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After my 8-months-old HD2 screen went unresponsive (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=752181) I started going through what I would describe a true ordeal.
A mixture of disorganization and pretty dumb policy setting and even dumber interpretation which would make for an excellent comedy script.
Last night I received from HTC a request for feedback on my Customer Service experience. Here follows my reply to HTC, and I thought I would share it with you.
The story is far from over yet, so I'll keep you posted on the developments.
Also, please feel free to share your stories with HTC Support. Please include the good ones (just in case anyone has any ).
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I am travelling with my family in the South of Italy (1,000 km from home) and on August 9th the touch screen of my HD2 went totally unresponsive. I called your support hotline and there started an ordeal which is far from being over.
1. First of all I found out that HTC techical facilities in Italy were closed for two weeks until Aug 23rd. It is totally unacceptable to have no warranty assistance for two weeks on top-of-the-line devices. My HD2 is a business tool and I needed it fixed fast. Your Customer Service told me that if I did not want to wait for the Italian "August Siesta" to end, I had to send it AT MY OWN EXPENSE to the HTC labs in the UK and pay for the shipping back to Italy as well. I checked courier rates and decided that to wait two weeks.
2. Then on Aug 23rd I called back to know which pickup point would actually be open in my area. After 4 days I am still waiting your Customer Svc to call me back to let me know. I had to find out myself.
3. So, after waiting 2 weeks for the Italian Siesta, I drive 60 km and deliver my malfunctioning HD2 to the pickup point in Matera. The people there were kind and helpful, but informed me that HTC policy would force me to come and pick up the repaired phone there. I explained that I was on the road and that in about 10 days I would be going back to Milan which is 1,000 km. away. They were sympathetic and we called together HTC Customer support so see if we could arrange things so that I could pick up the repaired phone in Milan (which, by the way, is where the HTC repair facility is). I could not believe my ears when HTC support told me that I had no choice: either wait ten more days and deliver the phone to a pickup point in Milan or arrange for the pickup point in Matera to ship it back to me in Milan - at my own expense, of course.
Sounds like a joke - but it is unfortunately true. In the end I was so disgusted that I wanted to smash the damn phone with a hammer. But since is Company property, I followed the least painful route and agreed for the shipping back to Milan.
4. Ten minutes later, I walked into an electronics store and bought a brand new Nokia E72. I should have listened to my IT manager and never got an HTC in the first place. What he kept saying was "They make great hardware but have the worst support of the universe".
I really hate to admit he was right.
2 weeks ago to the day, I accidentally dropped my HD2. Nothing major.. I was actually sitting down when it happened, and the phone bumped my ankle then gently bumped the floor.. no big deal right? (It has a hard shell protector). Well, then as the phone flipped over, it bumped the edge of a table leg and damn! Four hairline cracks on the digitizer. And no more functionality though the LCD was fine and the phone was working but locked with no way to unlock it.
So, I weigh out the cost of repair vs. replacing it all together. Ultimately, it was cheaper to repair the screen.
Here is what blew my mind! Keep in mind that I am in Canada, I purchased the phone (T-Mobile Branded) on the 'net, it's unlocked, tweaked, and therefore there is no warranty.
So, on 04/01/2011, I contact HTC USA. To my surprise I actually get an American on the phone not some call center in a third world country. Wow! The person totally has their act together and in less than 10 minutes, I have a quote for the repair. Wow again! The rep explained everything in detail along with the mandatory disclaimers and while they were finishing up that, I'm receiving an email with all the necessary details and an RMA and Case number and shipping instructions. Wow yet again!
04/02/2011, I send the phone to the repair center in Texas. By 04/05/2011 at 10:50pm the phone has arrived at the repair center. The next morning, I get a call from HTC confirming the damage (which I knew), and they simply want a yes or no to go ahead with the repairs or not. By the afternoon, I have a FedEx tracking number, the phone is fixed and it's on its way back to me in Canada. Wow one more time!
04/11/2011 FedEx is at my door with my phone and HTC picked up the return shipping. Well.. you guessed it! Wow!
I am reconfiguring the phone back to the way I had it prior to sending it as I write this. It had been hard reset to factory spec which if fine and to be expected since they likely run various diag after repair.
