No, you’re right. They didn’t tell me that I couldn’t take my mobile phone with me when I’m mobile. Why do I live in New England, where we have winter???
I’d have no problem with these tags, if they showed when they got wet, and I mean really wet, not condensed in the same fashion that eyeglasses get.
I was polite, and in the end, I did get my problem taken care of, but it’s a hassle (near enough to a scam) to have to argue with the tech (who is representing the phone vendor, however unfair) that I have used the phone in a proper manner, I have not voided the terms of the warantee (it doesn’t say I can’t go outside in the winter, then return to the inside without a slow gradual rewarming, it has operating temperature ratings, which are well within the ranges of my area), and that I expect the service that I’m paying for. Especially when I have the service plan, that’s supposed to cover this sort of thing.
I worked as a mobile phone technician for a few years. Countless phone warranties are voided due to humididty exposure from long showers while keeping the phone in bathroom. Another common cause is due to people who keep their phones in their pockets and sweat more than the usual person. Then, of course there are people who insist on using their phones outside in the rain, on top of all the phones dropped in toilets, lakes, etc. Very few phones stickers will turn pink due to casual natural humidity exposure. I lived in florida, and a great majority of people’s phones’ stickers were totally unaffected, and the majority of the ones that were had an explanation the customer admitted to. MOST of the remaining cases are customers flat out lying (they do do that on occasion), and a good portion of the final small remaining percent are customers who honestly believe their phone never got wet, but it did (probably by their children or friends) So whats left is a small handful of honest customers whose warranties are voided despite no negligence whatsoever. Unfortunately, (really, it sucks) they’re SOL. The stickers work, and are necessary. I’m no apologist for the phone companies, they stick you pretty badly in a lot of places. But the number of crafty, lying customers who get away with replacement phones when they certainly shouldn’t definitely outnumber the customers who truly get screwed. Its the cheaters out there that make warranty policies become less and less lenient.
I don’t even want to get going on people dropping their phones. Most customers really believe that dropping a phone is expected to happen, and shouldn’t void the warranty if there is no visable damage. Half the phones that ARE warrantied for manufacturer defect were probably actually damaged by being dropped more than once.
Small handheld object with a slick plastic surface? It WILL hit the floor.
Of course, I know it’s bogus to expect *accident * damage to be covered under warranty. But OTOH, the humidity thing should be better managed. If I’m usung it mobile, I AM exposing it to a variety of environments. Anything short of actual aspersion or immersion should be within the tolerance.
I’d suggest that dropping a phone is not abuse (the usual term for things not covered), i.e., that it’s normal use. Don’t you think that the phone manufacturers don’t test for this possibility? There’s a huge difference between throwing the thing on the floor and letting it drop. I drop my phones regularly – on concrete at that – and they don’t suffer a lick of damage. If I had a phone that stopped working after such a reasonable incident, I don’t know what type of hell I’d raise if I were denied warranty coverage.
I’m not unreasonable – when I dropped a picture frame on my PowerBook, I certainly didn’t consider that a normal event for a laptop, so I didn’t scream at Apple to replace the cracked, bleeding screen. There’s a reasonable expectation that certain items will perform their functions in a reasonable environment.
