Slide off the rails

[dlwhtrose]

This is clearly a case of an abused phone, not a defective product. Why should Motorola have to pay for the foolish actions of end users? You admit that sticker residue got in the tracks. Please learn from your mistake. Calling this a "know (sic) issue" is wrong. If you had removed the sticker from the start, you wouldn't have a broken phone.

Sorry, you'll get no sympathy from me. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions anymore.... it's always someone else's fault.

Also, since you're so convinced that the repair is easy, why not try it yourself?

Could you be anymore of a Jerk????? I have had my Droid since release and no where, I repeat NO WHERE does it say that sticker should be removed. There are NO pull tabs on it. It is there to keep the slider tight. I still have mine attached. Some have decided to remove it and there is even a guy that is making replacements to change the look of the Droid. You should (as we all should) try to have a little more patience with noobs. The OP did everything right with their Droid and Verizon's employees are the ones that screwed them.

To the OP, call Verizon and get to a supervisor. Explain your situation. If that supervisor does not do anything, climb to the next level. I am certain that you will get this resolved and have a new phone. Its just going to take a little effort on your part.

 

[JCo352]

Well I must have no common sense, because the clear sticker is still there on my Droid. But hey, ignorance is bliss, right?

 

[Droids]

I have had my Droid since release and no where, I repeat NO WHERE does it say that sticker should be removed. There are NO pull tabs on it. It is there to keep the slider tight. I still have mine attached. Some have decided to remove it and there is even a guy that is making replacements to change the look of the Droid. You should (as we all should) try to have a little more patience with noobs. The OP did everything right with their Droid and Verizon's employees are the ones that screwed them.

To the OP, call Verizon and get to a supervisor. Explain your situation. If that supervisor does not do anything, climb to the next level. I am certain that you will get this resolved and have a new phone. Its just going to take a little effort on your part.

^^^^^ Yes to everything said here. I still have the plastic on (close to 6 months now), and I've never heard of anyone stating they had a pull tab. There is no pull tab. The phone is probably fine with or without the plastic.

The first Verizon store employee screwed the OP, not necessarily corporate Verizon, and certainly not Motorola. Defects happen, and Verizon should take care of this under the included one year Motorola hardware warranty at no charge.

 

[pyro6128]

I think if you've purchased electronics before, you should know that youre supposed to remove protective film that comes on the item. How many people still have a plastic film on their tv screen? I know i don't. Its common sense

that being said, verizon prob should have just replaced it

 

[gatecitycanes]

Wow, I feel like a total dummy. I had no idea there was anything on the back of the screen until I saw this thread. I've been sliding my screen up and down like a mad man not knowing that I was tempting fate.

I've just now taken it off. It doesn't feel any different, but it looks nicer back there now.

 

[gonnadie4thegov]

I thought that and was told by my friend who is an actual informed and not [Edited by FoxKat for content] verizon rep it was there to keep the back of the phone from getting scratched up from sliding. My original droids fell off and the back did have marks then from sliding. My current one ive had since dec, it lives in my nice warm pocket and i have no problems and i don't plan to remove it.

I bet what happened was with the way the OP seemed in their post that they prob went in there with a bad attitude and caused the rep/tech to give them the outcome they got. Ive been in retail for 7+ years and you come to me with a bad attitude demanding everything and badmouthing me and my company, then you are going to get to worst outcome that i can do.

I ALWAYS look at it like this, no one is perfect, so why do we think that everything made by us should be perfect? Its impossible.

Id say call verizon corporate up explain it to them, if the rep cant help you or tells you the same outcome, just ask to speak to their manager or supervisor. And just keep your cool.

 

[dlwhtrose]

I think if you've purchased electronics before, you should know that youre supposed to remove protective film that comes on the item. How many people still have a plastic film on their tv screen? I know i don't. Its common sense

that being said, verizon prob should have just replaced it

I do not believe this was a protective film that should have come off. ALL of my electronics that have protective film (this one included) had pull tabs on the film that was to be removed as well as it was referenced in the manual. This film does protect the slider but it is not necessary to remove it. It is an option only.

Bottom line, the Verizon reps dropped the ball on this one (not that I am surprised by the Verizon people). The phone should be replaced.

 

[FootballRef]

Now, i didnt read the manual thoroughly, but does it say to take the clear sticker off the back of the droid?

I'm not sure if it is in the manual... but the sticker in question has a pull tab to remove it. Really, how obvious does it have to be before common sense kicks in?

I know several people with Droid's. Nearly all of us knew nothing about the clear sticker on the back for several days of getting the phone. This sticker is in an odd location.

I guess everyone is just not as smart as you.

 

[ClaudioKilgannon]

I bet what happened was with the way the OP seemed in their post that they prob went in there with a bad attitude and caused the rep/tech to give them the outcome they got. Ive been in retail for 7+ years and you come to me with a bad attitude demanding everything and badmouthing me and my company, then you are going to get to worst outcome that i can do.

I agree with you there having worked in retail myself. Just because you're pissed about something, don't take it out on the workers. They have to deal with other people besides you. Should they have replaced it? Yes it was a defect. Am I saying the OP went in there all pissed off? No I hope they went in there calmly and after their ordeal was pissed. Give the workers some credit, they are not all retards like the attitude of some people around here think. Just remember, there is problem someone who has the same attitude about you where you work so be careful how you talk about people. Oh and as seems the way around here to make everything better:
:icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana::icon_ banana:

 

[brucin]

This thread made me check out the back of the screen on my droid and there was the ratty looking plastic film. I've had the phone since November. I removed it and the slider is working much smoother now.

I'm really surprised at myself on this one. I have many electronic devices and I usually remove all the packing plastic ASAP. This one is very hard to spot.