So, for $120.00 + $25.00 Shipping, my phone is working again!
There's a case study for keeping our companies and their support centers on North American soil. There are dozens of companies I could list that should be taking notes. 8)
Nice to see a positive post like this. glad you got you HD2 repaired and are now back to modding it.
The whole repair process was nine days including weekends which I think is darn good!
That said, I was without the phone/device for 2 weeks. Talk about withdrawals! LOL!
Amazing how reliant we become on these devices. I use it to manage my daily activities for 3 businesses, 1 job, and my personal life/activities. I was on the verge of anxiety at times! Hehehehe!
At least I had my trusty HTC 8125 as backup and while it cannot connect to my cellular provider's network for phone/text/data, at least I had my calendars, tasks, notes, and contacts but I'll tell ya, talk about feeling tethered to a land line and out of the loop.
Yep, it just got HardSPL 4, my preferred radio flash, BsB, Total Commander, and a few other goodies back on and is now syncing with my Desktop and Exchange. d'-'
T-Macgnolia said:
Nice to see a positive post like this. glad you got you HD2 repaired and are now back to modding it.
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Click to collapse
It was not a bad price if it was a year ago, but I just picked up another near mint condition one for $150 with everything included off criaglist.
Sent from HTC HD2 with Android
Yeah, fair enough however, in Canada, the phone is not even available therefore my options were a bit more limited to purchase a new phone through a system where there is a little more security in knowing that if it turns out to be a bad deal, the purchase it covered. i.e. Buyer Protection from eBay or anything like that.
It's not like you can hop on a local Craigslist up here and find them readily.
So, the replacement cost for a whole phone was much higher, and the repair was the way to go.
coldest~~~ said:
It was not a bad price if it was a year ago, but I just picked up another near mint condition one for $150 with everything included off criaglist.
Sent from HTC HD2 with Android
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Click to collapse
You're a lucky guy.
I've had less good experiences in the Benelux here.
I called in mine for a screen and gps issue that is warranty issue since I run the official image on this HD2.
They didn't pickup the device twice as promised which drove me up the wall since I had my colleague involved and had to change several appointments with my clients for.
After I complained I got called by a customer care guy and was promised my device would be fixed one week after the pickup.
Called them this afternoon since we are one week further and my device was waiting for 2 parts but they didn't know which.
I wonder how many parts can break in the HD2 that direct to the fault. Guessing the main board and an LCD screen?
Well according to the customer service I will have to wait for the parts to come in.
I am so disappointed in the service and hole customer care after having a touch, touch pro, touch hd etc.
The touch pro which costed me over 500 Euro ended up in the trash after 3 failed repairs and numerous errors which where caused by the repair center. Sending it back to another address and name was only the tip of the iceberg.
Looking around for a dedicated Android device the LG optimus 2x looks good since it has a 24hour swap warranty.
Sorry to hear bro!
Heck, they even confirmed parts availability while on the initial call just prior to setting up the RMA. Maybe I just lucked out.
I work in the IT field and deal with all kinds of this stuff all the time and it has been years since I encountered this type of competence and efficiency. Don't know what else to say.
Have you checked out the Motorola Atrix?
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/U...d-Services/Mobile-Phones/Motorola-ATRIX-US-EN
This thing looks cool! Watched several segments on it during the CES show back in February. My only question or disappointment was in all the promo vids from the CES they were touting Android 3 Honeycomb however at the Motorola site its tech specs list Android 2.2.
Good luck in your search!
lukesan said:
You're a lucky guy.
I've had less good experiences in the Benelux here.
I called in mine for a screen and gps issue that is warranty issue since I run the official image on this HD2.
They didn't pickup the device twice as promised which drove me up the wall since I had my colleague involved and had to change several appointments with my clients for.
After I complained I got called by a customer care guy and was promised my device would be fixed one week after the pickup.
Called them this afternoon since we are one week further and my device was waiting for 2 parts but they didn't know which.
I wonder how many parts can break in the HD2 that direct to the fault. Guessing the main board and an LCD screen?
Well according to the customer service I will have to wait for the parts to come in.
