Is it plugged in?

 

Brought Terry’s phone in for servicing. Short version of the story, it wasn’t holding a charge, and it needed a new battery.

The helpful (being polite) representatives and the quality (being polite) brand name shop checked me in, looked things over, and said they could change the battery if I wanted. (I did.) They also said that before committing to a new battery, I might want to consider upgrading to a newer model. (I didn’t, but I did appreciate they weren’t heavy handed about it. Just a mention, and obviously one I expected that wasn’t out of line being asked.)

Diagnostics were run. (I think. They asked me to open a few apps and press a few buttons, and to this day I still don’t know exactly what I did to find what we learned. I’m not even sure I understand what we learned.) The representative said there were no obvious reasons for what I described as the issues, but the results showed the battery wasn’t in horrendous shape considering it had never been replaced. Because of that, what I was explaining shouldn’t be a result of the battery.

Still, I elected for the new battery. Phone has been operating fine since then, with none of the issues that had been occurring taking place.

The entire experience got me wondering about a few things.

Now, look, I made fun of the representatives and manufacturer above by saying I was being polite by describing them as helpful and quality. The people were actually fine, and the products are good enough that we’re fairly loyal to the brand. So, yeah. All good. No worries.

But the experience was incredible. Incredibly frustrating, that is.

At first, my wife and I both agreed it was likely time for a new battery, and all I wanted to know was a price. How much would a battery replacement cost? And I couldn’t find out. Internet estimates? Sure. But not an official, from the store I was headed to visit, cost of service price.

I tried calling the local outlet, but using that number immediately defaulted to an automated selection process that sent me off to… well, I honestly don’t know. Sure seemed to be the nation-wide company system. And I needed to navigate it several times. On the first try, all I wanted to do was speak to someone at the store. That approach didn’t work out well at all. Turns out that a customer getting someone at the store on the line is actually impossible to do. Seriously, literally, impossible. So, the next time I decided to concentrate on finding out the costs. That got me to a live person, and it was a person that had never heard of the store location I was selecting. (Not kidding. After time seemed to be dragging while he was looking, I glanced at the timer on the phone. I know it took well over forty-five seconds to find the store on his end because he was searching long before I started. I had the number, using my phone, in less than half of that.) Eventually he told me a price that was, frankly, impossibly high. So, we politely ended our conversation and I called again. The next representative got me a price that was fine, but she couldn’t find the store either.

Six calls. Six. All I wanted to do was get a price and find out if I could drop off the phone. No pressure. Take a day or two with it if you need it. I’d stay if it was going to take an hour or two, come back if longer. And time and again, no one could tell me anything I wanted to know. Sure kept recommending making an appointment online though.

On the phone, the first representative pulled out an old favorite for this name brand. They wanted information to see if my warranty was still active. I knew it wasn’t. Told him it wasn’t. Didn’t stop him. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, attribute it to a scripted conversation, but no one else tried to get me to purchase an extended warranty for my out of warranty phone that I was explaining was broken.

(Remember I mentioned being polite earlier? At this moment, full disclosure, I should explain that I have called this company in the past for information about getting repairs and service. Two other times—three including this one—I called about getting an item fixed that appeared at best to need repair and at worst was broken beyond any repair that would make financial sense. Each of these times, the first representative I spoke with wanted to check on my warranty. The best one was the first time I ever called, when the representative couldn’t tell me if the unit could even be fixed, while also giving me a completely incorrect date of purchase. (I even had the receipt on hand to be able to prove that date of purchase.) But apparently, they just wanted me to buy the protection plan before proceeding. (Hmm… wonder if selling service plans earns them extra credit. (Nah. Couldn’t be.)) Experiences since that call have only reinforced the exasperation and eye rolling. When I tell you it’s busted, if you can’t tell me you can fix it, don’t try to sell me a new warranty that I might never use!)

Eventually our story moves along and I arrive at the store, and the representative that told me that switching to a new battery may or may not solve the issue. That’s some high-end experience and knowledge at work.

There’s an old joke about electrical equipment and troubleshooting. Basically, it goes over how the first thing to check is whether or not it’s plugged in. (Second is usually to try turning it on. And, in professional-level troubleshooting, turning it off and waiting a few seconds before turning it back on.)

I like the honesty found in that joke. Especially the idea that occasionally problems have two elements involved: (1) The issue may not be all that complicated, just open your eyes. And, (2) every so often, the customer is right.

The battery exchange was handled in less than an hour. I literally—LITERALLY—spent more time navigating the process of one person checking me in, asking me to wait over there for the next person to go over my information again and then look at the phone, and then upon return checking back in and waiting for the final person to process the payment and hand me the phone so I could leave. Yes, the before and after portions took longer than the actual repair. (Heck, the phone calls to find out about the repair took longer than the repair.)

At least now it works when you turn it on. (And it charges when you plug it in.) But what do I know?

 

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com