Did Google drop the ball?

[spazma7ik]

Also, apparently the antennae in the phone is faulty and is causing very spotty 3G service and the Wi-Fi is practically broken. Yikes.

 

[shademar]

I've been curious to see how the direct distribution model would work as well. I wouldn't go so far as to call anything a 'deluge' but skimming various forums, it seems that those who are having problems (which is only a small percentage) are encountering some, ah, kinks in the way that non-centralized CS works.

Specifically, those having 3G issues are being told by T-mobile that it's HTC's hardware at fault, and by HTC that it's T-mob's network. There also seems to be some confusion regarding insurance, with some people emphatically saying that T-mob offered them insurance and others emphatically saying that insurance claims for the N1 wouldn't be honored.

The fact that no single entity is responsible for you having a functional phone does seem like it could cause systematic problems (I say this as someone who had to replace my droid and was very happy to be able to just call 611 to do so.) I honestly wonder what the VZW distribution model will look like, and hopefully they'll get a clear CS hierarchy established soon.

 

[Echo3]

I've been curious to see how the direct distribution model would work as well. I wouldn't go so far as to call anything a 'deluge' but skimming various forums, it seems that those who are having problems (which is only a small percentage) are encountering some, ah, kinks in the way that non-centralized CS works.

Specifically, those having 3G issues are being told by T-mobile that it's HTC's hardware at fault, and by HTC that it's T-mob's network. There also seems to be some confusion regarding insurance, with some people emphatically saying that T-mob offered them insurance and others emphatically saying that insurance claims for the N1 wouldn't be honored.

The fact that no single entity is responsible for you having a functional phone does seem like it could cause systematic problems (I say this as someone who had to replace my droid and was very happy to be able to just call 611 to do so.) I honestly wonder what the VZW distribution model will look like, and hopefully they'll get a clear CS hierarchy established soon.

Better yet, hoping The N1 for Verizon won't be having the issues T-Mo customers are having.

 

[Nedaroth]

Verizon FTW.:icon_ banana:

 

[Bucknell2013]

Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to care about the N1? My Verizon Droid is working great--It's a fabulous phone, really!

But seriously, I'm not surprised to hear this. With a new model like this, there were bound to be some errors. I only hope that they find some way to smooth out the kinks of this dilemma. You would think that some protocol would've been laid out and explained to T-Mobile customer support for this...You would think.

Well, all I can say to N1 early adopters is: Good Luck!

 

[Magdroid]

Another HTC Hardware fail. Another win for Motorola + Verizon! Motorola's fail is pretty minor: A couple loose sliding droids (easily fixed), and a loose battery door (Verizon is fixing for FREE!). HTC Fail: Major - Bad Hardware! Maybe they will fix it before release. I almost feel sorry for the company (almost).

 

[DroidEric]

I love my battery life on my Droid (coming from an Eris). And the physical keyboard is a nice plus, despite what the reviews say. Working in the wireless industry (sales then tech), I have always had problems with moto being a pain in the ssa. They always have battery issues (think krazr and razr form factor) blank screens etc. and lets not even start with the Q...so I was apprehensive to puchase a motorola but have been completely satisfied. Google only has a little bit more money than God, so I hope they can make this right.

 

[mjs31]

Funny...I remember in the other post about who was leaving the Droid for the Nexus and several of us said no way. Someone in this forum said many would change their mind when they got a hold of the Nexus. Yeah...we shall see LMAO....the grass is always greener....

 

[biglipps66]

This reminds me of when I bought my first touch screen WM phone.. Audiovox and loved it.. bought the HTC touch pro next and it was THE biggest piece of Sh!t cell phone Ive ever owned in my lifetime. I bought it for $345 dollars and just sold it for $100 bucks after it sat on my coffee table almost a full years time collecting dust.

I was worried about liking my droid at first, not anymore, best phone Ive ever owned hands down.

 

[RW-1]

I always say "Have your infrastructure in place before release".

 

[daddyd302]

Google is very stupid using this piss poor method of selling and tech support. Do they really think people are gonna be happy waiting a day or two to get a response? Most people will get fed up and T-mobile will be the one to suffer over this not Google. This is all on Google, and yet I get the feeling T-mobile will get most of the backlash.

At least Apple had plenty of stores close by in case customers need help. You buy from Google, you're screwed, as HTC and T-mobile can't help you. I was that close to jumping ship but hesitated when I thought about tech support and the lack of it. I feared something like this would happen and no way I was gonna wait a day or two to hear something I'm sure the N1 forums would already tell people how to resolve or attempt to resolve their issues.

This is gonna come back and bite Google big time if they don't go ahead and let HTC or T-Mobile deal with the tech support.

 

[928Droid]

Here is another article, this time from Engadet, usually a litle more pro-Android than PC Mag.

Google support forums rife with Nexus One 3G complaints, is this a real problem? -- Engadget

All you have to do is go visit our sister site http://www.nexusoneforum.net/ and read all the "horror stories"


This is a BIG difference between customer support for "Hard Products"(that cost $500) vs "soft products"(that are also free) and it looks like Google is learning the hard way.

 

[jsh1120]

This is a BIG difference between customer support for "Hard Products"(that cost $500) vs "soft products"(that are also free) and it looks like Google is learning the hard way.

Bingo! I think you've put your finger on the heart of the problem. One of the least cited benefits of Google's business model is that they have never had to provide true customer support. If customers don't like their products or the products don't work as advertised, Google is in the envious position of simply advising a customer to stop using the product.

That all changes when when a customer actually purchases a product and it changes even more when the company has to support BOTH software and hardware. Add to all of this the fact that Google is now selling a product to phone users, not computer geeks.

I'm a big fan of Google. Within the bounds imposed on any capitalist enterprise, it has a great track record of "doing good." But the firm has now taken on a wholly different set of responsibilities in selling and supporting a phone. Without an army of customer support folks trained to deal with everyone from Grandma to teenage hackers, they're going to be buried in complaints, even if the phone is perfect. And as we all know, phones are never perfect.

 

[Del Vecchio]

I am really glad that I was able to convince the wife that the Droid was where its at. Now half the time I cant get her off it lol.

 

[kevdog]

With 2.1 coming to the Droid -- what really is the point?