Dead Pixels, Bad slider, and no help

[Frosty]

Leftyman, really? Logistics of the date. It was the same weekend, ok? That's not the point.

That sucks if there really is a problem. But along with Leftyman's questioning, I was also curious about the out of town purchase.

I know when I went to pick my Pre up early before they sold out, they made sure I lived in the area. This was at an actual Sprint Store though.

Now on to another point, it was a third party chain store, so I wouldn't expect a true Sprint Store to support an exchange.

That would be like buying a Sony TV at Wal-Mart and trying to take it back to Target.
Or, another example if you prefer, like buying a Pre at BestBuy, and then trying to take it to a Sprint Store.

If there were more of those third party chain stores, I would expect them to work with your friend though. That being said.. how professional do you expect someone to be at a mall kiosk? They make their money by selling things, not by customer service. ;)

[seraphemz]

I would recommend talking to the retention dept. They are the ones that can get things done.

Seriously, if he saw problems 2 weeks in, that gave him another 2 weeks to get it fixed. Im glad that I got my phone at a LOCOL SPRINT store. i dont like dealing with third party stores.

[leftyman]

Wow, that's interesting. Why do you say that? Stories? Are they shady? He thought they were good people because they held one all day for him on the release weekend. We were just there working at the time, so we had no idea. I live in Dallas and he lives in Nashville.

They aren't so much shady as just wanting to make a sale and willing to say anything to make one...Ive never bought anything from them..
I frequent that mall quite a bit and go there to check out the new phones and accessories, things like that.
I usually end up talking to the sales people and have found one or two that are knowledgeable about the phones and plans, but for the most part they really are incompetent.
I also know that they were the only store ( there is the kiosk and the main store is located further down the mall near Dicks sporting goods ) to never run out of the Pre in this area, now if that's because they were given more then anyone else to sell or because no one would deal with them..that's anyone's guess.

[mentor972]

That sucks if there really is a problem. But along with Leftyman's questioning, I was also curious about the out of town purchase.

I know when I went to pick my Pre up early before they sold out, they made sure I lived in the area. This was at an actual Sprint Store though.

Now on to another point, it was a third party chain store, so I wouldn't expect a true Sprint Store to support an exchange.

That would be like buying a Sony TV at Wal-Mart and trying to take it back to Target.
Or, another example if you prefer, like buying a Pre at BestBuy, and then trying to take it to a Sprint Store.

If there were more of those third party chain stores, I would expect them to work with your friend though. That being said.. how professional do you expect someone to be at a mall kiosk? They make their money by selling things, not by customer service. ;)

Yeah, that was his thought, but they assured him it was totally supported under his Sprint plan. Even the people from Sprint told him there would be some sort of way to resolve it, but they a) didn't send the replacement and b) stopped responding over email after a few back and fourths.

I completely understand the buy at one place, return at another thing, but that always seems to be a little different with phones. If you buy an iPhone at an AT&T store, you can get it fixed or replaced at an Apple store because it's all under AT&T.

[mentor972]

They aren't so much shady as just wanting to make a sale and willing to say anything to make one...Ive never bought anything from them..
I frequent that mall quite a bit and go there to check out the new phones and accessories, things like that.
I usually end up talking to the sales people and have found one or two that are knowledgeable about the phones and plans, but for the most part they really are incompetent.
I also know that they were the only store ( there is the kiosk and the main store is located further down the mall near Dicks sporting goods ) to never run out of the Pre in this area, now if that's because they were given more then anyone else to sell or because no one would deal with them..that's anyone's guess.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[Frosty]

I completely understand the buy at one place, return at another thing, but that always seems to be a little different with phones. If you buy an iPhone at an AT&T store, you can get it fixed or replaced at an Apple store because it's all under AT&T.

One problem is that the Pre is so new, I don't think anyone is certified to work on them yet. I could be wrong though.
I still think there are different levels of third-party vendors... I would feel MUCH safer buying a Sprint phone from BestBuy or even Radio Shack, than a vendor in the middle of the mall. These are businesses with a reputation to uphold.

Take some of the suggestions in this thread though, I'm sure that Sprint will help to get it sorted out, but I don't think you are going to get the same level of service as if you did buy it directly. Why? Because someone has to eat the cost of the phone repair.

That someone should be the third-party.. but I doubt that will happen.

[mentor972]

That someone should be the third-party.. but I doubt that will happen.

I think maybe a letter from a lawyer would make them help a little more, don't you?

[Frosty]

I think maybe a letter from a lawyer would make them help a little more, don't you?

Sure, but at what point do you end up spending more money on lawyer fees than you would just paying the tab to replace/repair the phone.

[mentor972]

Sure, but at what point do you end up spending more money on lawyer fees than you would just paying the tab to replace/repair the phone.

Sometimes it's about getting them back than anything, however, a $75 letter from a lawyer is usually all it takes to get things moving.