Is this crack my fault? You decide! - Page 5

jabou · 09/27/2009, 02:32 PM

My pre update. Had the same crack and brought it to sprint to be replaced. They ordered a new one which arrived at the end of the week. I went yesterday to picked it up and the new one had... burnt out pixels. good ol palm quality control.

Phillykef · 10/01/2009, 10:37 AM

I got my refurbed Pre yesterday, so I'm all set. I ended up paying $30, and had to leave a $400 credit card deposit until they inspect my broken Pre to make sure it wasn't my fault. If I had send in my Pre and let them inspect it and then have them send me a new one, it would have been free, but obviously I can't go up to 10 days without a working phone, so I took the $30+deposit option.

geewhiz · 10/06/2009, 02:57 AM

I went to a corporate stpre/repair center tonight to help my son get his phone fixed ...

His phone had stopped powering on - hangs in the Palm "glowing" screen. We had took it to a different corporate store/repair center yesterday afternoon and they said the battery was bad and ordered him two new batteries, to arrive a WEEK later.

We decided to try the battery out of my phone which was working fine in my phone. His phone would still not power up, same issue. Uh oh, not the battery so we took it back to a different store to get a different opinion. After explaining the situation in detail, the sales rep gave my son another (used) battery to use. It seemed to be working fine so we headed home, but before we got far, it powered off and would not power up, again freezing at the "glowing" screen. Headed back to the Sprint Store.

Went back to the sames sales rep and explained plus showed him what had happened. He decided that the phone needed to be looked at by a technician, so we left it and went to eat dinner. Came back in 45 minutes and waited for someone to go check on the phone. A sales person finally "worked us in" and after she got the phone she looked at the comments and told us it could not be replaced because they was a small crack next to the USB port (mine has one of these as well!). She said since there was physical damage to the phone, they could not replace it. I said this was ridiculous, the crack had nothing to do with the power up problem.

I asked to speak with the technician and he repeated the same nonsense. I told him that was ridiculous, the crack had nothing to do with the power up problem. He said that was Sprint's policy and that Sprint was losing $100 everytime they replaced a phone. I asked him "So, my phone has a small crack too, so if anything goes wrong with it during the warranty, you will not replace it?". Yes, that's the policy. I then asked what the warranty covered and he was not sure.

I got the name of the Store manager and will be going to talk to him tomorrow. If that doesn't work, then I will be getting the name of the area manager. Typical Sprint crappy customer service ...

Info:
Sprint Corporate Store/Repair Center
Preston Road @ Park Street
Dallas, Texas

<don't post employees names>

gww

NickDG · 10/06/2009, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geewhiz

I went to a corporate stpre/repair center tonight to help my son get his phone fixed ...

His phone had stopped powering on - hangs in the Palm "glowing" screen. We had took it to a different corporate store/repair center yesterday afternoon and they said the battery was bad and ordered him two new batteries, to arrive a WEEK later.

We decided to try the battery out of my phone which was working fine in my phone. His phone would still not power up, same issue. Uh oh, not the battery so we took it back to a different store to get a different opinion. After explaining the situation in detail, the sales rep gave my son another (used) battery to use. It seemed to be working fine so we headed home, but before we got far, it powered off and would not power up, again freezing at the "glowing" screen. Headed back to the Sprint Store.

Went back to the sames sales rep and explained plus showed him what had happened. He decided that the phone needed to be looked at by a technician, so we left it and went to eat dinner. Came back in 45 minutes and waited for someone to go check on the phone. A sales person finally "worked us in" and after she got the phone she looked at the comments and told us it could not be replaced because they was a small crack next to the USB port (mine has one of these as well!). She said since there was physical damage to the phone, they could not replace it. I said this was ridiculous, the crack had nothing to do with the power up problem.

I asked to speak with the technician and he repeated the same nonsense. I told him that was ridiculous, the crack had nothing to do with the power up problem. He said that was Sprint's policy and that Sprint was losing $100 everytime they replaced a phone. I asked him "So, my phone has a small crack too, so if anything goes wrong with it during the warranty, you will not replace it?". Yes, that's the policy. I then asked what the warranty covered and he was not sure.

