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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?
NOTE: THIS IS A REPOST, I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED IT IN THE WRONG AREA, sorry.
Hello everyone,
I have one hell of a story to tell about one boy, two phones (the htc hd2 and the samsung vibrant), and one freakin' committed customer service team (T-Mobile's). OK, so I'll begin my story of how I ended up with a brand-new Vibrant for essentially 350 bucks. Bear with me here, it's a bit long. So, I originally purchased an htc hd2 way back in mid-June for 300 bucks on Craigslist. The phone ended up being defective because of a hardware issue, and because it happened to be under the "buyer's remorse" period, at least the way T-Mobile saw it, I was able to return it by mail for a brand new one for free. I was surprised when I called to learn that T-Mobile didn't require a single piece of information to verify that I was the original owner of the phone, all they saw was that an htc hd2 had magically been activated on such and such a date. So, I returned that hd2 and recieved a new one in a couple of days, which ended up being just as buggy as the last one, so I decided to abandon the hd2 altogether in exchange for the Samsung Vibrant. I called T-Mobile customer service today to setup the exchange for the vibrant, which would cost me 50 bucks since the hd2 cost 450 and the vibrant costs 500, and I was FINALLY told that they had no record of me ever buying an hd2 (I wonder why, lol). I then explained to them that I wasn't the original owner of the phone and that I had bought it from the original owner, but that the phone had been purchased only a few days before they sold it to me. They told me at first that I would have contact the original owner and get the 450 bucks credited back to there account. The only problem was that I had no way of contacting the original owner, and that they had switched carriers almost immediately after purchasing the hd2. After about four hours, and many many phone calls later, I called t-mobile one last time to explain my situation, keep in mind that I was totally honest the entire time, I reached a very nice customer service rep, and after explaining what had happened to me, and after speaking to her supervisor for over ten minutes, she told me that even though they almost never do this, that they would "take my word for it" and send the vibrant, no questions asked, for basically 50 bucks. I was over the moon considering that less than 5 minutes ago I had thought that I had thrown away 300 dollars. I would like to give some major props to T-Mobile's customer support, never in a million years would I have expected a customer service team work so hard to keep a a customer happy. Talk about going the distance. Well, that's my story. Tell me what you think, and what your experiences with them have been like.
Peace, bobofosho12
WOW.. but Yes.. I think they have the best... that's a steel for 50 $ wow..
HTC is nice too.. i ordered parts for my nexus i was going to purchase them and they didn't allow me to pay.. lol.. they just said they will mail it and that included a second pouch/battery/ battery cover and headphones.. I could not believe it.. but I am glad I am with T-mo and own a HTC device.
amen brotha'. Although I'm actually gonna sell the vibrant once I get it on ebay, and then just buy a cheap used nexus one. Maybe, but i'm not totally decided yet.
Tmobile paid off my 280 in payments on an old Cliq I had. Basically because I purchsed it 6 months ago saw a great replacement in the Vibrant . Squeaky wheel is the way to go with T -mobile but you need to be calm cool and nice
That's why I came back to them. Was with them for 5 years before switching to AT&T because of my daughters bugging me for the iphone. I went back to Tmobile because of their incredible customer service, never experienced anything like it before. Kudos to T-mobile.
AT&T customer service sucks big big time! Congrats on your new Vibrant!
This is almost exactly what happened to me! T mobile customer service is damn good! I did threaten to switch carriers though, and they came through to keep me as a customer. I wasn't eligible for an upgrade, but once I threatened to go to sprint and get the epic they let me have my vibrant for $200!
musky said:
This is almost exactly what happened to me! T mobile customer service is damn good! I did threaten to switch carriers though, and they came through to keep me as a customer. I wasn't eligible for an upgrade, but once I threatened to go to sprint and get the epic they let me have my vibrant for $200!
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I assume with a contract extension yes?
bobofosho123 said:
NOTE: THIS IS A REPOST, I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED IT IN THE WRONG AREA, sorry.
