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Hopefully this is not a trend...
My daughter, who is away at school, received a notice on her phone a couple of weeks back that there was an updated available. She was a bit nervous about doing it so waited until she was home over the weekend a week and a half ago and asked me about it. I told her to go ahead and do it. She hit the button to install the update. It downloaded, displayed an error message and the phone turned off. It wouldn't turn back on. We searched a bit, tried all the known key combinations to reset it, but it was a brick.
So the next day I headed over to the AT&T store. They tried a few things and agreed that it was dead. They checked the phone over and stated there was no physical or water damage. They contacted the warranty center over the phone, arranged for the return and handed me the phone handset to agree to terms. Turns out the only way they would warranty the phone is if I sent them the phone and agreed, in advance, to pay $459 if they decided it was not a warranty issue. I asked for clarification, repeated what had happened, and they just kept saying that was the requirement. I mentioned that the store rep and manager had already checked the phone, that there was no physical or water damage, and tried to understand why I would still have to agree to these terms. I asked if they would just agree to send the phone back if there was any other problem. They just kept repeating the same thing, I had to agree to the $459 potential charge with no recourse. They kept stating that I "would probably not be charged." I would not agree and asked the agent and manager on duty if there were any other options. They mentioned an AT&T service center about a half an hour away.
The store wrote me a referral to the service center and told me they could replace the phone on the spot. So off I went. A half an hour car drive and a wait in line and I was informed by the service center staff that they do not stock the Captivate and it would have to be returned to a warranty center. I said, do it. They said, no, I have to return it and that meant -- you guessed it -- agreeing to the same terms. Needless to say I was a bit frustrated at this point. So a half an hour drive home to cool off... or not.
The following day I started searching and found stories of people getting warranty service through Samsung. Wondering what their warranty terms are, I phoned Samsung's number. After repeating the phone death story, they said it was a warranty issue and emailed me a shipping label to send it back. Happy that things were looking up, I boxed it up and sent it off.
Fast forward a week and I just received a notification from Samsung that the phone is being returned, unrepaired. Here is the verbage used:
"Original Problem:
Technical Inquiry
Power
No Power Up
Problem found:
CORROSION, LIQUID DAMAGE
ABUSE / CORROSION
Solution:
BER
BER (Beyond economical Repair) Comments:
An attempt was made to repair your phone which was liquid damaged. This repair was unsuccessful due to excessive corrosion, or the failure of related components. The factory warranty has been voided."
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I get on the phone with Samsung, inform them the phone has never been wet, that both I and the AT&T folks looked at it and the water indicators showed no exposure. They explained that their service personnel do "a very thorough inspection" and that is their determination. Done. Discussion ensued, but there was absolutely no willingness on their part to take another look at the phone, explain further, or otherwise help.
So I'm out $200 plus a two-year contract or ETF fee with AT&T on a three month old phone. My daughter is quite meticulous with this sort of thing and trustworthy and tells me the phone has not been wet. I believe her. The liquid indicators agree. The phone died during an update that I now see is notorious for bricking phones. Both AT&T and Samsung would rather push it off on a customer than stand behind their product. I've been a Cingular/AT&T customer for over ten years, but apparently that's irrelevant.
So that's my story. Consider yourself warned.
BTW, if anyone figures out how to "unbrick" a phone in this state (won't turn on at all after failed update) I'd love to hear about it as the phone is physically fine.
Should have dealt with wal-mart, I got my captivate from wal-mart and for whatever reason my usb port stated that it was connected all the time. I could not boot my phone without physically plugging in and waiting for the battery charge indicator to come on. If I tried to get into recovery mode it would automatically boot into download mode so this told me that there was an actual physical problem with my usb port somewhere somehow. Took it to wal-mart explained to them what was going on they replaced it on the spot no questions.
That's odd. Happened to me too and att store exchanged it right away. Did you purchase it from att or a retailer? If from att, call cs, they will replace it. If you didn't buy from att, you are stuck with samsung...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
You get 1-year warranty from AT&T, not Samsung. And the terms you mentioned are normal terms for warranty exchange. Typically, they mail you the replacement, a refurb, with mailing labels and instructions for you to mail back your old phone. Track the mail and make sure your phone arrived at AT&T facility and you're done. If the phone is lost in the mail or you failed to mail it back in time, you will be charged by that amount.
Nothing special. That's how warranty exchange works all the time. Many here has made exchanges couple times.
qwertyaas said:
That's odd. Happened to me too and att store exchanged it right away. Did you purchase it from att or a retailer? If from att, call cs, they will replace it. If you didn't buy from att, you are stuck with samsung...
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Yes. Purchased at AT&T retail store. Returned there with the problem. They would not replace it at the store. Their terms were that I had to agree to potential $459 charge with no recourse if they determined that it was not a warranty issue before they would issue an RMA. Spoke with CS on a telephone while in the store. The store employees had already checked the phone for damage and found none.
foxbat121 said:
You get 1-year warranty from AT&T, not Samsung. And the terms you mentioned are normal terms for warranty exchange. Typically, they mail you the replacement, a refurb, with mailing labels and instructions for you to mail back your old phone. Track the mail and make sure your phone arrived at AT&T facility and you're done. If the phone is lost in the mail or you failed to mail it back in time, you will be charged by that amount.
Nothing special. That's how warranty exchange works all the time. Many here has made exchanges couple times.
