The Travelin' Librarian

Treo trouble

Yesterday I noticed that the screen on my Treo had developed a small orange blotch. This morning, it was a little bigger. Obviously something with the LCD had gone wrong. So, I found the box and the paperwork and headed back to Best Buy since I’d purchased the extended warranty that would get me a replacement Treo.

I arrived at Best Buy and got into the customer service line. While waiting I saw a sign that informed me that as of a week ago, cell phone problems would no longer be handled in the store and that I had to call the store’s 888 number. I continued to wait in line so I could ask for more details. It seems that since the company’s been “loosing millions of dollars” on cell phones that all repairs were now handled through corporate and that I’d have to send in my phone and they’d send a replacement. This is not what I wanted to hear. I paid for the in-store replacement and since this is not just a cell phone, but also my PDA, I hardly wanted to be without out it for days or even potentially weeks. They were “sorry” but they couldn’t give me a time frame since “it will depend on the vendor”. So, I headed off to handle some other errands.

When I got back home I called Best Buy’s 888 number and was immediately informed that they were “experiencing an unusually high volume of calls” (surprise!) and was placed on hold for 50 minutes. When I was able to speak to a human, at first they couldn’t find the information about the plan I had purchased and put me on hold again. Five minutes later I was informed that my phone was still under the manufacturer’s warranty (Sprint) and that I would need to talk to them. “Can I take it into the Sprint person in the store?” I asked. “Yes” was the response. So, back to the store.

Once in the store I found the sprint person and explained the problem. She said she couldn’t help since she was just a sales rep and that I needed to call Sprint about it. “Do you have the number I can call?” “No, but you can also go to a Sprint store. There’s one down the road.” Off to the Sprint store.

At the Sprint store I explain my problem yet again and I’m told that there is no tech on duty today. He won’t be in again until Tuesday. “The store in Cherry Creek has a tech on duty today though.” Off to Cherry Creek, 15 miles away.

I get to the Cherry Creek Sprint store and wait in line for 20 minutes. I get to speak to a person and explain my problem yet again. Without even talking to a tech (who, by the way, was not in the store but “should have been,”) I hear the following magic words: “Oh, no problem. We’ll replace it for you. I’ll order one for you now and we’ll have it in a few days. We’ll call you when it comes in and then you can swap your old one for a new one.”

A solution so simple should not take four hours to accomplish.