BlackBerry PlayBook Technical Support Laughs

**Cameron_H** · 04-19-2012, 03:45 PM

Hi everyone, I thought I would share my blog about BlackBerry technical support with you, so you could all get an idea of the run around that they give their consumers.

Basically, what happened, is that I received a non-functioning PlayBook directly from RIM. I then received a few week long run-around from RIM, which has so far ended in them saying that my tablet does not technically exist! I'm waiting to hear back from their dev team now to see about replacement, and I will be updating it soon.

Here's a link to the last page of the blog if you'd like to read everything in chronological order: RIM Tech Support Laughs

..and here's a link to the front page of the blog: RIM Tech Support Laughs

**goku69** · 04-19-2012, 04:18 PM

try contacting rim support

**sk8er_tor** · 04-19-2012, 04:42 PM

Your time could be better used picking up the phone and calling them for support instead of wasting your time on blogs.

**eric89074** · 04-19-2012, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by sk8er_tor

Your time could be better used picking up the phone and calling them for support instead of wasting your time on blogs.

He did call them and they gave him a hassle instead of sending him a replacement of an item they have warehouses full of and will never sell.

**9of13** · 04-19-2012, 04:56 PM

Hi Cameron,

A few weeks ago i had an issue with the charging of my playbook. I had quite the opposite experiance. Of course, the initial reply about "stack charging" and the battery failsafe is a common fix but when that dont work, RIM usually as in the case with you and I, approves the RMA. Now i expected to be without my PB for about 2 weeks. My problem began on a thursday. I was able to ship my PB for repair on a tuesday an received a new unit 2 days later!

Now there has also been reports of easy RMA transactions but in your case from reading your blog, there seems to be an issue with your unit in particular not being in their system. personally i suggest the following:
Explain to them where you got the unit from.
Dont let the experiance with one particular person bring down your opinion. Frustration IS expected.
Have you tried first returning it to where you got it from?
Was it a "dev model" of some kind? on e that may not be available to the general public?

and most important thing to remember: RIM isnt going away that quick. LOL

**pkcable** · 04-19-2012, 04:56 PM

Did anyone read the whole blog? It appears he got the Playbook as part of the developer program. That is a free playbook for developing as app. Sounds like he needs to contact the developer program directly.

**Chrysalis1156** · 04-19-2012, 05:05 PM

Sounds pretty insane to me. Sure hope you get it resolved soon.

**Darlaten** · 04-19-2012, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by 9of13

Dont let the experiance with one particular person bring down your opinion. Frustration IS expected.

Have we, as consumers (or developers in this case), become so beaten down, destroyed, and cyncial about customer service that we now expect frustration when contacting a company for assistance? With respect, that's insane if you have that attitude; frustration should definately not be an expectation when dealing with a company - RIM or otherwise.

Companies, unlike banks

, are not too large to fail - they should be going out of their way of ensuring that customer problems, such as the example provided here, are taken seriously and dealt with to a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved.

In short, customer service, the one thing that any company can directly control, is the surest way of engendering support from customers. And when customer support is bad, it's also the surest way of turning people away.

**eric89074** · 04-19-2012, 05:45 PM

This is why Apple is doing so well and squatting on every other phone, tablet, and PC maker.

**Chrysalis1156** · 04-19-2012, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by eric89074

This is why Apple is doing so well and squatting on every other phone, tablet, and PC maker.

While I've had no trouble with RIM (knock on wood), & I'm not an Apple fan per se, I have to say I had an iPod die on me and Apple had a new one in my hands almost immediately. I've also heard some good reports about issues with RIM, so every experience is different and should be treated that way.

**offthahorseceo** · 04-19-2012, 06:04 PM

Alec Saunders made it clear that the units given out to DEVS were RETAIL units and as such would carry the same warranty. Something doesnt add up

Twitter

**Acerfan** · 04-19-2012, 06:10 PM

I to have not had a great experience with there support.

**Mystic205** · 04-19-2012, 06:12 PM

Seriously?..

What narcissitic urges drive you to spend hours over a three week period creating and logging in a blog, rather than simply contacting RIM for an RMA number?..

