I sent my Imate JasJar in to the repair company in the UK (SBE). The problem was an extremely loose screen hinge. It was so loose that the screen would move freely past the usual 180 degree stop. It would also click when opening and closing the screen.
I decided to email Imate and ask there opinion on what to do about this. They immediately responded saying that I should send it in for repair, and they duely issued me with an RMA number, and procedure for getting it shipped to SBE. All of which I did with no problem at all. so far so good.
7 days later, and I get a letter in the post from SBE, stating that they have found the screen to be dead and have replaced some screen connectors, and that it is not covered under warranty and that I now owe them £40 before they will repair and send it back to me. They have got to be kidding me..
There has never been any form of electrical problem with the device whatsoever. I only had a purely mechanical fault that I-Mate themselves agreed to fix under RMA conditions.
I am absolutely furious, as I have tried to get hold of the i-mate representatives on 4 occasions with no success. I think they are ignoring me now. And i cant even get through to SBE on the telephone..
What the hell is going on.......I bought this device at considerable cost, for the price of a small laptop, and it has lasted me less than 3 months, and now I have this to deal with....
Anyone have any contacts within Imate or SBE that I can talk to? Or any advice for me in progressing this further.
I dread to think what my JasJar will look like when and if I ever get it back. Not to mention the fact that I've been without it for 2 weeks now, and that is very hard to deal with in itself.
My advice to anyone who is considering buying one of these devices would be - what a great bit of kit, has its little quirks, but nothing you cant work around, well worth buying, only dont buy it from I-Mate, go for the Orange, O2 or T-Mobile versions, because at least you will be able to use there warranty channels.
I'd keep trying Imate. Be polite but firm in your emails, ask if they authorised the repair of the screen and state that as far as you were aware this has been done when there was no fault there in the first place with no authorisation from you...
Then
It might not be a bad idea to write to SBE enclosing a copy of your original email to Imate describing the fault you had.
State very clearly in the letter that there was no screen fault when you sent the unit to them and that they have 7 days to repair the device and return it to you in a fully functioning state.
Copy everything you have on this then pass it all on to your local trading standards... you must give a company you have issues with reasonable time to respond, so 7 days should be fair enough.
I'm presuming here that you definitely didn't have a fault with the screen?
If Imate have told them to repair it under warranty I don't see why they are trying to charge you, if Imate or you didn't authorise the repair to the screen then the company doesn't really have a leg to stand on and trading standards should be involved. I can't see why dead screen wouldn't be covered by a warranty anyway..
It's concerning me, my MDA pro is currently away to fix this very issue (a dead screen).
Lots of people have problems with I-Mate support. Look here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=6599566#post6599566
oh boy! this worries me too as my Jasjar was already shipped to be replaced.
If it's been damaged in transit, then presumably the next step is to claim on the postal insurance you used.
Joe
warranty claim honoured, arrives back tonight
I've managed to convince them (Imate and SBE) that this is indeed a warranty claim, and they have now agreed to repair it as such.
They're trying to tell me that normally this type of damage is not covered under warranty, but will make an exception - this time only. (can you believe it)
All I know is that when I sent it in to them it had a mechanical fault that they originally agreed to repair under warranty and duely issued an RMA number. There was never any type of dead display (this is what they claim).
I've fought hard to get them to agree to repair it, what a battle it's been.
I only hope that when I receive it tonight, it will be in good condition, and look as it did when I sent it in, except of course for a repaired hinge.
I'll report back tonight when I recieve it.....
good luck.
I received a replacement MDA pro yesterday, after my screen died, under warranty, however the space key is dodgy on the new one, I'll see how I get on with it for the next week and decide whether to return it or not!
faulty, sent it back...ggrrrrr
Unpacked and examined it thoroughly, first impressions were.....very good, they have actually replaced the whole display case and hinge, looks gr8, and hinge is now very tight, as it should be. so far so good, but wait.....
Installed battery and powered it up......the screen is displaying everything upside down and back to front......can't believe it.
I soft reset it.....no difference.. I hard reset it....no success, still the same.
I even tried re flashing the firmware with factory imate release, but still the same......
I tried the screen in every possible position, but no matter what I do, still the same inverted bloody image.
I'm so pissed off. I've sent it back in to them for another round.
So much for quality control.
Will keep you guys updated.
I can add to this...
