AT&T Not honoring warranty
 

Alright so here is my issue, I would like to have some input from the community to figure out if AT&T even has the right to do what they are stating.

I purchased a blackberry curve 8320 back in December of 2008. I had so many issues with the device in terms of keyboard/buttons not responding that AT&T replaced the device with the Blackberry bold 9000.

I have continued to have issues with the device and have continued to exchange it via warranty without issue. (please note that even though the initial warranty only lasts 1 year, every time a phone is exchanged via the warranty department there is a 90 day warranty that comes with the replacement.

Recently I have been having a plethora of dropped calls/failed to initiate calls, after troubleshooting the ATT rep said it had to do with the phone and so I contacted the warranty department to get an exchange. I was told that even though the replacement handset is still under warranty, due to the amount of exchanges with this phone, I am not eligible for a warranty replacement.

I explained to the customer service rep that they do not have the right to deny warranty coverage due to 'excessive' replacements. I keep all of my phones in pristine condition and the warranty has never been voided on any of them. The CSR then spoke to his supervisor and informed me that the device is still in warranty but RIM would be required to honor it. I was then bounced to blackberry (RIM) to handle the replacement. RIM informed me that AT&T was required to honor the replacement request, and they conferenced AT&T in and informed the Cust. service rep that they were to do so.

After hanging up, the CSR told me that they request would not be honored because the warranty department is requiring me to use my 'upgrade' to purchase a new phone. I believe that it is not correct that a company can simply choose to not honor their warranty. I requested that if the company was not going to honor the warranty that they refund the original price of the original phone. I was of course, denied.


Am I in the wrong here? Does AT&T in fact have the right to deny my warranty even though the device is still considered in warranty (within the replacements 90 days) and the warranty itself is not voided?

How many replacements do they consider too many? Do they have this written in a policy that you can request or are the CSR's arbritraily making the decision? Until they answered these questions I would continue on up the chain of command.

Well I had 4 replacements on the original curve before they offered to swap me out to the 9000, and 4 with the 9000.

According to their policy at AT&T Returns Policy - Wireless from AT&T.

and at Answer Center | AT&T

I show nothing that states that there is a certain limit or restriction on how many times a given device can be replaced while under warranty, if it is not expressly stated and I was not told prior to receiving my latest replacement IMO AT&T does not have the right to make such an exception in my case. From what it seemed when I spoke with the CSR is, he had looked at the threaded history and decided that there were too many, after taking the situation to his supervisor he concurred.

I have attempted to speak to the supervisors at the warranty exchange department with no luck. How do you recommend getting in touch with their supervisors? I was contemplating filing a BBB complaint.



On another note, I threw my SIM card into my iPhone 3GS to troubleshoot the issue and find out if it is indeed my blackberry that is dropping the calls, low and behold...no dropped calls just yet.


Also, take a look at 'step 1' on the following page, according to that I am also listed as 'in warranty' Answer Center | AT&T

that sure is a lot of replacement phones!

I suppose, I've had quite a bid of bad luck with BBs, and I can't figure out why...but I still love em!


Two of the 9000 replacements were due to DOA, the other two were due to keyboard issues where for instance I would type 'y' and it would output 'yi' or 'j' to 'jk' repeatably, soft/hard reset provided no fix.

Are you real sure that the phone is defective? After that many, I would begin to look at something else.

I'm with Dubdub. The button pressing you describe is indicative of moisture exposure. If I recall correctly the warranty dept is a separate company from ATT not actually owned by ATT. Not sure of the policies for that company. I've never heard of warranty claim being denied as long as it is valid! But with that many replacements something is going on not saying anything intentional on the OP's part. But having worked 7 years in cellular sales I've never heard of anyone with that many warranty exchanges
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

There's your keywords... "may be".

Personally, I agree with the above. The hardware is not defective... likely moisture damage to the keyboard.

You're working the system (and well, I might add). Eight replacements is absurd, and apparently AT&T sees through it.

If it arrived with moisture damage, and these devices are refurbs, then the refurb department aren't doing their job properly.
A moisture damaged device should never have been ok'd for redistribution.

Midnight you are correct! However refurb process starts in the stores when devices are returned. If the rep doesn't inspect the phone or properly document what was wrong then you get bad refurbs!

The op isn't giving much info. How long have they had each replacement was the keyboard good for 2 months then went bad. To many missing details to draw a firm conclusion
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

Regardless of the reasons for the prior replacements, this current blackberry is dropping calls regularly to the point that an AT&T CSR looked at my logs for the past month and determined that I've had so many dropped calls that AT&T should give me a free 3GMicrocell. Even after the receipt of this product, my blackberry continues to drop calls.

I have spoken to att technical specialists regarding the issue and they have troubleshot the device and determined that it is related to the device itself. I'm at the point that I wish I could switch to my iPhone but I need my BB for work.


As for JSander's post, I don't particularly appreciate you accusing me of working the system...but thanks for your concern.

I just got off a 2 hour phonecall with AT&T. They refused to send me any sort of policy stating that my warranty could not be honored, they also kept trying to bump me to blackberry for troubleshooting/replacement. They told me that they cannot verify the problem over the phone and therefore would not honor the replacement request.


I'm over playing these games with them. I have filed a complaint with the BBB as well as called my CC company to have the original purchase reversed and am now looking at Verizon. Problem solved.

You called to reverse a purchase from how long ago? Be prepared to return equipment or be charged full retail for the 9000!

JSanders comment is just as that many replacements would indicate "working the system". Perhaps you are not but the odds of getting that many bad devices. Slim very very slim
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

Wait a sec, if they said they should give you a free 3G Microcell, then that tells me they think the issue is more coverage related then device related.

Where are you dropping all of your calls? At home?

Yea, and you've had the goods for almost two years? I'd love to see how loud the CC person laughs about this.

As far as my comment about you playing the system... I call 'em as I see 'em.

And, judging from this ^^ post, you're playing the system hard.

Time to get over it. Move on.

You have to admit, 8 replacements less than 2 years is pretty absurd. I have had my 8330 for over 2 years with NO replacement. You have had 8 phones in that same span. Something seems odd here to me.

Sometimes the customer is not always right.

Let's see. 24 months, 8 phones. 3 months per phone, each carrying a 3 month warranty... :wink:

If I was at the other end, I's see that as an attempt to always make sure you have a warranteed phone.

Working the system.

The initial phone comes with a 1 year warranty...so then you would say I made the first 4 exchanges for...fun?

Furthermore, I received a call from AT&T last night which referred me to a Device support center, they validated my warranty claim and found that the internal antenna of my bold was defective. They replaced the phone for me and apologized for any inconvenience during the process.

I was dropping calls everywhere, even with full service. Using the microcell didn't do much either for me...calls were still dropped.

When looking through my records AT&T said I averaged about 4 dropped calls a day over the past 2 weeks. That is CLEARLY out of ordinary especially for being in an area which they determined to 'provide the best coverage possible with no degraded towers'