Hello everyone,
I have one hell of a story to tell about one boy, two phones (the htc hd2 and the samsung vibrant), and one freakin' committed customer service team (T-Mobile's). OK, so I'll begin my story of how I ended up with a brand-new Vibrant for essentially 350 bucks. Bear with me here, it's a bit long. So, I originally purchased an htc hd2 way back in mid-June for 300 bucks on Craigslist. The phone ended up being defective because of a hardware issue, and because it happened to be under the "buyer's remorse" period, at least the way T-Mobile saw it, I was able to return it by mail for a brand new one for free. I was surprised when I called to learn that T-Mobile didn't require a single piece of information to verify that I was the original owner of the phone, all they saw was that an htc hd2 had magically been activated on such and such a date. So, I returned that hd2 and recieved a new one in a couple of days, which ended up being just as buggy as the last one, so I decided to abandon the hd2 altogether in exchange for the Samsung Vibrant. I called T-Mobile customer service today to setup the exchange for the vibrant, which would cost me 50 bucks since the hd2 cost 450 and the vibrant costs 500, and I was FINALLY told that they had no record of me ever buying an hd2 (I wonder why, lol). I then explained to them that I wasn't the original owner of the phone and that I had bought it from the original owner, but that the phone had been purchased only a few days before they sold it to me. They told me at first that I would have contact the original owner and get the 450 bucks credited back to there account. The only problem was that I had no way of contacting the original owner, and that they had switched carriers almost immediately after purchasing the hd2. After about four hours, and many many phone calls later, I called t-mobile one last time to explain my situation, keep in mind that I was totally honest the entire time, I reached a very nice customer service rep, and after explaining what had happened to me, and after speaking to her supervisor for over ten minutes, she told me that even though they almost never do this, that they would "take my word for it" and send the vibrant, no questions asked, for basically 50 bucks. I was over the moon considering that less than 5 minutes ago I had thought that I had thrown away 300 dollars. I would like to give some major props to T-Mobile's customer support, never in a million years would I have expected a customer service team work so hard to keep a a customer happy. Talk about going the distance. Well, that's my story. Tell me what you think, and what your experiences with them have been like.
Peace, bobofosho12
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Kudos! Thanks for sharing...that's awesome.
Yea the HD2 is death ain't it? Damn windows...what were they thinking?
This gives me some hope. I have been jacked around by Tmobile for over a week now. One of their stores screwed me over with the G1. They gave me a $50 break on the phone, and extended my contract for 2 years because of that $50. I had NO clue that is what they were doing. Once I found out, I was pissed. The CSR put in their system that I could upgrade at normal extension costs at any time. So, just after the Vibrant came out, I went to take them up on that. The problem, is how it is done in the system, I could only get the discount rate through Tmobile, not through a 3rd party store. I tried to get the Vibrant + accessories at Costco for $99. Since then, I have been completely jacked around by customer service. I finally got my FIRST CALL back yesterday... while I was using the restroom. They said they would call back today. Thus far, my experience is pretty poor.
This gives me some hope. I have been jacked around by Tmobile for over a week now. One of their stores screwed me over with the G1. They gave me a $50 break on the phone, and extended my contract for 2 years because of that $50. I had NO clue that is what they were doing. Once I found out, I was pissed. The CSR put in their system that I could upgrade at normal extension costs at any time. So, just after the Vibrant came out, I went to take them up on that. The problem, is how it is done in the system, I could only get the discount rate through Tmobile, not through a 3rd party store. I tried to get the Vibrant + accessories at Costco for $99. Since then, I have been completely jacked around by customer service. I finally got my FIRST CALL back yesterday... while I was using the restroom. They said they would call back today. Thus far, my experience is pretty poor.
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Sorry to hear that man, this is the only advice i can offer you, be nice and remember that that person on the other end, who may just seem like an annoying voice, is a real person who is probably having a much harder day than you are (I can't imagine being a customer service rep). If you're nice but VERY persistent you can generally get what you want, and remember it me like four hours to get this **** shorted for me. I had to explain it to like five different people, and only upon getting to a VERY KIND service rep did I finally get a good solution to my problem.
iunlock said:
Kudos! Thanks for sharing...that's awesome.
