

5 Months of Customer Service Hell with HTC - lucasdailey
http://happyemergency.tumblr.com/post/6777171158/5-months-of-customer-service-hell-with-htc

======
aaronbrethorst
I brought my 11 month old iPhone 4 into the Apple Store two weeks ago. My home
button was intermittently sticking, and it was really frustrating me.

I spent three minutes explaining to a guy at the Genius Bar how, despite the
problem not repro'ing _then,_ that it still did _usually_ occur.

He went in back with it for five minutes and then came back to tell me they'd
replace it free of charge.

Now, _that's_ customer service.

~~~
potatolicious
+1 for Apple, this is why I insist on buying all hardware from them.

A couple of years back my MacBook Pro started having bad graphics artifact
problems compounded by overheating - it looked like the graphics chip was
going to bite it any day. I called Apple, and I shit you not, within _twenty-
five minutes_ of picking up the phone, I had received authorization to get it
replaced. Not only that, they were going to replace my 2 year-old non-unibody
MBP with one of the (at the time) brand-spankin' new unibodies.

Since the MBP was pretty heavily customized, I couldn't go get it swapped at
an Apple Store, they wanted me to send it in. When I balked about the
downtime, they simply shipped the replacement machine out to me and let me
return the old one once I got it.

Now _that's_ customer service.

And before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin
items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of
product at the same price points. Not only that, I've consistently gotten
great customer service from Amazon, who is decidedly a very _low_ margin
business.

~~~
innes
_before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin
items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of
product at the same price points._

HTC sells similarly capable products at lower price points and with a less
deluxe finish. I know because I saved hundreds of pounds by going for an HTC
desire instead of an iphone. But don't take my word for it, It's a well known
fact that apple's profit margins dwarf those of other manufacturers.

------
dhughes
I dropped my phone, yes a fall of two feet onto fluffy carpet is 'dropping'
but really come on! Later on when I looked the screen was blank.

Called HTC support and the first question I was asked mere seconds after
calling was "Did you drop it?" so me being an honest person said yes.
Apparently that's bad being honest and in this situation it meant any damage
was my fault no matter what it was. The phone was still under warranty.

I argued with them for a month it was under warranty and the phone can't be so
delicate that dropping it like I did caused the problem. The stalemate ended
when HTC threatened to send it back to me charging me a fee for looking at the
phone. I said fix it since it didn't make sense having a six month old $600
phone and not be able to use it!

There was absolutely no effort to help you it's just by the book you are
wrong, it's all your fault no chance, warranty be damned.

Then after they repaired it they asked me to complete a "how did we do" survey
and I ripped them a new arsehole I let them know exactly how I felt about
their service. Then the calls started coming wanted to talk about the incident
but it didn't involve me getting my money back. They called everyday and I
know it was HTC because the first call I answered which was an HTC
representative and all the others which I didn't answer were very odd no name,
no number calls - I never saw such a thing.

Anyway I've owned cellphones since 1996 and this Google Nexus One/HTC Passion
crap is the worst phone I have ever owned and the HTC service is just as bad.

Oh and the phone is still not fixed it's acting weird.

~~~
DanHulton
Interestingly enough, I dropped my iPhone 4 two feet onto a HARD surface. The
backplate shattered.

Virgin Mobile stonewalled me the whole time, told me to take to to Apple.
There being an Apple store in the same mall as the Virgin kiosk, I did.

The Genius at the Apple store listened carefully to my complaint, took my
phone off to consult with some folks in the back room, and came back with a
brand-new one. Told me that it shouldn't have happened and here's a
replacement, but be more careful because they're not gonna replace it like
that again.

Now, I found out later that replacing the backplate is hella-cheap ($15
delivered from cnn.cn for example), but the fact that Apple would just
straight-up listen to me, believe me, and replace the phone in-store like
that?

I'm not a Mac fanboy (I'm the only Windows user in a Mac office), but I'm an
Apple fanboy, and this is why.

~~~
tatsuke95
>Virgin Mobile stonewalled me the whole time, told me to take to to Apple.

