Motorola V70E > Reviews (2)

So, the inevitable happens and your beloved L7089 or M6184 gives up the ghost. You’re lost and abandoned: have lost an essential part of your body: your arm aches from the weight of lying by your side and not in its natural position bent towards your ear; your vocal chords and eardrums lack stimulation. You’re alone.

Of course you panic. You start to shake and sweat. You will be separated from your vibrating, plastic buddy, but even worse than that – you will need to contact customer services. Agghhhhhhhh…..!

It’s ok. Calm yourself. Don’t panic. Just take deep breathes whilst I tell you about Motorola. You do have a Motorola phone don’t you? Oh, how I hope you have. They understand us you see. They know the trauma we suffer and will help you through the crisis.

Ok, I’ll cut the crap.

A few weeks ago my Motorola L7089 died rather abruptly. Woe, did I panic. Not because I was terrified of being left without my mobile (we all know someone who has to be surgically removed from theres) but because I have the Orange Everyday 50 tariff (50 minutes of off-peak calls a day) and knew that I would lose a few days of those free minutes (dipstick here, doesn’t have insurance).

Now my experience of dealing with Customer Services of companies is quite grim. I usually don’t get through to a real person for a at least 15 minutes of listening to Richard Clayderman’s telephone repertoire and then told that I have to be redirected again because I was put through to the wrong section. Usually, after being redirected, re-routed and re-agitated about four times the phone line goes dead and I end up storming around the flat shouting obscenities and kicking the cat (it’s ok, he bites me back!).

So, going back to my kaput mobile phone. As I had only purchased it nine months ago I knew that I could have it repaired under warranty. After hunting around and trying to find the website address of the company whom I’d purchased it from, I realised that my mouse mat could tell me (no Charlie the Cat isn’t chasing after a talking mouse mat). Mobileshop.com sent me a rather fetching mousemat when I purchased my phone from them. As I am a cheapskate I haven’t replaced it with a funky one and chucked this one out: good job, I say.

So, I send mobileshop.com an email asking them what I have to do in order to get my phone repaired. This, I thought was the start of more hassle to contend with in my hassled life. But alas, no! The lovely people at mobileshop.com sent me an email the same day saying that I will need to contact Motorola directly – they even gave me a telephone number. Wow, lovely peeps!

But a telephone number? Help, I can’t cope! More potential for incompetence.

So with a good stash of cigarettes, an ashtray, drink and a long book by my side, I rang Motorola Customer Services (I also advise that you play loud music on these occasions to drown out Greensleaves which is inevitably played on a Casio keyboard whilst you’re waiting). But, to my surprise one keypad option later I’m through to ‘A PERSON’ (ABBA is prematurely turned down).

Now my major concern was that I couldn’t find the documentation for my phone which would prove that it was still under warranty, but the lovely man just wanted me to tell him the serial numbers on the phone, battery and charger (make sure you have all of these handy when you phone), and told me that my phone was registered as indeed being still under warranty. What the lovely chappie then told me, shocked me…

“Can we collect your mobile phone up tomorrow, madam?” (Do I sound like I run a brothel?)

Motorola have the right idea when it comes to customer services. They will arrange for your faulty handset to be collected and delivered to your door. No searching for Jiffy bags or tissue paper. And they try and arrange collection within 24 hours.

There was a small hitch however. After giving all my details I was unable to have my phone delivered to a different address to that which it would be collected (as I was going to be away). So with much confusion I arranged for the collection and delivery address as my parents address.

Unfortunatley, the day it was supposed to be collected from my parents, the courier had gone to my flat. I telephoned that evening and re-arranged for the phone to be collected the next day. And, Eureka it was collected that day.

3 days later…

My lovely mother phones me whilst I am in other parts. My mobile had been delivered. Three-day service, that’s not bad. When I’d returned from my trip I had been sent a brand new handset which not only worked perfectly but also contained a few additional graphics that I hadn’t had on my old phone. My only petty little gripe was that they didn’t say what was wring with the faulty handset. Might have been interesting to know.

So, my faith in the ambiguous species of Customer Services has been slightly restored. However, whilst writing this opinion I realised how much of a bad service we expect from organisations. Despite my satisfaction with the repair service by Motorola, it by no means went without a hitch. Maybe I should be more dissatisfied than I am with the service, but it’s all relative to what you’re used to, isn’t it?