Yeah, We've NEVER Heard That One...

[Myra]

It happened again. Guy came in, his phone keeps shutting off. Phone repair guy opens it up. There is something sticky on the inside of the phone, like dried soda or something. So one of the moisture indicators have turned from white to red. Upon being shown the damage, the customer simply states. "I have NEVER spilled anything on it. It's only ever on my hip or on my dresser at home, and I never spill anything on my dresser. What can we do to get me a new phone?"



Well, the moisture damage didn't get there by magic. How does anybody look at the damage that the Tech SHOWED him, and deny it? It doesn't matter how long I've been here, I'll never understand that logic.

Edited to add: Ha. Guy finally admitted that his girlfriend spilled soda on the phone. I love how when their bluff doesn't work, the truth comes out.

[HALFHUMANHALFZOMBIE]

Yeah..

Customers do lie in some circumstances I guess. That's why we must verify what we do. Even at the courtesy desk they lie about having gas in the Lawnmower.

[myswtghst]

We get the same issues all the time. We ask before we approve a repair/replacement request if there is any liquid, lightning, smoke, burn or physical damage, knowing that any and all of those are pretty easy things to spot. People always say no, then pitch a fit if they're told or charged otherwise.

Our repair depot does not make it up. If the unit reeks of smoke, is blackened, dented or cracked, has obvious surge damage or is dripping, we're going to know you lied.

Just drives me nuts because these customers always call the CSM, who doesn't undestand that it will take more than 10 minutes (more like two weeks) to track down the documentation from the depot, and that we don't always take pictures of said damage just for the customer who lied to us.

[Becks]

Technically, he told the truth. HE didn't spill anything. His girlfriend did.


I'll be going away now.

[powerboy]

Actually, it can happen. One of my old phones did that. I was wearing on my hip, and suddenly it had stopped working. I love that phone, the speaker was clear on it, I could hear everything that was said.

[JuniorMintz]

Actually, it can happen. One of my old phones did that. I was wearing on my hip, and suddenly it had stopped working.

...except he finally admitted that he had been lying about there being a spill?

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I paid for the insurance for my phone. I spilled an entire 2-liter bottle of soda onto it (dropped both and the soda bottle split open). At first I was told that nothing could be done. I mentioned that I had the insurance which covers all damaged lost or stolen phones. Paperwork was thrown out, tech got our hammer and smashed the phone then tossed it into the trash. New paperwork was filled out and the phone was marked stolen. Paid my $20 deductible and got a brand new phone.

M

[protege]

I have insurance on my phone...simply because with my luck, I just *knew* something was going to happen to it

This was proven as I was driving Grandma home one night...and swerved to avoid hitting a deer on the highway. At 70mph Needless to say, the phone was sitting in the car's cupholder...and Grandma's coffee tipped onto said phone. The phone still worked for another day, but suddenly quit.

Did I rant about it? Nope. Talked with the people at the V-store and ordered a brand new one. Total cost? About $50. Trust me, I would have rather spent that $50...than the nearly $200 my phone cost new!

[CherryB]

Customers do lie in some circumstances I guess

You are young grasshopper and not wise in the ways of the world yet. Soon, you will learn that customers do indeed lie in ALL cicumstances. Very soon you will be as jaded as the rest of us. lol

[Kara]

This is part of my daily routine. Customers know that if their device is damaged it can't be replaced. So they think that since I am not physically standing next to them, if they tell me there is no damage then they won't be penalized when then technician opens the box at our service center and gazes upon the destroyed remains of what used to be a handset.

Then the battle begins. They swear that the device couldn't possibly have been damaged, that our technician was wrong or that we just arbitrarily charge fees to make money. Uh, let's see, we sold you a $300 piece of equipment for $50, then you broke it and we sent you another one at no cost. The one you sent us couldn't be repaired, so we had to buy another one from the manufacturer for $300. We charged you $100 for voiding the warranty. I still don't see how we gain from this transaction.

Liquid damage is the hardest one to fight. The customer may not be lying when they say the liquid damage indicator is white (although most probably are). If the indicator itself doesn't get wet, but the guts get wet enough to cause damage, the fee will still be charged. Doesn't matter what color the thing is, when the technician opens it up and sees the tell-tale burns on the circuit boards where they shorted out, it's time to pay the man.

The thing people don't realize is that you don't have to SPILL something on the phone to make it "liquid" damage. Sometimes people admit to using it the rain (duh). One girl told me she left it on her bathroom counter while showering every day. She said she left the door closed, so I let her know about the wonders of this little thing called "steam."

