Google Nexus One Repair Saga

My Nexus One was sent back for repair, along with my Mum's Nexus and my brother's Nexus. It was not a good day for Google or HTC. Since the repair no problems have re-emerged, this means faulty components are making it through the build process and are making it past the quality control tests. It's the latter part that worries me most, since I assume they used the same diagnostic tests on my phone post-repair to check if it was working. Here is a quick run-down of the repair process I went through:

I called Google's helpline for the Nexus in the US. This is a free-phone number so a pro-tip is to use Skype to call it if you are outside the US, it's still free that way (though you will have to put a few Euro in your account to be allowed to call landlines from Skype). I spoke to a very friendly girl at what was just after 7am her time - how can you be chirpy at 7am? The short version of what she said was that it's HTC's problem, not Google's, because it sounds like hardware. Before she transferred me to HTC she asked me to "rate my satisfaction" with my call. I told her she had been helpful and friendly and that was good, but I was not satisfied because my phones were still broken. On to HTC.

HTC told me that I would have to have my phones shipped to the US, then from there on to HTC (I don't know why I couldn't ship them straight to HTC, I didn't ask), they would repair the phones, ship them to an address in the US and then that person would have to send them back to me. I paused, and asked "Don't you have an office in the UK?", I already knew they did, but this seemed like an idea he could grab hold of, and so he set me up with a case number and sent me on my way. On to HTC UK.

I called the helpline for HTC in the UK, this is not a free-phone line, I was not happy. Still I used Skype, and all was well. I get through to another friendly person, tell him that I have a case number from the US HTC, he tells me that will not work, they are on an entirely different system. Oh good. We try anyway. It doesn't work. I go through the problems each phone has. I'm an Engineer: I go through the problems each phone has in intricate detail. It takes quite a while. Eventually I receive an automated e-mail from HTC that is clearly supposed to be HTML, but it displays the raw HTML (note to HTC: include some white-space in the e-mail, it won't make the mail much bigger, but it will make it legible if it doesn't display correctly), and more importantly does not include the document I need to print to return with my phone. I open the e-mail in different browsers and mail clients to be sure I'm not being an idiot. I mean there are some attachments, three of them to be precise, though they have no file extensions. I guess, adding .pdf, .png, and .jpg, one of the image ones worked, it turns out it's the HTC logo that should be displaying in the HTML e-mail.

I call back HTC, and let them know I have not received the document to return my phones, they say rather unhelpfully that I should have. While it is good to know that I should have, it doesn't change the fact that I have not. After going through the motions again, it turns out that only one of the phones has been entered into the system. I spoke to the guy for over half an hour, going through the issues with each phone, giving IMEI numbers, my name and address over and over, and for 66% of that time, he was agreeing with me but not saving the info. Anyway, another 30 minutes of explaining the issues goes by, this time I receive three e-mails... all raw HTML, none with the attachments I need. I'm still on the phone this time, so I can bring up the problem immediately.

A ticket gets raised that has the attachment I need associated with it. I login the HTC's ticketing system and get the file. No wait, the file wasn't attached I had to ask for the file again, despite the fact that was the entire reason the ticket was raised. Then I said I needed all three files... I was told they were already there. No, no they were not. I was looking at the response, attached to the original thread, and I could see a single attachment. Eventually I got all three tickets.

I print them off. I wait until the weekend to post the phones though because I'm working hard and finding the time to round them up and post them will have to wait until Saturday. I post them. I get a voicemail on Tuesday from HTC asking me if I will be sending them the phones. I get a voicemail on Wednesday asking them if I will be sending them the phones. I check the delivery online and I see it was delivered to their warehouse two days ago, on the day they first called me saying they are waiting on the phones. I get a voicemail on Thursday letting me know they have my phones. Days pass...

I get a call letting me know the phones are winging their way back to me. I'm excited. The phones don't arrive. I check DHL online and they let me know that they have attempted delivery but I wasn't home. I'm pretty angry about this because I worked from home to make sure I got the delivery. Ready to rip off the head of the person who answers the phone in DHL, I dial... after an infuriating number of button presses asking me what I want to do today I get to speak to a person. The person lets me know that I should have a docket in my letterbox, I have already checked this and I know there is not. I try to keep it together and explain I could see the path to the front door, no man came to deliver the package. We figure out that HTC has put the wrong house number on the package. Bless the driver though, she calls him and he can come back that afternoon to deliver again.The address HTC have on file for me is correct - I checked, but they still printed the wrong address somehow.

My phones arrive. They all seem to be working.