Quote:
Originally Posted by mbellis
Went into a sprint owned retail store today that is also a sprint service center, I have TEP and have been having problems with my Mogul, I was told that they were going to do a warranty exchange for me because I have TEP but that they had to order the phone at that it would arrive at the store in 3-5 days and that I should call on Wednesday to be sure its there before I go pick it up. I was assured by the rep that it would be a new phone not a refurbished phone to replace my 6800 and that when I arrive they will give me a new box with all the accessories in exchange for my 6800. She gave me a receipt that says REC6800SP1 REC UT STARCOM 6800 EVDO HANDSET, then it says price override - regular price $549.99, then lists my eticket # then another item is REPAIR0 In store handset repair and shows a price of $0.00. At the bottom it says in store savings $549.99... Should I assume that all sprint has done is ordered me a refurbished replacement or is this actually going to be a new phone? I'm thinking that the item listed as "REC6800" is a "reconditioned" 6800??? Also, has anyone else had any experince with Sprint replacing their 6800 in the store on the spot?? I have read the forum and noticed many people report that they have received brand new treo 700 and ppc6700 in store in the spot becuase the service centers dont repair the pdas.... I am new to sprint, long term vzw customer and this is my first experience with phone repair/replacement.... Any insight is greatly appreciated.
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Its common policy to swap repair handsets for refurbished equipment. Its considered a far better customer service experience than having you wait while they ship it off to HTC for repair (which if you did HTC would not just ship you a NIB, they would repair or send a refurb back).
The logic is that you are bringing in a non-new product so it is replaced with a non-new product. This is an extension of the Manufacturers warranty repair and not a replacement program. Now to speak from the perspective of someone who has actually been involved in the carrier process: A refurbished phone can be a better performing product than NIB. I know the first response is to disagree, but looking at the testing and repair process its in some ways far more thorough than what the factory does prior to shipping.
Normal Repair Center policy is even in case of a refurb swap, they are to take the guts out of one phone and use the casing of the old, unless its completely destroyed.
Now Sprint will spoil us and in some cases will swap you out for a NIB (New In Box) product, heck recently they swapped me out of a 6700 into a 6800 (a couple of years ago they did a Treo 600-650 swap too). These both were escalated situations and not the norm.
I say this regularly:
Be patient and polite
make sure your bill is paid
Ask for a loaner phone (it will not be a WM device)
Keep a paper trail, document who you dealt with everytime.
Be patient (i know its listed 2x).