I do repair phones and there was one case in which Jasjar was rotating 360 deg and everything on the screen was looking as a mirror image..
If u carefully look at the manual u will see that there's a bunch of cable which pass thru a small hole and then again spread in the touch screen panel part...
the hinge is actually revetted and locked..but if somebody applies a bit of pressure the revet loses the grip and thus allows 360 deg rotation..
but by doing this it twists the wires so much that they get stressed and do not pass right info to the display..
What I did I untangled the bunch and I got back the screen working fine...only the switch outside(for taking and rejecting call when screen is shut) are not working....but everything is just fine...
so people at service center might not hv done their job perfectly
Re: faulty, sent it back...ggrrrrr
I sent an Imate sp3i to SBE and the hamfisted numptys cracked the aeriel cover when they removed it. Also, the chewed up the warranty sticker removing the screw and didn't apply a new one. Sadly I only noticed the cracked aeriel cover when taking it out of SBE's packing box 5 weeks later - I'd only done a cursory check on the fault repair when it arrived :-(
Warranty Issue
If you are going to check on jasjar when you buy it, it comes with a sticker in front giving you instruction to rotate the screen 180 degrees clockwise. When you try to rotate it the other way around, the coaxial cable that connects the lcd to the board panel will break giving you a white screen or sometimes display is there but touch screen is not responding. When the technician opens the device he will see it immidiately and from there they will consider it customer abuse meaning you voided the warranty and you will be charged for the repair
Warranty Issue
If you are going to check on jasjar when you buy it, it comes with a sticker in front giving you instruction to rotate the screen 180 degrees clockwise. When you try to rotate it the other way around, the coaxial cable that connects the lcd to the board panel will break giving you a white screen or sometimes display is there but touch screen is not responding. When the technician opens the device he will see it immidiately and from there they will consider it customer abuse meaning you voided the warranty and you will be charged for the repair
For the love of god....surely we dont have such stupid people in this world.
Latest Update: SBE say that the machine has failed quality control and is with the technicians.
They won't tell me anything more...I'll just to have wait and see what they blame it on this time. No doubt they'll come up with some **** and bull story blaming me in one way or another, and then try to charge me too.
Will keep you updated when I find out more. There is no sense of urgency with this company, so frustrating. At least my Sony Ericsson P900 is holding up perfectly while I wait.
I have to say the QC on these devices is very poor.
MDA #1: Clicking hinge, something to do with the plastic shell at the back where the USB port is I thought.
MDA #2: Metal plate not glued in correct and scaping my face during calls (it's quite a sharp edge)
MDA #3: Dodgy keyboard - keys sticking out and whole keyboard set at a rotated angle.
MDA #4: Dogdy hinge again, very loose, looked like a refurb to me
MDA #5: Camera fault - big white blown pixel in camera itself (not the screen)
Result? I got a Vario and took up the early Jan O2 Exec offer. Exec is fine by the way, but they creak more than MDA's (dunno why).
Vario is def. built more solidly. And the P900 you mentioned keeping you going just demonstrates the quality differences. A P900/910 is one of the few phones which will withstand a nuclear holocaust (probly) and is built like a brick sh*thouse.
Sony build em like Merc's and HTC build em like Vauxhalls (Holden for our antipodean friends, and Opel for our European friends).
Update
I've just been told that they're(SBE) awaiting spares from Dubai, but they cant tell me what's wrong with it????? so who knows how long this will take.
This is so frustrating, but hey I've got my trusty P900.
I've been told that they are still awaiting spares which should arrive by the end of next week. ???????? (They tell me 6 weeks to get the shipment in)
Can't f&*%ing believe this, do they send the spares over via ship? how can they expect a customer to be without a device for 2 months....This is a complete joke. Why don't they send them airmail.
They tell me that they have to replace the complete system board. Surely it would be easier to simply send me a new device??? Surely I can demand a new device?
I'm certainly going to get in touch with I-Mate again (3 million'th time), I will demand a replacement device.
GGrrrrr................
I received my JasJar tonight.......Yehaa, at last, only two months later...
Despite my reservations and lack of trust in SBE, I have to say that they got it right this time around.
They've replaced the complete system board and as a result I have a new IMEI number too. In addition to this, they had previously replaced the entire screen housing and hinge, so the phone is, and looks as good as new.