Yea the HD2 is death ain't it? Damn windows...what were they thinking?
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Yeah thanks man, and by the way, even though windows mobile is a ****ty OS, it's actually pretty stable, it's actually the sense UI that makes the HD2 so damn unstable, even after the "official" update that was supposed to correct the problems. Just turn off sense and the phone works fine, it's just ugly as hell to use.
Thought I would share my experiences with you guys to hopefully settle some stomachs.
I got my first incredible the day they were released. About a month after i got it, it started randomly rebooting and shutting off. It would run great for days, then have a fit of reboots. I used it like that for quite a while until root was released. I rooted it, then shortly after installed some of the leaked roms. I hoped that updating everything would help with the reboots.. nope.
Anyway, long story short. I called VZW and they sent me a replacement device. I sent back the first phone with S-off, rooted, radio updated, and running a cryogen mod.
As soon as I got the replacement phone, I re-flashed it with all the goodies. Last week I ended up bricking it because my kid ran by and pulled it off the USB cable during a flash of sky raider. It would boot into Hboot, but i nothing i did made it work right again. Anyway, I called that day and said "my phone doesnt turn on anymore" they sent me another replacement. I sent that phone back with s-off and radio 2.15 and not booting past the silver HTC screen.
I was wondering wtf, i thought for sure i would get a call or a letter or SOMETHING. i have a buddy that works at the VZW warehouse so I asked him. He said all they do is open the box, verify that the numbers on the phone match the numbers on the return order and move on. They get 1,000s of phones a day from warranty exchange. Nobody "checks them". Hes just a lowly worker but I think hes right.
I have had VZW for just over 10 years now, and have utilized their "exchange 3 times per year" service on almost every phone I have had. I have sent in phones that I broke the screens on, by saying "my phone doesn't work anymore". I have sent in phones i dropped in the water by saying "my phone doesn't work anymore".
The people in the warehouse who check the phones numbers have NO IDEA why you sent it in, or what the tech told you, or why they told you to take it back.
bottom line.. don't stress about it. and take advantage of VZW's service of letting you exchange your phone 3 times per year.
EDIT
Just wanted to add... They give you 10 days to send the phone back, that first incredible i sent back, i kept for over a month. They even posted an equipment charge to my account for not sending it back, but that took them a month. I just called 611 and said "oh gee wow.. i forgot to send that back" lady told me no problem and sent me out a new box and i mailed it back. 3 days later they credited my account the $500+ equipment charge. That was the phone with s-off, radio update, and running cryogen. Hardly stock lol. and honestly.. it was a intermittent reboot problem. what would they do anyway? turn it on and use it for a week to see when it shutdown? lol
That 3x a year deal, is that with one of their insurance plans? I elected to for-go that when I bought my Incredible so I don't know what the deal will be if any one of my phones boink... just glad I don't have a kid to fudge things up anyway... although I do have a girlfriend that likes to seemingly randomly unplug my electronics because "our power bill is sooo high!". Yes, I know honey, it's called summer + A/C usage x.x
DeeBG said:
That 3x a year deal, is that with one of their insurance plans? I elected to for-go that when I bought my Incredible so I don't know what the deal will be if any one of my phones boink... just glad I don't have a kid to fudge things up anyway... although I do have a girlfriend that likes to seemingly randomly unplug my electronics because "our power bill is sooo high!". Yes, I know honey, it's called summer + A/C usage x.x
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no, that is just the manufacture warranty. they will exchange it 3 times during the 1 year manufacturer warranty. on the 4th time, they will either send you a brand new phone in the box, or upgrade you to another phone. your choice
msticlaru said:
no, that is just the manufacture warranty. they will exchange it 3 times during the 1 year manufacturer warranty. on the 4th time, they will either send you a brand new phone in the box, or upgrade you to another phone. your choice
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It's how I got my Incredible. Upgraded for free from D Eris. I got a big scratch on my screen somehow. Need a refurb soon. Haha.