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I've never been asked to agree to the replacement price of a new item before they even looked at the inoperable one. A reasonable bench charge, sure, but that they will just charge me for a new one if they so decide with no further notice. I don't think so. And I was returning the phone first, there was to be no cross shipment. Those terms are why I turned to Samsung as the manufacturer and based on their warranty which you can find here: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/s...d_mdl_cd=SGH-I897ZKAATT&prd_mdl_name=SGH-I897
a golden rule to buying from ATT just so you will know. Always buy the 4.50 a month insurance they add it to your bill and you hardley even notice the difference...that way if there is an updat to the phone and you try it and it bricks you phone you can get it replaced for about 50.00 through there insurance dept.
stewart2568, Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think I'll be buying any more phones from AT&T, though.
stewart2568 said:
a golden rule to buying from ATT just so you will know. Always buy the 4.50 a month insurance they add it to your bill and you hardley even notice the difference...that way if there is an updat to the phone and you try it and it bricks you phone you can get it replaced for about 50.00 through there insurance dept.
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Click to collapse
Actually the replacement fee with AT&T insurance on the Captivate is $ 125.00.
jmore said:
I've never been asked to agree to the replacement price of a new item before they even looked at the inoperable one. A reasonable bench charge, sure, but that they will just charge me for a new one if they so decide with no further notice. I don't think so. And I was returning the phone first, there was to be no cross shipment. Those terms are why I turned to Samsung as the manufacturer and based on their warranty which you can find here: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/s...d_mdl_cd=SGH-I897ZKAATT&prd_mdl_name=SGH-I897
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It pains me to say it but AT&T warranty department is much better than Samsung warranty department. You're just simply mis-understood the terms. A lot of ppl here on the board get their replacement just I described above.There is no cross shipping. They ship to you first, then you mail your back. Of course you have to agree to certain payment in case you never mailed yours back. And they always insist on inspect the phone for water damage before finally grant you warranty. That's just normal practice of buziness. You certainly have the option to ask the phone back instead of pay the $500 charge if they deny your warranty.
So far I didn't see any evidence that AT&T denied your warranty. You're just in a panic mode. Dealing with inpetent Samsung support doesn't help much. FYI, the phone you bought is AT&T branded which means AT&T take care of all the support and services. You can talk to Samsung all you want, you will just get run around like already have.
This is like how Samsung wanted to charge me for their product failure. It was just a month after I got my Captivate and one of the volume rocker buttons got stuck. I called Samsung to have it fixed, and they said it was "physical" damage. The guy said he could transfer me so I could find out how much it would cost, but that he needed to take my credit card first... WHY would customer service take your credit card number BEFORE they told you the cost??
Anyways, it caused me to open the phone up myself just to fix the button, instead of Samsung having my credit card number before I knew what I'd be paying them.
foxbat121 said:
It pains me to say it but AT&T warranty department is much better than Samsung warranty department. You're just simply mis-understood the terms. A lot of ppl here on the board get their replacement just I described above.There is no cross shipping. They ship to you first, then you mail your back. Of course you have to agree to certain payment in case you never mailed yours back. And they always insist on inspect the phone for water damage before finally grant you warranty. That's just normal practice of buziness. You certainly have the option to ask the phone back instead of pay the $500 charge if they deny your warranty.
So far I didn't see any evidence that AT&T denied your warranty. You're just in a panic mode. Dealing with inpetent Samsung support doesn't help much. FYI, the phone you bought is AT&T branded which means AT&T take care of all the support and services. You can talk to Samsung all you want, you will just get run around like already have.
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I asked for clarification on the terms, explained them back as I understood them, and the phone representative confirmed that I had to agree to the charge if they determined it was not a warranty issue. I specifically asked about the option of them just returning the phone instead of charging me for a new one and two different individuals, one on the phone and one in the service center, told me that they could not modify the terms in that way. Interestingly, I asked the phone rep for a copy of the terms in writing, as I was dumbfounded by her reading of them, and she refused to provide me a copy saying she did not have the capability to do so. (huh?!)
I have to disagree about panic mode. I am irritated, but have basically written off my loss at this point. You are right that AT&T did not deny the warranty, as I wouldn't agree to the terms up front to even get to that point. The phone is clearly branded by both AT&T and Samsung. Samsung didn't give me much run around, just went through their process and gave me the response "The factory warranty has been voided." Nice. Once I get the phone back, I will be doing a tear down to see if I can find any evidence of water damage or corrosion. I know that the indicators showed none before the phone was shipped to Samsung and from my discussion with them apparently still didn't when they had it.
I really only posted here so that others could be made aware. If these sorts of problems are common, perhaps something can be done. I've asked both AT&T and Samsung reps for further recourse and have been offered none. So in my case, I'm at a dead end. I'm moving on, checking on my ETF and considering my options regarding a new phone or a new carrier.
Im really sorry to hear you were treated so unfairly. Im an AT&T rep for Radioshack, and I know a few tricks for anyone who has this problem or any other unjust hardware exchange problems.
First, like that other guy posted, shop at Sams Wal Mart or Radioshack for cheaper prices, no mail ins and painless exchange policies.
Second, if you still can't get an exchange, call customer service and chose option 4. (Cancel service) This ofcourse is a bluff. Tell them that they can help you or your family is going yo Verizon. This is how I got them to exchange my Tilt I bricked for 80$ instead of 450$.
Third, If you go to the right Radioshack, they will ship it, straight to Samsung free of charge. Most stores don't know how but all have the ability. Just tell them to ship under NARDA.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
jmore said:
Hopefully this is not a trend...
My daughter, who is away at school, received a notice on her phone a couple of weeks back that there was an updated available. She was a bit nervous about doing it so waited until she was home over the weekend a week and a half ago and asked me about it. I told her to go ahead and do it. She hit the button to install the update. It downloaded, displayed an error message and the phone turned off. It wouldn't turn back on. We searched a bit, tried all the known key combinations to reset it, but it was a brick.