That's because the physical phone is between you and the manufacturer. That
includes the warranty, unless you purchased special insurance through Virgin.
I wouldn't expect the carrier to provide you with a new phone. This is all in
your contract.

That said, I think the expectation and problems like yours are rampant enough
that most carriers are in fact offering some kind of "no hassle replacement"
insurance for the handset. As the front line in the cell phone business, the
carriers hear it from the customers in cases like these.

------
rkalla
This was exactly the same experience[1] I had with HTC back when I got the
first Nexus One (hardware defect). A year later I got a myTouch 4G, again
rampant hardware issues with the screen.

I plan to honor my initial promise of never trying another HTcC device, but I
get weak in the knees from high end tech and they seem to be leading the
android race the most aggressively right now,

Bah.

[1] [http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/my-experience-with-htc-nexus-
one...](http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/my-experience-with-htc-nexus-one-support-
was-mediocre/)

~~~
karolist
My knowledge might be expired, but what HTC phone currently holds the
performance/tech crown? I thought Samsung's Galaxy SII is on the top now and
soon to be released Google Nexus S 4G (made by Samsung, afaik). I own HTC
myself currently.

~~~
encoderer
The Nexus S is out already -- and its tech specs weren't nothing out of the
ordinary IIRC. Plus (and this is the whole point) it's not a great phone if
you don't intend to customize it. That is, unlike HTC Sense and whatever the
Samsung equiv is, this is bare bare bones Android 2.3.

Honestly, the upcoming HTC Evo 3D looks smashing. At first I groaned. I
mean... 3D?!?! WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!! And i still think the whole "record your
own 3D HD videos" is absurd.

But the rest of the way it uses 3D, and the new HTC Sense (on top of 2.3) is
just reallllly cool. And with 1.2ghz dual core, it's a beast.

~~~
nl
_The Nexus S is out already_

The parent said the Nexus S 4G, but I think they meant the rumored Nexus 4G
(which isn't out yet). Here's some leaked specs:
[http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/15/exclusive-google-
nexus-4g-deta...](http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/15/exclusive-google-
nexus-4g-detailed-720p-display-4g-lte-android-4-0/)

~~~
karolist
Yes, that's what I meant. Bah, they start out simple, then duct tape words and
it gets messy.. HTC Desire -> HTC Desire Z, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire HD,
Samsung Galaxy and all of it's variations etc.

------
Hostile
Just wanted to chime in here, since I happen to have a positive HTC customer
service story.

I have a nexus one. I bought it when it still came with an OLED screen. The
screen eventually started having color issues. I just dealt with a pinkish
screen up until a few days before my warranty was up. I contacted them, and
without a hassle they sent me a new nexus one, and had me ship back mine after
it came (putting a 500 dollar hold on my credit card just in case I tried to
keep both devices or something).

New device worked fine but the power button was a bit iffy. Contacted them
again and told them my power button was really hard to press. This was AFTER
my warranty period was up (but only a couple days after I received the new
phone), but the customer service rep put me on hold for a bit, and my request
was approved. I got sent another new phone, and I shipped off the "old" one
once I received it (with the same credit card hold situation). New phone was
perfect, and I still have it and working great.

I had to deal with having to do two phone wipes and all that, but I felt
pretty good about the whole thing. Cost me nothing but the time to prepare the
phones for shipping and getting the new phone back up to speed.

~~~
lucasdailey
In general, when you get a warranty replacement that replacement itself has a
30 or 60 warranty, that can generally extend beyond your original warranty. I
don't know the particulars from your case, but thats a pretty standard
practice that _I believe_ HTC follows as well.

~~~
Hostile
Perhaps, but I think you'd agree that my experience in general was very
different from what a lot of people are describing here.

------
ChuckMcM
Interesting, you don't mention whether or not you replaced the SD card.
Replacing it would be useful for two reasons:

1) If you have some sort of malware it will live in the SD card to keep from
being killed by a factory reset.

