Related
So here is my story
I purchased an HTC touch pro 2 last year, i bought it before it hit the US markets so i paid a load of money for it. No problem, i love the phones, and i Paid like $700 for the Touch HD when it dropped in England but the lack of the keyboard ended with me selling it.
So i get this phone from a guy that says its direct from HTC its in an exclusive white box blah blah blah right.
Get the phone and all is well, new roms are dropping and i have WM 6.1 on my phone (weak!) so being that i have a MAC computer i cannot do anything to update the phone with out buying a load of software and putting XP on my computer (nope!).
So i go to the HTC website and the update is there and it asks for the serial number, well i put it in and it wont recognize it, hmmm. So long story intro short, i mail it to HTC for an upgrade and maybe check out the loose hinge on the tilting screen.
They receive my phone, and my phone sits on the shelf at the warehouse for 5 DAYS!!!
I call and every time i get the same story, "well mr miller we will escalate this so that it gets taken care of right away sir." I called 3 times and it was never touched. Finally on the 3rd time they tell me, well this is a sample phone, one we gave to employees before it hit the market, so there is no warranty, and we cannot upgrade it, and where did YOU get this phone. Ummm i paid for it, out in the open on Ebay, not out of the trunk of some guys car outside the pool hall.
Anyway they wont fix it, i have no warranty and thats that, ok fine whatever give my phone back, this was on Monday (April 5th) of this week. So the phone is to be sent back to me per HTC on Monday.
Call on Tuesday to get the tracking number so i can see when it will arrive because i am out a lot, and they say it is still in the warehouse.
I call back on Wednesday to get the tracking number so that i can see when it will arrive because i am out a lot, and they say it is STILL in the warehouse.
I call back on Thursday to get the tracking number so i can see when it will arrive...... etc etc.
The rep then tells me there are no notes in the system and it has not even been started for ship out.
But she is going to escalate it so that it gets sent out ASAP Mr. Miller.
Lord not this escalate crap again.
OK BYE!
I call today Friday to get the tracking number, and its the supervisor i spoke with days ago that knows AAAAALL about my case.
Well Mr. Miller the phone is still sitting on the shelf in our warehouse/
WTF for a week+?!?!
It had been determined last WEEK that they were not going to repair it and were going to send it back.
So my phone has been held hostage by HTC and they wont send it back, no one will do anything to get me over to someone in the warehouse, they act as if its Area 57 or something and they dont have phones there.
So needless to say am very VERY disappointed in the treatment I have received and it is very likely that I will not purchase another HTC phone again after this nightmare.
Shame because i enjoy the phones, but i refuse to give my money to support a company that treats its clients in such a manner.
FYI
Sounds more like a local warehouse/repairshop type of service, not HTC. Imo.
TheDeadCpu said:
Sounds more like a local warehouse/repairshop type of service, not HTC. Imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it was HTC America. I had to send it to them directly.
Weird. If this was in Norway i would just say "Hmmm.. I got this number to this newspaper" and they would give me a new free phone. Their so scared of bad PR here.
If you think HTC CS is the worst, then you haven't dealt with E-ten's..
Their RMA is actually a nightmare, they can loose a device for months, and return it "repaired" what actually means: dirty and parts still loose..
But nevertheless, good luck, hopefully the device will find it's way back to you.
EqX
When I got newton rings on my first Blackstone, I sent it off to HTC, or rather I dropped it off to them as I live in the same town.
I waited the week they said it would take, heard nothing, gave them an extra day and called, they said they'd call me back.
I called them after hearing nothing for a couple more days (I was busy at work so didn't have time to call every day).
Was informed they are waiting on my agreement to pay them a bucket load of cash to fix a warranty issue that they should fix for free.
So I had to go to a website to say that I wanted my phone back, and phone them to say I would be coming in to collect it so would not pay for postage.
Had I not known about the website and just waited, they would have disposed of my phone.
Unfortunately the customer support desk and the repair centre do not speak to each other, so when I arranged with CS that I'd be in the next Friday to pick up my phone at 1pm, they said it would be there, when in actual fact the repair centre had no idea I was coming so I had to wait around for them to find my phone and return it.