So the next day I headed over to the AT&T store. They tried a few things and agreed that it was dead. They checked the phone over and stated there was no physical or water damage. They contacted the warranty center over the phone, arranged for the return and handed me the phone handset to agree to terms. Turns out the only way they would warranty the phone is if I sent them the phone and agreed, in advance, to pay $459 if they decided it was not a warranty issue. I asked for clarification, repeated what had happened, and they just kept saying that was the requirement. I mentioned that the store rep and manager had already checked the phone, that there was no physical or water damage, and tried to understand why I would still have to agree to these terms. I asked if they would just agree to send the phone back if there was any other problem. They just kept repeating the same thing, I had to agree to the $459 potential charge with no recourse. They kept stating that I "would probably not be charged." I would not agree and asked the agent and manager on duty if there were any other options. They mentioned an AT&T service center about a half an hour away.
The store wrote me a referral to the service center and told me they could replace the phone on the spot. So off I went. A half an hour car drive and a wait in line and I was informed by the service center staff that they do not stock the Captivate and it would have to be returned to a warranty center. I said, do it. They said, no, I have to return it and that meant -- you guessed it -- agreeing to the same terms. Needless to say I was a bit frustrated at this point. So a half an hour drive home to cool off... or not.
The following day I started searching and found stories of people getting warranty service through Samsung. Wondering what their warranty terms are, I phoned Samsung's number. After repeating the phone death story, they said it was a warranty issue and emailed me a shipping label to send it back. Happy that things were looking up, I boxed it up and sent it off.
Fast forward a week and I just received a notification from Samsung that the phone is being returned, unrepaired. Here is the verbage used:
I get on the phone with Samsung, inform them the phone has never been wet, that both I and the AT&T folks looked at it and the water indicators showed no exposure. They explained that their service personnel do "a very thorough inspection" and that is their determination. Done. Discussion ensued, but there was absolutely no willingness on their part to take another look at the phone, explain further, or otherwise help.
So I'm out $200 plus a two-year contract or ETF fee with AT&T on a three month old phone. My daughter is quite meticulous with this sort of thing and trustworthy and tells me the phone has not been wet. I believe her. The liquid indicators agree. The phone died during an update that I now see is notorious for bricking phones. Both AT&T and Samsung would rather push it off on a customer than stand behind their product. I've been a Cingular/AT&T customer for over ten years, but apparently that's irrelevant.
So that's my story. Consider yourself warned.
BTW, if anyone figures out how to "unbrick" a phone in this state (won't turn on at all after failed update) I'd love to hear about it as the phone is physically fine.
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Assuming that the phones hardware is is working condition you should first try to put the phone in download mode. To do this first hold down BOTH volume keys simtulaniously and plug in the usb coard to the charging jack on the phone while it is attached to a computer. If you see a yellow man holding a shovel with yellow writing saying download you can recover this device. If you get this far post here and we can show you how to reinstall the ROM.
Best of luck
Samsung was right... AT&T warranty terms still ridiculous
Samsung was right and has my sincere apology. I got the phone back from Samsung service and disassembled it. It looks like liquid got into the USB port. It appears to have been a very small amount, perhaps a single drop. There is some corrosion internally on the connector between the back of the port and the PCB. That is the only damage I see, but it would have been enough to short the connection. There was no indication of water elsewhere in the phone.
I am still dumbfounded by AT&T's warranty policy. I have spoken with two more individuals at AT&T about the policy and they stand firm. You must agree to a full charge replacement of the device before they will even determine if it is under warranty or not. If they determine it's under warranty, all is well. If not, you pay for a new device, whether you want one or not. :-(
Anyway, sorry Samsung. A few more details about what you found would have been nice, but you're still OK with me. I have nothing nice to say to you, AT&T.
Oh, and keep that little door over the port closed when you can... it could save your phone.
Still sounds fishy to me. You had a working phone before the update, so why is the cause of the failure water damage. Was your daughter doing the update outside in the rain?
I deal with AT&T all day, on a day to day basis. They are pain as many of you already know. You might want to try this, if you have a Facebook account, become a fan of their page and then post up your experience/situation for everyone to see. It might just put some heat on them. Hopefully, a competent Rep could help with a resolution. Just a suggestion.
I actually prefer AT&Ts warranty as opposed to using a manufacturer. At least they send you the replacement phone first so you are not out a phone for at least a week.
I remember sending my Xperia X1 into SE, it took 3 weeks and when I finally heard back from them they they informed me my phone had liquid damage. Similar story: they sent pictures of the corrosion back with my old phone and there was a tiny spec of rust.
rajendra82 said:
Still sounds fishy to me. You had a working phone before the update, so why is the cause of the failure water damage. Was your daughter doing the update outside in the rain?
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As odd as it sounds the voltage level could of fluctuated up high enough to cause the short and fry the port among other things.
jmore said:
It appears to have been a very small amount, perhaps a single drop. There is some corrosion internally on the connector between the back of the port and the PCB. That is the only damage I see, but it would have been enough to short the connection. There was no indication of water elsewhere in the phone.
Oh, and keep that little door over the port closed when you can... it could save your phone.
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I had the same problem as another poster, with the toilet incident.. except the water wasn't so clean *cough*
Anyway, I have the same recommendation.
KEEP YOUR CHARGING PORT SHUT WHEN NOT IN USE!
I'm positive it would have saved my phone from water damage for the tenth of a second it took me to ninja snatch it from submersion. Same situation; none of the litmus papers (water damage indicators) were red.
The only additional advise i can give is to buy the third-party insurance that AT&T offers at some locations at the time of purchase (or know someone that will sign you up for it afterwards). It covers water damage it's $5.99/month and the deductible is $75 for smartphones.