I am so disappointed in the service and hole customer care after having a touch, touch pro, touch hd etc.
The touch pro which costed me over 500 Euro ended up in the trash after 3 failed repairs and numerous errors which where caused by the repair center. Sending it back to another address and name was only the tip of the iceberg.
Looking around for a dedicated Android device the LG optimus 2x looks good since it has a 24hour swap warranty.
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Click to collapse
thx for the headsup JayG!
Well lets say that I do the same work as you and do escallations and process realignments. If I could have a go in this whole thing .....
The Motorola looks interesting but try to find one in Europe.
I very agree with your assessment of HTC. My story is one better. I had bought my phone (HTC ELFIN P3452 TOUCH) in India. It had some battery charging issues and when on a whim I finally contacted HTC US, the lady told me that the warranty on the phone had expired 5 days back. I politely requested her if there is something she could do. She came back a few minutes later and told me she will take the phone as under warranty, but she will have to get back to me after figuring out where I should be sending the phone for repair as they figured HTC touch is not serviced anymore. I did not get a call back for 10 days and then I called back and explained my situation again and the previous call to a totally different lady. She gave me an RMA and asked me to ship to their TX facility. I got the phone back with brand new board in a week. But then I noticed a crack in the body. Since now the phone was under a 90 day warranty, I called back and explained the situation. They gave another RMA and so I sent it back. another week later, I get the phone back and it was brand new everything including the LCD and the phone. New IMEI.
HTC is top notch. So my current phone is HD2 and backup phone is Touch.
My touch screen died on my HD2, it was one of the older versions bought in Jan last year. I sent it off to HTC in April and they've had it over a month now. They say the parts are in Taiwan but have no idea when they'll ship. I simply can't beleive such a big company can happily take my phone off me for over a month and still not be able to tell me when they'll repair it. And to top it off, they sent my proof of purchase, which had my name/address etc on it, to a totally different customer; the numpty repair shop had clearly shoved my paperwork in to some elses repaired HTC phone.
Anyone else have the same issues with them at the moment? Anyone managed to get a replacement handset out of them yet???
This is a high bureaucracy if you want something repaired under warranty...
read this :
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/18/htc_failed_support/
johnerz said:
read this :
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Funnily enough they sent me an email today to say the phone should be with me on the 25th and the delay was due to moving the repair centre. That's the first time they mentioned that, up till today, it was always "we're waiting on parts, not sure what's happening". If only people could be honest. At least they've offered a free accesory up to 50 quid as a way of saying sorry so that's not too bad. Still, this whole debacle makes me think my next phone won't be a Sensation but a Galaxy S2. I hope Samsung do better repairs!
proeliator2001 said:
Funnily enough they sent me an email today to say the phone should be with me on the 25th and the delay was due to moving the repair centre. That's the first time they mentioned that, up till today, it was always "we're waiting on parts, not sure what's happening". If only people could be honest. At least they've offered a free accesory up to 50 quid as a way of saying sorry so that's not too bad. Still, this whole debacle makes me think my next phone won't be a Sensation but a Galaxy S2. I hope Samsung do better repairs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the same call today - repaired phone will be back with me next week & I chose the Bluetooth Headset for £50 as a freebie from HTC (as an apology for the delay in returning the phone to me).
The experience has not made me want to jump from the HTC brand (been with them since the old days of the SPV) - therefore I will still be grabbing a Sensation when my contract expires in the next few months.
Mine got picked up 6 weeks ago today and I got the same email yesterday. It was a Desire that I sent off.
try to ask them send u a new phone ^^
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Ive tried many times lol.
Have any of you got UPS tracking numbers for your devices to be shipped back?
My HD2 finally arrived back today with a nice new working touch screen (just as HTC said it would).
Although the HTC website says that it is awaiting pick-up by the courier service
Now I have to find another screen protector & try my best to apply it minus dust bubbles & turned up corners.
Well, well.... Got my phone back today after 6 weeks and 5 days unrepaired, exactly with the same fault as when I sent it and with my battery missing to top it off.
HTC have now told me that I will be receiving a brand new Desire S for compensation, its supposed to arrive today or tomorrow.
Anyone else been offered a brand new phone for compensation?