I then handed it to carphone warehouse who I'd bought it from to repair, they passed it to HTC for a warranty repair, HTC sent it back after a couple of weeks saying "No missing pixels found" even though it was sent to them to have the screen repaired due to newton rings and no mention of pixels.
Carphonewarehouse appologised and said they would send it off again, but by then I was so fed up about not having the phone for over a month, and expected HTC to refuse to repair it for CPW that I took CPW up on their offer to claim on insurance. £28 and a day later I had a brand new Blackstone.
Great products, crappy service.
AGREED, "great products, crappy service." I too had the Blackstone before i got my tp2
Ok so, I RMA'd my Transformer on the 11th July, and it has just returned.
Reason for RMA was an area of touchscreen in a strip that didn't respond to touch input.
I can't post links, but it was a line about level with speakers, an inch in height running all the way across horizontally.
It just returned from the Czech Republic this morning, and has the same damaged area AND another strip where it doesn't work! The screen appears to be better fitted into the device than before so it seems they have done something. It just seems they did it wrong/replaced with another faulty part.
I can't post link to picture, but its the same as before + another non-responsive strip that runs horizontally 1cm above the original, and ends just before it reaches the right hand side.
Can I get Asus to give me a refund/exchange? I really don't want to have to wait another month for them to just damage it further.
I love the transformer, it's a great bit of kit - perfect for my needs, but being made worse by "repair", and horribly slow RMAs is just too much for me...
Quick edit: Screen definitely completely replaced - absolutely no light bleed at all - would be perfect if not for broken touch response....
Spakka said:
Ok so, I RMA'd my Transformer on the 11th July, and it has just returned.
Reason for RMA was an area of touchscreen in a strip that didn't respond to touch input.
I can't post links, but it was a line about level with speakers, an inch in height running all the way across horizontally.
It just returned from the Czech Republic this morning, and has the same damaged area AND another strip where it doesn't work! The screen appears to be better fitted into the device than before so it seems they have done something. It just seems they did it wrong/replaced with another faulty part.
I can't post link to picture, but its the same as before + another non-responsive strip that runs horizontally 1cm above the original, and ends just before it reaches the right hand side.
Can I get Asus to give me a refund/exchange? I really don't want to have to wait another month for them to just damage it further.
I love the transformer, it's a great bit of kit - perfect for my needs, but being made worse by "repair", and horribly slow RMAs is just too much for me...
Quick edit: Screen definitely completely replaced - absolutely no light bleed at all - would be perfect if not for broken touch response....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ASUS got very good repair center in Israel. Since in Israel ASUS's repair and RMA center powered by IBM.
You can try contact the 24x7 IBM powered ASUS lab in Israel:
[email protected]
In Israel, ASUS (Powered by IBM) RMA service is MAX 10 days. Usually one week.
They may be able to give you an good RMA service and make you an happy owner of TF
You should explain them you are unhappy with Czech RMA center and you want send them the device for second RMA in Israel.
My previous experience with Asus service center has not been good either. It was for a netboook, sent in because of a fired logic board. They replaced the logic board, did a terriable job opening up the net book (cracked the clips so it wouldnt sealed anymore).
When I got it back, the netbook booted up. However, the Ethernet port did not work. They should have replaced the second board on the netbook as well. This showed that they QC is sub-standard. They don't thoroughly test an RMA repaired product before shipping it back to customer.
To answer your question, no, you cannot ask for a refund. However, you should call in and ask to speak to a manager. Explain to them you cannot accept additional down time. Ask them to ship you a replcement unit, or at least give you some sort of expressed shipping and repair.
Well that is the thing, they made me wait nearly a month before they started the repair, once started it was v.fast.
It is also put back together much better than it was when I first got it - v.little lightbleed, generally feels sturdier.
But, the fact they replaced the screen and it has nearly the exact same problem (but worse) suggests either: Serious manufacturing problem with their screens or some weird underlying problem with my transformer.
So only sensible thing will be for them to replace - changing out the screen+i/o board (confirmed this is what they did) the first time, and I can only assume again will be very expensive for them - not to mention shipping to Czech Republic and back, twice.
I called them up and they said management would call me back - but before my first RMA they said that several times, and never did.
In the end the main problem is... Why on earth didn't they check it first? Repairing something, changing parts etc. then shipping it back with the same problem, but multiplied, is really terrible customer service.