Oh and don't bother with the Mobile Locate service AT&T offers..Theft Aware does that and way more, AND it's like $6 ONCE!
EDIT: yea i thought about that too. It seems kinda strange that it only went berserk during the update. Maybe a wire in the phone only gets used when doing something like an update and when it had voltage applied to it..it fried
UPDATE: So, I FINALLY got my tablet back today (3/24/11) - after a month of it being away. I'm not going to get in to the fact that I had to call them 3 or 4 more times and talk to 2 supervisors before any real progress was made and my tablet was [pushed to the "front of the line."
No, no, not only was it just left at the door of my apartment (for how long, no-one knows), but when I opened the packaging I discovered that they had torn up 2 of the sides of the Skinomi carbon fiber back that I had stuck on previously AND one of the rubber feet/screw covers was completely missing with a large gouge at the side of the open hole. This whole G-Tablet Warranty process has been a TOTAL disaster. I really hope no-one else here (or the 10,000 new user that just purchased from Woot.com) have to deal with this.
Perhaps the worst example of customer service I have ever experienced.
Well, you guys are going to LOVE this one.
My G-Tbalet had a faulty camera so I organized for it to be repaired through Viewsonic. Sent it away on February 26th.
I have had no response from Viewsonic (no call, email, anything) regarding the repair, so I called them on Friday 11th March.....then Saturday twice......then Monday. Different person each time, all trying to stall me and feed me some BS that they were "looking for it on their computer" or that they were "waiting for updated information on it". Basically they have lost the tablet and have no idea where it is!
They received it on March 1st (as I tracked the delivery) but now they basically have no idea where it is exactly, or how far along on the repair process it is. Yesterday the lady told me that it WAS indeed being repaired (which is progress at least because on Friday and Saturday they had no idea where it was), but had no idea of the time scale or how long it will take to repair it. So I told them I had no option but to take it further. So she said she was going to escalate it to her manager and that she would let me know "as soon as she hears anything" and that the manager would email me with a response too once he had one. That was yesterday. Of course I have had no contact or email today. Go figure.
So I have been without the tablet since the end of February, and I don't see me getting it back before the end of this month. Ridiculous. Hopefully when/if I do get to speak to the manager I can demand a replacement to be sent. What a joke.
Just thought I'd share my experience with the GREAT customer service!
gogorman said:
So I have been without the tablet since the end of February, and I don't see me getting it back before the end of this month. Ridiculous. Hopefully when/if I do get to speak to the manager I can demand a replacement to be sent. What a joke.
Just thought I'd share my experience with the GREAT customer service!
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That's pretty scary. I think this is one area that some of these companies really need to work on. Customer service is a huge deal, but some places just don't have the aptitude for providing it with any ounce of quality. Ahh well, I hope you get it back either repaired or a new one, and soon. I'd be smoking mad if I was without mine for even 2 weeks.
Use the Better Business Bureau to lodge complaints, it has worked for me in the past when I am getting no where fast.
Honestly, aside from the customer service reps not being able to find updates, that's an above average timeframe for repairs. A typical repair on warranty can take anywhere from 1 week if you are EXTREMELY lucky to upwards of a month. Anything passed a month and that's when I'd begin the complaints process. The fact that you are escalating things several times after only 1-2 weeks may get it back to you sooner, but I doubt it. Certain processes, such as repair work, are already set in stone at most companies and regardless of how many calls a customer makes they are not willing to change those processes. I wish you the best of luck in your repair process and hope it all ends well. Good luck.
I had posted awhile ago, that I had called them because I had noticed bad block msgs in dmesg, and they gave me an RMA, but I was a little leery about sending it in. It just seemed like they were too willing to give out an RMA, after just a 5 minute telcon. Anyway I never did send it in, and from your story, that was probably a fortunate thing ...
Sorry to hear about your situation, and hope they actually fix it.
Jim
So here's my experience with the Motorola warranty procedure. I was very impressed at how quick the experience went so I thought I'd share, in hopes of making it a little easier for anyone who needs to do this.
I bricked my Xoom doing stupid things with USB mass storage. For real for real brick. Just a word of warning, if your PC asks if you want to format something when you plug your Xoom in, you should just say no.
So, I tried to use the automated Motorola support page for the Xoom which turned out to be a nightmare. It kind of kept looping around and never gave me any clear instructions or end. So, I went to the support chat page (motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/chat/chat_launch/), and said "Hi, my xoom is broken, will not turn on at all, and I want to send it to you to fix it, please. How do I do that?"
He gave me the option to go through the online stuff to submit a support ticket or to do it for me. I told them their website is broken and I would like him to do it for me. So, he gladly obliged and asked for some basic contact information and the serial number. (it's etched in the metal where the SD card slot is). I got an email saying the support ticket was submitted and a FedEx package the next day.
Inside was a prepaid overnight FedEx bag and a handy box/foam for shipping the xoom. Also, instructions on backing up everything before you ship it. I put my original receipt in the packaging and dropped it off at the nearest FedEx place. When I delivered it to the FedEx office, I asked for the tracking number because, you really never know- but they received it the next day and sent me a number to track the status of the repair online.
They didn't fix it; they sent me a refurbished one in return. It arrived literally two days later. This entire process took 4 days from chat to powering on a working Xoom. So, kudos to you Motorola, for having a warranty and support system that works so quickly!
Should you need to have your Xoom worked on (for anything that ISN'T liquid or software damage-- not covered), I would highly recommend you skip the online do-it-yourself Motorola support stuff, go directly to the chat and ask them to please submit a repair ticket for you. They're super-friendly and work from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT M-F. They also repair/replace accessories as long as they don't show signs of physical abuse. Hope this helps & thumbs up for customer service!
