| Address: | South Delhi, Delhi |
This review is more about an authorised Nokia Care outlet in Karol Bagh in Delhi instead of the brand itself. The outlet is called Hotline Communications. It's on Gurdwara Road near Gaffar Market (Ten steps away from the service centre there is a Nokia store advertising its Lumia series). The seller and the repairman having a good laugh at poor mortals.
It may be too harsh to rap Nokia for the utterly disgusting way the outlet treats customers since there are way too many service centres. Nokia cannot keep a tab on what they all actually do. Nevertheless, it is a Nokia Care centre, so the brand cannot be excused for the bad service of a third-party outlet that uses the brand's name to conduct repairing business and earn good money.
Some of the staffers were not bad though. They spoke and listened well. But there is no relationship between trying to be polite and the responsiveness of a touchscreen handset. In short, giving their ears to customers cannot be a justification for ruining a sophisticated handset after a so-called servicing post-mortem.
When I reached the service centre, the guard gave me a waitlist chit and asked, "Do you have a valid warranty?" I got surprised. What has he got to do with whether a customer has got a valid warranty? It's the person's choice. The customer may pay for the repair or may not, totally up to the person. There was no reason the guard should ask people coming in whether they have a warranty card because the answer one gives to the guard is not fed into the repairing process. You only have to enter and wait for your turn. So why was that guard throwing this query at people? It was actually none of his business.
That was just a warm-up.
I bought a Nokia E6 touch-and-type handset in February 2012. This month, the 'delete' hard key stopped working, following which I went to a Nokia Care outlet (Gulati Communications) near Gole Market. They told me that my handset would be opened for inspection, and informed me of warranty conditions and other things. That was done. Finally, after waiting for 45 minutes, one of them told me that I would need to change my keypad, which will cost me Rs 3,600. I quote what the Nokia Care person said, "Sir, your phone is liquid logged. It is not covered under the warranty. You can change the keypad and it will cost Rs 3,600. Would you like to go for it?"
Firstly, I don't know what 'liquid logged' means. I don't think most of you know as well. The girl did not bother to explain the problem to me too. What I gathered is that, since a term like 'liquid logged' sounds sophisticated, then it must involve an expensive repair. But I didn't buy the theory. I told her I will make up my mind and return later. Since only my delete hard key was not working, I can live with that.
Looking through a small peephole of a room at the rear that was used for handset post-mortem, she told the repairman inside to reassemble my phone. I got it back after 10 minutes.
Now comes the atrocious part.
I turned on the phone and tried to punch in the security code. But none of the keys worked. Some of them also got stuck and random letters kept appearing in the screen. I could not use the delete button anyway. I told about this to the customer care person, who sent back the handset to be reassembled again. Another 15-minute wait ensured. When I got back my phone the second time, the keys worked but the entire keypad had lifted up a bit. As I walked out and tried pressing the keys, I could feel the entire keypad bouncing up and down, making typing difficult.
Then I tried to access Opera Mini, which I found missing. I remembered I had installed it in my memory card. So I went back to the Nokia Care Centre and asked for my memory card. The girl there promptly said they don't have my memory card. I sensed a fight looming. But on second thoughts the girl went back to the post-mortem room and came back with my memory card.
One thing had happened since I entered this outlet — my entire keypad got screwed and my phone was actually damaged now, instead of just one key.
The story should have ended here. But the next day I decided to pay a visit to another Nokia service centre, this time in Karol Bagh, since it was near my office.
The chain of events that had happened the previous day also unfolded here. They took my phone to their post-mortem room. One person came out with the skeletal remains of my E6 and said, "You will have to change the keypad. It will cost you Rs 6,600."
Now remember, the other Nokia care centre asked for Rs 3,600 for the same job.
I was beginning to see the picture. On a side note, let me tell you that it was so hot in the room in this unforgiving Delhi heat. The AC in the visitors' waiting room was turned off, while the technicians and the customer care people comfortably sat in an AC room divided by a glass panel.
Coming back to the topic, I told the man to give me back my phone in one piece and I would never look back on Nokia. This time, the keypad was not responsive at all. Not even a single key worked. Then he asked me to sign on a form that said "I have received my phone in good condition and it is working" kind of legalese. I refused to sign it. But he said since I have taken back my phone, I must sign it. Well, WTF. I did get my phone but it got damaged after I handed it to Nokia, not while it was with me.
I cannot use my E6 now. The keypad doesn't work.
Here's a summary of the story:
1. Nokia E6 touch-and-type 'delete' hard key not working. Otherwise phone in perfect condition. Latest software. All other keys smoothly responding.
2. Went to first service centre near Gole Market (Delhi).
3. Nokia Care wants Rs 3,600 for new keypad. I said no, give me my phone back as it is. Came out with a loose keypad. Some other keys not responsive after Nokia technicians opened it.
4. Next day went to another Nokia Care in Karol Bagh. They asked for Rs 6,600 to install new key pad (mysterious price difference since previous day). Here too technicians opened the phone.
5. I declined for repairs. Can live with a single button not working.
6. But Karol Bagh Nokia Care botched up the phone-checking job and rendered the whole keypad useless.
Situation: I have to claim that Nokia Care itself ruined my phone due to mishandling. I do have a strong case on this one.
Another observation is that most of the technicians in the post-mortem room seem to open each phone that lands on their desk with impunity since, well, they didn't pay their hard-earned money for it. They do everything fast and treat even hi-end phones like old radio sets.
Also, Nokia Care knows that one unhappy user is no loss. Why sweat? Even if the technicians damaged a phone, a meek user cannot claim damages against such a giant company.
I don’t know whether Nokia will respond. But it must. And it must send some folks down there to these two Care outlets and do some serious soul-searching.
Compare the Samsung service centre opposite Nehru Place with the Nokia ones and you will know what I am talking about. I am not saying Samsung is better than Nokia. What I mean is Nokia must accept the fact that some of their technicians damaged my phone and I should be compensated. How hard it is to do this?
I got the phone with my hard-earned salary and had skipped going by autorickshaw to work quite a few times and had to walk the last kilometre every day to save money and buy the E6. It costs a good Rs 17,000. But in the end this is how I was treated. The Nokia Care people didn’t know this fact. All they wanted was to quickly dispose of my case as just another “liquid logged” incident. You should have seen how they picked up and dropped the handset like a casual audio CD or something, joking among themselves in between. One of these days this alleged “liquid logged’ standard reply will be exposed by some tech journalists.
I expect a response immediately. Either from Nokia, Gulati Communications (Gole Market) or Hotline Communications (Karol Bagh).
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