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Help Broken Screen, Broken Dreams
- Thread starter mkvoran
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- motorola photon 4g
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mkvoran
Member
The guys over at the local sprint store were literally useless. Their suggestion was to get the TEP next time. Thanks.
I've literally kicked a phone across a parking lot before with no breakage. This phone falls 2ft onto a vinyl floor and shatters? Gorilla glass my ass.
Anyway I called into sprint customer support and they guy told me that since I'm within my 30 days that they original point of purchase must give me a replacement.
I think I have a pretty sound argument that the Gorilla glass did not work as advertised here, and should be considered a manufacturer defect.
fingers crossed.
Sorry for the broken link pic. it works if you rightclick and 'view image' or similar.
I've literally kicked a phone across a parking lot before with no breakage. This phone falls 2ft onto a vinyl floor and shatters? Gorilla glass my ass.
Anyway I called into sprint customer support and they guy told me that since I'm within my 30 days that they original point of purchase must give me a replacement.
I think I have a pretty sound argument that the Gorilla glass did not work as advertised here, and should be considered a manufacturer defect.
fingers crossed.
Sorry for the broken link pic. it works if you rightclick and 'view image' or similar.
For me the otterbox is a no brainer, given the conditions i work in, it saved my evo many times. They are easy to remove when you want to cary it in your pocket. Plus, with Best Buys buy back program ...the nicer you keep it the more $$$$ you get back when you upgrade.
What a drag. Gorilla glass is not stong for all force vectors - hit it *just right* on the corner, it shatters (the usual report I've seen on the forums).
I could be wrong, but it's likely about to go worse for you - usually the glass is the last bonded layer on the touchscreen. Unless I'm mistaken, you're in for more than a glass replacement.
Sure hope I'm wrong - sorry for your luck, really.
PS - I'm not endorsing these guys, but give them a call -
http://www.sandiegopchelp.com/services/cellphone-repair/motorola/photon-4g
See also -
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/48211/Vendors+for+atrix+digitizer+touch+screen+replacements+part
I could be wrong, but it's likely about to go worse for you - usually the glass is the last bonded layer on the touchscreen. Unless I'm mistaken, you're in for more than a glass replacement.
Sure hope I'm wrong - sorry for your luck, really.
PS - I'm not endorsing these guys, but give them a call -
http://www.sandiegopchelp.com/services/cellphone-repair/motorola/photon-4g
See also -
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/48211/Vendors+for+atrix+digitizer+touch+screen+replacements+part
mkvoran
Member
Well I hope i can make a good enough case to wirefly customer service to get it replaced. The sprint rep was ready to replace it for me. If i dont get anywhere with them i suppose i will take it up with motorola. I read that some people have had success there...
Also saw that folks have replaced glass on Atrix.... So maybe i will be ok.
Also saw that folks have replaced glass on Atrix.... So maybe i will be ok.
Many good lucks, compadre - I'm pulling for you!
androidz27
Lurker
I used san diego PC Help for my Droid X cracked glass. They did a good job (and shipping a phone is cheap! thank goodness for USPS). So the total cost of repair was reasonable.
mkvoran
Member
Just an update for ya, I have learned quite a bit in the last week or so.
1. Patience and Kindness go a very long way.
2. Corporate Sprint stores are so much better than the 3rd party its humorous.
3. Never break a phone when it's less than 1month on the market.
4. TEP is a total rip-off.
So basically I purchased the warranty with Wirefly(MDPA), and filed a claim. I can send it off for about 5 days and get it repaired. The MDPA insurance is 70.00 a year and no deductible. Way better than TEP in my opninon, even considering the hassle of sending off. TEP is basically 100.yr AND 100.00 deductible.
Also, the insurance through MDPA will allow me to get repairs anywhere I want and get reimbursed. That would be IDEAL in this situation EXCEPT that seemingly their shop in Michigan is the only place on earth with the parts!
The repair guy at my local corporate sprint shop said he would replace the screen as a courtesy! as in FOR FREE. but sadly, he has no parts and probably wont for some time.
So bottom line is, I'm getting it repaired, just have to be without a phone for a week. oh well. I have an old prepaid I can fire up I guess.