I can confirm that Motorola is doing a great job replacing faulty units.
About the online chat, this didn't work for me, when I reached first in line status, it just disconnected. Maybe they saw that I'm not in US?
How do you know that you received a refurbished unit?
The service invoice that was shipped back to me had the following line:
Refurb: REP_IW
From that I just assumed that it was refurbished.. I also assume it means replace, in warranty.
It's good to know that they're good about replacing things in other countries, too! Strange about the chat, though.. dunno!
I too had to use their warranty replacement service. I was so impressed by it. Everything was shipped via FedEx overnight. They were very kind and nice over the phone too.
I'm sold on their services. Going to recommend more Moto products from now on.
??
I see many people talk about bricking their wi-fi xoom... how is it that Moto just replaces them when sent in? I thought unlocking voids warranty?
For the background to my issue please read the following thread;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44279573#post44279573
This thread is to give my experience of the RMA service that I have received, not the fault itself which was "fixed".
So essentially I was advised by Asus support that DHL would come with a special box to take the tablet away and to send all accessories such as the charger with the tab. However the DHL email said that I should pack in my own box and not to include any accessories. It was not clear to me whether the keyboard and charger would count as accessories or not. I decided not to include the charger as I had already verified that wasn't the cause of my issue and the charger is listed on Asus's own website as an accessory. However I was later told that I should have included the charger. All a bit confusing, mixed information but a small issue when you read below. I can't fault the tracker service or the speed of the "repair" either. I was happy to know exactly where my tablet was at all times and that it wasn't going missing.
Now everything I thought was fine until my I opened the box last Friday with my freshly "repaired" tablet. Like many of you guys I take extremely good care of my tech. I could have easily passed my tablet off as brand new with not so much as a hairline scratch on it after 10 months use. You can imagine my horror when I saw what it looked like on return. Essentially the list of problems is as follows;
Curve along bottom edge of tablet that should be flat.
Screen not fitted properly on right hand side.
Screen not fitted properly on left hand side.
Damage to case on power connector socket.
Plastic strip on top rear not fitted properly.
Haptic vibration creates a noise like a duck quack.
HDMI output has horrible red interference.
Glue residue on back of casing.
I have attached images below for you to see the quality of the repair work. What is especially annoying is that when I first called up to complain on Friday the only thing they were interested in was if I had pictures from before I sent the tab in. I am annoyed because when I raised a concern about the quality of repair work prior to sending my tablet I was assured by Asus Support that the repairers were monitored for quality of work and everything would be fine. It was only because of my mistrusting nature with this type of thing that I took pictures showing the condition it was in and how I packed it.
It should be noted that I only expected the battery to be replaced during the repair. According to the service report the screen and the motherboard were also replaced. I now believe that they must have been damaged during their removal from the now damaged shell case. To cover their tracks they listed faults with them which would require replacement such as "mechanical fault". I am absolutely furious with Asus over this shoddy repair and have informed them that I do not accept the repair and am seeking a new tablet to replace the one they have ruined. I am yet to have a response after sending them the pictures and I will keep the thread updated as I do. :crying::crying::crying:
Mine is in Texas right now with digitizer problems. Mine is as yours WAS, like new in appearance. I hope to God it is returned in the same condition. There is no excuse for returning a customers stuff in that condition. If they botched up the repairs that badly they should have replaced it.
Good luck, hope they resolve it for you. It clearly appears from your pics that they botched the job and owe you a replacement.
I recently had my digitizer repaired by the Texas facility and mine came back in the same pristine condition it was in when I sent it and the repair was without problems.
Keep us posted.
That truly is one awful repair job.
"Haptic vibration creates a noise like a duck quack."
This did make me laugh tho
flumpster said:
That truly is one awful repair job.
"Haptic vibration creates a noise like a duck quack."
This did make me laugh tho
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Yeah, if I wasn't so annoyed I'd probably find it funny too.... Sound file uploaded for your consideration... (I had to zip it as the forum didn't like mp3 or aac).
I'm sorry to hear all that mate! That is shocking. Stand your ground and don't take no for an answer.
I appreciate the kind words folks. Apparently my photos have been forwarded to the correct department within Asus. Which I hope is the "sending out new tablet department".
Your case tells me I should consider myself lucky they (the same service center) only slashed the box!
Sent from my Xperia Neo V using xda app-developers app
Wow, talk about screwing up a repair... This reinforces my belief that sending in my 700 for a screen repair (a nice crack in the upper right corner) is a bad idea.
Good luck with the fight ahead!
An update for everyone. I sent over the pictures of before and after as requested. My email was rejected as being too large (around 12Mb I think it was). I asked what was the maximum size email I could send and received no response. I then decided to split the email in to 5, ensuring that each email was less than 5Mb. Over a week later I enquired what was the status to be told the person dealing with my request was on holiday and would reply the next day. I duly received a reply saying that they still needed pictures of (.....) so it seems they could only find 1 of my clearly labelled 5 emails (number 1 to 5).
I was also informed that I would not be entitled to a replacement tablet as warranty only provides for a repair. I replied to that email by saying that "I am also entitled to a quality of repair that doesn't damage the rest of my tablet in the process. I am not claiming for warranty repair work to be done on my tablet, I am saying that during the warranty repair of my tablets battery, my tablet was unneccessarily damaged due to poor workmanship and now needs replacing."
The last email I have received says they have now got the photos and my request has been forwarded to "higher management". I don't know who higher management is, but let's hope it is someone who is just as horrified as me at the quality of repair work and agrees that somoene paying top price for their electronics and takes the time to look after them properly, should not have to accept such poor standards from Asus themselves. They're making it really hard for me to ever consider spending money on an Asus product again.
