K700i update: the unbelievable has happened



Sony Ericsson replaced my defective K700i after I sent it in twice for repair. At that point I'd paid nearly $200 out of pocket to get the phone serviced; shipping costs, a sync station it turns out I didn't need but couldn't return, and over a month in downtime with T-Mobile, all of which I paid for. The whole boring story is posted elsewhere in my blog.

So I got the replacement around the holidays. The phone worked as expected for about two weeks. But then weird stuff started happening. Out of nowhere the K700i would flash the "Optimized Charging" message despite the fact that it wasn't plugged into a power source. This message appears spontaneously.

To add to the matter, the Bluetooth functionality is presenting issues. Although nothing like the original defective SE K700i, this replacement is having a hard time connecting to BT devices. On a few occasions it actually broke a connection despite the fact that the device was within three feet of the phone. Not a good sign.

Although entirely trivial I admit, the replacement also didn't ship with the grippy QuickShare logo at the bottom of the phone. It's perfect to use while using the one-handed keyboard approach.

This morning I called SE yet again to report the issues. I mentioned the charging message first then the fact that I had actually called upon receiving the phone to request a replacement logo, which SE said they'd ship to me. Turns out that their recommendation for the charging message was to send in the phone. Surprise.

Naturally I said I wouldn't. I mean, I bought two K700i's on the same receipt. One works flawlessly, the other was a piece of cra*. Send in the replacement? Hell no. I said I'd use this one until it didn't work any more and I'd replace it with another brand. In fact, although I really liked SE's industrial design I loathe their customer service philosophy: this will be the last penny I spend with them. Hope I can hold myself to that declaration.

At that point I brought up the QuickShare logo. I acknowledged that it was a trivial part, but I did pay for it in as much as the original came with one and the replacement didn't. I asked why I hadn't received the logo they promised to send me a few weeks ago. A supervisor told me that I didn't get it because SE doesn't send those parts to customers, I'd have to send in the phone and have their service department replace it. Huh? Seriously? He was serious.

So am I: I'm not sending it in. I didn't forget to put on the logo, SE did. I didn't choose two defective K700i's but wound up with two. That SE wants me to suffer another two weeks (and half my T-Mobile bill) for the third time since late September is insane, but "that's all I can offer you" according to the SE supervisors.

Put yourself in my shoes was all I could say right before I hung up the phone.

Pece

Posted: Thu - January 6, 2005 at 03:44 PM          

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