HTC Repair Blues

[jhilker]

It seams appropriate that I'm listening to James Taylor sing Steamroller Blues as I write this.

This goes back to January, when I decided I'd had enough of the purple tint on low light photos on my Sprint One running stock, so I arranged to send it back to HTC. During the approximate 2 weeks I was without "my precious" (as my kids like to call it), I suffered using one of my kids' old Samsung Exclaim. When I got the phone back, everything was working perfectly. Then I took it to Best Buy to have an Invisible Shield reinstalled. Bad idea, as they broke the lens cover while installing it. I considered sending the phone back to HTC for repair, but ultimately decided to get a replacement through Asurion. Fortunately, Best Buy manned up and covered the cost of the replacement.

After getting the replacement, I found the manufacture date to be April 2013. After several weeks, I began to notice - you guessed it - purple appearing in my low light photos. Sigh....

I went back and forth between Sprint and Asurion, with each party saying it was the other's responsibilty. I called HTC, and explained my dilemma, and they offered me what they call "VIP" repair service. They were to send me a FedEx label, which i could use to overnight the device to them in Houston. They would then put the repair to the top of the group (I think they referred to it as Special Projects Team 3), and get it repaired within a day. They'd then overnight the phone back to me, meaning I'd only be without the phone for 3 to 5 business days, tops. Sounded great, so I set this up. This was on March 6th.

Within 30 minutes, I was beginning to have my doubts. I got a call back from the rep at HTC I had spoken with, who advised that they were out of the parts that would be needed for the repair. He hoped I had not shipped the phone back at that point, and advised me to hold off until I heard back from them. He thought it might be only a few days, but in his words, he "didn't want my phone sitting on a table there at HTC, waiting for parts." I agreed to hold off.

Meanwhile, I received a UPS label, which didn't appear to be an overnight shipping label. I called back, and somehow my original ticket was closed, and a new one was opened up. Then, I received a FedEx label for the old ticket, as well as UPS and FedEx labels for the new ticket. I only printed off the FedEx label for the newer label, and waited.

After a week, I called back to see if the parts had arrived. The guy I spoke to said he didn't see them, but he would call me back the next day. No call, so the day after that I called back...this went on for several days, until finally last Saturday (March 22nd), I was told to go ahead and send the phone in - that either they'd have the parts to make the repair, or they could swap it out for another device. I shipped the device in on Monday, 3/24, and the website showed it had arrived on 3/25. Wednesday, and then Thursday...no change on the website. Still showed "device received." Finally on Thursday, I called, and was told then that it had just been checked in for repair that day (Thursday)! I called back yesterday, and was told that it appears there are no parts, and no replacement phones available.

My case has been passed on to a resolution group to see what alternatives are available. I told them they could make me very satisfied if they could just swap this out for the new One (M8), She told me she'd pass this along.

Probably a pipe dream, but it would be nice (and somehow fitting) if I could find myself holding a new One by this time next week! I'll update when I hear back from HTC....

 

[IAmSixNine]

Great write up and its always a good idea to document all the calls and emails.
I wish HTC would contract with our company to come in and fix their broken repair system.
I have read on this and other forums of how many people are disappointed in HTC repair.

 

[Grahams_Boy]

Any update on this? I'd love to know how it turned out.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Mac50bingo]

I'd like to hear how it turned out a well. I'm the proud owner of an HTC One, not the latest and greatest from HTC, but I am thoroughly happy with what is perhaps the best smart phone I have ever owned. And I was a hard core iPhone user for many years. This phone, both hardware and software is fantastic.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[jhilker]

Here's what I included in my survey. I think this sums it up pretty well. Not expecting to hear anything back, but if I do, I'll be sure to update:

I contacted HTC on March 6th about making a repair to a replacement HTC One I had received from Sprint. This involved replacing the camera module due to purple tint being added to low light photos. I had sent this in for report for a previous device, and was concerned about having to be without it again for two weeks. The rep I spoke with set me up with what he called VIP service, which would involve sending me a FedEx overnight label. Once the device reached HTC, it would be expedited into the repair process, and overnighted back to me, so that I would only be without the device for 3 to 5 business days at the most. I agreed to this.

