Sidekick blues
And so I have reached the stage in my Hiptop (Sidekick) relationship when I have been forced to call customer support to request a replacement. My Sidekick has entered a "deep sleep" mode and can not be awoken by the fix of reseting/powering on or pressing the "@, 1, 0" keys at the same time.
Before contacting T-Mobile customer support, I read up on the problem on various sites and realized that because none of the solutions were working, something more sinister was afoot. Since the shipping materials insist that getting a replacement is as easy as a phone call, I consider this situation to be a non-problem.
Customer support was a horrible pain in which I which I was flat-out blamed for "overcharging the device." The service rep told me that I should have watched the device charge and made sure to disconnect when it was done charging. To which I replied, "I'm supposed to sit and watch my phone charge?" Her reply: "Yes."
When I purchased the Sidekick and the T-Mobile plan, I knew that I was in for flakey bay area coverage. I assumed lack of coverage in Sonoma County or the like. If I had know that I wouldn't be able to get phone coverage in major cities in the bay area (Palo Alto), I would have reconsidered the purchase.
Dealing with the customer service representative yesterday gives me even more reason to want to get out of my contract.
18 Comments
My dad had a similar problem with a Sony Ericsson phone on T-Mobile. They swapped the battery at a store and left it at that--free of charge. That's when he found out about over charging.
I'm thinking they should design the phone/charger to be smart enough to last an overnight charge :P.
I've had to get replacement phones from Voicestream/T-Mobile in the past and never really had a problem, but I went directly to the dealer and not through their customer support lines. It wasn't with a Hiptop, though, so maybe they are tougher with that than with other phones. (I'm also practically in Amish country and I get really good coverage. Something's not quite right about that.)
Overcharging? Since when did we go back in time to nicad batteries and primitive trickle chargers? It should be standard practice for chargers to be smart enough to not overcharge things.
I'm sorry you got the run-around though.. Products aren't unique anymore, I can get a product to do a task anywhere. The thing thats of real value these days is service, and when that lacks, its really a hassle.
Unfortunately, the hiptop is a great idea and interface trapped in a shoddy body. Since, they wanted to make it cheap, they skimped in a few too many places. I would've gladly paid a little more for a more solid device.
Your coverage problem is unfortunate. I have great coverage here in DC, but I do remember it being a little thing when I was in Northern California. The problem is T-Mobile is concentrating more on getting new subscribers and overloading their spectrum, when they should be worrying about getting more coverage up.
Skip the Sidekick and the T68i, hold out for one of Nokia's upcoming camera phones --you can be sure the interface will be better, and since the phones get released in Europe and Asia first the ones that make it here should have the bugs worked out. Can't help you with T-Mobile customer support though. (I have to say their coverage in New York is excellent, I never lose my signal except in the subway and some elevators.)
Getting a replacement may be hard. My hiptop broke down and T-Mobile refered me to Amazon where I had bought it. Amazon and many other vendors are completely out-of-stock of hiptops and will not replace the item. You can return it and get a refund, but other places that still have them in stock do not have the $200 amazon rebate deal.
I had a Sidekick that lasted all of 24 hours before certain keys started to stick (8 of the letters/numbers were stuck). I called customer service at T-mobile and got somebody who wasn't helpful at all? She asked questions like, "Are you pressing hard enough?" Please. I hung up on her and called back and got somebody who sent me a new one right away. I had to do this again with the one they sent me since it was "refurbished." I went through a similar situation with customer service the second time around as well. I hung up on two reps until I got somebody who was helpful.
There is a way to fix this:
(taken from the hiptop.com forums)
1. Soft reset your device by pressing the following keys: @+1+0.
2. As your device reboots, press and hold the green POWER button and the 'P' key. Release these buttons after the device shuts down.
3. Finally, insert the AC power adaptor to restart your device.
This is a software glitch that has been corrected with the latest OTA firmware update. The reps at T-Mobile don't know much.
I must be extremely lucky... I bought my Hiptop on launch day (so I paid like $100 more than necessary, but oh well) and haven't had any crippling problems with it. Though I'd never gotten a "deep sleep" until after the OTA update (which supposedly fixed the deep sleep problem) and even after the OTA I'm still missing calls while my SK is in automatic keyguard (and for some reason, if I manually keyguard it doesn't actually stay in keyguard anymore). I really wish Danger would get their act together. :/
I have had my Sidekick replaced twice so far.