My favorite liquid damage dispute of all time was this girl who was screaming at me because she didn't get her phone wet.

ME: Well, our technician did find evidence of liquid damage and so the fee was charged. It had to have gotten wet somewhere.
SC: Well, my brother had it when he went out on a boat with my dad and he was screwing around and fell in the lake. He had it in his pocket.
ME: So, then you knew the device was damaged when you told us it wasn't, and you know the fee is valid.
SC: But, it wasn't my fault!
ME: Granted, your brother had it on him when he fell in the lake, but you gave it to him in the first place. How is that not your fault?
SC: But.. it.. I... It's not faaaaaiiiiiir!

[Max]

Paperwork was thrown out, tech got our hammer and smashed the phone then tossed it into the trash.

I don't know why, but this made me so happy. I would love to have a job smashing phones. I guess I have a lot of cell phone rage.

[protege]

I would love to have a job smashing phones.

Part of my job involves disposing of 'retired' office equipment. That is, I get my pick of the computer equipment--printers, CPUs, etc. Usually, whatever I can fix, I'll donate to charity, or use myself. However, if it's something that I've fixed for the 52nd time, or has no salvageable parts, it usually meets its fate with the hammer!

Just the other night, I took a 40-pound fence maul to one of my scrap computers. This thing was junk--Pentium II, tiny hard drive, etc. All of the electronic gear was removed, and I beat the hell out of the case. Trust me, it felt freaking great--there's nothing like messing around with a POS at work...and then coming home and beating the ever living shit out of something. Right now, that case is rusting away on my back patio. I'd toss it, but my goal is to turn it into a tiny cube

[RentalRacer]

Just the other night, I took a 40-pound fence maul to one of my scrap computers. This thing was junk--Pentium II, tiny hard drive, etc. All of the electronic gear was removed, and I beat the hell out of the case. Trust me, it felt freaking great--there's nothing like messing around with a POS at work...and then coming home and beating the ever living shit out of something. Right now, that case is rusting away on my back patio. I'd toss it, but my goal is to turn it into a tiny cube

I hope the song "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangster" was playing in the background.

Now I have to go find my stapler.

[Jack7957]

Part of my job involves disposing of 'retired' office equipment. That is, I get my pick of the computer equipment--printers, CPUs, etc. Usually, whatever I can fix, I'll donate to charity, or use myself. However, if it's something that I've fixed for the 52nd time, or has no salvageable parts, it usually meets its fate with the hammer!

Just the other night, I took a 40-pound fence maul to one of my scrap computers. This thing was junk--Pentium II, tiny hard drive, etc. All of the electronic gear was removed, and I beat the hell out of the case. Trust me, it felt freaking great--there's nothing like messing around with a POS at work...and then coming home and beating the ever living shit out of something. Right now, that case is rusting away on my back patio. I'd toss it, but my goal is to turn it into a tiny cube

Just today I was at a job at a hospital where the maintance dept was disposing of some old equipment into a large dumpster on the opposite side of the parking lot from the loading dock. What they had been doing was loading everything into a truck, driving over to the dumpster and unloading. Well, they had one thing, about the size of a large copier, that they couldn't get into the back of the pickup easily, and the pedestrian ramp down from the dock, has a hump in it, that this thing could not roll over. So I'm sitting in my van talking on the phone by the dumpster, and I can hear these guys talking about how are they going to get this down off the dock, when I hear the Facilities Manger say "like this". Next thing I hear is a loud crash. Turns out he just pushed it off the edge of the dock onto the pavement below. Since the base with wheels stayed intact, they just righted it, then pushed it over to the dumpster.

[Jules Of All Trades]

When I worked in on-site tech support we'd get a lot of customers who denied having done any damage to their equipment. Some were honest - "I spilled coffee, soda, chemicals on it," or, "I accidentally ran over my laptop with my car (yep, really happened)".

I stopped by a customers' desk one day who was having issues. Before I could even ask she started denying having spilled anything on the keyboard, it just "stopped working". Ok, it happens, no problem. I disconnect the keyboard and head back to the office for a replacement. I'm holding the keyboard flat in both hands looking at it, to see if I can see a loose key or something. My cell phone rings so I let go of the keyboard with one hand and let it fall to my side so I can answer the phone. Next thing you know I've got lukewarm coffee running down my pants leg - at least half a cup worth. She finally owned up to spilling the coffee a few minutes later when I took back her replacement keyboard and showed her the lovely coffee-dyed pants I was wearing.