I got the name of the Store manager and will be going to talk to him tomorrow. If that doesn't work, then I will be getting the name of the area manager. Typical Sprint crappy customer service ...

Info:
Sprint Corporate Store/Repair Center
Preston Road @ Park Street
Dallas, Texas

gww

I haven't gone to Sprint yet but I did call Palm today about it. After fighting a bit with the CSR they said they would send me a refurb for 30 bucks plus a 400 deposit until my phone was sent back. The key thing here is IF they feel it wasn't physical abuse they will refund the 400 bucks. I am not to sure about this so I am trying Sprint sometime this week first.

Psyllee · 10/06/2009, 06:13 AM

I have the exact type of crack on the bottom right corner of the top half. What I could discern from the location was that it is caused from sliding it open with one hand, pushing down on that side and pushing forward. Thus, causing stress to that area of Palm's poorly designed cheap plastic P.O.S.! I absolutely HATE this phone and can not wait til the superior HTC HERO becomes available. I highly recommend this move to any and all who have had unluck with Palm's Prē.

hypocaffeinemia · 10/06/2009, 07:25 AM

Had the same exact crack develop on my phone-- spread to screen under surface.

It's currently at best buy's repair/replace facility while I'm stuck with this POS loaner phone.

Odd to see this isn't an isolated incident.

petbull · 10/06/2009, 10:27 AM

That crack looks like a stress crack, for sure. Do you talk on the phone while using a car charger? I tried that the other day and the force from the coiled wire goes right into the USB port.

Unlike previous phones, where the port is on the bottom of the phone and the worst that usually happens is the cord pulls out, this phone, with the port on the side, takes all the stress on that port. The Pre is definitely a Bluetooth only phone while in the car or unplug before you talk. I don't see this as an issue when plugged in to the computer or the power plug because those cords are straight and don't pull.

NickDG · 10/06/2009, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyllee

I have the exact type of crack on the bottom right corner of the top half. What I could discern from the location was that it is caused from sliding it open with one hand, pushing down on that side and pushing forward. Thus, causing stress to that area of Palm's poorly designed cheap plastic P.O.S.! I absolutely HATE this phone and can not wait til the superior HTC HERO becomes available. I highly recommend this move to any and all who have had unluck with Palm's Prē.

webOS sold me not the Pre. Plus I need a keyboard.

MikeBinOK · 10/06/2009, 01:33 PM

I had this issue, and had a happy ending (got new phone from Best Buy). To avoid this in the future, I'm wondering if using a Touchstone might be a good idea....It would s*ck, since I shelled out for one of the Siedio 2600 batteries, but my battery life does seem to have improved a bit since 1.2.1, and on days when I'm in the office I think I might be able to get by on the original battery capacity. This would make using the phone GPS with a car charger seem like a less desirable thing to do, also.

The only other explanation I've seen is a few suggestions that stress from being in a front pants pocket could cause this--I do carry the phone that way, but I'm skeptical that it is the cause. I'm willing to be convinced, though.

I dislike the design decisions that Palm made that (presumably) lead to this, but my concern now is keeping my phone going till I can get a Pre II (or whatever it would be called) that will fix these leading edge issues that I accepted when I bought a totally new design phone!

Any suggestions on what we can do to minimize the risk of this? I don't want to count on the customer service folks being kind to me a second time!

Superjudge · 10/06/2009, 01:45 PM

I had the same problem. I took it back to Best Buy and they blamed it on me calling it "user related damage" but they still replaced the phone. It was me against four snotty kids in blue shirts. They were quite rude about it but I didn't raise a stink about it since they agreed to replace the phone.

NickDG · 10/06/2009, 05:16 PM

So this is funny.

I went to the Sprint store out here by my work to see about getting my Pre replaced because of the crack that is spreading at the USB port and the crack at the bottom near the mic hole. Turns out they aren't a repair store so I couldn't get it looked at there, but there was a Palm rep there, and get this, his Pre had the SAME USB crack. LOL

It would have been perfect if they were a repair shop. No way to blame it on wear and tear with a Palm employee there with the same exact problem!