 

[mirdreams]

I agree that going in with a bad attitude is going to get you bad service, since customer service reps and techs are people just like the rest of us and will respond to aggression, consciously or not. I initially went in with a "isn't it bizarre that this happened" attitude and a smile because I fully expected that they'd take one look at what happened and either put the phone back together for me or give me a new phone (which is exactly what happened when my husband's old Blackberry Pearl stopped charging because of a defective USB port after he'd already had it for over a year). Since the phone was only six weeks old and because their rep had left the sticker on when he removed the others, I really was not expecting to be blamed for the damage and did not go in with a defensive attitude. It was only after I found that that they had no authority (and it is a Verizon owned store, not an authorized reseller) to make it right that I got frustrated. After three store visits and two long, hold ridden phone calls to both Verizon and Motorola I decided my time was worth the $90 deducible and caved on filing the insurance claim, which is what the first tech suggested before even touching the phone. My new/refurbished Droid is on the way to me now.

It should not be this hard to get decent customer service. If there is a known defect (ie sliders become loose) the burden of proof should not be on the user when that defect is exacerbated to its logical conclusion (ie the slider comes off the rails). I posted this less because I thought people should stop buying Droids (though I stand by the fact that my family will not be purchasing another Motorola product and that we will be switching to a different carrier as soon as possible) and more because I wanted people to know that if their sliders start becoming loose they need to get the problem addressed immediately so that they don't end up in the same situation.

Conversely Sony has a lifetime customer in me because when the image engine on our long out of warranty HDTV started failing they sent out someone to repair it, because they'd had a lot of bad image engines in our model. That's what I meant about standing by their product.

At the very least Motorola should have system in place for them to determine if something was caused by misuse or abuse of the phone, rather than assuming that there is no way the phone could end up in two pieces except by misuse. I was told by the manager at the first store that they could not make that determination as soon as the phone was in two pieces because of how the Motorola warranty worked. The people actually looking at the phone should either be authorized to make that call or Motorola should have a procedure in place so you can send your phone back for inspection, rather than being told by their phone rep to lie about why you're sending it back, include a note explaining what happened and hope they don't then call you requiring a credit card authorization to proceed (or presumably to give you your phone back). I'm done with it. If my new Droid has slider issues I'll address it immediately and when my contract's up I'll be looking for both a new phone and a new provider.

 

[neccoguy21]

I took mine off day one. As other people have stated, the manufacturer wouldn't put a protective film on something and mean for it to be left on by the end user. If the area in question was meant to be protected, they would sell the protector to you for a profit. My friend had an earlier gen. model (i have flat keys on my keyboard, his were raised) and he still had his film on. i noticed his slide action wasn't as smooth as mine was. I asked what-the-dileo, he said nothing was wrong. took a look and saw he left the film on, which was starting to peel, tear, and even shred near where the tracks are. YES IT WAS SHREDDING! Not good for intimate pieces of machinery. I immediately ripped it off, at which point he went "Hey! Why'd you..... Oh. That slides hella better... Thanks!". I'm not saying the Original Poster is wrong about getting a new phone. Yes, Verizon should have replaced it. Yes, mall stores suck ass and shouldn't give those teenage idiots the ability to tag anyone's phone as broken beyond repair. Verizon (IMO) has some of the best customer service I have ever dealt with, Corp. stores and the 800 number. They Prorated my bill one time for over $1400 because I was unclear of the billing plan i was on (meaning they pretended like I had a different plan for the whole month). I thought I had the unlimited plan but was racking up texts and over minutes like a freak. They apologized (THEY did!) and erased the whole thing for the month. $1550 bill down to $110. Just like that. I also blew through 4 LG Voyagers (GOD I HATE THAT PHONE!) within 8 months and it was replaced every time for free with the exception of the very first one which had to go through insurance for reasons I as an understanding individual couldn't argue with. 2 of them were even completely my fault. Just a couple weeks ago is when the VZ rep took her time to explain the upgrades and rates available to me and my family on our plan, and that's when my initial idea of one Palm Pre Plus and one Droid (along with the never used 3rd line that came with another family share plan) got transformed into one Droid, and TWO Palm Pre Pluses for only $10 more a month! I now have my own Palm Pre Plus that doubles as a second line in case of emergencies and more importantly is now my very own mobile hot spot; a feature I was sad the droid lacked. The way she worked it all out was the hard way. She could have easily set everything up the quick way, in which case I'm sure the set up i have going right now would have at least doubled in price. And it certainly would have cost a FORTUNE in hardware. Got both Palms free and the Droid for $99. This post really just turned into an "I love Verizon" rant... So ANYWAY, If I ever had a round about way of saying something... Back to my original point... Everyone do yourselves a favor and remove the film on the back of your droid. You can wipe the back clean just as you can the front and make it all pretty again; the very reason I'm sure you're all leaving it on for. I highly doubt Motorola did stress tests with the film that was meant to be removed anyway. Point finally made? k....dancedroid(I love my droid)

 

[Droids]

I do believe this is the first time I've heard of a Moto Droid coming apart like that. Motorola will in fact service it for you for a $75.00 flat rate if you're willing to ship it to them. I think the first store did you wrong but I still wouldn't give up on the carrier or the manufacturer. Verizon is still the best provider and Moto (lately at least) is making some fine products, and they have some very nice phones still coming out this year. That doesn't help this situation but something to consider before jumping to AT&T where you may be even more frustrated.

I still think the plastic is meant to stay there to keep the slider from marring the metal surfaces. One thing to keep in mind, don't let the Verizon store employees install anything on your phone. Don't let them activate if you can help it. Don't let them anywhere near your new phone if you can help it. I have my own horror story about an absolutely clueless store rep. And don't believe anything they tell you. Ever.