I'm not sure if the masses should know any of this.
This is exactly how I got the Incredible from the Moto Droid. 3 times returned (the 3rd time not even for an unfixable problem *oopsie* ) and then they said they would send me an Incredible. I love VZW tech support
Hmmm, that Droid incredible hd sounds pretty cool lol when's it coming out again? Jk jk lol
Edit: this is good to know if something really does go bad with my phone. But I would never take advantage of it.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
MODS- please delete this thread to prevent little kids from being stupid and causing VZW to crack down on this. Thanks!
anothen said:
MODS- please delete this thread to prevent little kids from being stupid and causing VZW to crack down on this. Thanks!
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agree...
/10char
Yeah, I'm sure this all-important xda thread would be the first inkling VZW has ever had that some people game their replacement policy (sshhh!)
better shut it down RIGHT AWAY before the sky falls on us.
I guess there always has to be someone to make a wise guy remark. You are correct about 'not being the first'. However, XDA may be the first that hundreds of thousands of people look at.
If it's so easy to return a phone 3x a year why bother with insurance? I'm paying $8 a month to Asurion.
Why would this thread need to be deleted. If Verizon does crack down good. People with legit problems with then hopefully be helped even better.
marcmarshall said:
If it's so easy to return a phone 3x a year why bother with insurance? I'm paying $8 a month to Asurion.
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1 in 4 people with 2 year contracts could make a full replacement purchase price claim and they'd still have a nice profit, assuming they had to pay full price MSRP for replacements. Wonder how much they'd make by using refurbs as replacements, rejecting claims, etc.
I may be in the wrong business.
Also, delete the thread. That is the best way to restrict information flow.
marcmarshall said:
If it's so easy to return a phone 3x a year why bother with insurance? I'm paying $8 a month to Asurion.
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Because warranty doesn't cover getting it wet, replacement of lost/stolen, cracked screen, break due to drop or abuse, etc.
Hey, my comment from yesterday got deleted! No fair, it doesn't count for my replies posted either...
Zerotwistknife7 said:
agree...
/10char
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Agreed Its not about VZW finding out its about people abusing it.
actually its not 3x a year its 3x in a period of thirty or sixty days.
that's how i got my dare from a Venus. The Venus always had something wrong and the tech himself told me well if they replace 3 in a month then you can get another phone.
anothen said:
I guess there always has to be someone to make a wise guy remark. You are correct about 'not being the first'. However, XDA may be the first that hundreds of thousands of people look at.
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Just like there always has to be a Chicken Little or three, I guess. Would you rather I put a broomstick up my ass and found some piously earnest way to express my sincere contempt for those who run around asking for this thread deleted, that information suppressed, mods help us! etc, just to save us from ourselves? OK, then:
Attempting to mold community behavior by restricting the flow of information is a really dumb idea, especially on a hacker forum. And preserving a loophole that lets a knowledgeable few commit warranty fraud by concealing the means & opportunity from the other "hundreds of thousands of people" who read XDA is elitist, self-serving, and morally reprehensible all at once.
Fortunately for the scruple-challenged, my sense is that VZW is well aware of the potential, but just doesn't care--or at least is unwilling to invest in the kind of training and verification overhead that would allow them to examine each claim for legitimacy. So by all means: keep returning those bricked phones for an upgrade, but do stop hiding the Machiavellian ingenuity of your methods under a bushel--let it shine forth unto the ends of the earth! Free replacement phones for all!
marcmarshall said:
If it's so easy to return a phone 3x a year why bother with insurance? I'm paying $8 a month to Asurion.
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Well, I suppose it's terribly old-fashioned to suggest that your conscience might trouble you if you went that route... But ethics aside, if you lost the phone outright, or smashed it to tiny bits, you could still need that insurance. The VZW workers might be inattentive and uncaring, but I'm guessing even they might notice an empty box, or a phone that arrives in a sandwich bag with no one fragment larger than 30 mesh!
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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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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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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That is what he said, with AT&T you're **** out of luck
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.