My experience with HTC customer service has been an unnecessarily long and frustrating experience. Several issues have occurred and it seems that in my case what can go wrong HAS gone wrong. I have made several calls to HTC regarding a warranty swap for my One M8 HK Edition. Below is a rough timeline of my experience: Initial warranty call made to HTC on 4/16/2015: Warranty swap was approved. I was told I could have my phone swapped under warranty and that it would be sent out as soon as a credit card hold was established for $299.00. Follow up call made to[protected] on 4/17/2005: As no updates had been posted to the Repair Tracking Page, I called to inquire about the status. was told it was still being processed. 2nd Follow up call made to[protected] on 4/22/2015(?): Was told after prompting your rep to contact repair dept. that my phone was out of stock and I would be emailed when stock was replenished. Received swap phone on 5/5/2015: I finally received my swap almost 3 weeks after initiating request. No one ever contacted or emailed me, and Repair Tracking Page was never updated. When I attempted to activate the swap phone, Sprint informed me that the phone was active on another account. I called customer service back and they told me to have Sprint use a certain number from the new SIM card in order to activate. Went back to Sprint and they said the same thing as before: phone is active on another account and can't be used. I called HTC back and was told an escalation was being done and that someone would call me back within 3 days - no more than 3 days. Follow up call made to[protected] on 5/8/2015: I found a different customer service number to call and the rep on that line told me the call back period is actually 3-5 days. Frustration level is getting higher. 2nd Follow up call made to[protected] on 5/12/2015: Was told the issue is still being processed. At this point my frustration boiled over as no one who has promised me a call back has followed through. Reps name was Jim or James and after several minutes contacting other departments I was told to use the prepaid label to send the active swap phone back and to follow the tracking. Also, yet another escalation was being initiated. As soon as it shows received by HTC I was to call them and inform them of receipt so a new swap phone could IMMEDIATELY be sent out to me. 3rd Follow up call made to[protected] on 5/18/2015: Informed HTC rep Tim of status of swap phone as UPS tracking showed it was delivered. He saw no escalation in my file. I was told to expect a call back within 24-48 hours. At that point I refused to accept any more delay and told Tim that this needs to go higher. He agreed and put me in touch with Catlin (badge# 780384). He told me he would focus on this issue for me and expedite resolution. He said that the repair dept. needed to first scan the swap phone in as received then the process would move forward. He also said he would contact me later that day with status update. No call was ever made. Disgusted with HTC at this point. 4th Follow up call made to[protected] on 5/19/2015: Still no movement on receiving the swap phone. Again, Catlin promised a call back later in the day. Finally recievd the first call back from HTC in this whole saga. Catlin informed me that the ticket would hopefully be closed by end of day. It has been 5 weeks since I initiated this process. I still have no resolution. HTC has not resolved any of the issues. There has been a stunning lack of ability to follow through on promises to keep me informed yet only Catlin has actually followed through on several promised call backs. I am not, nor have I ever, asked for anything beyond what I am entitled to based on HTC's policies. I am not asking for anything above and beyond, yet my issue has fallen through large cracks over and over again. The inability for HTC customer service to follow through on agreements to keep me informed, the lack of any updates to the reapair tracking page, the inability of customer service to get any info from the repair department and the lack of any urgency to resolve issues has tarnished my opinion of HTC beyond repair. I LOVE your phones, however, I can't see myself purchasing another one in the future. Not after this nightmare experience. Wednesday, May 20 I called yet again and was connected to James in customer service. He
apologized for not calling me back on Monday, May 1st. He then connected me directly to the repair department. The woman in that department couldn't give me any info. I asked her to connect me to HTC Special Projects. I had received an email from Will in that department regarding the dissatisfied scores on the customer service satisfaction survey i had done. He was pretty much left speechless after i voiced my dissatisfaction with the way i have been treated to this point. He then connected me with his supervisor Lydia. After relaying my frustration to her, she agreed that the situation needed to be resolved. The best she could do is offer to repair my original phone and perhaps get me a loaner. I feel at this point that is a poor attempt to resolve. I understand she is doing as she is trained to do, and I want it known that I appreciate her patience with me and she couldn't have been nicer to me, I feel this would be a bait and switch, or rather, a sub par resolution after the way my whole situation has been handled. If I can't get an equal replacement for my phone, then I asked her to replace it with an M9. Under normal circumstances I know this would not be an option. But I believe my 5+ weeks of frustration and misinformation provided at least warrants discussion. Friday, May22: I just received a call back from HTC basically telling me too bad, but all we will do is repair your phone and try to get a loaner to you. This whole process has been botched by HTC and their customers apparently must suffer the consequences of their ineptitude.
