1. glawayne's Avatar
    My playbook won't charge through the usb port, so I asked RIM for a repair as it is still in the one year warranty period. They got FedEx to pick up my playbook, but later told me the usb port was damaged by user (me) and won't be repaired for free, as that is not covered by the warranty!! I have no idea how that damage has happened and don't think it is not covered. I have several phones using the same small usb port, but by charging them nearly everyday, none of them has been broken, why the PB's port so fragile? It's apparently a design problem from RIM that make the port easy to be damaged! They should honor their warranty and repair any similar damage for free. I'm totally disappointed and considering legal action to get compensation.
    09-21-12 06:36 PM
  2. Chaddface's Avatar
    I suspect you plugged it in upside downn.
    09-21-12 06:38 PM
  3. glawayne's Avatar
    I suspect you plugged it in upside downn.
    It was used by my daughter, could have been damaged by plugging in a wrong way. But the port should be designed for not being able to plug in upside down, as many other phones. RIM is just not up to the standard in term of customer services!
    09-21-12 06:47 PM
  4. BB_Bmore's Avatar
    I had a rma last week for recessed power button and magnetic charging port issues. The whole process literally took less than 5 days including the weekend and my 10 month old PlayBook was back and working like a champ. I did have another one to use while waiting so I suffered zero withdrawal. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with RIM. Honestly it was the best customer service I ever had.

    If I were you I'd go buy a new PlayBook considering that they don't cost much more to get new than repairs do.
    Last edited by BB-Bmore; 09-21-12 at 06:50 PM.
    hpjrt and eternalemb like this.
    09-21-12 06:47 PM
  5. urbanmx's Avatar
    Well that's to bad about the warranty. I have a quick charger stand that charges it through the 3 metal things. It's great my 3 year can put it on the charger for me. You might consider getting one.
    09-21-12 06:58 PM
  6. glawayne's Avatar
    I had a rma last week for recessed power button and magnetic charging port issues. The whole process literally took less than 5 days including the weekend and my 10 month old PlayBook was back and working like a champ. I did have another one to use while waiting so I suffered zero withdrawal. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with RIM. Honestly it was the best customer service I ever had.

    If I were you I'd go buy a new PlayBook considering that they don't cost much more to get new than repairs do.
    I couldn't agree with you for the quality of customer services. I'm quite sure RIM is fully aware of the usb port problem because the first thing the girl answered me was the exclusion of usb damage in the warranty, that clearly showed this is a wide spread problem, happened to many PB users and it is a design problem. I've already talked to my lawyer and waiting for his further investigation.
    09-21-12 07:01 PM
  7. BB_Bmore's Avatar
    Agreed, the charging dock is great and it charges quickly. that was one of the reasons my 16g got rma because of connectivity issues with the 3 magnetic prongs,they worked fine but then slowly but surely went bad.

    I just got a second charging dock for 14 dollars at staples last week.
    tonyron227 likes this.
    09-21-12 07:05 PM
  8. BB_Bmore's Avatar
    double post
    09-21-12 07:07 PM
  9. amazinglygraceless's Avatar
    Well that's to bad about the warranty. I have a quick charger stand that charges it through the 3 metal things. It's great my 3 year can put it on the charger for me. You might consider getting one.
    Now where is he going to get a three year old
    hpjrt, bungaboy, LewLew23 and 2 others like this.
    09-21-12 07:10 PM
  10. glawayne's Avatar
    Well that's to bad about the warranty. I have a quick charger stand that charges it through the 3 metal things. It's great my 3 year can put it on the charger for me. You might consider getting one.
    Thanks, I'm thinking to get one of that, but will continue to fight for compensation from RIM for not providing proper customer services.
    09-21-12 07:10 PM
  11. glawayne's Avatar
    Now where is he going to get a three year old
    He is lucky, my 9 year old can only cause troubles to me now
    09-21-12 07:13 PM
  12. keefrto's Avatar
    Poor show RIM, I had to send 2 out of the 3 playbook I have back for the USB port being damaged. TBH these slots are quite flimsy and they should recognize the fact.
    09-21-12 07:34 PM
  13. pickles#WP's Avatar
    I couldn't agree with you for the quality of customer services. I'm quite sure RIM is fully aware of the usb port problem because the first thing the girl answered me was the exclusion of usb damage in the warranty, that clearly showed this is a wide spread problem, happened to many PB users and it is a design problem. I've already talked to my lawyer and waiting for his further investigation.
    . Well, go ahead if you really intend to. Of course, it will cost a lot more to get a legal opinion than it would to buy a new charger or even a new pb and a charger.

