Customer is King!

A personal experience that can stand as an example for the protection of the rights of a customer - several tiffs, verbal wars, and exchange of emails involved! It is about a mobile handset, bought one year ago, had a warranty period of one year, used fully for one year; finally the manufacturer had to replace it on the brink of warranty expiration, with a brand new one!

I had bought an HTC HD2 in last December from Trivandrum, for around 37,000 rupees. The phone did not have any issues until an evening two months back. Its proximity sensor stopped working all of a sudden. Proximity sensor is a small equipment that rests under the front glass of the phone, which enables the screen go blank when the phone is kept close to the ear during a call. This would prevent the touch screen from responding to inadvertent swipes on it while a call is in progress.

Two weeks later, the touch screen also stopped working. I soft reset the phone a couple of times, and then hard reset it once, but that did not solve the problem. So I took it to the newly opened service centre in Trivandrum. When I checked the repair status on the same day, they told me that they were working on it, and it would be ready the next day. On the next day, I was told that the problems were due to water damage and so the repair and replacement of parts could not be covered under warranty. But since I was sure I never exposed it to extreme weather conditions, I told them to show me the proof. If it was a case of genuine water damage, why didn't they tell me about it on the previous day? I asked the same question and got the answer that may be the problem was due to the changes in humidity! I told them it cannot be categorised under the "improper use" clause and claimed for the warranty. Finally they yielded to my argument and promised that the repair and replacement would be covered under warranty.

Four days after submitting the phone to the service centre, they informed me that the phone was in shape and I could collect it on the following Monday. On Monday morning, they informed me that its volume keys were not working. Again, they cited water damage as the reason, and "no warranty" because of it! I never faced any issues with the volume keys. Since the phone was submitted to the service centre after hard resetting it, and the only way to hard reset the phone when the touch screen doesn't work was by using its volume keys, I argued for my case all over again. Finally they gave up the fight and told me that the replacement can be covered under warranty!

At this point, I really got irritated and escalated the matter to the HTC Asia Customer Management Team. They heard both sides and insisted that I should collect the phone after the replacement of the volume keys. I was adamant in my stand that I wouldn't take the phone back from the service centre, and claimed for a replacement since I did not want to use a handset that was made defective by the company authorised staff. Since the warranty period would expire soon, I didn't want to take a chance.

It was not easy convincing the HTC people. Everyday, they would call me twice and send email once about the phone status. They reiterated that a replacement would be possible only if the problem is reported within two weeks of purchasing the product. In my case, only two weeks were remaining for the one-year warranty to expire! After each passing day, I was getting more and more irritated. By this time, I had decided to give up on the quarrel and was planning to approach consumer forum as last resort.

I told HTC very clearly that if they are not ready to replace the phone, I would be forced to sue them; in which case I would claim for the complete refund of the purchase amount and compensation. I also gave them two days to think about it. A replacement was easy for them as the current market price of the phone is only 27,000 rupees. On the very next day, they called me up to inform that they were ready for a replacement! It was a long battle for protecting consumer rights; a battle that lasted for more than five weeks!

Moral: Customer is King. To make it more clear; a customer who protests is King! If you are aware of the laws of the land and the rights of the customer, you too can win your genuine case. In the case of mobile phone repair, water damage is cited as a common problem by the service personnel. No company provides warranty on such cases, and hence they can ask us to pay for the service and the replaced parts, and also cover their own mistakes in situations such as these! Don't buy their story, if you are sure about your case!

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Match review: Italy vs Slovakia

Slovakia gave me a heart-break in Johannesburg! Italy had a realistic chance of going through to the second stage with even a 1-0 win against Slovakia. But what we saw tonight was different. It was a resurgent Slovakia that played against the world champions. Italy made the two changes in their starting line-up, that I had predicted in my last blog post. Claudio Marchisio and Alberto Gilardino were left out. They replaced Gilardino with Antonio Di Natale as I expected, but Gennaro Gattuso was the replacement for Marchisio. They also paid the price for this decision. They had to call back Gattuso and induct Andrea Pirlo in the second half; all too late.

It was a poor defence that spoiled Italy's chances in the world cup. There was nobody to safeguard Federico Marchetti and their goal. Even Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini were playing forward. Daniele Di Rossi didn't have any role to play in the match. Di Rossi is at his best when he can play as an attacking midfielder. The out-of-form Riccardo Montolivo was passing the ball to places where there was no Italian player! Fabio Quagliarella was the livewire they were looking for, but it was too late for his guerilla strikes too. They played well towards the end, but it was their lapse in defence that denied them a win and place in the second stage.

It is sure that there will be some changes in the Italian team soon. This could be the last international tournament for some of the players including Cannavaro, and also for the coach Marcello Lippi. There is hope for Italy in young bloods like Simone Pepe and Quagliarella. Italy are out, but the shows goes on! Waka... waka...

