What's messing with your Groove?

[Dattu]

Palm Pre Plus issues.

Last night, I slid it open to use the keypad, and there was a loud (electrical?) pop. The hinge is now coming apart, the phone gets too hot to hold up to my ear, and the cellular signal is almost nonexistent (1-3 bars in places I used to get 5, cutting in and out, constant static). So, I went to the AT&T store where they directed me to call technical support. They assured me that AT&T would replace it for free based on the issues I described.. So, I call and the rep keeps telling me that Palm won't let them replace it because it's an issue with the hinge and they haven't put out an advisory. I ask about the insurance I had put on the phone when I got it (because my previous phone didn't have insurance and I remembered going through hell with that). Guess what. They forgot to apply the insurance! God damn it, these people suck. They said they could order a new phone for $549 and charge me that much. What happens when that phone breaks? I'm supposed to buy another and hope for the best?

So I call Palm as they directed me to do and explained the problems. He tells me that this will be treated as a mishandling of the phone, so I will be charged $100.99 to get it replaced. Yes, apparently using the slider is considered mishandling. I told him that I've never dropped it, that I keep it in the case all the time, and have basically baby'd it since I got it. He says that there's no reason for him to believe me, and that he's keeping it like that. What the hell?! If I knew that I was going to be taking such a risk with build quality, I would have never gotten this phone. You expect the phone to last as long as the contract you're on, right? So I ask to speak to his supervisor, so he puts me on hold. Waiting, waiting... He's back! Wait, this isn't the supervisor. He says he talked to his supervisor and got an exception for me. I'm supposed to send in my phone so their engineers and look at it. If they decide it's my fault, they'll send it back. If they decide it's not my fault, they'll replace it free of charge. So, I'm going to be without a smartphone for 5-8 business days as they decide if it's my fault. Hint: it's not. Spoiler: they're going to tell me it's from improper handling.

I'm not looking forward to paying for AT&T's and Palm's mistakes. As much as I hated The Home Depot, they had an excellent customer service policy of "Do the Right Thing" even if it meant losing money on a customer for the day. Too bad these two never adopted such a policy.

Update: both Palm and AT&T were supposed to have called by today. They didn't. I called AT&T again and they got a supervisor on the phone. This time they seemed a little more willing to help than last time because they said that if I go to the local AT&T store again to get them to document the condition, they can move forward. So I go, wait a bit, got a super helpful representative who understands completely. She brings the Pre to a back room with her manager and they look it over for ten minutes before bringing it out again. They documented it and gave me the insurance that should have been on it from day one. AT&T's warranty department said they would call back once they got that documentation, so I'm just waiting on that.

I would have sent my phone in to Palm, but they never sent the email they promised which would contain information about what to put in the box and where to send it. Great.

Edit: Praise be to Yahweh. AT&T is sending a new phone out. When I get it, I'm supposed to send this phone back in the box given. Lesson: if you bitch enough, they'll get sick of you and just do what you want.