Develop Bugs

[Q] HTC repair service - what's your opinion?

I've had to send my Desire back to HTC last Monday (11/10/10) as the external speaker has failed. They arranged UPS courier pick up and UPS supplied a tracking number which showed it was signed for by HTC on 12/10/10.
Also on 12/10, HTC sent me an email advising they'd received the phone and gave me a repair tracking reference. I logged in to the servioce on 12/10 and it did indeed show 'We have received your phone at HTC service center.'
This is fine, but we are now one week on since HTC reported receiving my phone and the status has not changed. I rang them today and just got fobbed off with "it takes 10 to 15 working days to turn around a repair". I'm not unduly worried, however, I don't see the point of a repair tracking service if it is never updated.
I just wondered what everyone else's experiences were of the HTC repair service and their repair tracking updates?
Cheers.

*** BUMP ***

HTC Repair
I sent my phone in for repair about 4 weeks ago. I had a similar experience as you where it stayed in that status for about 2 weeks! I was phoning constantly in that time, being given expected repair dates, being promised things would be raised as a priority etc, but to no avail. I complained to the customer service team that the updating was poor. The lady agreed but could only promise to pass my comment on to the complaints department and they would contact me in 24 hours. They couldn't be contacted directly.
I had no intention of believing that based on my past experience over the 2 weeks. I rang the head office and asked for the complaints department. I spoke to a really helpful lady who managed to get my phone repaied and back to me in 5 days! This would not have happenned if she didn't help me.
Unfortunately, the repair was unsuccessful. I was reluctant to send it back, but I went via the route of the same person in the complaints department, who set it up as a priority case. I sent if off on a Friday and had it back the next Friday! Fault was fixed.
The best way to deal with them is to constantly ring them as the repair tracking service isn't updated often, whereas they can see other information on their systems. If that doesn't work, ring the complaints department.

Repair: UPDATE
Well, would you credit it, the day after I made my original post HTC updated the repair tracker to say my phone was being repaired. The next day, it was updated again to say phone repaired and being returned to me. That was last Friday and guess what? I still haven't got my phone, but and it is a BIIIIG but...
It's not HTC's fault. They did post it, and gave me a UPS Courier tracking number.
UPS reported the phone being sent from their depot in Tamworth, Staffs. On Monday just gone, it was then reported as being out for delivery to me that day....it never arrived. I rang UPS, they claimed they had tried to deliver it but my office was shut...BULLSH!T! I was ringing them from the office at 4.30pm that day! UPS then said they would reschedule delivery for Tuesday to which I agreed.
Then as I was leaving the office at 5pm, UPS rang me back to say I could call at their local depot (10 miles from me) at 6pm to collect the phone. I agreed and arrived at their office at 6.10pm only for them not to be able to find the phone, then tell me "We're really sorry, but it's still at our Tamworth depot. We'll get it to you tomorrow"
So Tuesday morning rolls round....I get a phone call from UPS at work asking was I planning to call and collect the phone from UPS today. I told them no because they had arranged to deliver it that day.
Then the bombshell. "I'm really sorry sir, we had a break in on one of our vans at the Tamworth depot. Your phone was on that van and has been stolen!"
Can't be helped I suppose, but it doesn't stop me thinking how unlucky can I get!!!
Still, at the end of the day, UPS have admitted it was stolen, so I should get a new replacement or a big fat cheque to buy a new one.
C'est la vie.

LOL - sorry, I shouldn't laugh, that's a horrendous story...
I was curious, did UPS pay out to you?

smeddy said:
LOL - sorry, I shouldn't laugh, that's a horrendous story...
I was curious, did UPS pay out to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the sympathy...lol!
You really don't want to know what a nightmare I've had with HTC since this happened. Suffice to say, it took 6 weeks to get a replacement (refurb) handset (wrapped in bubble wrap in a plastic envelope, my retail box which it was sent in was nowhere to be seen), which they sent WITHOUT a battery (which took another week to arrive...after shouting at them down the phone!!) and now this replacement handset it randomly freezing!!!
I hope you NEVER have to send your handset back to HTC....they have the worst customer service I've ever experienced...EVER!!! Still currently got an ongoing dispute with them. If I ever get a resolution and I have a spare 3 weeks, I might post the whole sorry saga for you all to have a laugh/cry/empathising pat on the back at....if it could go wrong, it did/has/probably still will!!
Let's just say I will NEVER buy HTC again!!!
And no, UPS didn't pay out to me, because the phone was sent BACK to me by HTC, so HTC had to make the claim. So, while they will probably get the full cost of the lost phone, I'm left with a refurb. HTC won't entertain a claim from me as UPS lost the phone and UPS won't entertain a claim from me because HTC were the sender and had to make the claim! I'm stuck between rock and a hard place...but I'm still fighting!!!