    I fail to see why RIM should be held responsible because you let a child play with the plug (a part of the story you didn't tell us in your first post,btw)
    esk369 likes this.
    09-21-12 07:40 PM
  14. hpjrt's Avatar
    Even if the OP paid full price for his PB, it still wouldn't be worthwhile to engage legal services for a repair. It's like putting through a $600 repair on your car insurance when you have a $500 deductible! I'm afraid I have to cry BS at that. No reasonable person would consider engaging a legal opinion, let alone advertise such foolishness on a forum.

    So either the OP is a constant complainer with a legal eagle on retainer, or s/he has left a bridge unattended.
    esk369 likes this.
    09-21-12 07:59 PM
  15. glawayne's Avatar
    . Well, go ahead if you really intend to. Of course, it will cost a lot more to get a legal opinion than it would to buy a new charger or even a new pb and a charger.

    I fail to see why RIM should be held responsible because you let a child play with the plug (a part of the story you didn't tell us in your first post,btw)
    She was not PLAYing the PB plug, that's her PB! So many adults have done the same mistake by plugging upside down and that should be prevented by safe design (no access for the wrong way plug in).
    09-21-12 08:10 PM
  16. glawayne's Avatar
    Even if the OP paid full price for his PB, it still wouldn't be worthwhile to engage legal services for a repair. It's like putting through a $600 repair on your car insurance when you have a $500 deductible! I'm afraid I have to cry BS at that. No reasonable person would consider engaging a legal opinion, let alone advertise such foolishness on a forum.

    So either the OP is a constant complainer with a legal eagle on retainer, or s/he has left a bridge unattended.
    found your comments rather hostile! My lawyer is a family friend and would provide advice to me for no charge as long as it does not reach the escalated stage. The center of my complaint is that RIM failed to recognize it's their design fault causing this port damage, so it could be a big case if RIM continue to turn down legitimate repair requirements
    09-21-12 08:19 PM
  17. esk369's Avatar
    Op just curios how much does your legal consul charge you by the hour?
    The reason I ask is because when I got divorced a few years back I had to put up a two thousand dollar retainer and the guy charged me like four hundred dollars an hour and I was wondering if rates have gone up?
    Sorry for going offtopic guys.
    Op if you want to keep it private pm me Ireally want to know cause I'm thinking of taking legal acti against somebody tks.
    09-21-12 08:37 PM
  18. hpjrt's Avatar
    found your comments rather hostile! My lawyer is a family friend and would provide advice to me for no charge as long as it does not reach the escalated stage. The center of my complaint is that RIM failed to recognize it's their design fault causing this port damage, so it could be a big case if RIM continue to turn down legitimate repair requirements
    Sorry you found my comment hostile. It wasn't meant to be. When you first indicated that you were awaiting advice from your lawyer, you did not say that said lawyer was a family friend providing you with free services. Indeed, if you re-read your original comment, there was every indication that the relationship with your lawyer was a professional one.

    That said, I have read on these forums of countless instances of above average customer service from RIM and countless instances of quick, efficient repair. Therefore, something else must be at work here for you to have received something less in your experience.

    You say in another post that the PB in question actually belongs to your 3 year old and there was the admission that she could have plugged it in incorrectly. If that's the case, the damage is clearly owner negligence. It is your responsibility to ensure that your 3 year old operates electronic devices properly.

    I have a 3 year old granddaughter, and while she is quite at home operating both my PB and her mother's iPad, neither myself nor my daughter-in-law would permit her to plug either device into a charger.

    Neither would I expect a company to cover, without charge, damage that was clearly my fault - and would be surprised if the warranty language for the PB indicated that they would cover damage, regardless of cause, in the 1 year warranty period.

    Could the USB port have been constructed better? Probably. That still doesn't mean that you get a free pass in terms of damaging it.

    I still think involving a lawyer, especially a family friend, is overkill.
    esk369 and baldanders like this.
    09-21-12 08:38 PM
  19. anon(55900)'s Avatar
    I couldn't agree with you for the quality of customer services. I'm quite sure RIM is fully aware of the usb port problem because the first thing the girl answered me was the exclusion of usb damage in the warranty, that clearly showed this is a wide spread problem, happened to many PB users and it is a design problem. I've already talked to my lawyer and waiting for his further investigation.
    Not a design flaw, all micro usb ports/plugs are fragile, what your paying an attourney could get you 7 new playbooks....
    Viktor_Volkov likes this.
    09-21-12 08:55 PM
  20. kretch's Avatar
    Say you sell a PlayBook to someone on Ebay and you give them a 10 day warrant and they damaged the PlayBooks charging port after 5days and want to return it for a refund because it will not charge.