I'm in the process of putting it back to my liking with all upgrades/software/hacks, but so far all is functioning really well.
I'm happy again, i just hope it lasts this time around.
Thanks to all for listening to my problems
I received my JasJar tonight.......Yehaa, at last, only two months later...
Despite my reservations and lack of trust in SBE, I have to say that they got it right this time around.
They've replaced the complete system board and as a result I have a new IMEI number too. In addition to this, they had previously replaced the entire screen housing and hinge, so the phone is, and looks as good as new.
I'm in the process of putting it back to my liking with all upgrades/software/hacks, but so far all is functioning really well.
I'm happy again, i just hope it lasts this time around.
Thanks to all for listening to my problems
I too had a equally bad experince with SBE (7 weeks, 2 returns, 10 phone calls and the threat of reporting them to trading standards before my phone was repaired) . I can't imagine why Imate tarnish their image with their ongoing association with such a company.
Hey,
I was camping a couple of weekends back and took mt T-Mobile Vario II with me. It was 50% battery when I went to sleep one night... the next morning it was powered off and wouldn't turn on.
So you know, I've always used ROMS from here, various ones, never any problems.
On getting it home it wouldn't charge - it was giving a red light which would just go off after a while. I searched the forums here and got the impression that it could be a battery issue. I called T-Mobile and they sent me a pre paid package to send the phone to their service centre. When I opened the phone I saw a little round sticker that said "VOID". Uh oh, I thought, but sent it off anyway.
Checked the forum again and decided the phone was water damaged, warrenty void.
The service centre got my phone and returned it the same day... just picked it up now, expecting a broken phone and a note to say the warrenty doesn't cover the damage. But....!
It's fixed! The repair details sheet doesn't say much... only "Software Update" (now got the bloated T-Mobile ROM on there) and "Screening" and that the battery has been tested.
Now, I thought I'd be screwed on two fronts... one for having installed a ROM (though maybe they didn't get that to load) and two, for the VOID sticker. Oddly, the VOID sticker has disappeared...
So, what do you think the issue was? I'm a bit worried it was a ROM issue but I can't really believe that to be true. I'm installing one again (will I need to reinstall olipro now the sevice centre have been at it?).
I can only think that it was some slight water damage and the service centre have been good enough to take a look anyway and find that they can repair it. But that would mean they actually care about doing a good job, beyond the call of duty... surely not!
I'd love to know what was really wrong with it so it doesn't happen again... though if it does, I'm happy knowing T-Mobile's service centre is quick and effective (I had been warned by T-Mobile customer services it could take up to 5 weeks to service a HTC).
Some of the info here may give some clues. It is not necessarily a a fault in the battery or even the phone but more of a lockup in the charging circuit. This is most common when the level of battery charge drops below 10% when the circuit fails to identify thr battery and start charging. Their are also noted cases where connecting the charger can drain the battery rather than charging it and other cases where the battery drains rapidly for no obvious reason. Interestingly this is a problem that occurs across many devices / makes and models. Often it is possible to "kick start" the charging process again::
http://michael-channon.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!4472423472DCFC38!202.entry
Mike
Cheers. I wonder if perhaps the battery reading I was seeing was incorrect, or there was a sudden drop in power then.
Still odd that they removed the void sticker.
But hey, I'm back in action!
Ok So I sent my HC H2 off under warranty to HC as I had lots of white marks on the screen display when surfing the net. They didn't repair it and said it would cost £198 to fix even though apart from seeing the spots mainly only a white back ground the phone was actaully in perfect working order and it cost me £20 to get it back. Now the ouchscreen has gone just suddenly and am debating on sending it back again. Now the postive thoughts from me is that if it is under warranty then they surely have to fix me phone for free. But my negative thoughts are they will just try to charge me for the repair or charge me £20 just to get my phone back. What would you do?
I get get the unit to turn on I can take calls using the buttons on the bottom but cannot use the touchscreen so can#t unlock it or do anything else with it. The phone is perfect never been near water and never been dropped.
Did you forget to remove hspl and return it to stock before you sent it to them? That voids warranty and makes the repair chargeable.