My story
Hey! I have a similar story to share! N.B. None of our phones are rooted and only her's was SIM unlocked via a code we purchased.
So since December 2011, my girlfriend (Phone B) and I (Phone A) have both been using HTC Desire Z sold by Bell Canada. I am a Bell user and she is a Rogers user. Mine was bought under my contract and her's was bought by someone else who got a contract to get the phone but sold the phone brand new and gave me the bill.
So we had been using our phones without any problems until I started experiencing issues in July 2011. The screen was not responding and I had to send it (A) for repairs. It was returned and was used without any issue until the next problem popped up (keep reading).
In December 2011, I decided to send my girlfriend's phone (B) since she had been complaining that her earpiece was crackling. So in December, I sent the phone.
I leant her my phone for the time her's was under repair. One night, my phone froze when she loaded a PDF. It restarted fine but the next morning, it was stuck at the HTC screen (A).
I called Bell. In Canada, it turns out carriers are responsible for handling the warranty so they consider that if you are not a customer under the carrier, you can't avail yourself of the manufacturer's warranty. This makes absolutely no sense as the standard product warranty from a manufacturer is 1 year.
I called HTC and fought for an hour until they sent me to a repair unit. With them, they told me that the phone was still under warranty and gave me a work order to send to the subcontractor responsible for repairs.
I sent phone A for repairs. In the meantime, phone B was returned. We sent phone B for repairs unlocked and they returned it locked (new IMEI). I paid to get it unlocked and my girlfriend started using it. She told me that it reboots every 2 minutes. I took a video of it and it is pretty ridiculous. With a Rogers SIM, it reboots every 2 minutes, without a SIM, it reboots every 15 or so. I'm now going to have to send phone B for repairs again and cross my fingers that it doesn't fail again.
Now the pièce de résistance is coming up. I just received a call from the repair company and they are asking 200$ to fix phone A. They consider that a phone under warranty with a work order and sent because of random software failure needs 200$? What is this?
Posted my story on the HTC Canada facebook page and guess what? INSTANT DELETE! Because of this, I started my own Facebook page. We are customers, I bought not 1 but 2 phones from them and look at what they do!
So here it is, the facebook page where all of you should post your stories:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/HTC-Cell-Phone-Issues/302964459751052?sk=wall
If it gathers wind, we might finally get some real help from HTC. I was a BIG fan of them. Until they fix this mess, NEVER again will I buy or advise anyone to buy their products!
Thank you and sorry for the long mail.
Show some support, this might happen to you!
I will be starting a thread to elicit people to share their own stories and hopefully all post on the Facebook page. Can you guys copy-paste your stories? It would help gather some momentum.

ATT rep said my recent warranty claim was the 1st one made?

Certainly that can't be right.
Nevertheless, I have to say my experience getting my bricked phone (my fault entirely) replaced throught the ATT warranty dept went very well.
They even included overnight shipping, didn't require me to ship mine back 1st and included a return shipping label for my crapped out phone. I made the claim Friday and received my new phone Monday 11 am.
Well done ATT.

Congratulations!
What can you advise me to do with my bricked phone? I bought my phone from eBay and I live in Israel. I think that will not be able to replace my phone for a new one. Only if I'll send it directly to LG. But will there be something to do?

Machzelet said:
Congratulations!
What can you advise me to do with my bricked phone? I bought my phone from eBay and I live in Israel. I think that will not be able to replace my phone for a new one. Only if I'll send it directly to LG. But will there be something to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe LG but ATT won't do anything for you unless your a customer. And usually warrenty is not outside of the country you got it from.
Sent from my LG-P930 using XDA App

I think this particular ATT Rep was smoking salmon...I have returned 2 already due to warranty stuff and will probably be selling the next replacement I get...the rep at my local store wasn't overly enthused with the phone and said that was the consensus.
On a lighter note they were very helpful with getting this taken care of and doing so very quickly...
scott0 said:
Certainly that can't be right.
Nevertheless, I have to say my experience getting my bricked phone (my fault entirely) replaced throught the ATT warranty dept went very well.
They even included overnight shipping, didn't require me to ship mine back 1st and included a return shipping label for my crapped out phone. I made the claim Friday and received my new phone Monday 11 am.
Well done ATT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Machzelet said:
Congratulations!
What can you advise me to do with my bricked phone? I bought my phone from eBay and I live in Israel. I think that will not be able to replace my phone for a new one. Only if I'll send it directly to LG. But will there be something to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have AT&T so despite living in the USA, I sent my phone directly to LG. (I use an AT&T MVNO, so I don't get support from AT&T) LG repaired it free of charge and mailed it back. So I guess LG does something right.

fishscale28 said:
I think this particular ATT Rep was smoking salmon...I have returned 2 already due to warranty stuff and will probably be selling the next replacement I get...the rep at my local store wasn't overly enthused with the phone and said that was the consensus.
On a lighter note they were very helpful with getting this taken care of and doing so very quickly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's been the issue(s) with your phones?
Generally, I tend to find local store rep's opinions to be, well, less than they should be. After using this phone for 2+ months I'm unsure why a local store rep would not communicate the benefits of this device as opposed to their lack of enthusiasm for it.

I don't think the phone is so bad...I think there are lots of great things about it. I love the screen, it has the potential to be so quick and snappy and really could be an all around awesome phone...I just realized the fact that updates were going to be a little slower towards this phone and it seemed like making any slight mod (firmware/rom wise) would work but had a much higher failure rate than I think anyone was looking for-hence my looking to move on...
The specific issues with my phone were a short or something that just hard bricked the phone without warning and without any mods...at all. It just turned off one day and nothing could ever, every be done to get it back on. Strange.... the second phone has never been quite right after installing a rom and the boot loops and not being able to reboot was kind of a turn off. Plus the speaker in the earpiece has been a bit wonky so I decided to do a warranty return and then move on from there.
And you're right...some of the reps seem to be way off from what's realistic...you can tell they definitely play favorites and seem to be very partial and unsupportive. But at least they were helpful!

kernelpan1c said:
I don't have AT&T so despite living in the USA, I sent my phone directly to LG. (I use an AT&T MVNO, so I don't get support from AT&T) LG repaired it free of charge and mailed it back. So I guess LG does something right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get your repaired phone back? How long did it take? Get me some tips what I need to do, where to send?