I am headed to a Sprint store by my home which is a repair center after work to try again.

startagl · 10/15/2009, 09:43 AM

I have the same crack, but it then spread downward and created a small triangle by the usb port. The triangle than fell out. I now have a hole in my phone that has exposed components.

I called Palm and they gave me a ticket number. The Palm rep told me to go to a Sprint repair center and if they said it was not damaged due to my fault than it would be covered.

At the Sprint repair center, yes I saw the gimme 5 posters, the tech said basically he could not replace it because it was not a known issue. The crack in the screen by the bottom center button is known but the crack by the usb port is not known. Until it is known he can not replace the phone.

(not screaming just making a point) WE NEED TO GET SPRINT/PALM TO ADMIT THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE. I think in conjunction with typing on these forums each one of us needs to call Sprint and Palm and tell them about out our cracks (he he).

As a side note: I did get a new phone. I hope it does not crack again. And the Sprint tech told me on a different phone and different company (not Palm). They were getting tremendous returns for the same problem and it wasnt until the phone wasnt even sold anymore that Sprint and the manufacture admitted that is was a known issue.

Felipe · 11/17/2009, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by startagl

I have the same crack, but it then spread downward and created a small triangle by the usb port. The triangle than fell out. I now have a hole in my phone that has exposed components.

I called Palm and they gave me a ticket number. The Palm rep told me to go to a Sprint repair center and if they said it was not damaged due to my fault than it would be covered.

At the Sprint repair center, yes I saw the gimme 5 posters, the tech said basically he could not replace it because it was not a known issue. The crack in the screen by the bottom center button is known but the crack by the usb port is not known. Until it is known he can not replace the phone.

(not screaming just making a point) WE NEED TO GET SPRINT/PALM TO ADMIT THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE. I think in conjunction with typing on these forums each one of us needs to call Sprint and Palm and tell them about out our cracks (he he).

As a side note: I did get a new phone. I hope it does not crack again. And the Sprint tech told me on a different phone and different company (not Palm). They were getting tremendous returns for the same problem and it wasnt until the phone wasnt even sold anymore that Sprint and the manufacture admitted that is was a known issue.

the sprint rep said excatly the same thing. i got a feeling they got a memo.

my crack started sat and today looks like this.

Darth Mo · 11/17/2009, 02:16 AM

I attached a photo that illustrates the amount of stress connecting the charging/USB cable to the Pre USB port. I'm on my second Pre, but because of an unrelated issue. I've used the same cable since launch day.

There is so much torque placed on the connection that it literally busted the insulation jacket of my Palm supplied USB cable. The damage popped up maybe a week ago. Stands to reason that some may have unfortunately had this force transferred to the Pre resulting in the crack below the port.

I don't do anything unusual with the cable, the phone usually sits on a desk charging.

bipoler · 11/17/2009, 04:11 PM

This hardware needs MAJOR revamping! obviously a rushed product

hockey4life0099 · 11/17/2009, 04:35 PM

no, not your fault. thats complete BS. mine has it at the exact same spot and ive heard of many others doing the same thing. id go back and try a different rep. im actually trying to get a replacement right now too.

Spader · 11/17/2009, 04:55 PM

I have an almost identical crack, maybe just a little smaller... to be fair, the first time I noticed the crack was a few minutes after the third or fourth time I dropped it.

Phantasmn · 11/17/2009, 05:05 PM

I can honestly say no because my pre just recently got a crack in the exact same spot. Something is wrong with the USB port door.

furreverdad · 11/17/2009, 06:17 PM

I have the exact same crack on my Pre, which I got the day they came out. I sure hope this thing lasts for a year. I'm only about five months into it so far. Geez.

rposa · 11/18/2009, 10:38 AM

Sprint warranty replaced mine for 1) USB crack and 2) The little chrome piece where your ear goes to listen to a phone call, halfway came off.

The new one is recondition date 11/4/2009 with a warranty date of 8/19/2009.

Oh, and the reconditioned phone is nearly perfect! The USB door isn't quite ... flush, as it should be. But the slider is great, the keyboard is perfect, the screen is gorgeous. I'm keeping it.

Put an invisible shield on it last night (what a pain in the butt!), then the snap on case. <3 my phone.