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What the taterbiscuits!?!?

ErisYarr

Newbie
Jul 18, 2010
37
1
Ok so im venting and asking for opinions.

I have a HTC Eris. I hate its guts and ill tell you why...

Eris #1: Got it Dec 2009. Warranty replaced it June 2010 due to trac ball and charging port stop working. Life of phone...6 months.

Eris #2: Got it June 2010. Warranty replaced it October 1st 2010 due to tracball not working. Life of phone...3 months.

Eris #3: Got it October 1st (today). Warrenty replaced because tracball doesnt work and speaker squeals. Life of phone...9 minutes

I asked failrizon if they would send me a different model. Anything....a droid 1...anything else. They said nope. But they gave me some options.

Option 1: Add a third line to my family plan and get a new phone at the sale price and just pay 10 extra dollars a month and make one of my now three lines a ghost line.

Option 2: Wait until December for my "possible" annual upgrade.

Option 3: Continue to go through Eris's with an average life of 3 months per phone until they say ok fine heres a different phone.


Any of you guys have any tips to talk to verizon. So many success stories about getting different devices with a warranty replacement. Guess im not one of them. lol.
 
Three things will help:
1. Don't have a history of frivolous complaints. If you cry wolf too many times, they're going to keep that in mind and it may affect you when you have a legitimate problem. (An Eris is always a legitimate problem, though. ;-)

2. Be polite. You're probably going to be annoyed when you have issues, but if you berate the rep for a problem he didn't cause, chances are good that you're not going to get the best help they can offer. They're people doing a job, and they're willing to help you if you let them help you--be nice to them and they'll reciprocate. But if you make their job a hassle, then they're just going to try and get you out the door.

3. Too many people are afraid to escalate. If you have a problem that isn't resolved satisfactorily, ask to speak with a manager, as there's only so much the bottom of the totem pole can do to help. If the manager won't help, go up a level. If you're not assisted satisfactorily--and this applies to any business, not just phones--when you've been told you've reached the end, lookup contact information for the appropriate corporate governance office.

Some places it's a generic contact such as, "corporate offices," and in Verizon's case, you'd be looking for the Vice President of either sales or tech support in your area. The site may make you think you're contacting that person, but your correspondence will go to a regional corporate office for assistance.

Most companies will bury this info on the site in a place that isn't immediately obvious. Here it is for verizon: Executive Leadership

If you do reach item 3, make sure not to forget item 2.
 
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Three things will help:
1. Don't have a history of frivolous complaints. If you cry wolf too many times, they're going to keep that in mind and it may affect you when you have a legitimate problem. (An Eris is always a legitimate problem, though. ;-)

2. Be polite. You're probably going to be annoyed when you have issues, but if you berate the rep for a problem he didn't cause, chances are good that you're not going to get the best help they can offer. They're people doing a job, and they're willing to help you if you let them help you--be nice to them and they'll reciprocate. But if you make their job a hassle, then they're just going to try and get you out the door.

3. Too many people are afraid to escalate. If you have a problem that isn't resolved satisfactorily, ask to speak with a manager, as there's only so much the bottom of the totem pole can do to help. If the manager won't help, go up a level. If you're not assisted satisfactorily--and this applies to any business, not just phones--when you've been told you've reached the end, lookup contact information for the appropriate corporate governance office.

Some places it's a generic contact such as, "corporate offices," and in Verizon's case, you'd be looking for the Vice President of either sales or tech support in your area. The site may make you think you're contacting that person, but your correspondence will go to a regional corporate office for assistance.

Most companies will bury this info on the site in a place that isn't immediately obvious. Here it is for verizon: Executive Leadership

If you do reach item 3, make sure not to forget item 2.

^ Great post. Great advice.
 
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Ok so im venting and asking for opinions.

I have a HTC Eris. I hate its guts and ill tell you why...

Eris #1: Got it Dec 2009. Warranty replaced it June 2010 due to trac ball and charging port stop working. Life of phone...6 months.

Eris #2: Got it June 2010. Warranty replaced it October 1st 2010 due to tracball not working. Life of phone...3 months.

Eris #3: Got it October 1st (today). Warrenty replaced because tracball doesnt work and speaker squeals. Life of phone...9 minutes

I asked failrizon if they would send me a different model. Anything....a droid 1...anything else. They said nope. But they gave me some options.

Option 1: Add a third line to my family plan and get a new phone at the sale price and just pay 10 extra dollars a month and make one of my now three lines a ghost line.

Option 2: Wait until December for my "possible" annual upgrade.

Option 3: Continue to go through Eris's with an average life of 3 months per phone until they say ok fine heres a different phone.


Any of you guys have any tips to talk to verizon. So many success stories about getting different devices with a warranty replacement. Guess im not one of them. lol.