Machzelet said:
Did you get your repaired phone back? How long did it take? Get me some tips what I need to do, where to send?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called LG Customer Service and told them the device wouldn't power up. (I had done a battery pull and it totally hardware bricked the device.) They had me send it to Stellar Wireless with the Repair Authorization # they gave me. I got it back within 7 business days.

scott0 said:
Certainly that can't be right.
Nevertheless, I have to say my experience getting my bricked phone (my fault entirely) replaced throught the ATT warranty dept went very well.
They even included overnight shipping, didn't require me to ship mine back 1st and included a return shipping label for my crapped out phone. I made the claim Friday and received my new phone Monday 11 am.
Well done ATT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exchanging in a store during your 30 day buyers remorse period is different than exchanging through warranty. You might have exchanged it several times in store, but to AT&T's warranty department, this is the first time. They keep track of how many warranty claims you make, once you get to a certain point they usually allow you to try something different.
As for AT&T store reps, many of them base their opinions on phones on popularity, return rate, etc. The Nitro/Optimus LTE is an awesome phone, but it isn't very popular saleswise.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

kernelpan1c said:
I called LG Customer Service and told them the device wouldn't power up. (I had done a battery pull and it totally hardware bricked the device.) They had me send it to Stellar Wireless with the Repair Authorization # they gave me. I got it back within 7 business days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One problem - I live in Israel, and in my country this device is officially not for sale. So I do not know how and where to call and send the device. I have no idea what to do.

AT&T reps were trained to lie to customers. I had to turn in my SGS2 twice for exchange, and both times I was told I was the first to exchange the SGS2.

Machzelet said:
One problem - I live in Israel, and in my country this device is officially not for sale. So I do not know how and where to call and send the device. I have no idea what to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go to the LG swebsite and look for a way to contact them about a warranty exchange or repair.
Sent from my LG-P930 using XDA App

Warranty Claim or Pay to Repair in the U.S.? Please help me. (SDS involved)

Hello people!
Looks like I might have become the first in the U.S. to experience the SDS issue, at least among those who attend this forum regularly? Because I searched and searched, read and read, and could not find a single sign that anyone in the U.S. has experienced this SDS issue and filed a warranty claim to someone/somewhere. I contacted Samsung USA and they said this device is not supported and they're not trained to provide the support to me, and directed me to their international website... I had not luck with their international website either, so I contacted Amazon seller who I bought my N7100 from. And they have not replied in the past couple days...
So I wanted to see if anyone here has imported his/her n7100 into the U.S. and happened to encounter any issue with the phone and successfully filed warranty claim against Samsung. If so, how can that be done?
Worst case scenario, I pay to repair n7100 in the U.S., who should I go to? Or do I have to send the phone overseas either way?
Many thanks in advance.

bump for help please :crying:

I did not import my phone, I got it from Sprint, BUT..................given the choice, ship it back to Korea for Warranty!!! Have you ever a conversation with repair tech's in most mobile shops here??? And even with TEP they will give you every excuse how YOU messed it up or dropped and and your claim is denied.
If you send it back and likely they will get you someone that actually BUILDS the note's, original part, or give you a brand new (not referb) Note!!
This is JMO! Good Luck!!

Thanks for your reply. However, who would I contact before I ship it to Korea? I'd guess I'll have to have Samsung open an RMA for me or something?

Hi
if you have N7100 SDS,,Usually You Need Replace eMMC....
I Have and i can replace eMMC ,,,Please Read :http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/9306319-post324.html
i'm product manager on RIFF-Jtag Box and I can do it,,,Plz Contact Me Via eMail or Sonork
[email protected]
Thanks

Thanks for the info. How much do you charge for the repair though? Also, where am I gonna send it to? Your location shown under your name or did you implicate (if you implicated at all) that you have stores in the U.S.?

How long have you had the phone? Is it within 30-day return period? For return/replacement reasons I only buy items from Amazon that are Prime Eligible even if the non-Prime ones are dirt cheap.

clearday said:
How long have you had the phone? Is it within 30-day return period? For return/replacement reasons I only buy items from Amazon that are Prime Eligible even if the non-Prime ones are dirt cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish! :crying: I've had it for well over 5 months. It wasn't prime even tho I do have prime membership, because at the time I bought it, only ones available are from all kinds of importers/sellers that sell THRU amazon. Even though it's prime (fulfilled by Amazon), im not sure if it's Amazon that you can contact for warranty claim after 5 months, because it is not sold by Amazon but only "fulfilled".
It's unlucky to say the least. It is essentially "mistake by mistakes" made by me. I shouldn't have assumed that there should be no issue like SDS on an Samsung device; I shouldn't have assumed that if something happens, it's easy as a breeze to just call Samsung UK to get things fixed; I shouldn't have assumed that the seller I chose on Amazon is willing to help me if Samsung UK and Samsung USA kicks me back n forth; etc etc...
Bad assumptions, bad luck.
If anyone had any experience with this, please please help me :good:. I swear I'm not gonna be so trusting next time. I will buy from a seller that's known to be helpful with their customers' warranty claim, i.e., expansys. I would even buy a carrier subsidized phone just for the sake of the proper support. I thought the worst case with this dead phone for me was to pay high bills to fix it and sell it to cover partial cost, but now it looks like the worse case is that I don't know where to go to fix it...