1. Patience and Kindness go a very long way.
2. Corporate Sprint stores are so much better than the 3rd party its humorous.
3. Never break a phone when it's less than 1month on the market.
4. TEP is a total rip-off.
So basically I purchased the warranty with Wirefly(MDPA), and filed a claim. I can send it off for about 5 days and get it repaired. The MDPA insurance is 70.00 a year and no deductible. Way better than TEP in my opninon, even considering the hassle of sending off. TEP is basically 100.yr AND 100.00 deductible.
Also, the insurance through MDPA will allow me to get repairs anywhere I want and get reimbursed. That would be IDEAL in this situation EXCEPT that seemingly their shop in Michigan is the only place on earth with the parts!
The repair guy at my local corporate sprint shop said he would replace the screen as a courtesy! as in FOR FREE. but sadly, he has no parts and probably wont for some time.
So bottom line is, I'm getting it repaired, just have to be without a phone for a week. oh well. I have an old prepaid I can fire up I guess.
mkvoran
Member
Ya, you make a good point. Although i suppose you could say that you spent 200 bucks per year (assuming you had to pay a deductible + 100/yr tep premium ) to get your replacement in 24 hours, where mine was 3-5 days for 70. Guess my point is that for me, it's not worth the premium price. But to each their own. Actually had i broken this phone a month from today, i coukd have walked into a local repair shop and been fixed on the spot.
Still in shock. Not sure what to do next..... guess I have to start with Wirefly, then Motorola. Then look for screen replacement parts if any are even around....
literally sick to my stomach right now.
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!
PM me your order number and I can help you with an exchange. So sorry to hear about your phone.
**EDIT I do apologize that we were not able to exchange the phone for you after all. Since the damage to the phone happened after you received it, and was not due to a defect, we cannot exchange it. We recommend that our customers file a claim with their insurance or with MDPA if they have that. I know MDPA will get you a brand new phone as soon as possible.
Please let me know if there is anything else that I can do to be of assistance to you.
^ AWESOME
That's what I love about this community. Out of a bad situation, someone always steps forward to help.
TS out
That's what I love about this community. Out of a bad situation, someone always steps forward to help.
TS out
Just an update for ya, I have learned quite a bit in the last week or so.
1. Patience and Kindness go a very long way.
2. Corporate Sprint stores are so much better than the 3rd party its humorous.
3. Never break a phone when it's less than 1month on the market.
4. TEP is a total rip-off.
So basically I purchased the warranty with Wirefly(MDPA), and filed a claim. I can send it off for about 5 days and get it repaired. The MDPA insurance is 70.00 a year and no deductible. Way better than TEP in my opninon, even considering the hassle of sending off. TEP is basically 100.yr AND 100.00 deductible.
Also, the insurance through MDPA will allow me to get repairs anywhere I want and get reimbursed. That would be IDEAL in this situation EXCEPT that seemingly their shop in Michigan is the only place on earth with the parts!
The repair guy at my local corporate sprint shop said he would replace the screen as a courtesy! as in FOR FREE. but sadly, he has no parts and probably wont for some time.
So bottom line is, I'm getting it repaired, just have to be without a phone for a week. oh well. I have an old prepaid I can fire up I guess.
I got my phone from Sam's Club, so I considered their insurance (MPDA rings a bell). It covers defects, breakage and damage, but not loss or theft. I'm sticking with my homeowner's insurance, which covers breakage, damage, loss, theft, but not defects, for a ridiculously cheap price that covers all the electronics I own (apparently).
Granted TEP is fast, but it is expensive! Now that I have an old klunker for backup, I think I could go a while without my MoPho. ...assuming Sprint would activate my old klunker for me. I might consider TEP if it was just me, but I have 6 phones to worry about.
mkvoran
Member
Sorry TS, not good news here.
Let me update you all. First, I'll say that my pre-order experience with Wirefly was great.
When I broke the screen, I realized that it would be difficult to get the phone replaced under manufacturer warranty. Knowing this, I called Wirefly anyway and asked what I could do since I didnt want to use one of my insurance claims on it, and also didnt really want to deal with the hassle of mailing the phone off for 4-5 days.
Without going into too much detail, I'll just tell you that I spoke with 5 different reps, via 3 different modes of communication over a period of two weeks.
The level of inconsistency i experienced from rep to rep was absolutely mind boggling. essentially I spent two weeks trying to figure out what my approach for repair needed to be, and all along I should have just mailed the phone in. How am I supposed to make a decision, when I am getting emails saying they will replace, forum messages saying they will replace. etc etc etc.
