I'd like to make a small complaint about a matter that arose in the last week or so. It's nothing too serious, but something I'd like to bring to your attention.
I had a 2 year contract with you a couple of years ago with a Galaxy A53. A phone I've become very attached to for it's functionality, but also the outstanding photography capabilities. I've since gone to Sim Only which is suiting me greatly. Sadly, over the last few months it was becoming harder & harder for it to accept a charging cable (USB-C), to the point where I only had only one cable that could charge it, and even then only if I really pushed the cable into the port. Imagine my dismay when the only cable that worked managed to disappear over this last weekend (it may have had something to do with the rabbits, but I have no evidence to back up that claim)
I had ventured into my local EE branch a couple of weeks ago to seek their advice with regards to the charging port, and after a cursory glance at the port, I was strongly advised to just get a new phone & contract. Not something I really wanted to do as I'm guarding the pennies at the moment, plus as I mentioned, I really liked the phone.
So after the mysterious vanishing cable incident, and some hasty data transfer to an older A51 I still had knocking around before the battery died, I gave a call to a local phone repair place who offered to replace the charging port for a very reasonable £40, and it would only take half an hour.
So I rushed up town after work, and got to the shop before they closed. The nice man behind the counter said he'd try a chemical clean first, if that didn't work he'd replace the port, and to give him 20 minutes.
20 minutes later I returned to the shop to be told all it needed was the clean and they'd only charge me £20, which was a bit of a result, as well as partially restoring my faith in humanity somewhat, but it did make me think back to the interaction with your staff at the branch.
I'm not sure if it's policy or not, but at no point was any kind of repair or service offered, and I was talking to 3 employees at once (It was a quiet time). The impending fact that at some point the only charging cable that worked, would no longer work, was looming large on the horizon, so I was hoping for more than a tacitly implid shrug with regards to my issue.
Now, I'm not using this email to complain about the staff at the branch. They were friendly enough and did attempt to see if a display model's charging cable would work, but as soon as it was evident it didn't, no other option was offered, other than to sign up for another financially binding 24-month contract, as well as possibly downgrading the quality of my phone which, as I mentioned before, I really wasn't keen on doing.
I work in the customer service industry, albeit in a vasty different field (one that may explain all the gunk in the port that was the cause of the problem), and have to deal with customer enquiries & complaints daily. One of our tenets is that if we can't serve a customer directly or promptly, we would advise that customer to essentially look elsewhere, even if that means directing them to a competitor. Even though we may not get that sale, the customer usually remembers our desire to see their problem solved in a positive light, and they remember us 'next time'. This could have been something your employees suggested, even if it couldn't have been offered by yourselves. The contract was sim only, so what happened to the phone was my responsibility, and wouldn't have come back on the guys in the shop.
This experience hasn't completely sullied my opinion of EE, but it might influence any decision if I do decide to upgrade in the future. But now as I've got a fully-functional charging port I can't see that happening any time soon.
I hope you take this email in the good nature it's intended. I never like to complain, but in retrospect of the conversation I had in the store I just needed to point out, especially in this ever-increasing financial climate that doesn't seem to be lessening any time soon, that more could have been suggested other than another long-term financial burden.
Kind regards
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Writer`s Release