Spakka said:
In the end the main problem is... Why on earth didn't they check it first? Repairing something, changing parts etc. then shipping it back with the same problem, but multiplied, is really terrible customer service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had this experience with mobo repairs. Asus products are generally pretty good, but their customer service is among the worst in the industry.
Spakka said:
Reason for RMA was an area of touchscreen in a strip that didn't respond to touch input. I can't post links, but it was a line about level with speakers, an inch in height running all the way across horizontally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the exact same problem as you described. The service center is in Grapevine, TX USA, and they fixed that...but now my screen has light bleed just right of center....!
I'm not happy either...
Exact same problem!!
I ended up sending in an escalated support and it got "forwarded to management". They quickly sent some postage paid express post to my email and arranged a pickup for Monday... Hope they fix it this time, last time they just made it worse. You can send an escalated support email I followed their facebook support page.
Good luck, to us all
andrewklau said:
Exact same problem!!
I ended up sending in an escalated support and it got "forwarded to management". They quickly sent some postage paid express post to my email and arranged a pickup for Monday... Hope they fix it this time, last time they just made it worse. You can send an escalated support email I followed their facebook support page.
Good luck, to us all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the thing is in Europe they pay for postage etc. anyways - I don't think anyone would want to pay for shipping to the opposite side of Europe!
I have been 'referred' to higher management - you can't contact them, they contact you. But then before my first RMA whenever I was told I would be called back Asus never did, so I'm not holding my breath on that.
In any case I've written a formal letter of complaint and will be sending that off today.
It's sad because my sister was going to buy a transformer but has gone the evil route of ipad2... Makes me sad as apart from all these problems the transformer is a fantastic piece of kit, but I just can't recommend Asus at all now. Shoddy repairs and quality control --> lost customers.
Well, sending it back again, they say it'll be prioritised because it's a repair of their shoddy repair...
I spoke to a senior repair person at the retailer and they thought Asus were being pretty terrible, and will start kicking up a fuss if Asus takes longer than they think is reasonable. Reasonable according to the retailer is 10 working days from receipt of the transformer, so we'll see.
Ok so, the asus guy said I couldn't get a replacement etc. and gave me the number for consumer direct so I could confirm this.
So I called, and it turns out they are legally obliged to offer a full refund or replacement because they had the opportunity to repair, didn't, and also because they took over 31 days from giving RMA number to item arriving back to me.
I was also advised to give them a short deadline to comply with this or I should contact the county courts to start legal proceedings.
Nice. Well done asus.
OH MY GOD. I think this may be the first time government legislation has done anything good for anyone. Know any lawyers? You should make sure you get one to draft an official letter quoting the specific law that states they must give you a replacement (I'm guessing you'll be taking that refund and buying something else though) otherwise they will probably just keep dicking you around. The problems generally aren't the fault of the company or the companies policy, but the fault lower level lazy staff who are just ignorant retards. Oh well, Good luck.
Poulsen8r said:
OH MY GOD. I think this may be the first time government legislation has done anything good for anyone. Know any lawyers? You should make sure you get one to draft an official letter quoting the specific law that states they must give you a replacement (I'm guessing you'll be taking that refund and buying something else though) otherwise they will probably just keep dicking you around. The problems generally aren't the fault of the company or the companies policy, but the fault lower level lazy staff who are just ignorant retards. Oh well, Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's sad because the transformer is awesome and I'd love to have a working one... but with this customer service... They have already lost a few customers because of it..
Also it's silly they tried to deceive me about the law... It's the sale of goods act and ALL retailers and consumer companies will know about it - it's the main consumer law not some obscure bylaw.
Actually I do know lawyers and they thought it was complete rubbish and that any judge would find in my favour almost immediately. However it shouldn't come to that.
The retailer knows the law, thinks Asus is being ridiculous and terribad (from the info I've given them) and will be confirming what I told them was true, and replacing for me. In the end it is ultimately the retailer's responsibility... Luckily they know their stuff, will actually talk to me on the phone (the Asus escalation support guy won't call me only send useless copy paste emails).
Either way Asus are awful and I'd definitely get refund+something else... If only there was something with the functionality of the transformer around at the moment.
Oh fantastic it has come back with a repaired screen! So nice and responsive and no significant lightbleed!