Guess what, some small percentage of devices are faulty..I guess yours is one of those, but hey it happens.. When it happens to me the (insert devie here) is out of my house in 24hrs and i get a refund or a replacement.. But you, instead of shipping it off that day, you spend almost three weeks blogging about it?..

and you are faulting RIM.........................................

**alnamvet68** · 04-19-2012, 06:26 PM

I am truly sorry to report that I and my kids have had nothing but excellent customer service in all our dealings with RIM. We must be blessed.

**eric89074** · 04-19-2012, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by mystic205

Seriously?..

What narcissitic urges drive you to spend hours over a three week period creating and logging in a blog, rather than simply contacting RIM for an RMA number?..

Guess what, some small percentage of devices are faulty..I guess yours is one of those, but hey it happens.. When it happens to me the (insert devie here) is out of my house in 24hrs and i get a refund or a replacement.. But you, instead of shipping it off that day, you spend almost three weeks blogging about it?..

and you are faulting RIM.........................................

Seriously?....

He has been emailing back and forth with RIM and has contacted by phone twice and they still will not replace his PB.

Things like this are the reason why RIM has gone from the most popular smart phone manufacturer to not even a pimple on the of Apple in less than five years.

**kill_9** · 04-19-2012, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by alnamvet68

I am truly sorry to report that I and my kids have had nothing but excellent customer service in all our dealings with RIM. We must be blessed.

The sound of Black Ops helicopters in the background as you speak with BlackBerry Technical Support can be very persuasive.

**alnamvet68** · 04-19-2012, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by BB9700CA

The sound of Black Ops helicopters in the background as you speak with BlackBerry Technical Support can be very persuasive.

Nah....I'm really a nice guy in my life; just the trolls that inundate these forums are what gives me major agita. I believe that every @$#%&$@ that posts a customer service sucks post is FOS.

**TheScionicMan** · 04-19-2012, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by pkcable

Did anyone read the whole blog?

No, I didn't. I hate when people start a thread like they have something to say, then just provide a link to drive CB readers to their sites. Isn't there a rule against promoting your blogs/sites/whatever? Who knows where he's redirecting people.

If they want to discuss it on CB, post it on CB. Is that too much to ask?

**Cameron_H** · 04-19-2012, 07:17 PM

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read through the blog before criticizing me for complaining about tech support. I understand that working in tech support can be a difficult and thankless job - I have worked in two call centers myself. As far as simply posting a blog instead of creating an entire thread for this, I decided a blog was best because I wanted to share my experience on multiple places throughout the internet, and this would have made a very convoluted post. As you can see, my blog contains no ads or anything that I make money off of. It's purely informative.

Anyways, my hopes remain high that RIM will come through on this one. I have contacted their dev team, and am waiting for a reply. If that doesn't work, I will be back at calling tech support next week. Whatever happens, I will continue updating the blog. My hopes are simply that it does not end on a negative note!

**BerryClever** · 04-19-2012, 07:31 PM

There is just something that doesn't seem right. It is odd that they do not have the serial number in there system. Do you have a receipt that came with your PlayBook? or an e-mail confirmation with an order number?

I have dealt with A LOT of customer services (RIM, Apple, Microsoft, Best Buy, Amazon, etc), and with all I have had rude reps, average reps, and amazing reps... that is the nature of the beast when it goes to huge corporations that hire a ton of people. E-mail support takes too long for ANY company, the best bet is to phone unless it is a minor issue (your's is not).

That said, it doesn't seem to be as much as an issue with Technical Support as it is with your PlayBook not being in their system. If you got your PlayBook for free as a developer, well did you get ANY confirmation with a unique number? Did they ask for that info, because it would be surprising if they didn't (you talked to a few people I assume).

There has to be more to this, on one side or another. These companies keep track of everything, they have to, and for them not to have ANY numbers that match your PlayBook or order would be crazy in my mind.

**Cameron_H** · 04-19-2012, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by BerryClever

There is just something that doesn't seem right. It is odd that they do not have the serial number in there system. Do you have a receipt that came with your PlayBook? or an e-mail confirmation with an order number?

I have dealt with A LOT of customer services (RIM, Apple, Microsoft, Best Buy, Amazon, etc), and with all I have had rude reps, average reps, and amazing reps... that is the nature of the beast when it goes to huge corporations that hire a ton of people. E-mail support takes too long for ANY company, the best bet is to phone unless it is a minor issue (your's is not).