Lets say that my experience in the Benelux area is not much better.
The first time my HD2 got into repair, 1.5 months ago. 3 appointments to pick it up and not showing up with the most lame excuses.
Device was fixed after that in 1 week time which is good to me but the delivery back was another thing .... again.
The guy on the phone also asked me why I was angry after 3 missed appointments. Well if I do that in my current role I will not make it untill the end of the week.
Now after a month my phone has a MB problem and I already feared the support thing when it started happening. Needless to say I was right again!
Called in on Monday morning and was asked when it should be picked up. Two choices Tuesday 9am-1pm or 1pm-6pm, so I choose 9am-1pm.
They picked it up at 4:20pm. Not so funny when you think that I have to arrange my working day (and customers) for it.
To top it off. This morning I get an email that the device they received is not a desire hd as mentioned in the case but a hd2. sighhh
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Aangemeld Product:
Desire HD - Desire HD
Referentienummer: 11BECxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ontvangen Product:
TOUCH HD 2 - TOUCH HD 2
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And I won't go into detail on what happened to my Touch Pro a year ago which went into service a couple of times and wasn't fixed at all.
... and we have a winner ... again.
Got a message last Friday that my HD2 was ready.
Now this morning I asked Dynafix (the company that 'fixes' it in the Benelux)where it was and what was done to fix the issue.
'installed the latest rom' I was speechless.
I already told the HTC guy what was done before it was picked up and ofcourse installing the latest rom is one of them.
About 20 minutes later by coincidence I get customer care on the line asking me if I was satisfied with the repaired phone. (That I still don't have btw)
I mention what I just heard from the repaircenter and that the device will not work like it should.
It will have to come in 1 more time and then they can do a swap if it gets approved.
The device has not been working like it should since March the 27th.
I asked if it could get swapped for another model and I got a straight 'no'.
HTC is seriously getting on my nerves. Spending over 2000 Euros on phones over the past 3 years and not doing something in return for customers is not a good thing.
I was tempted to ask for a Sensation and pay a part of it myself but now I am more than tempted to get the Samsung S2.
Edit: The thing arrived 15 minutes ago ..... pop in battery and 5 minutes later ... stuck
Already recorded it to have some proof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7rswNyy2DI
Edit 2: Contacted HTC again to ask them if they can exchange it.
This really .... me of. They concider the last repair not a repair but a software upgrade so they will not exchange it.
Strange since I sent it in for a repair and already mentioned that I did a rom upgrade etc.
Anyone got recent experience of the repair service in UK?
Have just send my HD to have the touch screen repaired only to find out that their repair center is not good.
Any experiences?
Rob.
I just recently sent mine back. They returned it with the same fault I sent it in for. All they did was a factory reset.
This sounds familiar, I sent my wife's desire back 3 times with speaker noise. Came back reset every time with the same problem. After many phone calls and a letter to the CEO we were contacted by a Regional Customer Care Manager who again was worse than useless. Stand your ground as HTC policy is to replace phones after 3 failed attempts to repair the same fault. Hope this is useful.
I quoted the sale of goods act to Phones4U that states the retailer is liable for repairs, etc... I got a replacement sent out in 3-4 days.
I have the number of the Written Complaints Team of Phones4U if anyone needs it. I didn't write to them.
andyharney said:
I just recently sent mine back. They returned it with the same fault I sent it in for. All they did was a factory reset.
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Click to collapse
Same experience.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Although IANAL as Andy states in the UK your contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer, so it's the retailer who is required to sort the problems out, they can ask you to deal with the manufacturer direct BUT you are not obliged to do so.
They all get sent to HTC anyway and because Carphone Warehouse are doubly useless I chose to send mine to HTC direct.
I got my phone back within 3 weeks. I have no idea if they fixed it or not because they neglected to return my battery. I have now been waiting for a week for HTC to get stock back in again.
Shambles.
I really feel for you fellers as I've been on the arse end of rubbish repair service with a SONY, NOKIA & Phones4U in the past. My son's wildfire just came back from the UK repair centre & I have been absolutely amazed atwith all of it. From the inital call to the return of the phone - for a non working screen - 3 days, 3 days! Received this AM & so far all seems as it ought to be. Maybe I got lucky (& I do hope this positive post doesn't snap back & bite me on the butt) but I can't complain at all.