Yes sorry forgot to mention that I had indeed removed it and put the stock raido rom and removed HSPL. I assumed that the white marks were deemed as cosmetic but i will never know as I didn't get a report just an email with a link saying pay £198 for a repair or £20 to have it sent back unrepaired. I think if they don't fix it this time under warranty I will take them to the small claims court if needed.
hmm, could be water marks? is the water damage indicator red or white? if its even slightly pink, they wont cover it. Best of luck arguing your case.
water damage indicator red or white? It's never been near water opened the back can see a white circle looking sticker near top left if thats it?
There are 2 water markers i understand, and regardless of how close the phone may have been, it they says its water damage there is no movement from HTC on this
Sadly your best bet would have been to get full details of the issue before it was sent back. I suspect that it wil;l cost you the £200 to get it repaired.
You could replace it yourself for much less - if you have the skills as it not easy to do imho, or try the repair company's that advertise in the Sunday papers.
If it was mine, I'd have paid the first time
If you are good at following instructions, then you could probably replace the touchscreen and get it working. There's several disassembly videos on YouTube. Beware, the HD2 is a beast to take apart. There's several fragile ribbon cables that are extremely easy to tear, and many XDA users have made their phones worst off trying this. I mean, you could almost get a good condition HD2 for the 200 pounds HTC is trying to charge you.
Well it's good news, After 10 days of not hearing anything had a call to sall repair is being done under warranty and as a good will gesture of the delay they are going to email a link for all the accessories available for the phone that they sell and I can have anything up to the value of £50! I am well happy and this has restored my faith in HTC
Thats good news :0
The delays in UK HTC repairs have been up to 6 weeks and have been reported by the bbc
My father bought a new Galaxy S for my daughter a few weeks ago and gave it to me to store until her birthday a few days ago. The phone was in my wardrobe, in the box, sealed and not used in any way.
On her birthday, it was unwrapped and charged and played with but we noticed almost immediately that the signal strength was very poor and varying wildly continually. We thought nothing of it but when we checked with another Galaxy S, we found that the signal was nearly 2 bars lower all the time and there were many times when the signal just vanished altogether.
I contacted Samsung and they asked me to send the phone in to their service centre but when they got the phone, they reported back that the phone had been water damaged and was therefore not covered by the manufacturers guarantee. I told them that the phone was brand new and unused but basically they, told me to go away - I guess that no one admits to any damage!
They also sent me a photo of the damage and, on inspection, it's a picture of a single solder track which looks like it has some corrosion on it. There was no damage visible anywhere else on the phone at all and no other damage on any other surrounding electronics is visible.
I have not asked them if the liquid damage indicators had changed at all but I did look at the other Galaxy S and couldn't even find the indicator anywhere!
Can anyone suggest what I should do next - the cost of the repair is very high and we simply can't afford to get it done at the moment.
If you know someone with required knowledge, try to clean the rust.
It´s a standard reply from Samsung and possibly a standard picture.
As moisture damage is almost impossible to disprove, that´s what they like to use.
Try to compare the picture with your actual phone and eventually talk to your lawyer.
whats your location i might be able to do something about it.
So as the title suggests, today my touchscreen stopped working . Inspecting it with a torch, it appear the flex cable between the screen and body may have slipped out.
So first things first - will flashing back to stock froyo with my original SBF using RSD lite remove all evidence of root/custom rom/over clock?
Secondly, has anyone ever experienced warranty claims with Motorola, and how did it go for you? Was it simple enough or did they give you grief throughout the whole process?
Thirdly, I have quite a few scuffs scratches in small dents around the corners etc. Does anyone have reason to believe that they would right it off as neglect damage? (even though it is just average wear and tear for the 10/11 months i've had it)
Lastly, if any of you have made a warranty claim, what servicing did it include? I am wondering if it will be fully factory refurbished - had my iPhone 3g sent off 3 times on insurance claim back in the day, and every time it would return sparkling with new casing. One could argue that the deterioration of the casing and slide chassis is the cause for the flex to come out, due to how old and loose it is getting; so I hope that if I were to make a successful claim, they would replace my sad old casing yet I wonder if they offer the same service as apple at moto. Or was your main issue in your claim the only thing fixed?
Thanks in advance for any who can give me some advice .
EDIT:
So as a quick update, flashing to stock froyo fixed it. Or so I thought, moments later it was dead again, it must have just been sitting in the right place to work briefly.
I'm pretty devo, cause it's gonna be a while till I can send it, and with all the public holidays and mail congestion from christmas, the postage is going to take ages. Then who knows how moto will go with it. bleehhh..