3 Weeks To Fix A Phone

[Binkie]

What a farce. I have a brand new Nokia N95. Great phone. Last week the front panel light stopped working. Off I go to Nokia Care like a good little consumer. Leave the phone with us and we will get back to you by the close of business today. No phone call.

Next day I call them. Have to check if a warranty issue, will call back later today. To cut a long story short one week down the line and they tell me they have to send the phone to Bangkok. I could have walked it there by this time.

3 days later I get a call. Your phone is in Bangkok and it will be fixed in one week. Remembaring that this is now day 10 of the fix my phone saga. By the way my mobile is vital to my business and this has been explained in my bestest and most politest Thai to the young man who has thus far totally failed to service me. 16 days to get me phone fixed terrible not even th offer of a phone to use in the meantime.

The piece de resistance, this morning I get a service message on the new N63 I bought to use in the meantime seeing as Nokia couldn't lend me a phone. Low and behold it is from Nokia Care, they are, by the way, fully aware that I am a round eye, it says in Thai that Nokia will hurry to repair my phone and I should have it back in no more that 3 weeks.

How can they have the Audacity to call their shop Nokia Care.

No offer of a replacement phone.

I have to chase them to get any answers.

And now it will be nearly 6 weeks before I get my phone back (in total).

Useles c*%$s.

Sorry but this is a word to the wise. If anyone has the brass neck to come back and tell me that this is a 3rd world country and make any excuses for the total lack of customer care and service then you are as big a c*%$ as Nokia.

There got that off my chest

[mikethevigoman]

What a farce. I have a brand new Nokia N95. Great phone. Last week the front panel light stopped working. Off I go to Nokia Care like a good little consumer. Leave the phone with us and we will get back to you by the close of business today. No phone call.

Next day I call them. Have to check if a warranty issue, will call back later today. To cut a long story short one week down the line and they tell me they have to send the phone to Bangkok. I could have walked it there by this time.

3 days later I get a call. Your phone is in Bangkok and it will be fixed in one week. Remembaring that this is now day 10 of the fix my phone saga. By the way my mobile is vital to my business and this has been explained in my bestest and most politest Thai to the young man who has thus far totally failed to service me. 16 days to get me phone fixed terrible not even th offer of a phone to use in the meantime.

The piece de resistance, this morning I get a service message on the new N63 I bought to use in the meantime seeing as Nokia couldn't lend me a phone. Low and behold it is from Nokia Care, they are, by the way, fully aware that I am a round eye, it says in Thai that Nokia will hurry to repair my phone and I should have it back in no more that 3 weeks.

How can they have the Audacity to call their shop Nokia Care.

No offer of a replacement phone.

I have to chase them to get any answers.

And now it will be nearly 6 weeks before I get my phone back (in total).

Useles c*%$s.

Sorry but this is a word to the wise. If anyone has the brass neck to come back and tell me that this is a 3rd world country and make any excuses for the total lack of customer care and service then you are as big a c*%$ as Nokia.

There got that off my chest

This is so common in thailand isnt it,i bought a new nokia n95i, after initial battery charge it kept switching off and going flat in about 30 minutes, i went back the very next day and was told, we will send to nokia for you, i said meanwhile what do i use as a phone ? ,he said sorry we do not have another, so i say ok i want a refund and ill buy a different phone elsewhere,he refused, .so i said ok im calling the tourist police to tel them you have sold me a dud phone, with that he goes walkabout and comes back with a new one, .i dont normally get mad in thailand but i was ready to ,.dont you find once they have had your money in thailand its on a one way ticket and customer service is non existant,. Edited September 15, 2007 by mikethevigoman

[patsfangr]

Guys, let me give you my calm, considered take on this "customer care" issue. I moved here from the USA in April of last year. I have been constantly frustrated and angered by the type of terrible service provided by most Thai businesses. I'm sure that, despite the points I'm about to make, I will fail to control my frustration and anger in all such cases when they recur, as they most definitely will!

At least it helps me somewhat, at least after the fact ;-), to give some thought to the logical reasons why this situation exists. It is not (all!) attributable to some combination of ignorance, stupidity, and disrespect; as seems to be the conclusion that we falangs are ready to leap to at the moment when such things occur. Think about one word: PACE. Think about the fact that life here, every aspect of life here, moves at a pace much, much slower that we are used to in the USA or Europe.

Why IS Thailand still a Third World country, when they have access to all of the technology created in the USA, Europe, and Japan? It is because their culture has still not accepted the fact that business must move at a breakneck speed to be competitive. Thai businesses, in the vast majority, can enjoy significant success ONLY in Thailand, serving Thais. The outside world will not put up with the snails pace at which they do things. They have the intelligence to understand modern technology. They simply do not have the cultural experience to understand the "need for speed" in conducting business.

That is the primary reason why we cannot get service in what we consider to be a timely manner. They simply do not understand the need for it. "Jai yen yen" is much more than an expression here. It truly is a way of life. I, for one, will never be able to fully adapt to such a laid back attitude toward everything in life. I truly regret that. Especially with my high blood pressure. :-)

But I will try, very, very, hard, to continually remind myself of it. Hopefully, it will keep that high blood pressure at a managable level, and prevent a stroke of volcanic proportions! :-)

Unfortunately for this country, as long as they are unable, or choose not to, adjust to a "western pace" of doing business, they have no hope of ever rising above the level of a Third World country. They will forever have a few very rich folk, and a nation full of dirt poor people, struggling to provide themselves with the basics for survival.

[colino]

i had a 3230 and the little joystick broke , so i took it to the nokia care centre and was told 5000 baht to replace the board and up to 3 weeks wait ( future rangsit) i walked out of there and went to one of the many phone stalls and asked them ,(3rd floor) the reply was 1000 baht come back in an hour,

[onzestan]

Of course the Nokia people don't care. They get their wages whether they work for it or not.

