FearlessFruit

Holey shite, I’ve been offline for weeks… since March 26th to be exact! I never realized how addicted to the internet and connectivity in general I’d become until moving to Newfoundland and loosing my connection to the grid.

I’m in a hotel in Corner Brook for the night and taking advantage of some free internet!

I should be back online this week… fingers crossed! 

OK, I have a rant. And I think it’s pretty legitimate.

Collectively, as Canadians, we love to bitch about the cell phone industry - price gouging, shitty customer service, and on and on. It’s all most a national pass-time.

I decided I had enough with the “Big Three” and changed over to Globalive’s Wind Mobile brand last December. I’m starting to regret this decision… here’s my rant about quite possible the worst customer experience I’ve ever had in my life.

I have the LGP999, also known as the “Optimus 2X” - it’s a dual-core phone running Android 2.2 (Gingerbread, if I remember correctly). When LG ships the phone, they tweak Android to “customize” the phone/software to their liking, and to that of the carrier who is selling the phone (Wind Mobile in my case).

I like Android and the phone, however, my LG reboots randomly, without warning and regardless to whats running/what state the phone is in. Two days ago, it rebooted and hung at the startup screen (the LG logo). It then went into a cycle of rebooting from this point and the only thing that stopped it was pulling the battery several times.

I contacted Wind’s Customer Service and explained what was going on. The technical service team advised me the phone is under warranty (having only just got it in December) and that I could go to the local warranty centre for a replacement phone. I was asked to visit Wind Mobile at 156 Bank St (West side of Bank St, just north of Laruier Ave West).

On explaining what my issue was, the gentleman and his manager confirmed that the rebooting issue was not something they could fix, nor would they replace the phone. According to this warranty centre, the reboot issue is a result of LG’s customization of the phone software, and software issues are not covered by warranty. They also reminded me it was a well known issue with the phone.

Well known issue? Really? Funny, the sales representative at the Billings Bridge location didn’t mention it when I bought the phone in December… and surley, if it was a well known issue, LG would have published something on it… and I would hope the technical support team at Wind Mobile’s Customer Service Centre would be aware of it, too… That would be sensible, right? And since it was a known problem, why wasn’t Wind doing anything about it? Any other product on the market is generally recalled or repaired when well known issues pop-up. I guess the cell phone industry is exempt from this logic?

So I did what any customer would do - I asked if there was a way to fix it. The gentleman that was helping me said I could “Root” the phone and remove LG’s customization, thus taking care of the problem. The manager, who was with us the entire time, agreed. She even added that after the phone is “Rooted”, not only is the rebooting issue resolved, but the battery performance is greatly enhanced, too. GREAT! two issues killed with one fix. This took the sting out of being told one thing by Wind’s service team and another by the sales reps in the store.

So how does one “Root” a phone? Well, the gentleman helping me had that solution, too. He had put together a little package and could copy it from the store’s computer to my phone. All I had to do was go home, plug my phone into my computer, run the software and all would be right. This sounded fantastic! I’m pretty tech savvy, but dead lost when it comes to cell phones and mobile operating systems. I’ve also read other peoples posts about doing things like this to their phones and “Bricking” them - AKA screwing the phone so bad it’s unusable.

I was also reassured that this process would not void my warranty with Wind or LG. Sounded good to me. :) So I agreed - why wouldn’t I? What harm would come from a Wind Mobile employee and his manager, using a Wind Mobile computer in a Wind Mobile store, do to my phone and computer? I bet you can guess where this is going… This “package” also had a step-by-step guide written by the gentleman offering the fix. With the files on my computer, I followed the instructions, step by step. The last file wasn’t good - my anti-virus software turned my screen red and informed me it found “ELF:Androot-J [PUP] and MSIL:Dropper-TC [Drp]” in the files and has moved them to a vault. Awesome - they gave me files that were infected… thanks Wind!