(That's killed it, I just know I've opened a world of pain for meself now )
Oh & I hope all you experiencing bad service really do get your stuff sorted to your satisfaction asap.
My first Desire HD bricked itself doing an OTA update, so I sent it back. I say "sent"... here's a rough timeline:
Monday @ 9am approx. - Called HTC
Monday @ 2pm approx. - Phone was picked up by courier!
Thursday - Received email to say the phone was fixed and was on the way back.
Monday @ 12 approx. - Received phone back from courier.
Bear in mind the Friday and second Monday were public holidays, so on a normal week I would have had it back on the Friday I think. As for the repair, they replaced the mainboard, shell and battery were original. I checked the hardware IDs etc, but HTC also confirmed the board replace when I called them.
All in all, I was quite satisfied. The only improvement would be to offer while you wait service by travelling to Milton Keynes and being in person.
That's pretty good. Far better than I received, here's my timeline.
Wk1 - Friday @ 10AM - Contacted HTC (Vibration Motor Failure) - Advised of 20+ days turnaround time due to repair centre re-location.
Wk2 - Tuesday @ Daytime - Handset picked up.
Wk3 -
Wk4 -
Wk5 -
Wk6 - Thursday @ 4PM - Contacted HTC to see where my handset was. Advised they had it and an engineer will look at it ASAP.
Wk7 - Tuesday @ Daytime - Courier returns handset. No notice given, luckily I had the day off.
Wk7 - Tuesday @ Daytime +1 - Contacted HTC - No repair made, vibration motor still faulty. Firmware updated to 2.36.405.8 - Advised of 20+ days turnaround, etc...
Wk7 - Tuesday @ Daytime +2 - Contacted Phones4U - Explained situation, got nowhere, reminded them of their responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act. "they are liable for repair, repair made in a reasonable timeframe, etc...." passed to "Written Complaints Team" they agreed with shocking turnaround and arranged a replacement.
Wk7 - Friday @ 10AM - Courier delivered brand new Desire HD.
Wk8 - Wednesday @ 9AM - Courier picked up faulty Desire HD.
Wk9 - Wednesday @ Daytime - Cheque of £50 through the post as compensation for my troubles. (I did not ask for this).
Daz555 said:
They all get sent to HTC anyway and because Carphone Warehouse are doubly useless I chose to send mine to HTC direct.
I got my phone back within 3 weeks. I have no idea if they fixed it or not because they neglected to return my battery. I have now been waiting for a week for HTC to get stock back in again.
Shambles.
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Click to collapse
Yes agreed, but you are absolving them of responsibility by going it alone, which may make life more difficult for you in the long run.
Here is the reason I'm getting worried:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/18/htc_failed_support/
The phone cost so much in the first place that I figured it best to get it sorted as soon as.
All the posts I logged about not being able to allow apps root etc, turns out it was the touch panel the whole time.
Since December when i got the phone I was thinking it was just me
I dropped it into a Vodafone Ireland shop so if it gets lost or comes back with the same fault, at least I will have someone to argue with.
Am back to using my old Omnia i900. Man is this thing a donkey. Hope my HD makes it back to me soon in one 100% working piece.
To those who have rooted their device and needed repair, do you need to unroot and S-on your device before sending?
nm8 said:
To those who have rooted their device and needed repair, do you need to unroot and S-on your device before sending?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't do you any harm, but in the UK at least they can't decline a hardware warranty claim because you've rooted
I just ran the stock RUU over mine before returning it.
11 days ago HTC emailed me to advise they had dispatched a new battery......guess what.......yep, nowt.
They were also delighted to inform me that they had dispatched an 8GB mSDHC card by way of compensation........genius. We had actually agreed on a 16GB card. Either way it has not arrived anyway.
Utter shambles from start to finish.
Just got a call from Vodafone to say my phone had come back from repair.
Going to head out and get it shortly. Will be interesting to see if its actually fixed.
I had a bad experience.. took them 45 days to sort out my phone.