cswithxda said:
I wish! :crying: I've had it for well over 5 months. It wasn't prime even tho I do have prime membership, because at the time I bought it, only ones available are from all kinds of importers/sellers that sell THRU amazon. Even though it's prime (fulfilled by Amazon), im not sure if it's Amazon that you can contact for warranty claim after 5 months, because it is not sold by Amazon but only "fulfilled".
It's unlucky to say the least. It is essentially "mistake by mistakes" made by me. I shouldn't have assumed that there should be no issue like SDS on an Samsung device; I shouldn't have assumed that if something happens, it's easy as a breeze to just call Samsung UK to get things fixed; I shouldn't have assumed that the seller I chose on Amazon is willing to help me if Samsung UK and Samsung USA kicks me back n forth; etc etc...
Bad assumptions, bad luck.
If anyone had any experience with this, please please help me :good:. I swear I'm not gonna be so trusting next time. I will buy from a seller that's known to be helpful with their customers' warranty claim, i.e., expansys. I would even buy a carrier subsidized phone just for the sake of the proper support. I thought the worst case with this dead phone for me was to pay high bills to fix it and sell it to cover partial cost, but now it looks like the worse case is that I don't know where to go to fix it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about the warranty bro. By the way, I've successfully returned items to sellers without problems even when it was only fulfilled by amazon. One instance was an order of 750gb seagate xt HD, to which I received a 60gb HD instead. Contacted the seller, got no response, contacted Amazon and I was immediately issued an RMA.
As far as requesting support from warranty, knock on wood, I haven't such experience yet with items purchased from amazon.
Good luck man, hopefully someone can help you in this forum.

clearday said:
Sorry about the warranty bro. By the way, I've successfully returned items to sellers without problems even when it was only fulfilled by amazon. One instance was an order of 750gb seagate xt HD, to which I received a 60gb HD instead. Contacted the seller, got no response, contacted Amazon and I was immediately issued an RMA.
As far as requesting support from warranty, knock on wood, I haven't such experience yet with items purchased from amazon.
Good luck man, hopefully someone can help you in this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the kind words man. If you have a note 2 just remember to update whenever it's possible and avoid ending up like me hah...

Hey cswithxda, I have the same situation. Bought a N7100 from Amazon a few months ago (around November) and everything was fine until this afternoon when it was just off. Tried turning it on but I'm just getting the dim red light that flashes slowly when I press the power button. Charging light is off and the phone appears absolutely dead.
A while ago I checked to see if I have a vulnerable chip, and it was positive.
Samsung's live chat said they don't support international products.
I might go to one of those repair places tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the phone. Then I might see if Samsung USA will even look at it, or else I might send it to UK or Korea?
What have you done since your phone suffered from the SDS?

Gordon. said:
Hey cswithxda, I have the same situation. Bought a N7100 from Amazon a few months ago (around November) and everything was fine until this afternoon when it was just off. Tried turning it on but I'm just getting the dim red light that flashes slowly when I press the power button. Charging light is off and the phone appears absolutely dead.
A while ago I checked to see if I have a vulnerable chip, and it was positive.
Samsung's live chat said they don't support international products.
I might go to one of those repair places tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the phone. Then I might see if Samsung USA will even look at it, or else I might send it to UK or Korea?
What have you done since your phone suffered from the SDS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about your unlucky situation.
By repair places, do you mean Samsung support center or something? I talked to Samsung USA also and they wouldn't even talk to me if I tell them the model number (n7100). So I really don't know where I should go now. I contacted original seller and the help was minimal (telling me to contact Samsung).
I would like to send it to either UK or Korea, as long as it can be repaired, or even better, if it can be repaired under warranty.
Let me know what you find out with repair places.
Also, I did not know about SDS after my phone's dead. So I had been suffering from hangs/freezes but thought it was only software problem and was being lazy about re-flashing it. I wish I'd come here more often when the phone was in a good condition, not after it died... Anyway, after I got to know that it's been SDS'd, I contacted seller, SamUK, SamUSA without any luck. It is just amazing how much we are unsupported in this situation. As large as Samsung has become, how hard can it be for them to just provide global repair services (if not warranty services)

BABAK236 said:
Hi
if you have N7100 SDS,,Usually You Need Replace eMMC....
I Have and i can replace eMMC ,,,Please Read :http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/9306319-post324.html
i'm product manager on RIFF-Jtag Box and I can do it,,,Plz Contact Me Via eMail or Sonork
[email protected]
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
$150 for an emmc chip?
How much does whole motherboard itself cost

I'm about to go to a phone repair place for a diagnostic test and see if they can do anything. I'll let you know what I find.
I was surprised to read that Samsung UK didn't wasn't helpful, since this phone is sold there. As a last-case scenario I was thinking of sending my phone to a friend over there and sending it in for repair.

Okay, as of today I sent the phone to a friend in the UK who was kind enough to let me use his address. It really sucks from having the best, most powerful phone to nothing, but I will likely pick up a Nexus 4 to use. I don't regret purchasing the phone since I wanted to have the best and it needed to be unlocked, but in the future I will be more cautious about buying one without local warranty.
I just hope the phone is 'dead' enough so the fact that I rooted it isn't detected.
What have you done with yours? I imagine it'll take ~2 weeks for my package to get shipped across the pond, and then I'll calculate 1.5 months for repair. I'll keep you posted on how it goes; maybe it's an option to get yours repaired there too?