Shame the bezel (although replaced) is not attached properly (I can see through the mini-hdmi and headphone ports from the back) and has a very obvious, annoyingly placed dent in it (although small-ish).
Well done Asus, 2 RMAs and still not properly completed.
Really sick of Asus' shoddy RMA service... Reported broken on 15th July - now 25th August and it still has problems.
RMA again
Strange. My RMA experience was flawless. Reported audio jack broken on Thursday, Monday DHL picked it up, Thursday they returned it with a replaced jack. Took a week, perfect service.
I've already got three RMAs and up for my fourth The Dutch support is excellent however the Czech repair facility is the worst.
17 May they picked up my Transformer for the first time because of light bleed, dead pixel, not flush screen and not balanced speakers. After one week I got it back, nothing was fixed and it returned with a scratch on the bezel. Furthermore, before it was a TW sku afterward I got it back with WW sku (still same device, same serial etc.). This probably messed up my FOTA which I cannot find/receive until this day. I have to install all updates manually.
Around 1st of June they picked it up for a second RMA. After three weeks (waiting for spare parts) I got it back. Bezel was replaced and screen also. However, speakers still not fixed and the new screen got the same level or even a bit more light bleed. FOTA problem still there too. I did not RMAed it immediately because I wanted to take it on a holiday of three weeks.
1st of August, third RMA. After again waiting two weeks for spare parts it was returned 2,5 weeks later. Screen is perfect however a bit more sunken into the frame. Speakers and FOTA still not fixed. Furthermore, the tablet has now more creaking than ever, probably because bad reassembly.
So now I'm up for my fourth RMA to get those issues fixed. I already asked for a replacement unit which they say they cant give (they advised me to return it to the store in Taiwan where a bought it, if I want a new one which will cost me loads of shipping and custom taxes ). I already asked if they can send it to another repair facility. Negative they can't because the Czech facility is the only one (according to them) in Europe for the Transformer. The only thing they want to do, is to give me a fourth RMA. The rep also forwarded the messed up SKU problem to Taiwan HQ because he didn't know what to do about it.
So I'm doubting if I should send it again for RMA to probably be again not entirely fixed and lose it for another 3 weeks. Really Asus, before I thought Asus was good for its customers. But it really makes me think twice next time if I'll buy Asus or not because of this ****ty repair service.
What should I do?
flight777 said:
I've already got three RMAs and up for my fourth The Dutch support is excellent however the Czech repair facility is the worst.
17 May they picked up my Transformer for the first time because of light bleed, dead pixel, not flush screen and not balanced speakers. After one week I got it back, nothing was fixed and it returned with a scratch on the bezel. Furthermore, before it was a TW sku afterward I got it back with WW sku (still same device, same serial etc.). This probably messed up my FOTA which I cannot find/receive until this day. I have to install all updates manually.
Around 1st of June they picked it up for a second RMA. After three weeks (waiting for spare parts) I got it back. Bezel was replaced and screen also. However, speakers still not fixed and the new screen got the same level or even a bit more light bleed. FOTA problem still there too. I did not RMAed it immediately because I wanted to take it on a holiday of three weeks.
1st of August, third RMA. After again waiting two weeks for spare parts it was returned 2,5 weeks later. Screen is perfect however a bit more sunken into the frame. Speakers and FOTA still not fixed. Furthermore, the tablet has now more creaking than ever, probably because bad reassembly.
So now I'm up for my fourth RMA to get those issues fixed. I already asked for a replacement unit which they say they cant give (they advised me to return it to the store in Taiwan where a bought it, if I want a new one which will cost me loads of shipping and custom taxes ). I already asked if they can send it to another repair facility. Negative they can't because the Czech facility is the only one (according to them) in Europe for the Transformer. The only thing they want to do, is to give me a fourth RMA. The rep also forwarded the messed up SKU problem to Taiwan HQ because he didn't know what to do about it.
So I'm doubting if I should send it again for RMA to probably be again not entirely fixed and lose it for another 3 weeks. Really Asus, before I thought Asus was good for its customers. But it really makes me think twice next time if I'll buy Asus or not because of this ****ty repair service.
What should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you had bought it in the EU the retailer HAS to give you a refund after 3 repairs.
Because you bought it in TW you probably aren't covered by EU/local laws so I have no idea.
