I recently sent in a V551 to Cingular Wireless for warranty work - the phone had NOT been dropped, or exposed to water, ever. When they received my phone, they told me the phone had water damage and charged me $225 for the phone due to "Water Damage". I lived in Alabama (VERY high humidity) when I bought the phone, and I worked outside most of the day. However, the phone had acted like this since day 1, but had gotten worse over my ownership. It NEVER worked as well as the day I bought it. When I called Cingular Warranty, the representitive on the other end of the phone consistently "Hinted" to me that they would probably find something wrong to void my warranty, and tried to persuade me to file an insurance claim for a damaged handset. (Before I sent it in) Has anyone else had warranty claims declined for damage they did not do? I am trying to get enough complaints together to file a class action.
Thanks
Caleb
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Samsung Posts: 3141
Phone Model: Motorola RAZR2 V8
Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:49 am
The water damage indicators on the moto phones are extremely sensitive, they can change from white (no water damage) to red (water damaged) just by going from warm to cold temp or visa versa. If you live someone where that has very high humidity and you go into your home that has AC there is a good chance this is what caused the problem.
And I don't think your warranty is covered by Cingular. That sounds like a Motorola issue. They're the ones that offer the one year warranty. I would hunt around on their web site for a authorized repair center, before I'd pay Cingular $225.
TexasCSR Posts: 327
Phone Model: V600, V551, Nokia 6820
Service Provider: AT&T/Cingular/T mobile
Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:46 pm
Cingular offers a program that makes things a little easier to deal with Mfr. warranties.
Exchange By Mail is a service/feature by Cingular that allows you to make a call into that dept., explain the situation and we can send you out a replacement and have you send the defective phone back. It aides in having to wait to send your phone in, be without a phone and wait to get the phone back from Moto.
It's just a convenience we offer. I'd suggest you contact Moto directly to get the warranty issue sorted.
Robyn Posts: 1
Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:32 pm
I bought a new Cingular 8125 PDA phone, and after owning it for about 8 weeks, I went to recharge it one night, and the charge port was loose. I never dropped it, always kept in case, etc...(I treat my PDAs/phones like my babies!). I went to Cingular, as I thought I had a one year manufacturer warrenty. Cingular told me they do not warranty the PDAs...so my service rep called HTC. This particular rep had worked as a Tech for Cingular for 2 years, and she told HTC there were no marks/damage on the phone, no water damage obvious, and the charge port looked fine, except for it being loose. It appeared as if the glue had come loose... They told her that "the charge port and antenna are NOT under warranty". They said it would cost ME (Cingular will not help), $220 to fix it (as they have to re-wire it). I have not been given replacement (I HAVE to get it fixed!). I asked Cingular Cust. Ser. if I could at least BUY their hw 6515 at upgrade price ($ 350) as an early upgrade- NO. There apparantly is NOTHING i can do except pay for the phone to get fixed. Any ideas of what I can do? I'm already out the $300 paid for the phone in the first place, and I"m not very keen to pay another $200+ for something that I am CERTAIN I had NOTHING to do with! Now, I have no phone, and NOBODY at Cingular will help me! Thanks for any advice
timmyjoe42 Posts: 179
Phone Model: Pearl 8120
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:16 am
You might be better off canceling your service, paying the early termination fee, and then sign back up again.
You could port your number to another provider, and then port it back to Cingular within the 2 week trial period and then get the new PDA at the discounted price, but after paying the early termination fee.
TimM Posts: 5
Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:35 am
Well isn't this nice to hear! I have had my 8125 for 8 mos. Went to plug in the supplied charger and the charging port on the bottom of the phone breaks off and is rattling around in the phone. So I thought, this isn't even a year old it should still be under warranty. I took it up to the local Cingular store, they gave me an 800# to call and I would have a new phone by Monday. Hey great!
I called the 800# and waited and waited and waited, finally got someone. They said,"Oh, thats a PDA phone. This is the phone replacement line, I'll have to transfer you."
Transfered, #17 in line, 20 min wait. 30 mins later i get someone. I explain what happened. Her immediate response was, "Oh, that sounds like physical damage, we don't cover physical damage." Also went on to tell me they never heard of this happening before, LIARS!
This phone is only 8 mos old. I didn't drop it, throw it ect, I just plugged it like I do everyday! Got transfered to someone else. Again with the, "it sounds like physical damage, not mauf defect." "Really?" I asked. "How could it not be possible that it's anything but a mauf defect? I didn't take a screw driver to it. I plugged it in like I'm suppose to and it broke off!"
The only thing they even offered to do was for me to give me HTC's number, I could send it to HTC and THEIR tech would make the determination. (OH, Yeah, I'm sure they would truthfull and honest about it too) and if it was determined to be physical damage then I would be billed $425 to repair it. And if I decided not to have it fixed, FUCK YOU, you don't get you phone back!? What kind of crap is this? Oh, and before he could give me the number, the call was dropped as usually happens with Cingular.
First of all, if I were to go to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Curcuit City, etc and bought a CD player, radio, TV, MP3 player, something that doesn't even require a 2 year commitment, and this happened they would either exchange it or fix it, most likely with no questions asked. I know Best Buy would because I've done it.
Secondly, If I took something that, lets say was out of warranty, to some where to get an estimate on repairs, I seriously doubt that if I decide not to have it fixed that they get to keep it! It's my phone, I bought it, I own it. what gives them the right to keep it?