Once again, fingers crossed.
I have receied a response from Asus;
"Dear John,
Thank you for awaiting our response.
Kindly note that the management investigated your case and decided to offer you a free of charges repair.
They came to that conclusion as the key out video, the video that record whether a customer’s unit left the repair centre in a good condition was of poor quality, because so we can't see if the unit was damaged or not.
Please let me know if you want to proceed with the free of charges repair? Once your response is received I will create a new repair RMA to and book a collection. What would be a convenient collection date?
We look forward to your response.
Kind Regards,"
I read that to mean: Asus can't prove that it wasn't their fault the tablet was damaged, and I can. Therefore they will just repair it for me. I am supposed to be grateful that this won't cost me anything. For my inconvenience they are offering me nothing in return. I would have thought at least they would have offered some sort of token to apologise, even if they won't replace the tablet.
What do you guys think? If they repair it and it looks as good as it did previously, I wouldn't have a problem. I'm just worried that it will come back looking as bad/worse. My real concern is that if the outside is a mess, is the inside put together properly? Is the tablet going to fail in another few months because a connector hasn't been put on properly inside, or a wire has been part way cut through/trapped, etc, etc...
I've emailed them to have one more try at getting a replacement, which I really think is the honorable thing to do. At least I know what kind of company Asus aspire to be. Currently I don't think I'll be going anywhere near anything Asus ever again.
Imho they should replace it, they made a mess with the repair so it's their fault. You sent the device in perfect condition so their duty is to send it back after repair in the same condition. I wonder what they mean with repair now, replacing the body and keep the internal parts or what.
Whatever, if you accept this repair offer make it clear that you expect a perfect repair and also the device must return in perfect condition, wtf, you paid for the damn thing. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply and support.
I'm rightly playing hardball so avoided asking details of the proposed repair. Don't worry though, I would need to understand exactly what their proposed repair solution is before I would agree or send away my tablet to them again. Unlucky for them that I'm a professional mechanical design engineer used to dealing with quality engineering.
Gudders said:
Thanks for the reply and support.
I'm rightly playing hardball so avoided asking details of the proposed repair. Don't worry though, I would need to understand exactly what their proposed repair solution is before I would agree or send away my tablet to them again. Unlucky for them that I'm a professional mechanical design engineer used to dealing with quality engineering.
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I RMA'd my Asus TF300T around 3 months ago due to LCD banding and light bleed (Asus UK service center in the Czech Republic). There were numerous problems with the repair. Firstly, the charger was badly scuffed, the plastic casing was popping out (exposing the headphone jack and other ports) , the screen was on an angle, the glass wasn't glued down securely (movement/creaking) and they managed to chip part of the plastic surrounding the screen. I showed the problem to the store's manager (Argos, as I let them deal with it) and she agreed that she would let me have an exchange or pick a different tablet without argument. I exchanged for a Note 10.1.
Hope your issue gets resolved.
I would INSIST on the tablet being replaced and not repaired. It's pretty obvious that they can't make proper repairs already.
BTW: I got mine back with no cosmetic damage at all. So a proper repair is possible they just need some new employees at that repair facility.
Mine was in for the touch screen. I have no idea what was done. Right after I restored all my apps, about 4 hours, it started acting badly again. I called Asus on the phone. I was given another RMA and emailed a return shipping label. During my phone call I turned off the tablet. It was powered down for about 15 minutes. I powered it back up and have not had one incident with the touch screen since! Its been a week without trouble from the screen. I called to inform them at Asus and was told the RMA is good for 30 days. If problems develop just use it to send it back.
So far, so good.. .. .
It seems that Asus are are refusing to budge on the issue. My concern now is that due to the bend and stress on the screen at some point in the future it may crack and I'll be left without a tablet forever, so it seems I may have to relent and send it in for repair anyway :crying:
I have still had no answer from Asus on the following;
The screen was replaced, including the LED backlight. I have no idea why they were. A problem has been listed of "Abnormal lines on display". I never reported such a fault. My suggestion is that the screen was damaged on removal at the same time as the case was damaged through carelessness.
The motherboard was replaced. Again I have no idea why. I don't know if the charging issues related to the motherbaord or not. I don't believe so as everything else functioned correctly. Was the motherboard also damaged on removal?
"Mechanical Error" was listed as a problem. I have no idea at all what this refers to. The keyboard has not been touched, thankfully, and except for the power/vol buttons (which are terrible to begin with, and worse now) what else mechanical is there?
Asus have offered me nothing as a token of apology. I would have expected at the least to send me an accessory, or money off asus products in the store, something along those lines. Nothing, zip.
My folks were looking into buying a tablet and I was recommending them a Nexus 7. However that will definitely not be happening now. If anyone else is having second thoughts, or actually cancelled/changed their mind on buying Asus after reading this please PM me. I'll be happy to forward the statistics to Asus themselves.
Gudders said:
It seems that Asus are are refusing to budge on the issue. My concern now is that due to the bend and stress on the screen at some point in the future it may crack and I'll be left without a tablet forever, so it seems I may have to relent and send it in for repair anyway :crying:
I have still had no answer from Asus on the following;
The screen was replaced, including the LED backlight. I have no idea why they were. A problem has been listed of "Abnormal lines on display". I never reported such a fault. My suggestion is that the screen was damaged on removal at the same time as the case was damaged through carelessness.
The motherboard was replaced. Again I have no idea why. I don't know if the charging issues related to the motherbaord or not. I don't believe so as everything else functioned correctly. Was the motherboard also damaged on removal?