    What would you do then.
    09-21-12 08:55 PM
  21. bungaboy's Avatar
    I had to send a 64GB unit back because it wouldn't charge or turn on.

    RIM sent me a new device in 2 business days.

    Pretty good customer service to me.

    Warranty doesn't usually cover pilot error.
    esk369, DC506 and nofiz like this.
    09-21-12 08:56 PM
  22. glawayne's Avatar
    Sorry you found my comment hostile. It wasn't meant to be. When you first indicated that you were awaiting advice from your lawyer, you did not say that said lawyer was a family friend providing you with free services. Indeed, if you re-read your original comment, there was every indication that the relationship with your lawyer was a professional one.

    That said, I have read on these forums of countless instances of above average customer service from RIM and countless instances of quick, efficient repair. Therefore, something else must be at work here for you to have received something less in your experience.

    You say in another post that the PB in question actually belongs to your 3 year old and there was the admission that she could have plugged it in incorrectly. If that's the case, the damage is clearly owner negligence. It is your responsibility to ensure that your 3 year old operates electronic devices properly.

    I have a 3 year old granddaughter, and while she is quite at home operating both my PB and her mother's iPad, neither myself nor my daughter-in-law would permit her to plug either device into a charger.

    Neither would I expect a company to cover, without charge, damage that was clearly my fault - and would be surprised if the warranty language for the PB indicated that they would cover damage, regardless of cause, in the 1 year warranty period.

    Could the USB port have been constructed better? Probably. That still doesn't mean that you get a free pass in terms of damaging it.

    I still think involving a lawyer, especially a family friend, is overkill.
    She is 9 year old not 3, capable of using many computing devices, definitely not her fault as many adults have done the same. I will wait to see what my lawyer advise me to do. BTW I'm in Britain not north america, seems you guys got better treatments from RIM as some of you got free repairs even outside warranty. Discrimination, I have to say.
    09-21-12 09:02 PM
  23. glawayne's Avatar
    Not a design flaw, all micro usb ports/plugs are fragile, what your paying an attourney could get you 7 new playbooks....
    I have four phones (not blackberry) with the same micro usb port, none of them could be plugged in upside down.
    09-21-12 09:10 PM
  24. hpjrt's Avatar
    I stand corrected regarding your 9 year old daughter. . I know that she would not appreciate being confused with a 3 year old.

    Even though "many adults" have damaged their USB port, that still doesn't absolve you or your daughter from being responsible for the damage. Many people have managed to have their PBs for over a year without damaging their USB port. While I tend to use the rapid charger, I do use the USB port and have managed to not damage it. My husband uses the USB port exclusively to charge his PB and has managed to not damage the USB port.

    That said, if either my husband or myself damaged the USB port, I would probably try to purchase a new PB because it would probably cost more to repair it. What I would not do is expect RIM to foot the bill.

    I have no first hand knowledge of RIM discriminating against the UK, and would expect the same level of service from RIM everywhere. I have not read of other Brits having issues with RIM's CS.

    Perhaps you merely expect more than the average North American?
    09-21-12 09:20 PM
  25. kwm1337's Avatar
    I sometimes like reading these threads because of how ridiculous they can get, I'll be it normally nothing interesting comes of reading while bored, except this diamond in the rough. I actually was thinking you had a legitimate claim until you:
    1). Brought in legal counsel to the discussion (regardless of your relationship),
    2). Now you say that it "could" have been caused by a 9 year old kid,
    3). And now you just show anger toward RIM not bowing to your demands.

    A warranty is a warranty and I think it's rather shameless that someone brings up a subject to complain about RIM's supposed lack of service, when, in my opinion, they have a rather good reputation for servicing warranties. All this because someone's 9 year old kid hasn't learned not to put a square peg in a round hole.

    By the way to sum up the thread the OP goes from say "I have no idea how that damage has happened" to "She was not PLAYing the PB plug, that's her PB! So many adults have done the same mistake by plugging upside down and that should be prevented by safe design (no access for the wrong way plug in)."

    I don't know about anyone else, but it seems like you have a rather good idea of how it happened.

    For those that may read the OP's post I hope many realize that RIM has some great support, but indeed they do not cater to demands such as these.

    P.S. Everyone has lawyers in this world, and everyone is innocent
    esk369, bungaboy and crazeee4u like this.
    09-21-12 09:30 PM
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