You could try taking them to court but you're meant to do that to the retailer not manufacturer as the contract of sale was with them not those who supplied the goods.
Ok so update:
The device has finally been written off! Still haven't got a new one though... But apparently it's being arranged (by retailer of course).
I've been through pre-exams --> uni summer holidays --> starting new semester on Monday with no transformer!
Nearly 2 months for them to just accept they ruined it with failed repairs.
...And I was just preparing documents to take the retailer to county court
Either way... Asus: Never again.
I don't know whether its my bad luck or whether this is the typical level of customer service people can expect from HTC but I wanted to share my experience so that people might be more careful when purchasing a device in the future.
On June 28th I purchased a sensation from Expansys. Within one week of purchase I realized that there was a problem with the speaker. I returned the unit to them and requested an exchange with a new device, as the unit was a few days old. In order to receive a replacement I needed to wait until the HTC service center examined the device. What I didn't know was that it would take about three weeks for this to happen. So on August 4 I got a replacement.
The second unit run well until the end of October, where a dead pixel appeared. I contacted HTC Cyprus, fearing that the problem might increase over time. They confirmed that it was indeed a problem covered by warranty, but they would need to ship my device to Greece and that it would take approximately 7 - 10 days to have it fixed. After almost a month of waiting and several calls/complains to HTC Cyprus I got my unit back on Friday 2nd December in the afternoon. What appeared strange was that not only did they change the LCD but also a large number of other components which also changed the units IMEI. When I went back home I fully charged the unit and attempted the OTA update. During the update the phone turned off and could not be turned on again! Total brick.
Early the next morning I took the unit back to HTC Cyprus and was told that they would get it sorted by Monday afternoon as it was merely a software issue. On Monday, their technician advised me that the motherboard needed to be replace and hence, the unit would need to be shipped back to Greece. I complained and asked for a replacement and even offered to pay a small amount to have it replaced but I was told that this was not possible and that the only solution was to ship it back to Greece for fixing.
Today, I tried contacting HTC Europe in a desperate attempt to get a replacement. After an hour over internet chat, the best response I got was:
"Jon: We are HTC UK, but do deal with other European countries. Currently it is not possible to replace the handset. If the device is still faulty when returned from repair, then we may be able to replace the device."
Apparently the fact that over a five month period the phone was in service centers for over 2 months was completely irrelevant!
I don't know whether this is the typical customer experience customer should expect when purchasing an HTC unit, but be warned. It can happen to you too, and apart from complaining on forums there is not much you can do!
Yea HTC is nothing like APPLE who in my opinion has the best customer service ever. My sensation had touch screen issues so instead of getting a replacement they fixed it at their repair center took 4 weeks, but I had to pay for it too cause somehow the void seal was broken!!!!! rage!!! If you took a broken iphone to apple store, they would be like :
apple technician: Yeah this phone is like i donno, I dont really know whats going on. Just have a NEW ONE!!!
this is extremely poor service imo. serious complaining required I feel
good luck OP
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I had a great experience when my 2 month old g2 broke. I called they gave me an RMA number. I sent it out on a Monday got it back the next Monday.
timothy918 said:
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I had a great experience when my 2 month old g2 broke. I called they gave me an RMA number. I sent it out on a Monday got it back the next Monday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same experience I had with my G2.
Hey petros did u finaly end up with a working sensation? I wish i had read your post before bying my sensation xe. Do u or did u experience any problems with losing audio during calls?
Here is a warning to those of you considering Teclast product. Bought my Teclast X98 Air II in the end of November on Aliexpress from Anna Fang Shenzhen OKQI Electronics Mall. The tablet arrived and worked well for about a week. After the initial testing and usage the digitizer started playing up. Basically it was registering touch all over the screen when none was present, the tablet would be idle and the touch clearly seen appearing. That would result in pages opening and closing, applications starting and shutting, etc. After a day of such unruly behavior I contacted the supplier and informed them of the digitizer problem, asked to post a video, which I did, clearly showing the tablet having a life of its own. I asked for the promised 12-month warranty replacement. Was told I have to sent the tablet back for assessment and repair, but advised it will take a few months. I asked to just be sent a replacement digitizer - they said NO. The postage would cost me $45, not cheap from NZ, so I eventually forked out for a new digitizer, it being the same price as postage alone.