"Mechanical Error" was listed as a problem. I have no idea at all what this refers to. The keyboard has not been touched, thankfully, and except for the power/vol buttons (which are terrible to begin with, and worse now) what else mechanical is there?
Asus have offered me nothing as a token of apology. I would have expected at the least to send me an accessory, or money off asus products in the store, something along those lines. Nothing, zip.
My folks were looking into buying a tablet and I was recommending them a Nexus 7. However that will definitely not be happening now. If anyone else is having second thoughts, or actually cancelled/changed their mind on buying Asus after reading this please PM me. I'll be happy to forward the statistics to Asus themselves.
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Any update?
mr.fast said:
Any update?
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Not as such. I have been given an address that I can write to to lodge a formal complaint;
FAO Service manager
AsusTek U.K. LTD.
1st floor Hemel One
Boundary way
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 7YU
I am waiting for an RMA number so I can send my tablet back for a second repair. I have been assured that the service centre will be prepared and will make ammends for the poor repair that was done last time. I have no other choice but to go with this option for the time being. I have no idea what response I will get from the above address
Gudders said:
Not as such. I have been given an address that I can write to to lodge a formal complaint;
FAO Service manager
AsusTek U.K. LTD.
1st floor Hemel One
Boundary way
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 7YU
I am waiting for an RMA number so I can send my tablet back for a second repair. I have been assured that the service centre will be prepared and will make ammends for the poor repair that was done last time. I have no other choice but to go with this option for the time being. I have no idea what response I will get from the above address
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Any chance of an update ?
boakesm said:
Any chance of an update ?
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Tablet has been with Asus since 24th September back at Brno, CZ. Anticipated completion date of next Monday 7th October. It only took a week to "repair" last time but they may be having a closer look at what has gone on and take a little longer. I'm happy for them to do that and get it right. Just a shame that I am away in Italy at the back end of this week on business and it would have been great to have my tablet to watch a film, keep up to date, etc.
Once I receive it back I shall be writing my complaint letter.
Who has had to do a replacement? Samsung is telling me that I have to send in my $350 watch and wait for a couple weeks (at best) for them to fix it and send it back. Has anyone that's done this had a similar experience? Can I get them to send a replacement and me send this one back? To me, this is completely unacceptable. I've never had to send back an expensive piece of tech and wait for them to fix THEIR problem.
Nope that's not how it generally works. I've had several electronic items repaired under warranty before from different companies and they always require you to send it in for repair. They will then repair it and send back the original item instead of a new one. The only time complete replacement no questions asked happens is when the store you bought it from agrees to replace it and deals with the OEM themselves afterwards.
I had battery issues on my bluetooth Gear S3 Frontier (India) & had to take it to the service center where they basically replaced the battery & then the motherboard to fix the issue. I kinda ended up with a new watch in the same old body. The whole process took 31 days. No problems since except still waiting for Tizen 3.0 update.
Boo... Yeah, I guess the only devices I have had mess up on me are phones, and whatever carrier I had at that time just sends a new/refurbished one. Good to know.
Sending mine in tomorrow... Tizen 3 started causing overheats and it won't fully charge either. I bought an LG Watch Sport to test in the meantime . Might be time to say bye to Sammy watches. If I can stay away from this beautiful watch and its UI.
Warranty Replacement
Someone asked if anyone had done a warranty replacement. I actually did mine today. For those that have followed my posts, my S3 Frontier watch did a Tizen 3 update which completely screwed my Bluetooth and Wireless which rendered the watch useless with a phone as it could not connect. Having phoned Samsung Customer Services, they were very prompt. They arranged to pick my watch up today, and the provided all the packaging. All I had to do was hand the watch to the UPS rep. They had a fancy box which protects the watch.....gave me a receipt, and told me I would have it back next week. I am impressed so far by their customer service. I will let you know how long it takes before I get it back.
rammitt said:
Someone asked if anyone had done a warranty replacement. I actually did mine today. For those that have followed my posts, my S3 Frontier watch did a Tizen 3 update which completely screwed my Bluetooth and Wireless which rendered the watch useless with a phone as it could not connect. Having phoned Samsung Customer Services, they were very prompt. They arranged to pick my watch up today, and the provided all the packaging. All I had to do was hand the watch to the UPS rep. They had a fancy box which protects the watch.....gave me a receipt, and told me I would have it back next week. I am impressed so far by their customer service. I will let you know how long it takes before I get it back.
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Curious, did you buy this from Samsung, Verizon, AT&T or Best Buy??etc..
Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
raghu102 said:
I had battery issues on my bluetooth Gear S3 Frontier (India) & had to take it to the service center where they basically replaced the battery & then the motherboard to fix the issue. I kinda ended up with a new watch in the same old body. The whole process took 31 days. No problems since except still waiting for Tizen 3.0 update.
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I had the exact same repair. Too bad Samsung just doesn't take responsibility and notify all users of the widespread problems and offer the repair/replacement.
Warranty Replacement for Gear S3 Frontier
It does NOT matter where you bought your watch at all. The S3 has 2 years manufacturers warranty on it, which covers ALL OTA updates, as they are responsible for the updates.
rammitt said:
It does NOT matter where you bought your watch at all. The S3 has 2 years manufacturers warranty on it, which covers ALL OTA updates, as they are responsible for the updates.
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Thanks for this information as I was not aware that it worked that way... I always try and buy direct from SAMSUNG but in this case I purchased from Verizon as they had one in stock.