Gordon. said:
Okay, as of today I sent the phone to a friend in the UK who was kind enough to let me use his address. It really sucks from having the best, most powerful phone to nothing, but I will likely pick up a Nexus 4 to use. I don't regret purchasing the phone since I wanted to have the best and it needed to be unlocked, but in the future I will be more cautious about buying one without local warranty.
I just hope the phone is 'dead' enough so the fact that I rooted it isn't detected.
What have you done with yours? I imagine it'll take ~2 weeks for my package to get shipped across the pond, and then I'll calculate 1.5 months for repair. I'll keep you posted on how it goes; maybe it's an option to get yours repaired there too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a nexus 4 as well lol. I really needed a phone and it was cheap! :good: The experience has been as good as on N7100. 4.2.2 is even smoother now.
I have been caught up with school works and sth else in life, so I haven't really tried anything else yet. Samsung UK sent me an email that I cannot reply (automated email system), gave me a link to the list of Samsung regional supports (hell, they think I cannot find that on my own?!), and nothing more. Samsung USA just slammed the door in my face, basically saying "no, good luck" when I tried live support on their website. So now I am still trying to get my original seller into this and help me, but they haven't replied in the past 2 weeks.
I wish I had a friend in UK!
BTW, when you bought your phone thru Amazon, did you notice where the phone came from? I'm not sure where my came from now.. It has German, French, and Italian user guide in it, but on the warranty card, it seems to be written in German and Slovenian. And Samsung Electronics Austria GmbH is the only thing I can read (those long, long german words are giving me a headache :silly: ) It talked about three regions - Austria, Slovenia, and Switzerland (thanks to Google Translate). So it looks like this phone might come from Austria. I am not sure if it still can be sent to UK for repair.

Well my friend in the UK really only has to drop it in his mail and then accept it when it comes back. I'll let you know how it goes because he might be able to help you too. I'm pretty sure mine came from California (Amazon seller WorldWide Distributors). But the firmware version on the phone was from Brazil or Panama.
I made an account on Samsung UK's site and it accepted the model number, serial number and IMEI number so despite not being from the region, it should be good. Did you do anything to your phone just before it died? I think that installing MIUI with kernel 4.1.1 was the insult that triggered it all for me. I should've realized the vulnerability but assumed the newest version would have the SDS fix included.
I was thinking about bringing it to a cell phone repair place for diagnosis, but it didn't have water damage or broken screen so I doubt they could have helped.
Being optimistic, not having a good cell phone is really allowing me to focus on my final USMLE studies!

Gordon. said:
Well my friend in the UK really only has to drop it in his mail and then accept it when it comes back. I'll let you know how it goes because he might be able to help you too. I'm pretty sure mine came from California (Amazon seller WorldWide Distributors). But the firmware version on the phone was from Brazil or Panama.
I made an account on Samsung UK's site and it accepted the model number, serial number and IMEI number so despite not being from the region, it should be good. Did you do anything to your phone just before it died? I think that installing MIUI with kernel 4.1.1 was the insult that triggered it all for me. I should've realized the vulnerability but assumed the newest version would have the SDS fix included.
I was thinking about bringing it to a cell phone repair place for diagnosis, but it didn't have water damage or broken screen so I doubt they could have helped.
Being optimistic, not having a good cell phone is really allowing me to focus on my final USMLE studies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW good luck with the exam, i used to do premed but changed my major my GPA wasn't good enough
Anyway, that's for sure a better news. It looks like Samsung UK does not screen off phone bought outside of UK support region (if yours was from Mid/latin america.
Please definitely update this, if this works out I'll follow your path. Thanks for being the first in this case and helping the rest of us!

Gordon. said:
Hey cswithxda, I have the same situation. Bought a N7100 from Amazon a few months ago (around November) and everything was fine until this afternoon when it was just off. Tried turning it on but I'm just getting the dim red light that flashes slowly when I press the power button. Charging light is off and the phone appears absolutely dead.
A while ago I checked to see if I have a vulnerable chip, and it was positive.
Samsung's live chat said they don't support international products.
I might go to one of those repair places tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the phone. Then I might see if Samsung USA will even look at it, or else I might send it to UK or Korea?
What have you done since your phone suffered from the SDS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you check for vulnerable chip?

Gordon. said:
I made an account on Samsung UK's site and it accepted the model number, serial number and IMEI number so despite not being from the region, it should be good. Did you do anything to your phone just before it died? I think that installing MIUI with kernel 4.1.1 was the insult that triggered it all for me. I should've realized the vulnerability but assumed the newest version would have the SDS fix included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh btw, I don't think anything triggered the issue, it was just there from the beginning I didn't even install anything new for at least 2 months before the phone died. Just normal daily use - web browsing, call, SMS, mobile IM, etc. I did start experiencing random freezes about 2 weeks before the phone died, and it became much more frequent towards the end of its life.
clearday said:
How did you check for vulnerable chip?
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Search "SDS xda" on google, and you'll find a ton of info. I didn't know about this issue before my phone died, so I never bothered to check if the chip in my phone was defective hehe..

Moto 360 Customer Service

Recently, I called customer service twice needing support with my 360.
Both times, I spoke to custumer reps with very thick Hispanic accent. Both reps spoke broken English and not very professional. I had difficult understanding them, and vice versa.
Anyone had similar poor experiences?

Their live chat on the support website works great... and I bet you can't tell accents by people's typing too lol

knite75 said:
Recently, I called customer service twice needing support with my 360.
Both times, I spoke to custumer reps with very thick Hispanic accent. Both reps spoke broken English and not very professional. I had difficult understanding them, and vice versa.
Anyone had similar poor experiences?
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As someone who had to ask for an RMA because of a dead watch, they spelt my name horribly wrong, and did not ask to spell it back to me to confirm. They only way I know that they spelled it wrong was that when the replacement package got here, my name was backwards (last name first) and horribly misspelled. I think the quality of the telephone line has more to do with this than race, as I was often left trying to guess what they had said to me because the call audio kept going in and out.
The customer service in general was pretty bad, with me being left on hold for about 15 minutes and then picked up by someone who wasn't the same gender or nationality picking up the line.
v3ngence said:
Their live chat on the support website works great... and I bet you can't tell accents by people's typing too lol
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I was told when I tried to do this because I was fed up with the phone support they told me that the online chat wasn't available yet (2014-09-27ish) and that I had to call to get service.
I honestly think that their customer service is much worse now that they have gone to Lenovo.