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Match review: Italy vs New Zealand

The match between Italy and New Zealand in Nelspruit was a crucial encounter that could give a clear picture to the standings in Group F. But instead, this match turned the group wide open. Probably this is the one group in which all the four teams still have a very strong chance of qualifying to the pre quarters.

It was a painful start again for Italy. They conceded a goal in the beginning for the second successive time in two matches. But as in the first match, this was an eye opener for the Italians. They controlled the game for the whole part of the remaining 80 minutes, except for one instance towards the dying moments of the match. It is only fair to say that Italy dominated the game, but Mark Paston was the only one who stood between them and a deserved win. Full marks to the spirited New Zealand goalie who could give his country a great chance going into the last group game against Paraguay.

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Match review: Italy vs Paraguay

Italy has always been a slow starter, especially in world cups. For their world cup opener against Paraguay, they had to pick four relatively new international players in the start line-up. Paraguay gave them a run for their money by scoring first unexpectedly. The header from Alcaraz was too good for a misplaced Gigi Buffon. One would have thought that this could put the world champions on the back foot; one because it was a shock, and two because Italy's recent form hasn't been any great.

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World Cup 2010: Italy team preview

Regular readers (if any!) of my blog would know my interest in sports, especially in cricket and football. It is time for football fever again as the 2010 world cup kicks off in Jo'burg. As always, my favourite team is Italy, irrespective of whether they win or lose. Last time (in 2006) I wrote the preview of the Italian team on my blog. This time, for a change, I wrote it for www.footballkerala.com. You can read the article here (Shortened URL at http://bit.ly/9cHtcv)

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Movie review: Bodyguard

Bodyguard is a film which made news even when it was being made, not for the hero, but for the heroine. Nayantara was making a come back to Malayalam film industry through this film. Even though she has made several appearances in Malayalam movies, none of her performances so far, Rappakal included, cannot be deemed telling. Bodyguard gave her ample room to 'act' and not 'show'.

Jayakrishnan (Dileep) is a young man who appreciates an aberrant ambition, which is to become the bodyguard of some prominent person. One day, he hears about Asokan aka Asokettan (Thyagarajan) a popular businessman in a nearby village. He goes there seeking a job as Asokan's bodyguard. Though the people in the village welcome him with great hospitality, he is treated with apathy and disdain by Asokan and his family members. He meets Ammu (Nayantara), Asokan's daughter who initially feigns that she is a servant in Asokan's house. He mistakes Ammu's brother (Appa Haja) as a womaniser attempting to beset Ammu and attempts to save her. In the effort he severely beats him up. Albeit admitting his mistake, Jayakrishnan is drummed out from the house. On the recommendation of someone who both Asokan and Jayakrishnan know, Jayakrishnan is called back to the house where his fascination of becoming Asokan's escort comes true. Later Jayakrishnan saves Asokan and family from a murder attempt which increases his credibility and acceptability in the family. On seeing a potential threat to Ammu's life, Asokan appoints Jayakrishnan her bodyguard in college, for which he even arranges for Jayakrishnan's admission in college! Undoubtedly, Jayakrishnan tops the class!

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Movie review: Happy Husbands

Happy Husbands is Saji Surendran's second directorial venture. Even though there wasn't much in it, his first film Ivar Vivahitharayal was a decent hit. Therefore much was expected from the second, especially because it showed off three heroes and four heroines. Titles of both movies make enough reason for sparking curiosity in people's minds. This time, the name being an oxymoron may force more housewives to drag their husbands to theatres!

The movie begins with the reason why one of the heroes is not a happy husband. Krishnendu (Bhavana) is leery of her husband Mukundan (Jayaram), a media mogul. She believes there are beautiful lasses in all the places that he goes to, and fears that he might even develop relationships with them. She sees her friend's (Samvritha Sunil) husband as a perfect hubby who is romantic and well-mannered. She believes that Mukundan's behaviour can be bettered by urging him to be friends with Rahul. Both wives don't know that Rahul (Indrajith), the ideal husband, is nothing better than a self-trained fraud who falls for drinks and divas. Mukundan and his associate John (Jayasurya) who know the real Rahul, try their best not to make the friendship materialise; but Krishnendu forces him to join the philanderer's company. Rahul takes Mukundan to a bar dancer Diana (Reema Kallinkal) one evening. To conceal his meeting with Diana, Mukundan starts telling lies to his wife. Meanwhile John gets into a love affair with Serena (Vandana), a psychology student. The attempt of the three to make the John-Serena wedding happen, and to avoid Diana from their lives form the rest of the movie.

