I ordered a phone with service through the Walmart.com online connection center, which is serviced by LetsTalk.com. I paid for my order, paid extra for rush shipping (2 Day Air), and waited for my phone to arrive. The phone arrived late on the 3rd day, in a mangled box that had been improperly sealed. The whole side and one corner of the box was completely crushed in, and whomever packed the box and taped it shut, only taped over one of the flaps on the box, so the other flap was flopping everywhere.
Even though the shipping box looked like a drunk monkey had used it as a bowling ball, the actual box that the new phone was in was in okay shape, but it was not sealed with tape, as new product boxes usually are. So I opened it up and took out the phone, a Motorola Razr (supposedly), and was quite disappointed. Now I know what a Razr looks like and feels like, I have seen them and used them because my sister-in-law has one. But this Razr was completely plastic, and the keypad on it was already coming off at one corner. I actually believe it was one of those cheap display models. The only instructions was a small torn sticker stuck to the top of the phone box that said insert SIM card to begin using your new phone. What SIM card?
Well, after rummaging around in what was left of the shipping box, I found the SIM card under a bottom flap of the box. Apparently, whomever packaged the phone, tore the SIM card off the box when packing it. Maybe it WAS a drunk monkey that packed my order? So I insert the SIM into the phone, install the battery, and plug the phone into it's charger. I try to turn the phone on, and just get a blank, black screen with this white text: "Bootloader, 03.08, SW Version R26111MLD-AS_U_96. B0.0AR, Battery OK, OK to Program, Connect USB Data Cable" Huh? So I turned it off, then back on, and still the same thing.
So I called LetsTalk.com & after waiting on hold for about 15 minutes, explained to them what was going on, and they told me to call AT&T, because it was an activation issue. The phone was supposed to already be activated before it was shipped to me. So I call AT&T & immediately get connected to a rep, who walks me through re-inserting the SIM card, etc., and they tell me that it appears that the phone has not yet been activated by LetsTalk, and I was told to call them back. Ok. SOOO, I called LetsTalk back, and after waiting another 15 minutes on hold, and having to explain everything over again, they tell me they are going to put in an activation request to their tech department & they told me I would have to call them back in two hours to see if they had done anything with it yet.
WHAT? Whatever, so I talk to a friend of mine in the meantime who knows his stuff when it comes to cell phones, and he tells me that my phone was never programmed properly with the carrier's software, and that it will never work and I should return it.
So I call LetsTalk and (after waiting 20 minutes on hold this time) tell them that I just want to return the phone, and get a replacement. They give me an RMA# and told me I would have to pay for the return shipping and that it would take three to four weeks to get my replacement phone delivered to me. WHAT? They can send me a phone in 3 days, but it takes three to four weeks to send a replacement? I ask them what I'm supposed to do for a phone for three weeks, and they said it wasn't their problem.
Okay, whatever, I get the returns address from them and realize that I'm only 7 minutes driving distance from their return facility, and I told them that I was just going to drop the phone off in person to speed up the return/replacement process. Then the CSR started sounding very nervous and said "No, you can't do that, we don't allow customers at our return facility." So by this time I'm very frustrated with the whole mess and I just told them to cancel my entire order, and I was sending their piece of crap phone back to them.
Long story short (too late for that phrase I guess), I spent $20 (shipping to and from) to find out that LetsTalk.com is basically a junk dealer, which is why you get such a good deal on their phones. But on a positive note, I did still get a new phone and service with AT&T by going in to my local Wal-mart. The phone is great, the service is great, and the whole transaction only took about 30 minutes. NOT the three to four weeks I would have had to wait had I decided to keep dealing with LetsTalk.
Just wanted to post my story in detail so maybe others won't have to go through the mess that I did. Sometimes it IS better to deal in person than online!
0 comments