I had to call them because my cracked back(pebble steel) and it was a pain. Chat cannot do exchange and returns.
My experience was horrible! My replacement watch was lost on Wednesday. FedEx was showing "Left at front door. Package delivered to recipient address - release authorized" The box was not found by the door.
I had to open a case with Fedex and called Motorola and give them the case number. I was transferred 3-4 times and talked to couple people...finally guy name Jose was able to send me new one and right now its showing "On FedEx vehicle for delivery". I also called to change Motorola last night to address the to my office but they said the order was sent to warehouse and its not possible to change the address.
I do not want to offend anyone but I had difficult understanding each reps and it was hard.

YMMV.
I spoke to two people, both of which spoke clear english and were totally understandable.
Then again, both of them also claimed to cancel my order, and it shipped out anyway.
So I'd say on the whole Motorola support SUCKS.
- Frank

I ordered a 360 once it got back in stock, then second guessed my purchase.
I decided I would cancel the order, so I tried to find a way to cancel on their site, there was no way. I then tried to wait for a live chat twice, both times I had to wait 40 minutes before it crapped out on me. It offered to let me email them, so I did, giving them all my order information and requesting a cancellation.
I didn't hear back for days, so I called them up, they said they would push through the cancellation, they didn't. I then got an email back from the email I sent them, they said they are still working on it. A few days later I see the charge hit my card, so I call them up, they assure me that they are going to cancel the order and I told them that is what they said last time.
I get an email back saying to call their line (of course not providing me with a phone number) because they cannot cancel the order.
Two days later the watch arrives.
Fortunately I like the watch but their customer services is the epitome of disorganized and utterly inept. Multiple phone calls, emails, etc. and they cannot do something as incredibly basic as cancelling an order.

ChodTheWacko said:
So I'd say on the whole Motorola support SUCKS.
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Pretty much sums up my experience so far!

Motorola customer support has gone into the toilet so fast it's stunning. I'm currently in the middle of a 90 minute (So far) phone hold trying to get a return label that I've already requested and been promised TWICE.
Phone support has moved from the US to somewhere else, simple requests are not understood or acted on, and I get transfered around to get the most basic things done.
It's honestly become as bad as trying to cancel Sirius radio, which anyone who has been through knows is the lowest form of customer support. A stark contrast from last winter when they did a rush build and overnight shipped my fiancee's Moto X to get it to me by Christmas *without being asked to do so*.
Meet the "New, New Motorola". Not to be confused with the "New, Old Motorola".

Did you guys ever try the live chat?
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/mcp/service/p/2815,9141
Worked great for me!

*delete*

I use to not deal with any company that had their support based overseas. Unfortunately today that is getting harder and harder to find. Taking jobs out of America because they don't want to pay a decent wage, and dealing with "scripted" responses to technical issues is not a way to run a company IMO.

I called customer care today to ask, when I can expect the moto 360 to be back in stock, as it was out of stock, he said I can buy it from ebay as he saw its available on ebay but a bit expensive from store... lol

Moto support, in my opinion used to be pretty great before the lenovo deal was announced. I had the front facing camera delamination issues with my Moto X, 3 different times, on 3 different phones. The first time I called, they sent me a code for a new moto x, and a free portable charger. The second time, I just sent them an email, and the next day they sent me a code for a new moto x again. The third time however, which was about a month ago, I sent an email first, and got no response. Then I tried the chat thing, and sat in a queue for 30 minutes, and then when I was number 1, it told me no one was available and disconnected me. I sent another email to their automated support and still got no response. I finally found a different email address on their facebook for support, which seems to goto American employees. I sent an email to that address, the next day a rep called me, and I had a new phone on the way to me. If you are having customer support issues don't give up just yet. Try contacting them here: [email protected]

Any Advance Replacement RMA experience out there?

My z551ml is having screen issues. One sees it on boot up, so it is most probably something with the framebuffer hardware.
I've initiated an RMA with Advanced Replacement (where they pre ship a replacement phone for US$25 + credit card hold until the old phone arrives). This is only offered on the z551ml, evidently.
Anyone have any experience with this?
So far I've tried opening a ticket online. This seems to be a lose, as they give themselves 48 hours to respond. So I phoned up the support number (which suspiciously doesn't have 'mobile' or 'cell phone' listed on their web page). The guy I worked with ran me through the process, hard reset, etc and issued me with an RMA number and provided the "Advanced Replacement" form.
Here's my timeline:
18 Sept - Opened up online ticket, told to expect response in 48 hours
18 Sept - Opened up phone ticket, gave me a RMA number, and line to online form to fill out for "Advanced Replacement", filled it out.
Received receipt saying they charged my CC for $25, and put a hold of $224 on it.
20 Sept - Late in the day. Got a email from the online ticket, saying I need to open up an RMA.
21 Sept - not seeing a charge on my CC. Phone up support. They say fill out another "Advanced Replacement" form. I do.
now seeing a $224 hold on my CC.
22 Sept - Online case not being updated. Phone up support again. They say they are not seeing my CC. I tell them I'm seeing the hold.
They say it will take them 24 hours to sort it out and that IF it is sorted out, it will be 5 business days for me to see a working phone (so like the 28th of September).
23 Sept - Found a email from ASUS replacement department in my spam folder asking about the part number on the Advanced Replacement form.
I respond with their info.
24 Sept - Get an email from ASUS Replacement department saying they are processing my form + Tracking number for next day FedEX.
25 Sept - Replacement phone arrives at FedEX.
28 Sept - I get replacement phone (a refurb).
So it took a grand total of 9 days to get my phone replaced using the expedited 'Advanced Replacement' process.