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Review: HTC HD2 mobile phone

Happy Twenty10 to you! Finally, I decided to come back and make another post. My last post here, a review, was published more than two months back. I am back with another review; not a movie review this time though. It is about my new GSM mobile handset - the HTC HD2.

I was happy with my Samsung Star. But the honeymoon ended in six months. I had to change the screen, upgrade the unstable software, and even go for a complete motherboard replacement. But aye, you Star owners don't worry. It must have been a rare problem. Some of my friends are using the Star and they are quite pleased with its performance. So I consider my case as a rare one. But after facing these problems, I was constantly searching on the Internet for a decent handset. I wanted to buy one which has plenty of features, and so did not consider the cost factor. The phones that made it to the final round were Apple iPhone 3GS, HTC Hero, and HTC HD2. All had their advantages and disadvantages. Though it is a very good phone, I didn't like the shape of the Hero. I also wanted a bigger touch screen. The preferred choice was the iPhone 3GS. But some factors like its lack of Bluetooth data transfer facility, flash (both camera flash and webpage flash), and FM radio made me think again. To add to it, I had to purchase the phone from abroad, unlock it illegally and use here. So, the option came down to the HD2, the Windows Phone. I referred a lot of sites, read several reviews, compared its specifications with other phones I considered, and finally decided to own one. But owning one wasn't easy either. Its sale had not started in India. A few weeks later, Tata Docomo started selling it through their Dive In stores. But the problem was there was no Dive In store in Kerala. In a few days, they opened one in Kochi, and another one popped up in Trivandrum in the following week. The best thing is that Docomo does not want you to buy their connection along with it. So, I could use my Vodafone SIM with it.

HTC HD2 is a Windows Phone that comes with Windows Mobile 6.5. The phone has the biggest touch screen on a mobile. It is a sheer pleasure to use the giant capacitive screen. Since this is a capacitive screen, you don't need a stylus to work on it. The phone has a fast processor and more than decent RAM capacity. So, the phone is really fast! In case if you buy the phone from a Docomo Dive In store and take a Docomo postpay connection along with it, you will get 500 MB of free data per month for six months. I checked with Vodafone support and sadly their GPRS settings will not work on Windows Mobile 6.5. So, I had to go for Vodafone Mobile Connect for Internet. Now the price - I bought the phone for INR 36,269.

So here goes the review; hopefully the bullet list is better than a detailed and elaborate one.

Pros

• Screen size: The screen size is 4.3 inches, which is almost 11 cms diagonally. This is the biggest screen on a mobile phone until now.
  
• Display: Even though the phone supports only 65K colours, the display is the best I have seen on a mobile, thanks to the HD screen. It is brilliant for images and videos.
  
• Looks: 10/10 for the design and looks. The phone also comes with a handy pouch. You may find the pouch a bit tight initially, but it will loosen up in two days.
  
• Slim: Even though the phone carries a huge screen, it is so slim; just 1.1 cms of thickness.
  
• Capacitive touch screen: It is a joy to experience its iPhone like touch control.
  
• Unlimited contacts and call log: Self explanatory. I think this depends on the available memory.
  
• Camera: Comes with a 5 MP auto-focus camera with dual LED flash. Great for outdoor shots. You can also tap the required part on the screen and take adjust the focus. There is a problem of a pink tint in the pictures taken with the HD2. But a fix is available for that on the HD2 support website now.
  
• Calculator: Has a scientific calculator in the landscape mode.
  
• Digital compass: Has decent accuracy. It is possible to calculate the distance to the required location using Google Maps and the digital compass.
  
• MP3 trimmer: Suppose you have a lengthy song, and you want to set a particular portion of that song as your ringtone. How? Quite possible with the HD2. The phone has a very good song trimmer to make ringtones from music files.
  
• Phone search: A brilliant search facility that searches the entire phone, mails, messages, notes, tasks, MS Office, calendar, help, and other files and returns the results in a jiffy.
  
• Home screen: The home screen displays the time, weather, upcoming event, alarm settings, date, and shortcuts.
  
• Lock screen: The lock screen displays the date, time, upcoming events, and missed notifications. You can tap the lock icon and the phone will display the missed events. Instead of locking the phone by sliding the lock icon, you may go directly to the required event by tapping the lock icon and sliding the corresponding icon.
  
• 3.5 mm headphone jack: You can plug in your own headphone using the 3.5 mm jack of the phone. You can also connect the phone to external speakers this way and listen to some loud music.
  
• Headset: The phone comes with a quality headset. It contains dedicated music keys using which you can play and pause songs, change tracks, or even seek the 'now playing' song.
  
• Weather wallpaper: You can set weather wallpapers which will display animated weather effects on your screen, by downloading the current weather of your city from the Internet. For example, for a rainy weather, the phone screen shows showers on it with a wiper clearing the water drops.
  
• Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube ready: I tried the Twitter application, which is brilliant and quite easy to use. It has settings for URL shortening host selection, photo host selection, and notification control.
  
• Menu bar: This is a welcome change from other phones. One may feel it a bit difficult in the beginning. But a host of options appear in the home tabs which is very convenient and easy to use.
  
• Processor and speed: The phone comes with a Qualcomm 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. With it, you can launch, use, and close applications in no time. Just try changing music tracks or seek a track for a feel of the processor speed.
  
• Threaded SMS view: Like in GMail and iPhone, you can view your messages with each contact in a threaded view.
  
• Scroll facility: The text on webpages and that in documents can fit themselves into the screen even if a zoom view is set.
  
• Pinch zoom and multitouch control: With two fingers, you can zoom in and zoom out photos, documents, and webpages (Opera only). Double tap the required part in an image for zoom in and zoom out effects.
  
• Internet experience: Thanks to the big screen, speed, and pinch zoom, using the Internet is a great experience with the HD2.
  
• Calendar and appointments: The phone presents a brilliant calendar and an MS Outlook like event organiser. You can also view the year calendar, thanks to its big screen.
  
• Reject calls with SMS: Suppose you get a call while you are in a meeting. If you want to let the caller know that you are busy, you can click the option 'Send Text' which will send your pre-configured message to the caller.
  
• Intelligent ring: The phone will automatically reduce the ringtone volume if the phone is moved while it is ringing. This is helpful if your phone is placed on a table.
  
• Mute ring: You can hold the phone upside down while it is ringing, to mute the ringtone.
  
• Pocket mode: The phone will automatically increase the ringtone volume if it is kept inside a pouch or a bag. A really useful feature.
  
• Auto backlight: The phone has a facility to adjust the backlight to suit the light settings of its surroundings. A good feature that provides a clearer screen even in bright sunlight.
  
• Micro USB cable: The charger which itself is the data cable, has a micro USB connector so that you don't need another charger that comes with a proprietary pin measurement.
  
• Business card reader: Open the business card reader and point your camera to a business card and take a snap. The phone recognises the details and allows you to save the card holder to your contacts list. You can also edit the details if required.
  
• Contacts navigation: It is so easy to navigate to the required contact. You have three options; one is to scroll using your finger, two is to use the find button, and three is to use the alphabet listed on the right side of the contacts page.
  
• Contact history: When you select a contact from the contacts list, the phone presents your complete contact history with that person. This includes SMSs, mails, appointments, and call history.
  
• Data card encryption: You can encrypt the contents of the memory card so that the card contents can be read only by your phone.
  
• Expandable memory: The phone comes with an 8GB micro SD card. The phone supports up to 32GB of external storage.
  
• Other features: WiFi, 3G, GPRS, EDGE, GPS, Bluetooth, Stock Alerts, Opera and Internet Explorer browsers, Digital Camcoder, MS Office Mobile, SIM Manager, Connection to Windows Marketplace, Voice Recorder, PDF Viewer, Windows Live Mail and Messenger, Windows Media Player etc.
  
• Install programs: Self explanatory.
  
• Automatic data configuration: The phone detects the available data configuration settings and it can implement the settings automatically.

Cons

• Back cover: The phone has a metal back cover which cannot be opened easily. My finger nails got damaged twice. The third time I sought the help of my brother to assist me in opening the back cover.
  
• Internal memory: The phone comes with only less than 600 MB of internal memory. But it comes with an 8GB micro SD card and supports up to 32 GB of external storage.
  
• Data counter: I didn't see any option to view the downloaded or uploaded data.
  
• Keyboard: I have been using Samsung Star's small qwerty keypad and I found the HD2 keypad a bit difficult to operate with both hands when composing a in the landscape board. The phone is that big!
  
• Data service check: The notifier 'E' appears at the top of the screen always. This appears as enabled when data service is available. The notifier automatically fades itself when data service is not available. I didn't see any option to disable this automatic check.
  
• Weather display: I didn't see any setting by which the once activated weather settings can be removed from the home screen.
  
• Windows Live account deletion: I didn't see any setting by which the once activated Windows Live account can be deleted.
  
• Powerful flash: The camera comes with a dual LED flash, which when used close to your shooting object produces only white pictures! Wonder why? The flash is that powerful. So, you will need to adjust the distance to the object for better pictures with the flash on.
  
• Cost: The phone is costly.
  
• Windows: Yeah, the phone may hang occasionally. If nothing works, you may need to open the back cover and press the red button to soft reset the phone. This must be a Control+Alt+Delete option!

Verdict

The HTC HD2 is a brilliant phone. It has more features than what you may find in another leading phone in the same price range. It will be nice if most of the problems given in the Cons list could be corrected. This is undoubtedly, the best phone I have used or seen. I would give the phone 9 out 10.

Image: HTC

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