Makes me wonder what apps your installing, because 3 in a row of the same issue is pretty unlikely, have you tried doing a factory reset and add no apps for a while to see if its a app your installing?

Also have they replaced your usb cord and your charger? Its pretty common that a company just replaces a phone multiple times when it could be the charger or the USB cable that is causing damage to the phone.
 
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^ Great post. Great advice.

Thanks. I learned that from experience--when I have problems with anything, I'm not happy until it's fixed. I'm often surprised by just how easily people give up because they just don't want the hassle, and don't have the patience.



CaptainTwinkie said:
Also have they replaced your usb cord and your charger? Its pretty common that a company just replaces a phone multiple times when it could be the charger or the USB cable that is causing damage to the phone.

That's a bit more likely a culprit than any apps. The trackball problem is a known hardware issue, and from what I've read, one of the most complained about problems with the Eris. I've seen it theorized that it's related to the positioning of the charger, being just under the trackball.

However, most multi-Eris lists I've read on this forum seem to indicate that swapping the phone has led to getting one without that problem (almost inevitably with a completely different problem...lol), which would indicate that it's probably related to design-error and not user-error.

That said, it's probably worthwhile to swap the charger anyway, as it looks like three slightly different problems related to the charger.
 
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My husband ran into numerous issues with his Droid 1 and after 3 phones not working right, they said they had to give him a new phone, however, the "equivalent" phones they offered were the Eris, Ally, and Devour. Absolutely NONE of those phones are equal to the Droid 1 simply in that they don't run anything higher than 2.1 (unless rooted of course). So, since Assurion wasn't listening to him, he emailed the higher ups there to see if there was anything he could do. He stated his complaint and said that he was more than willing to pay a little extra if he could upgrade to a phone more equal to what he had. The next day he got a call from the CEO and presto, he had a Droid 2 coming overnight via UPS.
So, if you are not being heard (which it definitely sounds like you aren't), try contacting someone in a higher position. My husband was not a jerk about it, but was firm and stood behind his complaint.
Hope this helps and good luck!!!
 
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Oh and yeah, I did a factory reset each time. I went into the store the first two times. This recent time, the one I one I am still waiting for the replacement, I called *611. To be honest though I am seriously just thinking of adding a third line and getting a Fascinate (and yes I will either root or install google maps. Although I hear Bing on it isnt that bad...) or a Droid X aduse the extra line as an emergency line with my dumbphone. Mainly because all they said they would send was a Droid 1 which in all honesty is a level above the Eris.
 
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Thats what I thought too. But the first phone yeah...I can see that happening as much as I had to plug and unplug it to keep it charged. The second phone nothing abnormal. rarely visited the app store for anything. The third was directly out of the box turned on and bam the track ball didnt work.

I do know that its a known issue as the charging port is directly connected to the track ball assembly via solder points.

And no I do not mistreat my phones :)

Edit: Not one of my Eris's were rooted. And no my charger isnt shorting and or shorted. I checked it a little bit ago.
 
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Then what I would have them do, since you have been through 3 phones and waiting on your 4th, I would ask them to replace everything, phone, charger, and USB cable, and then get a promise out of them, if you are still having issues after everything is replaced, they will give you a newer model.

Either that, or you need a exorcism done in your house to remove all the gremlins that are screwing up all the power in your place. :p

**Edit** I would even have them swap the SD card too, just so you could say you essentially got a brand new phone, with all the accessories new too, just to prove to them that you deserve a different model, since your apparently allergic to the Eris, or its allergic to you.
 
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You legally able to do an exorcism?

...

Just so you know, that last one I had never even got home. I picked it up at FedEx. Sat in the car activated it and tested it. Tracball didnt work. Drove straight to the verizon store to ask them, "WTF guys....really? You punking me because this s**t isnt funny?" But in hindsight its hilarious.
 
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I in no way find it hard to believe 3 bad phones in a row. He is getting a warranty replacement unit. This means it was a defective return that some lowly paid guy powered on, and flashed which means it is good to go, after he replaced the battery with a fresh charged unit.

This is very typical. Another company caught doing it, Dell. Getting bad printers back, taking them out of the box, and putting them right into a warranty replacement box and shipped directly back out as a "factory re-certified" unit.

ErisYarr contact tech support via 611 and politely file your complaint. Be firm but nice. Do not except another broken eris. If you do not like how it is going on the phone, apologize to the CSR and ask to speak to another CSR or a manager. Be firm but polite.
 
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Hax,

You can believe I will be doing that. My 4th Eris is going to arrive in a couple days. The rate Verizon is going with my refurbs I firmly expect this 4th one to be completly DOA.

lol. But yes if this one I am getting has any issues I will be contacting 611 again. I was super nice but perhaps not firm enough the other day.
 
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