That said, it doesn't seem to be as much as an issue with Technical Support as it is with your PlayBook not being in their system. If you got your PlayBook for free as a developer, well did you get ANY confirmation with a unique number? Did they ask for that info, because it would be surprising if they didn't (you talked to a few people I assume).

There has to be more to this, on one side or another. These companies keep track of everything, they have to, and for them not to have ANY numbers that match your PlayBook or order would be crazy in my mind.

I can't say anything negative about any of the support representatives that I've spoken to. They have all been friendly and respectful, and I have given them the same friendliness and respect in return.

And yes, they give you a confirmation number when they tell you that you are getting your free tablet. I used that number as a reference when contacted the dev team earlier. I was extremely surprised when they told me that the serial number that is physically printed on the tablet was not in their system. As you say, these companies do keep track of everything.

**sputneek** · 04-19-2012, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by alnamvet68

Nah....I'm really a nice guy in my life; just the trolls that inundate these forums are what gives me major agita. I believe that every @$#%&$@ that posts a customer service sucks post is FOS.

I'm with you on that one, I had a charger issue that i procrastinated on and contacted RIM with anyway, turned out to be so easy it was'nt even funny. The treatment I got was unlike anything you're ever going to experience nowadays

I approached them politely and got a nice polite and friendly resolution to the problem. I spent about ten minutes on the phone and only two minutes of that was some really groovy salsa music

**peter9477** · 04-19-2012, 08:53 PM

Cameron_H, actually you did not "receive the free Playbook directly from RIM" since, if it was one of the developer units, you received it from TMGideas.com or whatever their name is. They work with RIM, but they're not RIM, and therefore anything from them is not "direct".

If there's an issue, and customer support is having trouble "finding" your unit, it's not their fault nor do they deserve the bad press... contact the people who actually sent it to you as instructed, and see if that gets you anywhere.

If it doesn't, then you should probably be contacting the Developer Relations people at RIM directly to get their assistance sorting it all out, but that's not really the place to start.

**johnenglish** · 04-19-2012, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by peter9477

Cameron_H, actually you did not "receive the free Playbook directly from RIM" since, if it was one of the developer units, you received it from TMGideas.com or whatever their name is. They work with RIM, but they're not RIM, and therefore anything from them is not "direct".

If there's an issue, and customer support is having trouble "finding" your unit, it's not their fault nor do they deserve the bad press... contact the people who actually sent it to you as instructed, and see if that gets you anywhere.

Then why didn't RIM simply tell him this from the beginning? This back and forth with support has been going on for three weeks and they're only telling him now that they're not the right people to contact and it was only after he took the inititive and tried following up with several other departs to try and get an answer as to how he could RMA his PlayBook? Surely they should have the serial number in the system and how it was distributed to the end user. It is absolutely RIM's fault as they are the point person for support. If they cannot support his product then they need to explain to him why and who he needs to contact for support and make sure this his issue is resolved. There was no documentation included with his PlayBook that indicated that anyone but RIM was responsible for supporting his PlayBook.

This is like if you get a devkit through some promotional agency and then being told by the manufacturer that you need to contact the PR agency for support. Can you imagine Apple or MS tell devs "Sorry, you need to contact http://GokuPowerMarketing.biz in order to receive tech support for your dev kit." That would be corporate suicide.

@CamH - I think you've been more than reasonable and exceptionally polite. I would send a tweet to @BlackBerryHelp and Alec Saunders (@asaunders) (VP of Developer Relations) and include the link to your blog.

RIM is digging it's own grave with idotic incidents like this. Regardless of whether it's them or some third party who should replace the PlayBook, RIM should be bending over backwards to point you in the right direction and to make sure the issue gets resolved ASAP. Shrugging their shoulders and saying "I dunno." is inexcusible for a company teetering on the brink of becoming completely irrelevant.

**varunsain** · 04-20-2012, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by eric89074

This is why Apple is doing so well and squatting on every other phone, tablet, and PC maker.

With the premium you pay on those things.. that's the least they can do.. OP here has a 'free' tablet.. read that again kid.. 'Free' tablet.. When was the last time you heard Apple giving anything for free even though they making many billions?