A few days ago the tablet has suddenly just died - not charging, not turning on, no signs of life whatsoever. This time, being a repair shop, we had tested the components and the main board is no longer. Sure enough, I am contacting Teclast themselves for the warranty repair/replacement and OKQI as an authorized supplier for the same. NO REPLY FROM TECLAST, despite 2 emails being sent to every contact listed on a website. OKQI very reluctantly agreed to provide details for sending the tablet back, but not their address, after trying to basically talk me out of sending it back altogether. Here are the suggestions from them - to take the tablet to a local repair shop, maybe they can fix it (not sure why I should, it being on warranty), even after I told them that we are an electronics repair business and should not incur any extra expense, again, see warranty! Finally, after much back and forth we got to the postage. Again, a warning that it will take months with no guarantee, that they don't even know what will happen when I send it back, that i should not send by DHL or any other such carrier etc. HERE IS THE BEST PART - according to the warranty, THEY ARE ONLY LIABLE FOR THE LABOUR COSTS AND ALL THE POSTAGE AND PARTS COSTS ARE TO BE MET BY CONSUMER. Now, there is absolutely no guarantee it will be repaired and not cost me the price of a new tablet, after all I don't even have a say. The price can be anything, but if I refuse to pay it, who is to say they won't just keep my tablet until I do, or even after, as I said, there is no agreed amount, even after I provided the fault diagnostic. So $250 later here we are - a SHODDY PRODUCT AND EVEN SHODDIER SERVICE. STAY WELL AWAY, I WISH I DID.
Hello all,
Anyone know of any issues with HTC's supply chain for replacement LCD's?
My U11 is cracked after a drop on the road.
My insurance company (O2 Insure) cannot replace or repair my device, as there isn't stock.
HTC UK have advised they can take the phone in, advise me how much the repair will cost and return it.
Although judging by others on this forum and on Twitter, repairs are going slowly or not at all.
Is anyone in the same situation as me?
I have the same problem.
I dropped my phone and the backside broke.
First contacted Dynafix, a Dutch company that performs repairs for HTC. They couldn't say anything about the costs and did not want to say if they had parts.
Because I was afraid I would lose my phone for a long time, I didn't go on with this.
then I contacted HTC, but that didn't help much either. If you want to repair with them, they simply send the device to Dynafix.
Finally contacted Probello (another Dutch company that repairs phones), they told me what I already thought, there are no parts available, something HTC couldn't tell me.
I think it's very bad that there are no parts available and that HTC can't tell anything about when there will be.
josding85 said:
I have the same problem.
I dropped my phone and the backside broke.
First contacted Dynafix, a Dutch company that performs repairs for HTC. They couldn't say anything about the costs and did not want to say if they had parts.
Because I was afraid I would lose my phone for a long time, I didn't go on with this.
then I contacted HTC, but that didn't help much either. If you want to repair with them, they simply send the device to Dynafix.
Finally contacted Probello (another Dutch company that repairs phones), they told me what I already thought, there are no parts available, something HTC couldn't tell me.
I think it's very bad that there are no parts available and that HTC can't tell anything about when there will be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick update:
I had my U11 replaced on the 7th September by O2 Insurance. It took them 5 weeks to get stock in.
Seems to be a real parts shortage or HTC are holding parts for some unknown reason.
Good luck with repairing yours. I got lucky the insurance came through.
My HTC U11 also cracked!
My U11 is also cracked and it is out of guarantee because it is an user mistake. I have never seen such a sensitive phone. I am living in Turkey and replacement part cannot found. I do not know what to do, just I am frustrated.
patela20 said:
Quick update:
I had my U11 replaced on the 7th September by O2 Insurance. It took them 5 weeks to get stock in.
Seems to be a real parts shortage or HTC are holding parts for some unknown reason.
Good luck with repairing yours. I got lucky the insurance came through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, all contract phones through o2 are fully insured for the length of their contract, within the contract itself. Should anything happen to your phone and it is still within its contract just call o2 support on 202 and speak to an advisor. The reason they cover the phone is to get their full money, they must ensure you have a working phone otherwise you may be able to pause or 'squeeze' out of your contract early and no carrier wants that.
Not only that, you're paying over a grand for that phone in the long run so it's only fair they insure it for a few pence too..