VX6000 Hell

I've already posted in the past about my Verizon LG VX6000. In general it has been reliable and it does what I need and some of what I want. Recently though, it developed a hairline crack in the hinge right where the status LED (actually a lightpipe for the LED) is located. I'm usually very careful with my belongings - people look at my books or CDs and think they're new even if I've used them for years. I've probably dropped the phone once or twice in the 6 months or so that I've had it, but not recently. I can't think of any trauma that I've caused my phone before the crack appeared, just wear.

Pre-fracture, the only damage to the phone was cosmetic. The silver paint was wearing off of the battery and the side of the phone, the chrome plating was wearing off the side buttons, and the coating on the external display window flaked off in one small area. I have to admit that this is probably all as a result of carrying it in my pocket with coins, and sometimes keys. Fine. That I sort of understand, although I really have to wonder why anyone designs a product that gets handled constantly with coatings that can wear off. Basically nothing on the phone is a solid, self-colored material. As ludicrous as the mirror-finish buffed stainless steel is on the back of the iPod, at least when it gets scratched, it's still stainless steel.

I monitored the crack on the phone with trepidation, but at the same time, I had a Motorola StarTac for years that had several serious looking cracks and it kept on going until the buttons and display back light died. A couple nights ago I flipped open the phone and the hinge literally exploded. Not exploded as in flames, but a small piece of plastic flew off and I couldn't find it. The phone still worked but opening and closing it was a delicate proposition. What was left of the hinge looked very brittle. I also knew that trying to physically repair the hinge area was unlikely to work or look good. I looked around and found the warrantee and it was still under a "1 year manufacturer's warrantee" which pleasantly surprised me.

I do product engineering for a living. Personally I wouldn't design a high stress area like the hinge with a (relatively) big hole in it. To me, the fact that the crack developed under normal use, and it also exploded under normal use is a sign of bad engineering, or perhaps bad process control in the molding which resulted in higher than anticipated molded-in stresses. In other words I expect that Verizon and LG will see a lot of failures at the exact same point, which should trigger some sort of replacement policy and redesign.

The next day I went to the Verizon office on my way to work. I quickly discovered that the "warrantee" doesn't really cover much. The regular customer service representatives couldn't do anything. The manager came over and told me even he couldn't do anything, but if I brought the phone back to the Verizon office where I bought it, I could get a refurbished model for free.

While I wasn't exactly happy with having to backtrack past home and then go to the other office in the city, I needed my phone to work and I didn't want to buy a new one or switch to a cheaper model. I jumped in a cab and went to the other office. After a bunch of back and forth with them the best they would offer me was a refurbed phone for $50. I should have argued more, but I was fed up and late for work so I accepted.

When they replace a phone in a situation like this they do transfer your address book over (or so it seems - more later) but all your other settings and your pictures, downloaded applications, ringtones, etc., go bye-bye. At this point I really wished that I had gone through the steps to back this stuff up, which isn't exactly an officially supported operation. I didn't have that much on my phone, but still, it was a disappointment to loose that stuff because Verizon can't manage to have the technology that the hacker community has.

No sooner than I was out the door and the phone was ringing while I was in the middle of trying to go through it to get everything back the way that I like it. I was also trying to hail another cab. In the midst of all that confusion I managed to tell myself that the fact that the side buttons didn't seem to work was probably as a result of some new option or something. Nope. I got to work and fiddled some more and couldn't find any good reason for the buttons not working. So I call the closest Verizon store again and ask them if they can explain the malfunction. Nope, must be a bad phone. They offered to do the replacement, but I figured I wouldn't take the chance of being sent back to the other store so I just went to the one where I had done the exchange earlier.

At this point I was not happy. I think one of the things I said during my rant was something like "I shouldn't have to do quality control for Verizon" and the service rep politely said "you're right". He managed to get me another phone quickly for free. I was almost out the door, but I noticed that the latest refurbed unit was missing the rubber cover for the USB cable connector. When I went back to get it, he said "don't you have the car charger?" as if that was a good reason to not have that part. I'm sorry but no, I don't - actually I really don't need it because the battery lasts so long - and even if I did, I don't need pocket lint clogging up the connector.

Lessons learned:
1. The VX6000 isn't designed to wear well.
2. "1 year warrantee" doesn't mean much.
3. Customer service representatives are programmed to not spend company money.
4. When a manager smiles and tells you that the other store will fix the problem for free, don't believe him.
5. Phone book entries with "unusual" characters will disappear, and pauses will get munged during a transfer - buggy software.
6. Calling customer service to get a promised refund for the "get it now" crap that I already paid for doesn't exactly work the way it should - you have to buy more crap and then call them to get the charges taken off.
7. Refurbished phones may have all the removable plastic protective film on them like a new one, but underneath it can be some obvious wear.
8. You don't get a refurbished battery, you get your old one, which is good in that I didn't need to charge it, but bad in that the paint is still all worn.
9. I shouldn't have to do quality control for Verizon, but I did.

Comments

[P.J.]

Re: VX6000 Hell

The same situation happened with my VX6000 phone, purchased in December. The manager at one Verizon store was quite rude to me when I showed him the problem, basically unwilling to assist in any way. Bottom line: You and I should both get brand new phones. I am writing a letter to the president of Verizon Wireless, and will include your story. I'm going to research this a bit more. Thanks.

[Pam]

This just happened to me as well. I have yet to bring it into the store. I have had the phone less than a year and pay a monthly fee for the TEC (Total equipment coverage). I find it utterly annoying that I will have to pay a $50 deductible for a new phone when I did nothing to cause it to break. Further more, I had another LG flip phone that broke in the same way, causing me to buy this one. It seems like the pressure from the mechanism underneath causes the plastic to break. I feel that if I am paying for insurance I should get a new phone for free.

[connor]

the hinge is very tight when closed but open it up and the left side is loose and is about to break. the people at verizon said that if i buy new housing and get it installed profesionaly the problem will be fixed or they can give me a referb vx6100 but i dont like the look of the 6100 so ill try the housing.