The launch and early customer support of the Google’s Nexus One phone, manufactured by HTC, has been a bit problematic. But let’s try some optimism! Maybe now that the early hype has died down and HTC has had some time to get used to the situation, warranty replacements will take place in a timely fashion! Or…well, as reader Michael writes, evidently not. Update: Thanks to this post, Michael’s new phone is on its way.

I got a Nexus One at launch, and my experience was great for the first
couple of weeks. Google is great, and Android is fantastic, but my
experience with HTC over the last two weeks has been among the worst
customer service I have ever received.

On January 23, my touchscreen started having issues. When the phone
was on for more than a minute or so, it would register touches where
they weren’t, even when I wasn’t touching it. If I tried to touch
backspace, it would start typing spaces and Rs repeatedly, for
instance. Sleeping the phone and waking it would fix it for a few
seconds, but then it would go right back. It didn’t matter how I held
it or how much pressure I applied. I did a factory reset, and that
didn’t fix the problem; it took me quite a while to enter in my Google
account information to resync it with the keyboard going haywire.

So, on January 24, I called HTC for warranty support. I wasn’t on
hold for long at all, and the CSR seemed very helpful. My first
impressions were very positive. I was theirs to lose. So they
promptly went about losing me.

Since I need the phone for work, and couldn’t be without it for too
long, I elected to get a new phone sent to me, and I’d send the old
one back. This required a credit card from me, in case I didn’t send
in this nonworking one. Fine, no problem. I gave them my address and
credit card information. The CSR told me that the new phone would
ship two-day, within 48 hours, and I’d be given a tracking number as
soon as it was sent out. No problem; I don’t need text messaging for
work, and as long as I have that few-second window of touchscreen use,
I can make calls, so I’ll be all right for the next few days.

One week goes by, and I hear nothing. The touchscreen gets gradually
worse, failing just about as soon as I can slide to unlock. I can
still dial with the trackball, so it’s still useful as a phone, but
since the Back button is part of the touchscreen, it can be almost
impossible to even get out of menus. If I sleep it, then wake up and
quickly slide and press back, I can go back one screen… sometimes.

I emailed them again on January 31 (a Sunday), asking if I could get
my tracking number. I get an email the next day (Feb. 1, Monday)
saying that there’s something wrong, but the customer service
department doesn’t know what, and I should call the RMA department to
find out. I call them, and am told that the last four digits of my
credit card number didn’t save in my file, so they need it again. Why
they didn’t call me immediately to tell me this, I don’t know. I give
it. I then get a call at 5:40 (after close of business, of course)
saying that it STILL didn’t save, and they need it again. I give it,
and ask when I’ll get my new phone. They say, once again, that it’ll
go out soon, and I’ll get a tracking number as soon as it goes out.
For some reason, I still believe them.

Wednesday morning, February 3, I call and ask what’s up. They say
that my address didn’t save in their system, and they need it again.
I give it. They call back an hour later, saying that it STILL didn’t
save, and they need it again. I give it. They say that it will
definitely go out that day, no problem, and I’ll have the phone by
Friday. I then called back towards the end of the day, with no
tracking number, and say that I need the replacement shipped
overnight. My touchscreen is now all but useless; most of the time, I
can’t even slide it to unlock. Tim, the escalation supervisor, says
that if it didn’t go out that day, it would the next, and I would
definitely have a tracking number by noon the next day.

That brings us to today. I called at noon, asking where my tracking
number was. After waiting on hold for several minutes, I was told
that Tim was “on it,” and it will go out “today or tomorrow,” two-day
shipped, so I should have it by Monday. I no longer believe them. My
phone does not work. I’m paying T-Mobile for service that I cannot
use. I called in the problem a week and a half ago. I need this
phone for work, and I don’t have it. HTC doesn’t seem to care. They
already have my money; why bother?

Rumor has it that Google is staffing up to provide support themselves.
If anyone is planning on getting a Nexus One, I highly – HIGHLY –
recommend waiting for this. I’ve recommended the Nexus One to many of
my friends, but now I’m going to ask those in the two-week window to
return them while they can. I hope Google goes with a better
manufacturer for their next phone.

Depends. How’s Motorola’s warranty support?

Consumerist has contacted HTC about Michael’s situation specifically and Nexus One warranty returns in general. We’ll let you know what they have to say.

Update: We heard back from HTC’s PR firm. The issue with Michael’s replacement phone was resolved, and they’ve overnighted a new handset to him. Great news! Thanks for the quick response, Waggener Edstrom and HTC!

Now maybe they can help all of the other customers experiencing the exact same problem, too.

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