The small shopkeeper has to make a living. That's the difference.

It's the Thai attitude towards their employer, and the fact that nobody takes responsability or

pride in their job. Unfortunately the big companies don't seem to be able to address this.

My 2 cents

onzestan

[toptuan]

At least it helps me somewhat, at least after the fact ;-), to give some thought to the logical reasons why this situation exists. It is not (all!) attributable to some combination of ignorance, stupidity, and disrespect; as seems to be the conclusion that we falangs are ready to leap to at the moment when such things occur. Think about one word: PACE. Think about the fact that life here, every aspect of life here, moves at a pace much, much slower that we are used to in the USA or Europe.

Why IS Thailand still a Third World country, when they have access to all of the technology created in the USA, Europe, and Japan? It is because their culture has still not accepted the fact that business must move at a breakneck speed to be competitive. Thai businesses, in the vast majority, can enjoy significant success ONLY in Thailand, serving Thais. The outside world will not put up with the snails pace at which they do things. They have the intelligence to understand modern technology. They simply do not have the cultural experience to understand the "need for speed" in conducting business.

That is the primary reason why we cannot get service in what we consider to be a timely manner. They simply do not understand the need for it. "Jai yen yen" is much more than an expression here. It truly is a way of life. I, for one, will never be able to fully adapt to such a laid back attitude toward everything in life. I truly regret that. Especially with my high blood pressure. :-)

But I will try, very, very, hard, to continually remind myself of it. Hopefully, it will keep that high blood pressure at a managable level, and prevent a stroke of volcanic proportions! :-)

Unfortunately for this country, as long as they are unable, or choose not to, adjust to a "western pace" of doing business, they have no hope of ever rising above the level of a Third World country. They will forever have a few very rich folk, and a nation full of dirt poor people, struggling to provide themselves with the basics for survival.

One of the best summaries I've read on why things are so slow, here. Early on, I tried dabbling in export with a Thai partner, but constantly ran into this brick wall of "the slow pace." We couldn't keep good customers (in the West) satisfied with the slow pace of business here. So, things folded rather quickly.

As a consumer in Thailand, I thought I could beat the "system," by buying a well-known American brand of an appliance at a major store. It had a comprehensive 5-year warranty. "Aha!" turned into "OMG!" as I hassled with the subsequent customer service. (The whole ugly story is here).

I love living in Thailand, and this is just one of the cultural aspects I've had to accept and adjust to, in order to keep from inducing a stroke or heart-attack. I've adjusted about 80%, but there are still those occasional customer-service-lapses that still send me muttering to myself.

Edited September 15, 2007 by toptuan

[Jimmyd]

Took 2 months to fix my phone at Nokia Could Care Less.

You would think there was a way to complain to the head office in Europe, but I couldn't find it.

[chuckd]

I guess this post will mark me as a "useless c*%$"in the eyes of many, but my experience with Nokia has been exactly the opposite.

My wife has an N-73 which developed a microphone problem. You couldn't hear her talk....which was a blessing in itself, but that's another story.

We took it to the Nokia Center on Sukhumvit near Central Road, the young lady was professional in handling the claim, bagged everything up (sim card, phone cover, etc.) and said it would be ready in two days. My wife had explained we were traveling internationally in three days.

The next day, we received a call the phone was ready for pickup. I went down with the claim check and the little bag of goodies and was happily driving away in 15 minutes.

I should state my wife handled all negotiations and I merely stood around with this stupidly blank expression on my face. I have found that most Thais dismiss farangs as something less than human and if you act as though you have forfeited your right to think and let the Thai wife negotiate things, they always seem to go better.

I only get involved, loud and abusive if things do not go well, such as any dealing with Bank of Ayudhya.

Happily, Nokia Service Center performed for us. Sorry you didn't have the same pleasant experience.

Signed: Useless C*%$

[geriatrickid]

Why is this a "Thailand" problem? You can substitute Sony, LG, Samsung, Siemens or any other manufacturer when it comes to warranty repairs. The Nokia shop has to go by the warranty contract and those conditions are set by head office. If the product is defective and has to be replaced, which is usually the case, it has to be accounted for. The Thai distributor doesn't set the warranty conditions. The distributor merely serves as the sales agent and the local service representative.

It's not just Thailand. If you drove a Mercedes over the past few years, you'd be screaming for the testicles to be ripped off of every german auto worker. Mercedes had one defect after another and was hardly impressive with warranty service. The JD Power ratings speak to that.

The reality is that the quality is not in the products anymore.

I am sorry for your headaches as I have lived it many times, usually with products originating from China or India. I think everyone in TV has similar experiences and would dearly love to take your defective product and shove it down the throat of the manufacturer's shareholders that demand higher profits at the expense of diminished quality.

[CGW]

I had a similar problem with Motorola, new phone, put on charge overnight - thinking that would bring it to life, still dead, took back to shop, no problem sir we will send it back for you, see you in three weeks!!!!

Yeh - right, sometimes you have to get "annoyed' I came out with a new phone and no friends in that shop!

Cheers

Edited September 15, 2007 by CGW

[tropo]

Sorry but this is a word to the wise. If anyone has the brass neck to come back and tell me that this is a 3rd world country and make any excuses for the total lack of customer care and service then you are as big a c*%$ as Nokia.

Count your blessings that in Thailand you have any customer care service at all on Nokia phones.

In the Philippines there is a one week (sometimes none) warranty on new Nokia phones, and after that you're on you own.

I once had a brand new Nokia phone stop working on the 9th day after I bought it. A total loss.

Thailand is not as 3rd world as many of you think, and it's probably the reason why so many are here complaining about it.

Edited September 16, 2007 by tropo