Within 30 minutes, I received a call back from the rep, and he asked that because they didn't have the replacement parts in stock, to hold off on sending the device in until they called me back to let me know the parts were there. Then, I received a UPS label, not FedEx, and it wasn't an overnight one. I called back, and they told me I would get a 2nd label from FedEx. They then advised that they had to close that ticket out, and a 2nd one had been opened. This meant I had to now search through all the emails to get the correct label to match the correct ticket number.

After a week, I hadn't gotten a call from HTC, so I began calling back, almost on a daily basis, to see if the parts had arrived. I NEVER got a return call from HTC. Finally, I think on 3/21/14, I was advised to go ahead and send the device in, and they'd either have the parts, or a repaired replacement they could ship back out to me.

I used the FedEx label to overnight the device on 3/24. The website showed that the device had been received on 3/25, but the site hadn't updated by end of day on 3/27, so I called to check on status. That day, I was told that it had only been checked in to the repair facility that day (3/27). I called back on 3/28, and at that time was advised they weren't sure what was going on. At that time, the rep told me they were going to send this to what I think was a resolution department, to see what they could do to resolve this. At the time, I advised that I would be totally satisfied if they could just send out a replacement of the new HTC One (M8). She told me she'd add that to the request.

I never heard back from that department. I continued to call each day, and was advised on Monday, 3/31, that the phone was in testing. By Wednesday, the website indicated that the phone was ready to be shipped, but it was not by FedEx, but rather UPS 3 day. I didn't get my phone back until Friday. 4/4.

I have used HTC devices almost exclusively, going all the way back to the HTC Hero, continuing with the original EVO, EVO 3D, and EVO 4G LTE. I also try to talk up support for HTC with my friends, recommending the devices. I'm at the point that I will be unable to do this in the future. I feel I was misled continuously throughout this month-long process of trying to get my phone repaired. I would appreciate getting a response back, preferably from this resolution team that my situation was supposedly referred to.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

[jhilker]

Never heard anything on this from my survey, but I posted this on their Facebook page, and had a response in 15 minutes! The next day, I heard back from them, and they are sending me a brand new, HTC One............


Case! I really wasn't expecting even that, so I guess that's nice, although I doubt I'll use it. It's the double flip case.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

[Grahams_Boy]

Thanks for the update, been wondering what the out come was.

Glad you had at least a small result after all this.

Enjoy your new case ;-)

Be happy to give your new case a loving home. Lol

Posted via Android Central App

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

Just sent mine off for the purple haze repair. Said 1 week turnaround. No mention of parts shortages....

 

[anon(4861525)]

This is similar to my experience. I sent my phone to HTC for the purple camera repair and they had it for nearly a month. Throughout the whole process they dragged their feet and never communicated with me when they said they would. One of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had, and I subscribe to Comcast. This is my 4th HTC phone, but it will be my last because of how poorly they treated me.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

This is similar to my experience. I sent my phone to HTC for the purple camera repair and they had it for nearly a month. Throughout the whole process they dragged their feet and never communicated with me when they said they would. One of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had, and I subscribe to Comcast. This is my 4th HTC phone, but it will be my last because of how poorly they treated me.

Just got an email today that the repair is finished and it is ready to ship back to me. They didn't get the phone until yesterday. Pretty quick turnaround. Now I wait for its return. Should be here by Friday, easy.

 

[SCjRqrQCnBQ19QoYCtdl]

Just got an email today that the repair is finished and it is ready to ship back to me. They didn't get the phone until yesterday. Pretty quick turnaround. Now I wait for its return. Should be here by Friday, easy.

Received mine back yesterday, exactly 1 week from when I dropped it at the UPS store. Pretty impressed. They seem to have fixed the problem, and the seams on the phone are now tighter than they were when it was new.

Pic shot with repaired camera.