Back at the beginning of 2016, I got a surprise email from a community I joined in. They said they will send me a Motorola Nexus 6 phone (codenamed Shamu) as an appreciation for my contribution. I was ecstatic. It would be the best phone I ever had! –or actually, it’s a phablet, since it’s straddling the size format of smartphones and tablets–.
I’m still using it now. I love the supersized display, though it’s way too big for some people. But you can read e-books or watch movies better with that large screen. Not to mention the cool look of the material design and the long battery life. Also, it comes packaged with the Motorola Turbo Charger, which makes the charging time super fast.
But here comes the drama.
I received the gift on March 15, 2016. I spent time learning about this device,
upgraded the OS, installed some apps, etc. Then I found out that this device had a sound issue. No sound from all apps. I couldn’t hear ringtones and any notification sounds (all are vibrating only) and couldn’t play videos and music apps. I tried to find solutions online, but nothing worked. I didn’t want to risk the problem getting worse, so I decided to get help from the expert.
Get support from Nexus Help Forum
My first attempt to get support is from Nexus Help Forum. I posted there reporting my issue and asked for help. The next day a Community Specialist on that forum replied and gave detailed instructions on how to do the factory reset on my phone. And he also gave a link to request a callback or chat with a Google Nexus Support agent.
I tried to do factory reset per his instructions, but the issue persists. So then I requested a call back from the Nexus Support agent. A week later, I still can’t reach the Support. I keep getting a message, “Phone support is currently closed. Please try again during business hours.” It was either a timezone issue or online support isn’t available for my country. Most likely the last one. So I posted again in the Help Forum, and the Community Specialist gave an alternative contact. It was a Google Play call support for my language/country.
Get help from Google Play Support team
Even though Nexus is Made by Google product, I realized it’s not a Google Play problem. Asking for help to them felt a little bit irrelevant. But I did it anyway since I didn’t have a better choice.
I was expecting a response like, “It’s not Google Play problem. Go find a relevant support channel!”
On the contrary, the Google Play representative was very nice and friendly. Her name is Dilla. She suggested me to reach out to Motorola support since it was most likely a hardware issue. She then sent a follow-up email containing the link to the online support for Motorola and the full address of the Motorola Service Center near my house. She was very helpful while talking on the phone and on her email despite that my issue wasn’t exactly her scope of responsibility. She made quite a good impression, though I don’t even remember the detail of the conversation.
Visiting Motorola Support Center
At first, I contacted the Motorola Support via their website and immediately got a response email. Here is the chronology:
- March 30 — They answer my email on the same day and they gave a troubleshooting instruction, some kind of first aid. I replied that it didn’t work.
- March 31st — They said that my device was still on warranty and they suggested me to visit the nearest Service Center.
- April 5th — I visited the Service Center and they said they will send my device to Jakarta (the capital city) and expect 1-2 months to get the device back. (I know, it’s not a piece of happy news:-/ ).
- June 8th — I revisited the Service Center, and they said that my device was irreparable, so then they will replace my device with the new one. It was good news, except that I had to wait even longer because they will send the new device from Hongkong. And there was no time frame. I sent email to the online support to inform this and asked if there’s a chance to speeding up the process considering I have waited more than two months.
- On the same day, they replied that they have contacted the Motorola Global and requested to speed up the process.
- Again, later that day, they confirmed that the device will be sent to the Service Center near my place the next week.
- June 16 — As promised, my new device arrived at the Service Center. And there was no issue on the new phone so that I emailed the support to inform them and say thank you.
My impression of the Motorola Online Support is that they were very polite and professional. Thanking my time and my helpful information. And they replied quickly and also sent follow up email asking whether my issue had been taken care of in the Service Center. They escalate my request to the Motorola Global and made sure that I get my device in a short time possible.
This issue with the phone was not a good experience for me as a product customer because I had to wait for more than two months to be able to use my new device. Even though I got the device for free, but that’s beside the point. But during those experience, the whole Support team (Nexus help forum, Google Play call, and Motorola Support) were very sympathetic and eager to help the best they could. And that made my whole bad experience bearable.
So yes, this story turned out to be a happy ending 🙂
This post is written as part of my course activity, an online course held by Automattic in partnership with Support Driven.
techrina 