Take Care
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I'm still not happy with Samsung for pushing out updates (and not pulling them) that are having ill effect on people's watches. However, I have to say, they really tried hard to redeem themselves with my watch repair. I read on here somewhere that some people's watches were taking weeks to get fixed and sent back. Mine was back in my hands in 5 days. AND, they replaced the entire case except for the bottom plate for some reason. Which means I have a brand new looking watch. And I had a few scratches on it too, a couple bad ones even. I'm seriously very happy right now. I even bought an LG watch sport that was probably going to replace my frontier, and it's going back. At least Sammy is trying here.
My BT Frontier went into a reboot/freeze loop on January 5. I called the warranty department and received a ticket # on the 7th. Shipped back on the 8th. Received notification that Samsung received it on the 10th (which stated I should have it back in 5 business days). Received another notification on the 10th stating that my repair was on "temporary hold due to an unavailable part". I have not received any further updates since then. I sent an email yesterday inquiring as to status, since I hadn't heard anything in 8 days regarding a repair that was originally scheduled for five days. No answer on that yet. I guess I'll call today. So far I've been without a $350 watch for almost two weeks and have no idea when I'll get it back.
Well, after 3 successful nights in a row of charging without a problem, nor any overheats, it's doing it again... Real effing nice... I'm going to try the shutting it off before charging then seeing if it stops overheating like a couple people have reported. Otherwise, I guess I have to send it back again... All because of an update. Samsung needs to get it together!
** Update***
I called on Friday to ask about the status of my repair and was told that the repair was on hold because a replacement part was not available. So they offered me a full refund of the original purchase price (purchased through Samsung), which I accepted.
Seems odd but I guess it's easier for them to issue a refund check than to send a new Gear.
dcAndroidFan said:
** Update***
I called on Friday to ask about the status of my repair and was told that the repair was on hold because a replacement part was not available. So they offered me a full refund of the original purchase price (purchased through Samsung), which I accepted.
Seems odd but I guess it's easier for them to issue a refund check than to send a new Gear.
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Wow, I am shocked that they did not offer to replace the watch? Did you ask if that was an option? Maybe the Gear 4 is close and they do not have enough any additional inventory on the 3 ??
Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
maddie01 said:
Wow, I am shocked that they did not offer to replace the watch? Did you ask if that was an option? Maybe the Gear 4 is close and they do not have enough any additional inventory on the 3 ??
Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
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It seemed strange, but I didn't ask about a replacement because the refund seemed like a better option. I took the money and bought a brand-new one (instead of potentially getting a refurbished replacement unit) and I have a new purchase transaction so my warranty period starts over with the new one (a replacement would have still been subject to the original purchase warranty period). Win-win.
dcAndroidFan said:
It seemed strange, but I didn't ask about a replacement because the refund seemed like a better option. I took the money and bought a brand-new one (instead of potentially getting a refurbished replacement unit) and I have a new purchase transaction so my warranty period starts over with the new one (a replacement would have still been subject to the original purchase warranty period). Win-win.
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How long did it take for you to get refunded and in what way were you refunded? My current status for my watch says Cancel and states refund for the last 3 or 4 days but I've received no communication from Samsung about anything at this point..
dcAndroidFan said:
It seemed strange, but I didn't ask about a replacement because the refund seemed like a better option. I took the money and bought a brand-new one (instead of potentially getting a refurbished replacement unit) and I have a new purchase transaction so my warranty period starts over with the new one (a replacement would have still been subject to the original purchase warranty period). Win-win.
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Great point, you did the right thing!!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
dcAndroidFan said:
** Update***
I called on Friday to ask about the status of my repair and was told that the repair was on hold because a replacement part was not available. So they offered me a full refund of the original purchase price (purchased through Samsung), which I accepted.
Seems odd but I guess it's easier for them to issue a refund check than to send a new Gear.
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Wow, that's awesome! I'm surprised too at that. I would think it would cost them less to send a refurbished/whatever unit. Hopefully they'll do something surprising for me too. My watch is still overheating and not fully charging after already sending it in to be fixed...
Sparkz914 said:
How long did it take for you to get refunded and in what way were you refunded? My current status for my watch says Cancel and states refund for the last 3 or 4 days but I've received no communication from Samsung about anything at this point..
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I had to call and ask. My repair status was still "on hold" pending a replacement part. When I called, they said I was approved for the refund because they didn't have a part available. Then they gave me a confirmation number and ended the call. I thought I would get an email after that, or something with further instructions or information. After a few hours of nothing, I called back, and was told that refunds are processed through a different department, and then they transferred my call to the separate department which sounded like it might be at a completely different call center. That person verified my address information, and verified that I was consenting to accept the refund. She then said it would be 7-10 days to process and deliver.
In all honesty, I don't actually have the refund check in hand yet but didn't want to wait another 7-10 days without a watch so I just went ahead and got one in anticipation of the money.
Hope that helps. Not sure if that was my experience just b/c I bought the original direct from Samsung or if that's their procedure for all refunds.
dcAndroidFan said:
I had to call and ask. My repair status was still "on hold" pending a replacement part. When I called, they said I was approved for the refund because they didn't have a part available. Then they gave me a confirmation number and ended the call. I thought I would get an email after that, or something with further instructions or information. After a few hours of nothing, I called back, and was told that refunds are processed through a different department, and then they transferred my call to the separate department which sounded like it might be at a completely different call center. That person verified my address information, and verified that I was consenting to accept the refund. She then said it would be 7-10 days to process and deliver.
In all honesty, I don't actually have the refund check in hand yet but didn't want to wait another 7-10 days without a watch so I just went ahead and got one in anticipation of the money.
Hope that helps. Not sure if that was my experience just b/c I bought the original direct from Samsung or if that's their procedure for all refunds.
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Yea, I just called over and did the same thing. It seems like they weren't going to reach out to let you know you had to call and accept the refund before they would do anything. No phone call, no email.