giving that instruction.
But it actually gets worse!
Figuring out that I've been lied to really cheesed me off as a customer. I can deal with the haggling over getting a solution to my problem, but when I get lied to I'm done. So I did what any other pissed off person with too much time on his hands would do. I found the emails of T Mobile's president and chief operating officers and sent them a letter detailing the issues I've had in hopes that maybe they'll put a boot up someone's ass to get their customer service problems fixed. I didn't ask to get my phone situation sorted out. I've given up on that. I'll just deal with the bad screen I've got until my contract runs out and start over.
But within 2 hours of sending that email, an 'executive customer service' rep called me and told me (not asked me) what I was going to do to fix my phone problem. He told me I was going to talk to tech support then he got pissed off when I told him I wasn't going to. I mean, how dare I not jump when he tells me to, right?!
Then he reads me the riot act about T Mobiles terms and conditions of warranty exchanges and tells me, and this is a direct quote, that "I'm going to accept those terms". He then goes on to tell me that T Mobile will never do anything outside of the strict terms and conditions for me again, even if they screw up (by like...I dunno...selling me a broken POS phone and replacing it with even more broken POS used phones).
Is that a hell of a way to speak to a customer or what?!
Then he lies to me more! He goes on a spiel about how even the president of T Mobile has to abide by the rules of the warranty exchange program, and if his phone breaks he'll get a refurbished one too.
Uh huh....sure he will. And I've got feathers growing out of my nostrils. Thanks for basically calling me stupid by thinking that I might believe that garbage.
The whole thing was just surreal. I couldn't believe that a company called a customer up and basically ***** me out because I caught on to their policy of lying to customers.
So my wife, who is off contract, will be becoming a Sprint customer soon. I will be too as soon as my contract expires.
Anyone else having these problems?
LOL this makes me laugh...
Though when i replaced my phone, they seemed nice enough. That was back in June though...
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Sure, they seem nice enough until you question anything. For me it was the $20 replacement fee to get a refurbished phone when I had just bought a brand spanking new phone that was defective 30 days earlier.
It pissed me off that I was supposed to pay more money to get a used phone when I just paid a lot to buy a new phone. Especially when the guy in the store said there would be no charge.
It pissed me off a lot more when the used phone was even more broken than the new one and they wanted to charge me another $20 to replace that one with yet another broken used phone.
Now they want to charge me another $40 for the last phone they sent me that I couldn't even get to turn on! So they want to charge me the $20 replacement cost and a $20 restocking fee or something. I'm like "Restocking fee?! It should be thrown in the trash can!"
When I got a RAZR like 5 years ago it broke too. T Mobile jumped through hoops to make it right and get me a new one. And that breaking was 100% my fault and they didn't care! They said "It should have held up under the conditions" and went to great lengths to make it right. Now they sell defective products and don't stand behind them, and act like they are doing you a favor when they send you more defective products.
The customer service took a serious nose dive the minute the AT&T acquisition was proposed. Internal cost saving changes were made and the customer service has been garbage since then.
Man that REALLY sucks...if you call up customer support again and during the automated voice thing you say you want to cancel the voice will instantly send you to a "retention service". They will generally cut you a deal if you ***** at them and I'm sure if you mention that call they will definitely do something. That's what I've heard atleast..good luck!
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Nicgraner said:
Man that REALLY sucks...if you call up customer support again and during the automated voice thing you say you want to cancel the voice will instantly send you to a "retention service". They will generally cut you a deal if you ***** at them and I'm sure if you mention that call they will definitely do something. That's what I've heard atleast..good luck!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
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Retention was one of the agents who pulled the "My supervisor just walked into a meeting" trick!
I do the saying 'cancel' during the voice prompt though. That cuts the hold time down from 4-5 minutes to about 2 seconds.
Skipjacks said:
Retention was one of the agents who pulled the "My supervisor just walked into a meeting" trick!
I do the saying 'cancel' during the voice prompt though. That cuts the hold time down from 4-5 minutes to about 2 seconds.
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Damn...I've been considering switching to Verizon for awhile now anyway this may be enough to have me move...you should definitely switch carriers..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
wow that sucks to hear, but entertaining to read at the same time lol sorry
I personally have never had any issues with T-Mobile or their customer service, and Ive been a customer for roughly 10 years now. Even when I had my phone replaced earlier this year, the reps seemed nice and willing to help me with my problem
Well I definitely got their attention. After writing back to complain about the guy who called me last night a MUCH nicer person called this evening and offered me pretty much anything I wanted. I thought they were half ready to offer me some of that AT&T broken deal money.
I think I'm going to go for the Sensation since it's got developers already working on it. Plus it's a little smaller than the Amaze.
Is there another phone outside the HTC line I should consider?
Skipjacks said:
Well I definitely got their attention. After writing back to complain about the guy who called me last night a MUCH nicer person called this evening and offered me pretty much anything I wanted. I thought they were half ready to offer me some of that AT&T broken deal money.
I think I'm going to go for the Sensation since it's got developers already working on it. Plus it's a little smaller than the Amaze.
Is there another phone outside the HTC line I should consider?
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wow serious?! hope i'll get someone nice like that when i try to replace my mom's phone (fingers crossed)
well, a lot of people have been saying that the Galaxy S II is good, so maybe that? personally though, i don't like it much. i've never had much love for Samsuck though... still.. gotta admit, it's a pretty nice phone
I'm not very impressed with T-mobile's SGS2. They ditched the more powerful Exynos processor for a Snapdragon to gain a theoretical 42 mbps max download on their network. Its still a good phone, but the Exynos is far superior in the graphics department.
http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/96267-how-samsungs-chip-change-up-affects-the-t-mobile-galaxy-s2
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
It was down to the Sensation and Amaze because they have more rounded corners. And I think the Sensation is going to win because it's a little smaller and already has a CM7 option, even if it's an Alpha. (I can't go back to HTC Sense. I can't do it.)
It sounds dumb, but that's a huge deal to me. A phone with less rounded corners tends to wear out a pants pocket quickly since the phone will usually sit in the same position in the pocket day after day.
I've had nothing but good experiences with T-Mo's customer service. Two months ago, my brother changed his rate plan but forgot to make sure it included unlimited messaging. A few weeks later, his account was suspended because he had accumulated over $700 in messaging fees. Something similar happened when he had Verizon years ago, and they essentially said, "Tough luck. Pay up." What did T-Mo do? They said, "You forgot? It happens. Let's add that unlimited messaging now and wipe those charges." And they did.
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