Hi Laura,
Below you'll find my unfortunate experience with HTC customer support and HTC RMA. Unfortunately, it may appear to be a lot to read, but please keep in mind that all of this started on 4/2/15. Thank you for your time!
HTC has lied every step of the way in my case. Starting with ticket number 215158000366 and then on to 215178005213 and finally ending with probably the last chance I'll ever consider doing business with HTC again. Or for that matter ever seeing the tablet I purchased ever again.
If you'll go through those tickets, you'll see that I sent in the tablet, in early April for screen repair. I don't know how the screen cracked in the odd manner it was cracked, but the only protection it had was the HTC magnetic (and pathetic) origami cover. I was then contacted via email and told that the price would be ~$250 for the repair, and I called and asked if they could have the technicians check the accelerometer logs which would show there had been no drops or jostling that could have possibly caused the cracks. I was told this wasn't possible, so I just paid the fee. I was surprised, that about a week after I paid the fee there was a package at my door. It was the tablet! What a nice surprise! However when I checked the status of the ticket it still stated that it was in repair and there was no tracking number provided. As I powered on the tablet, I noticed that that the sleep/power button and the volume keys were sunken into the device, and were very difficult to press. They also felt unresponsive. On the back, it looked like the sticker that contained the serial number/imei had been peeled off and then placed back on. However, the Nexus 9 booted up and went through the initial configuration process. I found that I was unable to access LTE. When going into the settings I found that there was no baseband or IMEI information. I contacted HTC and was told that the Nexus 9 does not come in an LTE model. After a brief attempt at to proving to the representative that it does, I decided I should call back and talk to someone else. The next person I talked to told me that I had a bad SIM card, and suggested getting another one. So I went to the AT&T store and got another one. It didn't help. Since I purchased the device directly from the Google play store, I called HTC again, and the next representative had me reset the device, and then boot into fastboot, and run some diagnostics. She determined that I was sent the wrong tablet.
It was at this point that I stressed that I travel a lot for work. I had an upcoming trip to Mexico (5/5/15) and would not be back for a month. She told me that she would send me an overnight UPS label to get everything sorted out; this conversation took place approximately 5/23. I constantly checked my email, and received nothing. I called back on Monday 5/27 and explained the situation, and the guy told me that he would send out the label posthaste. And he did, I received it the same day, packaged the tablet, and applied the label; unfortunately, all this occurred too late to send it out that night. I sent the tablet out the next morning-- first thing. At this point, I'm feeling pretty confident that this little trouble is far behind me, and that HTC would give me that same giddy feeling I got when I first laid hands on my Nexus 9. However, when I checked the tracking number, I realized he had mailed me a prepaid 3 day ground label (UPS Tracking# 1ZX1Y2128993536797). I called and expressed my concerns again to customer support on 4/28. I made it quite clear, each time I spoke with them, that I was leaving for Mexico and had no one who could sign for me if the device was sent to my house in my absence. The representative contacted the repair center, and I offered to have a hold placed on my credit card to send me a like model device, and then they could release the hold after the one I had sent in had been processed. He took a lot of information, including my proof of purchase from google. He said that it was going to be possible, and that he had escalated this issue to corporate with the aid of his supervisor. And that they would be contacting me the following day.
Unfortunately, they did not. I tried to be understanding, and tracking the 3 day found that the tablet made it to it's destination on Thursday, 4/27. Surely at this point I'll get the call tomorrow. Towards the end of the day Friday, I called and asked for a status update, and the rep told me that it could take some time for corporate to contact me. I should expect the call on Monday. Instead I got a call from Rachel with HTC RMA. Her email address is *********; and she gave me the phone number 1-866-449-8358 in order to be able to reach her "directly." She told me she would get everything handled, and I once again explained that the clock was ticking, and I was concerned that the package would be left in front of my house for a month. She told me that it would require a signature, and that if I wasn't there to receive it, then it would be sent back to HTC. I'm getting ahead of myself, she told me that she would do everything in her power to have the issue resolved, and she called back a few times to request the same information I had given previously, and should be documented in the tickets provided and also recorded, and she also asked me to send a copy of the proof of purchase from google. I did so, and I wanted to call and confirm she received the email, but she would not take the call, and told the rep to tell me she got it, and that she assured me everything was going to be resolved, and that she would personally give me a call the next day before noon. During this time, my work schedule changed and the flight was shifted from 5/5 to 5/6. I hadn't heard back from Rachel, and she was not taking my phone calls. On 5/6 I flew off to Mexico. And not to the "good" Mexico. The internet half works, and my cell simply doesn't connect to the networks out here.
I figured I would just have to call HTC back to have them resend my tablet when I return to the USA. What else can I do? But unfortunately, this time, HTC did send me a tracking number when they decided to send the newly repaired tablet. Here is UPS tracking #1ZX1Y2123591043218 -- oh well, no problem, proceed as planned. Let it go back to HTC. However, a few days later I received an email from UPS stating that there had been a shipping exemption, and that the package was delayed. Then I received a notification that not only had it been delivered, but had been signed for by "P**" I don't sign for packages as "P***." So I don't even know who signed for it, and no one that I know in the neighborhood has attempted to reach out to me to let me know that something had come in and they signed for it for me. I have no idea what to do. I don't know where the tablet is, I have asked friends on facebook and just have no clue. Why couldn't they just hold the damn package until I returned?? Or why couldn't they have done anything that they told me they would do? I paid $700 for an LTE Nexus 9 tablet, and $60 dollars for the joke of a screen protector. Then I paid ~$250 for a repair, but it feels more like I paid the 250 to get robbed. On top of all this, I'm still paying a monthly data plan to AT&T for a device that is not in my possession.
I am beyond disappointed with HTC. If I could possibly sum up my disgust for the way I have been treated and cheated, I would quite possibly produce a word that would immediately be deemed illegal and then be sentenced to the death.
So please Laura, on my behalf, tell whoever you can at HTC you're welcome, on my behalf, for the $1060, and all of the time I spent patiently trying to work with the representatives. And all I can thank you for is nothing. Thanks for taking my money, and leaving me completely empty handed.
Yours truly,
*******
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