I have contacted my Sprint rep and he is contacting his HTC rep.
This is yet another instance of the story changing. You told me on Wednesday May 20 after much discussion that I shouldn't have even been eligible for a swap and that a repair is warranted rather than swapping. I can't even get a guarantee of a loaner. That is what I meant by "bait and switch". What am I supposed to believe? You could get my phone and suddenly find "something" that voids the warranty and charge me for repair. I can't trust your company anymore. HTC is acting like all things are equal here and there has been no mishandling of this situation for the last 5+ weeks. . To come at me after this much time that I have wasted making phone calls and doing the job of customer service for them (meaning that from one call to the next the disconnect with the problems became larger and larger which I had to constantly correct by vocalizing my outrage and reminding them of what was said on previous calls) with an offer that isn't what was originally agreed to is extremely disappointing and downright shady. Perhaps HTC doesn't expect their action or inaction coupled with a predictable disconnect with a customer to have an effect, but it does. Sometimes, things just have to be made right. Your superiors have made it clear that is not their priority. I have spoken to several people from various industries that work in customer service and marketing; the response is universal shock at the utter lack of professional response to an obvious failure in the system. I mean, honestly - almost 6 weeks later? This is the best that can be done after all this? You're a global company, with hundreds of millions in sales. One phone is going to break the company? I told you that the point we reached dictated that I receive what I was originally offered. I told you that the repair option was not an option, You had the opportunity then to let me know then that the swap option was still on the table but you didn't. I simply can't trust what I'm being told anymore. All I know is I've been offered empty apologies and no empathy
for a situation that spiraled completely out of control through no fault of mine. There was an opportunity here for someone to step up and take control, save the situation and make things right. That didn't happen. Please send and share this with all those who need to see it.
Wednesday, June 10: I sent the following:
Please advise if I am still on any kind of waiting list for a swap of my HTC One M8 - HK Edition. Since I have received no responses from the numerous customer service surveys, I would like to know what my current status is. Thank you.
This is the response:
We do not have any sort of waiting list. If a ticket has been booked then you are in queue to receive a phone. However, in my last response I reiterated the options we discussed on the phone, and I have not received indication from you that you would like to pursue any of the options that were offered. Since we last spoke, some slight modifications have been made to our repair process based on business needs. The Advanced Swap is no longer available for this particular model of phone, but there are some other options available that weren’t available previously. The first option would be what we call an On-Site swap. What this entails is we would send you a prepaid label for two air shipping for you to send in your phone, the phone will go through diagnostics, and so long as there isn’t any out of warranty damage aside from the screen, we will send a phone back to you via two air shipping. The process from start to finish takes approximately 4-7 business days. The other option is we do have regular M8’s available for Advanced Swap, which is the type of swap that was performed before. The difference between the M8 and M8 Harmon Kardon edition is the Clear Sound feature when using ear buds, and the color of the case. I understand if you do not want to pursue this option, but some people do not use the audio feature and opt for this option because it is quicker. If you would like to set up a swap or a repair, we will need to speak to you in real time over the phone or via chat so we can go over the terms and conditions with you. We will not be able to book a ticket for you until this happens. If you would like to pursue one of these options, please give us a call at[protected] or chat with us at http://www.htc.com/us/contact/chat/?intcid=footer_us_chat so that we may assist you with warranty options.
And my response:
I was originally deemed eligible for a warranty swap for my exact model of phone. Your company kept me waiting for 6 weeks - all the while no one could get anything done for me. Also, I was sent a replacement phone for my exact model that was unusable through no fault of my own. It is unconscionable that your company would let things get so out of anyone's control and then deny me what was originally agreed to. Not only that - it is YOUR company who cut communication off, not me. I
have answered all the customer service surveys and emails and BEGGED for someone to contact me. This is insane that you treat your customers this way. You sell a product and then can't follow your own policies regarding warranty status. I WAS booked a ticket - why is it still not active? Is it because of the complete failure of your customer service? This has become a matter of principle now. You have changed policies now so that I CAN'T get my phone replaced. I put my request in BEFORE this change of policy. Apparently I was correct regarding my previous comment of "bait and switch". at this point, someone needs to contact ME!!! Someone who can get things done. All of the calling and chasing that I have done - this can't possibly be standard procedure. How is it that I have been the one to have to badger your company into doing what I was told would be done? Does no one there understand how bad this is making your company look? I should at the least be grandfathered into a replacement for my original phone. My warranty request was prior to whatever policy was changed. couple that with the ride I have been taken on and that warrants some above and beyond work to correct this situation., not LESS than what I was originally approved for. What is the REAL reason your company is holding this line and not resolving this? Who do I need to talk to?
2Mmonths