I just went through this on mine. My issue is due to a signal problem on SIM 2 in my house and I just got the replacement unit.Did the $25 deal. Just so you know, you get a refurbished unit in exchange which annoys me as we did buy new and aren't asking to have problems. We paid for brand new in the first place not refurbished so I feel I should get some refund back. It took about ten days overall because yes they take like 48 hrs to reply in between but one thing I liked is that you don't have to wait to send the old before they ship the replacement. In my case I used my Note 3 anyway but they shipped the replacement as soon as they generated the shipping instructions to me for the return of mine.
The other thing is in my case I'm not sure if this is a phone issue or carrier issue but it's an issue with my house and signal reception for phone calls on the two lines not being equal and calls dropping and not being sustainable on SIM 2. Unfortunately, already SIM 2 disappeared three times today for a brief period rendering no cellular connection which clearly would have dropped any active calls I was on. Not looking encouraging. But it does come back quicker than before so it's improved but still the same problem. In any event, I did have have a successful RMA though I may need a refund altogether at this rate. I hope not.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

babsk said:
I just went through this on mine.
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Thanks for the reply. How old was your phone? I bought mine in July and isn't returnable through Amazon, unless I make a special case for it.
I'm getting miffed that this is probably going to take 2 weeks. The length of time it is taking for me to get a working replacement is bothersome. I've had a google nexus phones and tablets and google always cross shipped quickly for free, minimizing the time I had without a working phone, to like three business days.
I'm disheartened.
ASUS seems to think that the ZF is a phone for people that don't actually need their phone.

My phone was newer than yours. Bought it 8/9/15 through Amazon. So actually if I do need to ultimately return it, I wonder if I am in the same bind as you, that it's not returnable through Amazon because it's already past that timeframe. Well, I am going to AT&T on one last attempt today to get another SIM 2 card again although I already did that before. But now I have discovered that my house is NOT the only place that I have reception problems on. It's my general area too. I'm on vacation this week, so at least now is a good time for me to be testing this all out to really tell, and yesterday while about 3 miles from my house but within my township, I tested a call on my second line, and the call dropped. My primary line, SIM 1 was no problem and never is. I also tried several times in the morning before I left my house to even make calls from my second line and could not get a cellular connection, and this is a part-time business line, so obviously I cannot keep this phone and it has to go back. I emailed ASUS and sent a screen shot showing them the second SIM slot blanked out. I get error messaged all the time that it can't find a cellular connection. But then like when I'm in most any other place but my house or near my house-it's okay. However, now I did experience that it's also other spots in my area, and I live in the suburbs of a major city, , where coverage is never a problemso that's a real issue. It's obviously the device as a whole and the second SIM slot is 2G data only-you'd think that shouldn't matter for phone calls only, but why is that the slot not working for me reliably then? Meantime-I haven't heard back yet from ASUS as they are in their 48 hour repsonse window, which yes, is annoying. Because I have another phone I can pop my SIM into if I need to for my business line, I at least can receive my business calls so that they don't drop, not everyone has that opportunity while they are waiting things out. 48 hours is a lousy response time. Later today I'm still going to get another SIM card, but I basically at this point am pretty certain I am going to have to to return the ZF2 to Asus. They can't diagnose why it won't work. I might ask AT&T but then again, this is already taking hours of my life for something that should just plain work.
Sent from my K010 using XDA Free mobile app

Update. Got a new SIM card. It doesn't help the issue. I just got home and tried to make a call and it dropped. It also wouldn't let me check my voicemail. AT&T rep today told me it must be the 2G slot and the towers near my house must be very upgraded and not getting much 2G and that this yes, would affect phone calls too. This really ticks me off though because then why should ASUS sell a phone where the other slot is potentially not going to work for US based customers who have 3G and higher networks? This is a waste of my time. Now I have to go through ASUS and explain that they have no right selling a phone that I can't get calls to my 2G slot on. I just started picking up business too. But I was getting calls in other places during my return time window with Amazon and not on calls at home yet but it started to pick up in late summer. and I am losing money I bet. .Even if it lets me call, the calls drop.I.have had no coverage in SIM 2 for almost 45 minutes now. That is just outrageous. Uhm-- Not usable at, totally worthless. Seems I live in a very upgraded area. Too good for this phone's second slot. And NO response from ASUS yet. Well the phone is history and going back and they better give me my money back.I have documented trips to AT&T and chat sessions too. I'm so glad I got the SIM 1 card re provisioned back to the Note 3 and kept it that way when I needed to use the Note 3 while waiting and wanted LTE back. Bummer.I really wanted to keep this. I like the phone otherwise. I really do. I'm disappointed.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