In the end, I recieved a phone call from Wirefly and was told that yes, they do have an exchange program that would allow me to get a replacement, then send in the damaged phone. BUT I am not elligible for this because they cant replace the phone. Why cant they replace the phone? Because their warehouse can not acccept the return. When I challenged the rep and said "well, doesn't wirefly OWN the warehouse?" "yes, the rep replied" I said then Someone in your office can override that, so it's really not a good reason. After all the mis-information I recieved from all the other reps, and time spent, I asked the rep if there really was nothing they could do, and she quickly rushed me off the phone.
long story short, Wirefly was great on the front end. Horrible on the service side. I'll admit that my situation was challenging, and that I probably should not have gotten a replacement, but had the service reps all been on the same page and delivered a consistent message, I would not have wasted 2 weeks on this.
I'll let you know if i have any issues with MDPA..... phone is out now for repair.
Thank god for google voice and the ease of phone forwarding!
mkvoran
Member
My frustration is that by reading this thread you would have known from the start that the damage happened after I received the phone. Again, a consistent customer service message across all fronts is essential to a world class customer service experience, and world class customer service is essential to successful business.
I was polite, patient and reasonable with everyone I spoke with, despite the fact that the first person I spoke with was downright rude.
I was surprised that no effort was made to keep my happy after all the mis-information and run-around. Offering to work with the MDPA for an expedited replacement, or even just paying for overnight ship from the repair center would have gone a very long way towards keeping my business for my next phone.
burgertime
Android Enthusiast
First, let me just state that I do feel bad for you. However I'm just going to play devil's advocate here. I work as a social media manager for a company who's social media is essentially a customer service portal but I'll get to that a little later.
Let me play devil's advocate here. First by all indications, when the glass broke you knew you were screwed. You hoped that you could get a replacement.....but for all of us that own high end phones we know there is like a .000001% chance of happening. So in the end can you really be upset? Not saying you're steaming or anything but you know it ended up how most all of us included you knew it would probably end up. Is that to say you shouldn't be frustrated? No. There's nothing wrong with being tenacious but it reminds me of Newman trying to get out of his ticket, if you would have just sent the phone off or gotten a new one you wouldn't have wasted so much time.
Seinfeld - Speeding Ticket - YouTube
Now onto my experience. I agree that is bad customer service to a point. Why come on here and say, "I can help you with an exchange" without reading the thread? It's one of those things that just makes your company look like they don't care. Again in this day and age of the internet companies need to learn how important it is to put your best foot forward online. Lots of people can be turned off by seeing this. Why waist the customers time?
mkvoran
Member
lol..... love that Seinfeld episode.
You are right, I knew I was screwed (at least in regards to getting a direct replacement from Wirefly.... I at least had the insurance to fall back on) but at the same time, I was getting mixed messages from Wirefly, leading to general confusion, and run-around. so ya, I was just saying that I can't really be mad at the result, but just annoyed with the overall way with which the situation was handled. Like said in my post, if they had just given me a consistent message between the phone conversation I had and the email I got, I would have just moved on two weeks ago....
anyway your comments are valid, and I think we are saying the same thing
thanks for posting that clip, made me laugh. and I am a tenacious dude, i'll admit. I think since I knew i had the insurance to fall back on, and the phone was still functioning ( I put packing tape over it to keep the glass from falling out) I felt like standing on principle. Seriously, I believe that glass was defective from the manufacturer. just the way it broke and way it sounded, it was strange. from such a short drop onto a soft floor.....
anyway I am over it. new phone on the way!
You are right, I knew I was screwed (at least in regards to getting a direct replacement from Wirefly.... I at least had the insurance to fall back on) but at the same time, I was getting mixed messages from Wirefly, leading to general confusion, and run-around. so ya, I was just saying that I can't really be mad at the result, but just annoyed with the overall way with which the situation was handled. Like said in my post, if they had just given me a consistent message between the phone conversation I had and the email I got, I would have just moved on two weeks ago....
anyway your comments are valid, and I think we are saying the same thing
thanks for posting that clip, made me laugh. and I am a tenacious dude, i'll admit. I think since I knew i had the insurance to fall back on, and the phone was still functioning ( I put packing tape over it to keep the glass from falling out) I felt like standing on principle. Seriously, I believe that glass was defective from the manufacturer. just the way it broke and way it sounded, it was strange. from such a short drop onto a soft floor.....anyway I am over it. new phone on the way!
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