Thirdly, Qwest, Verizon, T-Mobile all offer insurance on their version of the same phone, Cingular doesn't. Any ideas why?
So now I'm stuck with a broken $400 phone, Paying $100 a mos for another 16 mos for service I can't even use. I've had their service for 5-6 years, I've never been late on a bill, in fact usually pay 4-6 months in advance, And Cingular's response, We Really Could Care Less.
If it weren't for the fact that I'm on a family share plan with my girlfriend and she is the primary on the acct. I would stop paying the bill and go somewhere else in a heart beat. They could get their money when hell freezes over.
Shalalala Posts: 658
Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:59 pm
You seem to forget that CINGULAR DOES NOT INSURE ANY PHONE. We go through a company called Asurion, they determine eligibilty for phones. NOT US.
ALL PDAS ARE NON-INSURABLE.
Plus, reading you statement, only Cingular has the 8125. Qwest, t-Mobile, and Verzion do not have it. Do you think a company will insure a blackberry? NO!!!
You're SoL man.
elmo01 Posts: 2342
Phone Model: Samsung SPH-M510
Service Provider: Bell Canada
Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:49 am
TheManator wrote:
You seem to forget that CINGULAR DOES NOT INSURE ANY PHONE. We go through a company called Asurion, they determine eligibilty for phones. NOT US.
ALL PDAS ARE NON-INSURABLE.
Plus, reading you statement, only Cingular has the 8125. Qwest, t-Mobile, and Verzion do not have it. Do you think a company will insure a blackberry? NO!!!
You're SoL man.
as a note to this...my house insurance company will cover phones and PDA's as specified items... check there...be advised they do verify ESN's and IMEI's as applicable
TimM Posts: 5
Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:42 am
TheManator wrote:
You seem to forget that CINGULAR DOES NOT INSURE ANY PHONE. We go through a company called Asurion, they determine eligibilty for phones. NOT US.
ALL PDAS ARE NON-INSURABLE.
Plus, reading you statement, only Cingular has the 8125. Qwest, t-Mobile, and Verzion do not have it. Do you think a company will insure a blackberry? NO!!!
You're SoL man.
I'm not going to argue over who actually insures the fucking phone for crying out loud! when I bought the phone CINGULAR'S website offered insurance on phones, infact my girlfriend who's also on the account insured her Razr and when it was lost CINGULAR, or someone, replaced it. AND THEY STILL DO! Maybe you could go to CINGULAR'S web site and explain this?
http://www.cingular.com/learn/basics/choosing-features-services/wirele ss-insurance.jsp Isn't this CINGULAR offering insurance? and isn't that what I asked? "Thirdly, Qwest, Verizon, T-Mobile all offer insurance on their version of the same phone, Cingular doesn't. Any ideas why?" I didn't say that CINGULAR actually insured the phone did I?
I am well aware that the 8125 is not sold by other companys. I am also aware that all the other companys the same phone with a different badge. T-Mobile sells it as a MDA,Verizon XV6700, Qwest 6700Q. Unlike CINGULAR, Both Qwest and T-Mobile offer insurance on them. I don't know for sure about Verzion, I didn't ask. I believe if you go to T-Mobile's site you will see that the Asurion insures their phones also. So why can Asurion insure T-Mobile's MDA and not CINGULARS 8125? My guess would be because of known problems like the charging port breaking off!
That by no means excuses the bastards at Cingular for lying. They told me that they had never heard of this happening, but according to people at http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main~unit~Cingular_8125-559~area~repairs~ item~REP-USBCON01.htm This happens all the time! If you look at their website you'll see that repairing the USB port is one of only three services they offer for the 8125. I find it very hard to believe that CINGULAR never heard of this happening. You are tellling me of all the people this has happened to, the phone hasn't been out for a year yet, none of them bothered to call CINGULAR and complain about it? Who are you trying to kid?!
Above all its wrong. You can argue or lie to me all you want, but when you use something as it is intended you should worry about it breaking in 8 months, period. Like I said, I didn't drop it, it didn't get wet, it didn't get abused. It got used as it was intended to be used and it broke. I plugged the supplied cord in to charge the phone and it broke. If it did break within a year you would expect it to be warranteed.
I find it very interesting that you felt it was necessary to respond to who actually does the insuring but you didn't think it was necessary to respond to my statement "First of all, if I were to go to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Curcuit City, etc and bought a CD player, radio, TV, MP3 player, something that doesn't even require a 2 year commitment, and this happened they would either exchange it or fix it, most likely with no questions asked. I know Best Buy would because I've done it" Why is that? And isn't that what this is about? Not insurance, or who does tha actual insuring but warrantee?
What I am complaining about is not that CINGULAR isn't willing to insure the phone it's that CINGULAR is not warranteeing the phone. It's only 8 months old, and Robyn's was only 8 weeks old. It is a known problem with this phone and no matter how much CINGULAR wants to lie about it, they do know about it and they refuse to fix it.
I have had CINGULAR for 5-6 years along with my girlfriend. She is a teacher/masters student and I am self employed. We usally pay CINGULAR, along with all our bills months in advance. Currently we have a $300 credit with them. We been nothing but good customers to CINGULAR, in return this is how we get treated. You asshole comment of "You're SoL man." surely proves what type of people work for CINGULAR.
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