The ultimate update: Amazon came through for me. ASUS of course wasn't going to refund my money back to me. I was out of my return window with Amazon but I had no way of knowing I was going to have phone call reception problems a month later since I wasn't having them earlier in other locations. But I emailed Amazon today and explained all my efforts and they agreed my situation was extenuating and they granted me an exception and they allowed me to return my Zenfone. It went back today and I was already issued a full refund back to my card. I shipped it off promptly too. The thing is history. It got worst as time went by on that SIM 2, and all because my area obviously is upgraded, so clearly that is a bad move on ASUS' part to have made it a 2G slot. I just am so thankful that Amazon made an exception. See-at first I got calls okay because my full-time job location is a good 30 miles west of where I live so not as upgraded, so of course coverage is different, and calls to my part-time business were coming to me during the day, not later in the evening like when I'm home, so of course, how would I know that my home was a problem area until the one time I got a call and it didn't work, and now that things are picking up and I DO need to speak to people in the evening, it IS now relevant. But during the return timeframe window, I would not have yet detected that. Amazon thankfully recognized the validity of all of this and my two trips to the store to get a new SIM card and all my on line chats with AT&T tech support and so as well as getting a whole replacement phone to try to resolve this issue that obviously is unresolvable. In fact, my issue got even worse with the replacement phone and new SIM card. So the phone is gone and I'm back to two phones and I'm looking at getting that dual SIM Blu Pure XL although I admit I am now gun shy after the Zenfone2 experience. Of course I now know to be vigilant and return immediately so I might risk the Pure XL after all although it will require another trip to AT&T to get another micro SIM since I now have to get a nano SIM for my Windows phone for my second line and then if I get the Pure XL, get the second SIM back to micro. This stuff never ends!
Sent from my K010 using XDA Free mobile app

Buying it from Amazon does help.

Yes it is a good thing indeed! And I opted to not change SIM cards around. I'm using a cheap Alcatel One Touch-the original phone I got as the second line until I decided to have two high end ones. So at least no more trips to AT&T hopefully. Problem is that the Pure XL is now delayed so I am two phoned a while longer. I do like My Note 3. It's a good phone so at least it's getting more use in the meantime.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

Did any of you have an unlocked bootloader? Just curious if ASUS cares...

'busa said:
Did any of you have an unlocked bootloader? Just curious if ASUS cares...
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For once no. Sorry I couldn't answer that for you.

Very bad experience going through Advanced Replacement of Zenfone 2
I did a mistake of buying Zenfone 2 for CAD 400+ including taxes. It used to become extremely hot but I ignored it. Then after 10 months of use the screen started to flicker and started having vertical stripes. I tried to use Asus Advanced Replacement program. The agent sent me information asking me to provide my credit card information to put a hold on my card. I did and they put a USD 400 hold. A day later I received an email that I should resubmit my card information as the agent was not properly trained and provided wrong information.
I contacted customer service to avoid having double hold on my card, the agent told me NOT to resubmit the credit card information and ASUS will fix it on their end. For several days nothing happened with several calls to ASUS. At the end of the week, one agent investigated to resubmit my information. I did and it did work but guess what?
They sent me a replacement phone which has exactly the same issue of screen flickering with vertical stripes out of the box. Really bad quality control by Asus Canada (they shipped the unit from their Markham office). Any way I sent my original phone back to remove hold on my card and contacted Asus again for issues in the replacement unit.
Asus this time asked me to offer cross shipment that is I send the phone by Fedex (paid by Asus) and call customer support to provide the tracking number. Asus would send another phone before receiving the phone I sent. I did call them and provided the tracking information and Asus agent was able to verify it on Fedex website
As of today, Fedex website shows that Asus have already received the unit. However they have not shipped the replacement from their side (breaking their contract). I contacted several times to Asus and each person told me a different story. The last agent told me that they will ship the unit within 48 hours and she has not seen in my case anything about the tracking information. Does this means that previous agents did nothing? And why 48 hours after receiving the unit, it was supposed to be cross shipment.
Over all
Very bad customer service and untrained agents at Asus based on this experience
Very BAD quality control as the first replacement unit was faulty out of the box.
The original unit did not worth CAD 400+ at all

junaidasim said:
I did a mistake of buying Zenfone 2 for CAD 400+ including taxes. It used to become extremely hot but I ignored it. Then after 10 months of use the screen started to flicker and started having vertical stripes. I tried to use Asus Advanced Replacement program. The agent sent me information asking me to provide my credit card information to put a hold on my card. I did and they put a USD 400 hold. A day later I received an email that I should resubmit my card information as the agent was not properly trained and provided wrong information.
I contacted customer service to avoid having double hold on my card, the agent told me NOT to resubmit the credit card information and ASUS will fix it on their end. For several days nothing happened with several calls to ASUS. At the end of the week, one agent investigated to resubmit my information. I did and it did work but guess what?
They sent me a replacement phone which has exactly the same issue of screen flickering with vertical stripes out of the box. Really bad quality control by Asus Canada (they shipped the unit from their Markham office). Any way I sent my original phone back to remove hold on my card and contacted Asus again for issues in the replacement unit.
Asus this time asked me to offer cross shipment that is I send the phone by Fedex (paid by Asus) and call customer support to provide the tracking number. Asus would send another phone before receiving the phone I sent. I did call them and provided the tracking information and Asus agent was able to verify it on Fedex website
As of today, Fedex website shows that Asus have already received the unit. However they have not shipped the replacement from their side (breaking their contract). I contacted several times to Asus and each person told me a different story. The last agent told me that they will ship the unit within 48 hours and she has not seen in my case anything about the tracking information. Does this means that previous agents did nothing? And why 48 hours after receiving the unit, it was supposed to be cross shipment.
Over all
Very bad customer service and untrained agents at Asus based on this experience
Very BAD quality control as the first replacement unit was faulty out of the box.
The original unit did not worth CAD 400+ at all
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What's with the duplicate post?
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