I called customer service to explain what happened - you’d think they’d be concerned, right? Viruses on their computer network and employees copying it to customer’s phone(s). Nope… If the sales rep copied it to my phone, then it was his fault and I should go back and see him at the warranty centre. Or, since I was the one that copied the files from my phone to my computer, I should just deal with it, since Wind Mobile can’t take responsibility for this stuff.

WTF?

Sorry, that’s not how it works. If I take my car in for an oil change and the person doing the job breaks my headlight, then they are the one fixing it. 

I request to speak to a supervisor/manager - to be expected, right? Well, in typical cell phone provider call centre fashion, no one was available to take my call. I was given a reference number and someone would call me back.

Three days on, I decide to call and see how things were progressing. I actually got to talk to someone today! Woot! Someone to make this mess go away! Right? …nope. My call was referred to “The Back Office” - this is reportedly the spot where escalated customer complaints go to die.

This “Back Office” rep shouldn’t be working in Customer Service. He argued, didn’t listen, interrupted far too much (and even admitted to doing so). After pleading for assistance, he told me Wind couldn’t do anything and to go back to the Warranty Centre for help. If they couldn’t do anything, I was to have them call for a resolution.

So I head down today and sure enough, “Sorry, we can’t help you”. They wouldn’t even call their own head office to speak to someone about it. Oh, and thanks for letting us know about the virus - we’ll delete the files from the computer when we get a chance.

Great.

I stepped outside and called 611 again. 45 minutes later, and all I get is “I’m sorry for all your frustration, but we can’t do anything”. The supervisor I spoke with even suggested I travel across town to another warranty centre (at Carlingwood Shopping Centre) and see if they would be willing to help. …maybe that store was in a better mood? Maybe they were a real store with real representatives that could help? maybe…  I thought, awesome - the company suggested I try somewhere else and hope for the best. I was actually asked by the supervisor what I expected as a resolution to the whole cluster-fuck of a situation that this was. “A working phone would be great!” - it goes a lot further than “Sorry” and “We can’t help you”. I even asked the supervisor if the phone could be exchanged for one that works… even a different model - I don’t care - I just want a phone that works! Is it too much to ask? Apparently it is. “Here at customer service, we can’t do anything - try asking in the store”. …”OK, can I have them call you or call in regarding this conversation then?” …”No, because we can’t do anything”.  

I’ll add some urgency to all this, too - I’m moving to Newfoundland next week and keeping my account active. I have service in Newfoundland, but will be paying-per-use as it’s not a “Wind Home Zone”. And once I move, it’s a long walk back to the Warranty Centre in Ottawa… I need a phone that works, period.

I went back into the store and asked if an exchange could be done - not a chance.

I was told I should contact LG for a resolution, or I can download some software directly from LG to fix the phone. OK, I thought - maybe not so bad after all… I must have just missed something on LG’s site. I can fix this on my own and write a letter to Wind Mobile later…

So here I am, at home, and I can’t see anything on LG’s site about the issue or a resolution. Back to square one. Am I missing something? 

What can I do? How can I vent my frustration with the half-dozen service representatives and the company who brands itself on not being one of the “big three” …Maybe a “tweet” would help? It was an “off-the-cuff” last resort/vent. But I think it worked - I tweeted “@WINDmobile #CustSrvs is bad. An employee copies a virus to my phone/computer and u refuse to resolve. LGP999 issue - fix or stop selling!” - venting, the social media way. I think I finally go someone’s attention! A tweet back “@FearlessFruit Hi there, are you able to provide more info via DM?”.

Someone’s paying attention! Great! …unfortunatly, Twitter only allows 140 characters in DM’s… on to Tumblr I go.

So to the person from Wind Mobile reading this, you’ll know what this is: C8264590

For everyone else, think twice before choosing Wind Mobile. After the last few days, I wish I did.

PS - I’ll post any and all replies/resolutions I get from Wind. I’m a hard customer, but a fair one. If they make this right, I’ll let you know.