1. MrGD's Avatar
    Currently having a terrible time with RIM's/Blackberry's customer service.

    From the UK, I was using the 0800-096-2805 number EVERY DAY since I bought the Playbook on Saturday (5 days ago) and finally got them to agree to send a replacement. But then they've just rung me and said it's not happening now!

    And when I called back, the 0800-096-2805 number DOES NOT WORK anymore!!!

    I presume they've blocked my number or something from calling them?

    Unbelievable customer service. No wonder RIM is going down the toilet!
    08-29-12 01:05 PM
  2. drmike's Avatar
    Yep...thats the reason. Because they pissed you off, Im going to buy an Apple product now.

    Thank you so much for posting this today too. Really clarifies things.

    /end sarcasm
    Stewartj1 and bitek like this.
    08-29-12 01:09 PM
  3. DC506's Avatar
    There must be other numbers...and you'd have your ticket number. Let me Google that for you

    Let me google that for you
    Last edited by DC506; 08-29-12 at 01:24 PM.
    Stewartj1 and esk369 like this.
    08-29-12 01:20 PM
  4. bishshoy's Avatar
    Yep...thats the reason. Because they pissed you off, Im going to buy an Apple product now.

    Thank you so much for posting this today too. Really clarifies things.

    /end sarcasm
    One thing I have learnt after buying the pb is
    Never buy the thing that others dont buy and always buy the thing that others buy. I am talking about the majority of the people.

    Well this might not be applicable for laptops, where there are too many choices, but even then my experience tells me that going with the product that won the mass people's choice award is usually a better option out of the lot, if not the best.

    My next tablet is going to be a windows slate or a nexus or maybe the ipad, but never ever another bb product, coz i am not an undercover CID agent , that needs security. Infact, i need rooting !
    mud314 and smartie88 like this.
    08-29-12 01:31 PM
  5. beman39's Avatar
    Wow that must be a UK thing, cuzz I've seen other posters here and elsewhere say how wonderful the CS is...also I don't think a large company like RIM would be "ignoring" Your calls...and calling EVERYDAY....really? Sounds really annoying, I think I would screen you too LOL J/K
    esk369 likes this.
    08-29-12 01:33 PM
  6. kbz1960's Avatar
    OP sounds full of crap. Yes your job requires you to root bs.
    Stewartj1 likes this.
    08-29-12 01:37 PM
  7. Alex_Hong's Avatar
    I'll like to share my experience with RIM cs just yesterday. I had a really nice experience with them. Friendly chaps too. Asked some questions, then solved my problem promptly once I was directed to the right department. Had to do some waiting for calls to get transferred, only complain was a bad choice of music.

    Also my experience with getting replacement devices has been hassle-free as well. Probably will differ depending on which country you're in.

    Sad to hear that OP had a nad experience with them, but there are bound to be a few bad experiences here and there due to many different factors. But I'm sure most of the feedback for them are pretty good.

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9790 using Tapatalk
    esk369 likes this.
    08-29-12 01:59 PM
  8. Ben1232's Avatar
    I'm in the UK & RIM have been fastidious with their job of helping me.

    The actual number which is hidden behind the 0800 is 01695 262583

    Also, maybe they haven't yet read How To Be a Genius: This Is Apple's Secret Employee Training Manual
    mud314 and esk369 like this.
    08-29-12 02:03 PM
  9. hpjrt's Avatar
    I cry foul on the OP! I may be wrong but I don't find the original post credible.
    Stewartj1 likes this.
    08-29-12 02:25 PM
  10. spike12's Avatar
    If you only bought it 5 days ago, why not just return it to the place you bought it.. most places offer some kind of return or refund within 30 days.
    esk369 and Cracklen like this.
    08-29-12 02:32 PM
  11. der_mit's Avatar
    I have been in communication with RIM uk for the last four weeks and have found them to be very polite and courteous at all times, they have always called me back when they said they would , my calls have been trunked to the USA though.
    They must have a reason for not wanting to replace your device, maybe youre not telling us the full story.
    esk369 likes this.
    08-29-12 02:50 PM
  12. MrGD's Avatar
    Blimey - that's a lot of replies. Yes, it's a real post and yes I was calling (or they were calling me) every day, as everyday the PB was exhibiting different problems or the same ones and simply just not getting resolved.