2) If you have a bad SD card it can crash the system by doing something the
system does not expect.

~~~
lucasdailey
I mentioned replacing the SD card in the notes on the youtube video. I didn't
want to overly bore the reader with the troubleshooting steps, but I believe I
listed everything in the youtube video notes.

Also, I'm using the "old" SD card and battery from the defective phone in the
new phone without incident.

~~~
ChuckMcM
That's interesting. I'm an electrical engineer by training and I'm surprised
that when they replaced the 'main' board and the display the first time that
didn't manage to replace all of the active components in the phone. Since
passive components are rarely affected (like this) by heat (they change value
slightly but that is part of the spec) getting a 'refurb' back with new active
components was the most probable fix.

Too bad we don't have the HTC diagnostics on this problem as well. While I
feel for you and your poor customer service, no doubt somewhere buried in the
bowels of the company there is some guy or gal who has to figure out the root
cause and get them to change the phone.

~~~
lucasdailey
Yeah, I was surprised as well. As integrated as everything I would think
replacing the main board would replace every component in the chain that could
cause the problem.

I'm very curious about the diagnostics as well, I'll update the post with any
additional information I get.

------
tatsuke95
Crappy deal.

However, I think that every company has the potential to suck you into the
customer service black hole. In such cases, it's a matter of persistence
(which this guy definitely had in spades) and a bit of luck finding that
customer service rep that cares enough and can actually do something about
your problem.

Now that the problem is fixed --albeit very late-- continue to let them know
how dissatisfied you are. I'd be shocked if they didn't care and felt the need
to do something extra.

~~~
NaOH
I don't want to say tatsuke95 is wrong, but I don't see this the same way. I'd
say every company has the potential to make the customer service experience
pleasant and gratifying while remaining fair to all involved. I don't think a
customer should have to be this persistent. Like the author, I'm all for
turning a cheek, but at a certain point I won't continue to purchase from a
company. A little frustration is one thing. Months and months of it is
another. Had this been my experience, I imagine I'd be done with HTC.

------
lucasdailey
A youtube video illustrating the phone malfunctioning:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTYKk8XZw0g>

------
felipemnoa
The person sure has incredible persistence almost to the point of seeming
naive. My advice would be to simply recognize that you've been screwed, shake
your fist at them, complain in some highly visible forum (here in hacker news,
yelp, blog post) and never use them again. Isn't his time a lot more valuable
than this? Sometimes companies just suck.

~~~
lucasdailey
Thanks, and yes it is valuable. In fact my stealth startups is in private
testing atm!

But as you say I'm persistent. And I have a sort of sense of duty to bring
attention to people that fall through the cracks. Obviously almost ludicrous
in this context, but something I practice in my political day job(s).

~~~
felipemnoa
Agree, if looked from a different perspective, you seem to be providing a
public service by thoroughly exposing problems with HTC. That is certainly
very valuable as a whole.

------
daimyoyo
I've had my fair share of rotten hardware so I understand what a hassle it can
be when it craps out. That said, why didn't you just request a refund, and get
a new phone? It seems that'd be much easier than playing customer service
chicken with a bunch of people who seem in desperate need of retraining.

~~~
lucasdailey
I bought the phone with a Wirefly deal... which I assumed would be an even
more difficult customer service experience. I won't make that mistake again.
The "deal" turned out to be almost nothing as I got hit with an activation
charge typically waived when you buy direct from Sprint.

------
runjake
Paste the link to @HTC on Twitter. They will listen. They're probably already
aware of your post.

Anyway, HTC generally listens (as evidenced by the recent locked bootloader
controversy) so complain on the Internet and hold them accountable.

~~~
catch23
Also, if you look at their twitter stream, you'll see that tons of HTC users
have phones that crash. The crashing phones are all different models too, so
it seems like it's a reoccurring problem that nobody has bother to fix. Maybe
HTC just builds crappy phones.

HTC's replies to the users having problems are not very reassuring. They just
ask the user to contact htc.com/support and explain the issue.

