In June I did my early gadget adopter thing and bought a Palm Pre smartphone. I've always had Palms, and this one is supposed to be the iphone killer. (I don't know why Palm never got the credit for touchscreens, by the way. They've always had them, but now that Blackberry and iPhone do as well, they're "hot.")
The Pre is very cool, but there's a bit of a steep learning curve to it. Or maybe a slow one: I still hang up on people regularly when they call 'cause I'm not clear on all the "gestures." But it's FUN: you can teeny-tiny-fy an app card by squeezing it with your fingers, flick it away, use the gesture area, etc. And it looks great - all smooth, black, shiny and curvy. And you know I buy by design, so I had to have it.
I'm also a Sprint apologist. They've worked fine for me and are so desperate to keep their customers that they offer us stuff occasionally. Their customer service is okay, but there's a weird thing between Palm and Sprint about who's responsible for stuff. They tend to send you back and forth to each other, which is annoying.
Lately I've had problems with the Sprint/Pre accessories. My car charger died after four months, and today I bought the very cool "wireless" (although with a plug) Touchstone charger. Got it home and nothing. No charging. So I checked the website
troubleshooter and went through all the steps, which ended up sending me to Palm via computer chat.
Here is the transcript.
1:35 PM Connected to Rescue Gateway. A support
representative will be with you shortly.
1:36 PM Support session established with Sergio.
1:36 PM Sergio: Hello.
1:37 PM Sergio: I understand that you are experiencing
issue with Touchstone, as it is not charging. Am I right?
1:37 PM Melissa Hochschild: Correct!
1:37 PM Sergio: I am sorry to hear that.
1:38 PM Sergio: I will help you in this regard.
1:38 PM Sergio: Let me know, what happens when you charge
the device with Touchstone?
1:38 PM Melissa Hochschild: Nothing!
1:38 PM Sergio: Is it not charging the device?
1:38 PM Melissa Hochschild: Correct! [We just spent three minutes establishing the
fact that it doesn’t work, which I told them when starting the chat. Was that unclear?]
1:38 PM Sergio: Okay
1:39 PM Sergio: Let me know, the version of Web OS that
you are using on the device.
1:40 PM Melissa Hochschild: 1.2.1
1:40 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:41 PM Sergio: Just to confirm, whether the Touchstone™
back cover is installed.
1:41 PM Melissa Hochschild: yes
1:41 PM Sergio: Remove and reattach the Touchstone back
cover to ensure it is attached securely at all points.
1:41 PM Melissa Hochschild: [mounting irritation as it becomes clear Sergio can't help] done
1:41 PM Sergio: Now try to charge the device again.
1:42 PM Sergio: Let me know the result.
1:42 PM Melissa Hochschild: nothing happens!
1:42 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:42 PM Sergio: Align the Palm logo on the Touchstone
back cover with the Palm logo on the Touchstone™ charging dock. The phone will
not charge if it is not centered on the charging dock.
1:43 PM Melissa Hochschild: I did that, and made
sure all connections were tight. The charger works on the phone directly, just
not through the Touchstone.
1:43 PM Sergio: Let me know, whether the charging dock is
connected to a computer.
1:43 PM Melissa Hochschild: no
1:43 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:44 PM Sergio: Connect the AC adapter and USB cable directly to the
phone and a power outlet (NOT to a USB port on the computer).
1:44 PM Sergio: Does the phone charge?
1:44 PM Melissa Hochschild: did that and the phone
is charging via the USB, not the Touchstone.
1:44 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:44 PM Sergio: Connect the USB cable to the charging
dock.
1:44 PM Melissa Hochschild: done
1:44 PM Sergio: Is it charging now?
1:45 PM Melissa Hochschild: NO. I did all this
previously!
1:45 PM Sergio: Okay, I understand that.
1:46 PM Sergio: As you have run Interactive test on the
device. Let me know, If the device
passes the test or does it produce any error codes?
1:46 PM Melissa Hochschild: It says it passes.
1:46 PM Sergio: That's good. [Why??? It doesn't work!]
1:46 PM Sergio: Are you using the original battery that came with the phone?
1:46 PM Melissa Hochschild: yes
1:47 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:47 PM Sergio: Center the phone on the charging dock and
to leave it on the dock for at least 5 minutes.
1:47 PM Melissa Hochschild: I did that before I contacted you.
1:47 PM Sergio: Okay. I really appreciate for explaining
to me in a detailed way. [Is this Sergio's attempt at sarcasm?]
1:47 PM Sergio: Thank you very much.
1:48 PM Sergio: Let me know, the place and date of
purchase of Touchstone.
1:48 PM Melissa Hochschild: Today at the Sprint
Store in Bend Oregon.
1:49 PM Sergio: So, it is a brand new touchstone.
1:49 PM Melissa Hochschild: yes
1:50 PM Sergio: Okay.
1:50 PM Sergio: Give me a couple of minutes, while I work
on the issue. [Right. He probably had five chats going at the same time.]
1:53 PM Sergio: Thank you on hold.
1:53 PM Sergio: Let me explain to you.
1:53 PM Sergio: As we have done the complete
troubleshooting steps for the device and the issue still persist. It seems to
be an issue with the Hardware of the device. As the device is brand new I
suggest you to contact Sprint immediately, so that they can provide the replacement
of the device. Also I provide you the chat session ID, which will be a
reference for you, so that you can show to the Sprint retailer as a proof.
1:54 PM Sergio: Thank you so much for your patience and
understanding in this regard. [More sarcasm?]
1:54 PM Sergio: Can I be of any other help today?
1:54 PM Melissa Hochschild: no [since he was of no help whatsoever]
1:54 PM Sergio: Thank you for contacting Palm and feel
free to contact us for further assistance. We rely on your suggestions and
feedback to help us provide the best
support, so please take a few minutes to complete the customer survey that
you'll receive via email. [Believe me, I will!]
You may now close the
chat window. Have a great day! Take care. Bye!
1:55 PM Sergio has ended the
session. [Twenty minutes later.]
I won't bore you further with the Sprint phone call, but after another 20 minutes (during which I had to explain what the Touchstone was), they told me it wasn't their fault, it was the manufacturer's. I replied that their brand was on it, but that went nowhere. They finally said to return it at the store. Thank you, I think I figured that out myself.
Have you experienced that surge of anger, frustration and disbelief that occurs during Customer Service calls? Yeah - I had a few of those. I'm now cooled off and resigned, which is even worse.
Why does stuff that should work not work? Where's the problem: manufacturing, quality control, bad design, no one caring? And why is it so difficult to give feedback? How many of these defective things will they sell before they notice they're not working? Where's the satisfaction for the consumer???
Don't get me started again. I'm going to go pour another glass of Chardonnay.
Hmm. Where's the cord and plug in this shot? Deceptive marketing at its finest.
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