    Yes, staff are generally friendly but often not very helpful - they appear fixated on "signing off" their calls and marking them as "resolved". Quite annoying when you saying to them 'no, the PB still has the same problem". I haven't taken it back to the shop as RIM keep saying they will replace it (like any carrier does with a defective mobile phone) but they keep not doing it.

    Finally they agreed to send a new one, then called me saying I had to give them credit card details incase I didn't return the faulty one. I gave them my debit card details and they then said RIM and Blackberry have no way of accepting debit cards (worldwide)! I mean what planet is this company on?

    Then a few hours after after all was agreed, some guy from Blackberry called again and said no replacement was being sent and he wanted to try some more software installs over the phone! He was pretty agressive and pushy so I put the phone down on him (that's when their number stopped working).

    I've since spoken to a manager now who says a new PB is being sent out.

    But I think Bishshoy is right in his post - sometimes it's not always a good thing to go against the flow - there's a reason everyone buys an ipad and even more buy the Galaxy. You don't want to be the one who forked out for the DIVX disc player, or the HD-DVD or the Betamax.

    From what I have been able to use on my faulty PB, it's a great little tablet and it does seamlessly sync with my Torch 9860 via bridge and I do like it and it's size - hence trying to solve this problem, despite dreadful customer service.

    Ultimately though, there's a reason the PB's aren't selling... perhaps over priced, probably too small in size, too many glitches and problems with wifi, not enough apps - especially the obvious like Skype, Viber - infact no video calling at all apart from to other PB's in their own app, etc etc etc and - from what I've found - poor customer service...
    08-29-12 07:46 PM
  13. christenmartin's Avatar
    My playbook went down and within a week I had a new one in my hand. They don't ask for credit card information, they send you a box and when they receive the defective one they send out the replacement. Rims customer service is A++++. I've used other tablets playbook stacks up real well. Have a great day.
    08-29-12 08:33 PM
  14. garlee's Avatar
    RIM customer Service is second to none, they answer the phone fast, they are polite and try there very best to help you, and yes they do call you back when they say they will. I have had occasion to call from canada on three occassions and have been satisfied with there help and followup. I only wish other companies were as good.
    08-29-12 10:58 PM
  15. varunsain's Avatar
    Why don't you just return it to the place you bought it from - don't move from the cash counter and curse them in front of everyone so that they know they cannot mess around with a consumer.

    Only a crying baby is heard.
    madman0141 likes this.
    08-29-12 11:29 PM
  16. MrGD's Avatar
    i love it when people post saying stuff like "they don't ask for credit cards" - so what, i just dreamt that did i? and "they always call back", ...again - i just imagined they didn't call back some of the time, huh?

    cheers varunsain for the advice, that's what i've done with BB/RIM - they are sending me a new PB, should arrive tomorrow. then they give me 10 days to send back the faulty one.

    all i'm saying is their customer service sucks when it comes to faulty goods.

    if you have a working PB and, say, you don't know how to configure something, you call them up they are great - very helpful. but if you have a faulty product they seem not to believe you as a starting point with an attitude of "you can't possibly have a faulty PB" approach.

    And when finally someone believes you, they don't seem to have a very good system in place for speedy replacements.

    And as for answering the phone quickly, er - no. 27 minutes was the record yesterday, good thing it's a freephone number.
    08-30-12 06:34 AM
  17. PTZ's Avatar
    I have had nothing but good to say about RIM and how they have handled problems that I have had with my PlayBook. Sorry to hear of your problems. I think there is a misunderstanding somewhere. RIM impressed me.
    Stewartj1 likes this.
    08-30-12 07:06 AM
  18. rich_a's Avatar
    i love it when people post saying stuff like "they don't ask for credit cards" - so what, i just dreamt that did i? and "they always call back", ...again - i just imagined they didn't call back some of the time, huh?
    When I exchanged my playbook here in the UK, they only asked for a credit card if I wanted "Advanced exchange" - this is where they will send your new playbook and then you package up your broken one for return. They place a hold of a few hundred pounds (for my 32GB it was around �300) - I think it's the "hold" which means it needs to be a credit card.

    If you don't do the advance exchange (i.e. send it back to them and wait while it's repaired/replaced) then you don't need to give them any payment details, I believe.

    Ring them back and check whether you agreed to an advanced exchange.

