Skip to main content

HTC, you are not my Hero

Dear HTC, I love my Hero phonemibob, I do. I took a giant leap forward into the world of technology when I got it. A phone, that could go on the interweb? Amazing.

But a few weeks ago I noticed something: the end of the charger that plugs into the phone has wires showing, as you can see in the pic. I tend to think that tools that need electricity to flow into them will work best when that electricity doesn't go elsewhere en route, like into me, via those exposed wires. And with time, those wires are only going to get more exposed.

So, I did something crazy. I emailed your customer support, asking about replacing this obviously defective cable. I did it here. This is definitely an email contact form, right? I did everything the form asked, attached the photo, took apart my phone and filled in the product S/N. And then I waited. I waited for an acknowledgement of my email.

Nothing.

So I waited for a response to my email, someone to say how you were going to go about getting the cable replaced.

Nothing.

A week later, I emailed again, referring you to my initial email.

No acknowledgement. No contact.

On Friday, after having given you 3 weeks to reply to 2 emails sent to you via the method they set up on your site, I'm going to go wild, and call you.

Now: can you answer the phone?
Labels:

Comments

Anne Wareham said…
Oh, I love my Hero, how can they let us down like this???

I got myself a spare cable online ages ago to be able to charge it in various places so can be done.

BUT you shouldn't need to!!!!!!!
6 April 2010 at 19:56
Sarah Oxford said…
Hmm, there seems to be a 'customer service excellence survey' on that webpage too.... mwahaha!
12 April 2010 at 11:56
Richard said…
Try this support number. I got through fist time to flag an issue with my Nexus One.

+44-845-890-0079

They we're actually really helpful.
20 April 2010 at 12:15
Dumpling said…
@richard Thanks, but the "service" I got when I phoned that number was hilarious too - apparently they class what I'd call essentials, like a charger cable, or the battery as, "accessories", and they're only covered for 6 months!

After a long call, where they claimed my previous emails had been dealt with (as they'd been marked as so on the system), they than said I'd have to prove with a purchase receipt from Orange that my phone was less than 6 months old (despite them also having access to my contract start date with Orange on their system, which was less than 6 months, and that I'd flagged the issue within the 6 months). Not. Helpful.

In the end, I took it up with Orange (not having been on a contract phone before I'm used to going direct to the phone maker), who were fabulous!

And then, last week...a white cable turned up at my flat (with a misspelled name and address), with a blank compliment slip from HTC inside. Maybe they finally realised their customer service had been truly sucky?
20 April 2010 at 12:26
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UK librarian blogs - the list so far

I’ve pulled the previous entries into one alphabetical list, with a few categories. Will be back later with more detailed discussion of what I’ve learned by doing this. And, as always, if you know of other librarian blogs, let me know and I’ll add them in! Institutional Library Blogs / Professional Group Blogs aRKive Appears to be the blog of the Reid Kerr College library, or someone related to the Library, but unable to confirm as it doesn’t have any ‘about’ section that I can find. Lots of posts about library topics, books, IT… Brit Lib Blogs Google Group There’s a Google Group for British librarian bloggers! Unfortunately it looks to be pretty much unused at the moment. CILIP Blogs CILIP has various blogs by either staff, or links to relevant blogs, available from the Communities section. Varying levels of activity on these blogs – the PTEG blog has one post from November 2007, while Lyndsay’s CILIP Blog has been going has been going for almost a year, with at le
14 comments
Read more

The mysteries of cataloguing

Cataloguing: an arcane art, where each piece of punctuation is significant, and commas and semi colons are all-powerful. Well, they are in "proper" libraries, where in-depth research of esoteric points goes on, and the precise spelling of Christian names, and information such as when a person lived and died can be crucial in pinpointing obscure facts. Here, we have our own catalogue system. It doesn't have a name, but if it did, it would probably be something along the lines of "I need this book NOW, no I don't care about the precise spelling of the authors middle name, or their date of birth." I know, I know, it's not snappy, but it's accurate. Cataloguing demands are different in a commercial law firm: we don't care about much more than what it's about, who wrote, when, and what jurisdiction it covers. And what we really, really care about is "where the hell is it". Law books are amazing: they have the power to move themselves f
12 comments
Read more

Careering along

When I look around at the activities of information professional groups, it seems that there’s a disparity. There’s quite often a lot of support and funding available for those who’re just starting out in the profession, but a desert of nothingness for those of us who’re “just getting on with it”. If you’re a new professional, you have lots of groups to support you as you progress in your early career, various prize funds available for essay and report writing, access to bursaries for conference attendance, eligibility for awards for being new and enthusiastic. But what do you get when you’re past that bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed first 5 years (5 years seems to be the approximate cut-off point for becoming “established” and no longer new). What happens when you’ve already received a bursary from an organisation earlier in your career and so wouldn’t be eligible for one now, meaning you’re not able to attend events or training? When you’re heavily involved in a project but not at
16 comments
Read more