It was sent in due to a camera blur, it blurred the right hand side. I got told it will be 5 working days... These days came and went, so I called them up, to be told it is on the priority list, which means it will be sent out asap (a couple of days). This time period came and went. Long story short, they kept telling me my phone will be sent out in the next couple of days, when really it was sat there waiting for a new camera to be delivered from Taiwan, which I found out about 30 days in.
In the end, I quote the sales and goods act, and pointed them to the direction of their terms and conditions, which state that in a delay, either party must notify the other, but they never notified me. And the Act which stated that a repair must be done in a reasonable time frame, else a replacement product must be issued.
After I sent them off a letter stating this, I had an email reply saying that my phone will be with me by next wednesday, which also came and went... on the Thirsday they rung me up, telling me a new, boxed HTC Desire HD will be sent out to me, I got that on the Friday. Makes me wonder why they didn't save time with all this messing around, read their own terms and conditions, plus check out the law before they built a repair centre!
Overall, I was glad I had a brand new phone, but annoyed with their level of service, and lack of answers. I even had Orange ringing them up requesting my phone be returned to be as they had broken the law.
Matt
Just been to collect the phone and just as well i tested it in store.
Still not fixed. All they did was reload the software!
So, its off for another repair now with alot more details added to the description.
Exactly what they did to mine, I don't understand the thought process of these "Engineers/Technicians". Repair notes state,
"Faulty Vibration Motor: Does not vibrate / distinct scratching noise when supposed to vibrate".
Somehow updating the software to 2.36.405.8 will fix an obvious hardware fault?
So as you can guess from my sig. I have been using HTC's before smartphones were a thing (I swear I'm not that old!)
So when my HTC one got the purple camera issue I became upset, maybe their quality had dropped? I called the customer support 15 months after purchase to get it replaced, the CS lady was nice (and Canadian ) she emailed a prepaid label and I sent it out to Texas for a device swap. Granted my screen had a crack in it but I still sent it in for repair since the camera would not be affected by it. Anyways, since I was out of warranty I did get an email about having to pay $90 to get it repaired, I was assured by the tech before that I would not be paying for the issue but the repair center clearly did not communicate with the tech guys. After calling and having them prove that I actually bought the phone I was told that the swap would not done since there weren't any M7 phones left in inventory
Now this is about day 20 without a phone, I was using my flip phone from 2005 :silly: and clearly had it with HTC, I complained on their twitter about being a loyal customer and would not buy their future products then 2 days later I get an email with a shipping label that my phone was being shipped. Finally, 25 days later ( I was told its a 7 days thing) I get a new phone with a new ESN, screen was not cracked with perfect working camera!:good:
If someone from HTC is reading this, you have be back as a customer but please communicate better next time about the status of my phone, thanks
ninten5 said:
So as you can guess from my sig. I have been using HTC's before smartphones were a thing (I swear I'm not that old!)
Now this is about day 20 without a phone, I was using my flip phone from 2005 :silly: and clearly had it with HTC,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only 20 days and you were stuck with a flip phone from 2005? I can beat that record
My first smartphone was a HTC Qtek S200 released late in 2005 that I paid $695.00 (CA) for and was so rare people would stop to ask me about it if I was in a restaurant and had it on the table.. It had a three year warranty back then. The speaker died and they fixed it no problem
About three months before the warranty ran out the speaker again broke so I sent it in to get fixed but it wasn't 20 days it was almost two full months before I got it back. The worst part was when I got it back it was DOA :crying: Wouldn't even start.
I complained of course (in a very nice way as I am Canadian LOL) but as the phone was so old they couldn't replace it as they didn't even have any. To the credit of HTC a very nice lady emailed me to try and work something out. I actually still have her skype contact as we chatted over skype a few times.
Before the phone had even been released they offered me a free unopened brand new gold box (gold box versions are pre-retail and are used as full working demos before a phone is released) of the HTC Touch Cruise. The gold box versions were going for around $725 on ebay at that time as the phone hadn't even been released yet.
They screwed up taking two months to fix my phone and then sending it out DOA but I was blown away by their offer to give me a free pre-release phone not even on the market yet.
It was a good investment on their part. I have never bought a smartphone unless it is made by HTC since then.