    My personal dealings with RIM customer service earlier this year were mixed. They were very friendly and courteous, despite their heavy east European accents being a little hard to understand. The thing that really annoyed me was that it was such a slow process. I would e-mail a picture showing the dead pixels, as they requested, then have to wait 24 hours for a reply. They would ask me to try security wiping and using the desktop software to reload the software and I'd tell them I'd done that and have to wait another 24 hours for a response. They repeatedly claimed they tried to call me to discuss things but couldn't reach me, despite my mobile phone working well enough to take calls from other people. Despite the setbacks, the exchange process was very smooth (I opted for advance exchange) and their follow up call to tell me they'd stopped the hold on my credit card, along with checking up that I was happy with my PlayBook was much appreciated.

    As other people have said, though, if you can take it back to the retailer for replacement it would save a lot of hassle. The only reason I didn't do that was because I bought in late December after the big price drop and the retailer I bought from was all out of 32GB units.
    08-30-12 07:11 AM
  19. Angus_CB's Avatar
    Currently having a terrible time with RIM's/Blackberry's customer service.

    From the UK, I was using the 0800-096-2805 number EVERY DAY since I bought the Playbook on Saturday (5 days ago) and finally got them to agree to send a replacement. But then they've just rung me and said it's not happening now!
    ...
    Why are you messing with RIM? Return it to the vendor.

    The quality of customer service you receive anywhere has a lot to do with the way you approach them. They are only human.
    Last edited by Angus_CB; 08-30-12 at 07:21 AM.
    Cracklen likes this.
    08-30-12 07:16 AM
  20. Ben1232's Avatar
    OP, do you find you get similar responses from being on the telephone to other companies too ?
    Cracklen likes this.
    08-30-12 07:17 AM
  21. StanWiz's Avatar
    RIM is no different , when it comes to customer service, than most companies. I would say they are average.

    My original charger broke - 1 phone call later a new replacement rapid charger was on the way. To make a long story short it took 20 phone calls (the last 2-3 not very nice) , a bunch of lies,and runaround and 2 months for me to receive the replacement charger.

    I believe that the reason it took so long was poor employee training an lack of internal communications. Bottom line is squeaky wheel get the grease.
    08-30-12 07:27 AM
  22. Stewartj1's Avatar
    Hear that loud, high-pitched sound? That's the overload alarm on my BS-ometer.

    I've dealt with RIM CS numerous times over the past 6 weeks and find them well above average.

    No complaints here.
    08-30-12 07:47 AM
  23. StanWiz's Avatar
    Funny thing is the charger was shipped eventually from somewhere in NS - so what happened to me wasn't rim but the newfies out east. Lol
    08-30-12 07:54 AM
  24. webosdropout's Avatar
    RIM Waterloo has let go of most of their direct hire in tech support. They are now out-sourcing this process.

    So one individual's experience from another will vary. Especially, in the next few months should this become more noticeable.
    08-30-12 07:54 AM
  25. DC506's Avatar
    ...all i'm saying is their customer service sucks when it comes to faulty goods.

    if you have a working PB and, say, you don't know how to configure something, you call them up they are great - very helpful. but if you have a faulty product they seem not to believe you as a starting point with an attitude of "you can't possibly have a faulty PB" approach.

    And when finally someone believes you, they don't seem to have a very good system in place for speedy replacements.

    And as for answering the phone quickly, er - no. 27 minutes was the record yesterday, good thing it's a freephone number.
    Glad to hear you will be getting a new PlayBook, but.......

    I think what gets a lot of people worked up over this kind of post is that it's a "blanket statement" which isn't fair. Yes your experience may have been awful, but that does not mean RIMs customer service sucks in every single case.

    I recently had an issue with a brand new PB out of the box, I called RIM and after some troubleshooting I was given 2 options.

    1. They send me an empty RMA FedEx box and I ship the faulty device to them.
    2. I choose the Advance Replacement option (yes. $199 hold on my CC) and receive a new device and send the faulty one back in the same box.


    On a Thursday at 4:30 pm I chose option 2, Advanced Replacement. Monday morning at 10:30 am, FedEx was at my door with my new PB. This did not cost me a penny, nor will it if I send back the faulty PB.

    So based on MY experience, RIM has fantastic customer service.

    Cheers
    08-30-12 08:02 AM
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