[Resolved]  Nokia Phone E50 — Overheating and damage to phone

Dear Mr. Shivakumar

I was looking for a contact in your Senior Management to lodge this complaint about the treatment that has been meted out to me by Nokia. Since I am unable to find the right person, I thought the second best person to send it to would be someone who looks after media relations and I found your email address through google.

Let me state the facts of this case :

1. I purchased a Nokia E50 handset in July 2007. After about two months, I noticed that the handset was overheating everytime I had a conversation for more than 10 minutes. At first I dismissed it and continued using the handset and sometimes resorted to using it in the speaker phone mode so as to minimise contact with the handset while talking for more than 10 minutes.Then I called up some users who were using this particular model to check whether they faced any similar problem with their handset and found that none of them faced this issue. Since I am a heavy user of my phone and have a hectic schedule, I could never find the time to take the phone to a service centre.

2. In January, 2008, I found that the rubber panel that has the on/off button on top of the screen had started to peel off and realised that because of the overheating, the glue that kept this panel had expanded resulting in the panel peeling off. In fact, in the next few days, I lost the panel as it had peeled off again without my knowledge. At this juncture, I was concerned about the risk that I was running in using this phone any further. After calling your care line number to lodge a complaint, I was told by one of your service representatives that since E50 has an all metal body, there is a possibility of overheating taking place. I was advised to take my handset to a local Nokia care centre (Shakti Communications, Frazer Town, Bangalore).

3. I presented my handset to Shakti Communication in Bangalore (your authorised care centre) and explained the problem including the fact that the rubber panel had peeled off due to the overheating over a period of time. He did attest to the fact that some E50 handsets have an overheating problem and admitted my handset for repair although I was more keen on a full replacement as the handset was well within the warranty period. I was also told that the handset would be sent to Chennai and the rubber panel would be replaced there. The jobsheet issued to me was numbered[protected]/080130/44 and the ESN/IMEI number of my handset is [protected]. I was asked to check with the care centre in 14 days.

4. On February 13, I called the care centre and asked them about the status of the handset. To my delight, I was told that the handset had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. When I presented myself at the Care Centre, the handset was returned to me. To my surprise, I found that the rubber panel on top had not been replaced and no one at the care center had an explanation for it. I refused to take delivery of the handset as it is not possible to switch on the phone without the rubber panel. The care center then promised to call me once the panel had been replaced. On the same day, I decided to escalate the matter with the Nokia Careline on the phone. I was then told that the rubber panel that needs replacement is considered an accessory and the cost of replacement would be charged to me!! I requested the service representative to escalate the matter and talk to the service centre to get the replacement done and have my phone returned to me at the earliest. She said she cannot do this unless I go physically to the care centre again and give her a call from there to connect her with the service centre personnel so that she could resolve this for me.

5. This morning, I called your careline once more on the phone to escalate the matter again and to my surprise the careline has no record of my complaint that I first lodged with them and the escalation on February 13. The service representative, this time, gave me a reference no. (2-2U63E1) and has promised to respond to me within the next 48 hours with a resolution.

In the meanwhile, I am yet to hear from Shakti Communication about the status of my phone.

What surprises me the most is the fact that in my case, Nokia is more interested in telling me that they will charge me for replacement of the rubber panel rather than admitting that they sold me a faulty phone that overheats and could have caused me bodily harm. Moreover, calling a rubber panel without which the phone cannot be switched on, an accessory and the unwillingness to accept the fact that due to overheating any adhesive and rubberised material will expand and peel off is a huge suprise to me. On top of that, the service center personnel went to the extent of insinuating that I might have inflicted damage to the phone resulting in the rubber panel peeling off was worse than adding insult to injury.

If you call yourself the largest and the best mobile phone handset manufacturer in the world, you would do well to serve your customers better than the treatment that I have received.

Best regards
Manoj Nair