1. When the screen died - I could still recieve calls, but no screen
2. Same problem as you, "deep sleep". No power, can't turn it on etc.
Each time I have called customer service, they have been great,a nd have said immediately they will replace it, and I have now done so twice. Like you, I was prepared for problems when buying a 1st generation product, and am quite prepared for it to die again before I start to get annoyed!
Just a tip:
For those looking to have their Sidekick replaced because of a dead screen/keys or any other problem, don't waste time with T-Mobile's normal customer service. When you get through to a person, immediately ask for the "Wireless data group". These guys generally know what they are talking about. I've had my Sidekick replaced 3 times with zero hassle.
I've had one Sidekick replaced, and the rep was helpful. I think you got an idiot.
Turns out, though, that I didn't need to return it. It was just a victim of the charger icon/interupt bug that causes the unit to deep freeze. Leaving the unit unplugged for a day or two and then plugging it and resetting it fixes that problem usually.
Good news is, as another commenter noted, the firmware has been fixed to prevent that problem.
I have a T68 on T-Mobile in the Bay Area, and I've just had to replace it after it began to go completely nuts over the last month.
I must say, however, that I had a fantastic experience with T-Mobile customer service. I walked into a store to ask for help and they tried a few things, listened intelligently to my moderately knowledgeable explanation of what I had already done and how it had behaved, and then promptly *offered* to simply arrange a quick replacement for me.
As for Bay Area coverage -- don't blame T-Mobile, at least not entirely. The reason everyone always reacts with surprise, describing their excellent coverage and quality of service in X location (for all X != California) is simply because the T-Mobile network is quite solid and well-run -- but the Cingular network on which they piggyback in California is easily the worst large-scale cell network with which I have ever had any contact. The coverage is pitiful and the consistency of even the on-network experience atrocious. I have been on spring break in Salt Lake City -- and old Voicestream stronghold -- as well as New York City, and in both places my experiences have been absolutely fantastic, even better than with AT&T TDMA. The one thing I think we can hope for is that the just-announced Cingular/AT&T roaming agreement designed to improve the quality of GSM coverage for both carriers will soon impact T-Mobile California, as well. If it does, the experience will get much better fast, as AT&T has far better coverage and quality of service in the Bay Area based on my experience using the very same phone with an AT&T SIM card.
In short, no one is ever satisfied with their cell provider -- that has been almost universally true for a decade. In all my experience, T-Mobile is far and away the best of them all in nearly every way. Now if only Bay Area coverage would be reasonable, I could actually stick with them after my contract expires.
"I'm supposed to sit and watch my phone charge?"
"Yes."
Aren't customer rep's supposed to be caring and full of concern?...
i've had to have my hiptop replaced twice now...the first was a unit that wouldn't turn on and the second one refused to find any signal whatsoever after running fine for two months.
customer service has been nice and i'm not nearly as irritated with the situation as i thought i'd be.
there's no such thing as overcharging these phones. plug it in at night, unplug it when you get up.
I am thinking about getting the sidekick and I like the browsing capabilities of it. I must agree that tmobile customer care is nothing to be desired. They tend not to be that knowledgeable about many things pertaining to your service, They will not credit anything even if it is their fault. I work for attwireless in the tech support dept, so I know a bit about this gsm service. I chose to get a consumer plan with another provider because I don't like the restrictions that an employee account has and we have to pay not consumer but FULL price for our phones as an employee. I must say this, tmobile does TRULY need to work on their customer care, working with customers I have a level of tolerance the avg consumer wouldn't have and they really sometimes hinder you getting your issue resolved instead of facilitating your issue to get resolved. I have a few times wanted to cancel just because of the "CARE" experience, But I stay in northern california and I must say I get GREAT coverage when I am in Oakland/San Francisco area and that is a plus for me, that I must say keeps me with tmobile. I like the ability of the sidekick especially for the web browsing, that comes in handy when you are traveling out of town, so that is why I am thinking about getting it,but from all the responses I have just viewed, I think I will wait three more months before I purchase one....Thanks for all the info guys....And a little note for every one ALL wireless providers are going to have shotty service in some areas. GSM is a totally new network in this country and it will have challenges for the next 2 years or so, no matter what provider you have, some may be better than others but right now I do applaud attws and tmobile with attmepting to launch gsm service, cingular which is partly owned by sbc and bell south, you would think would put more effort in quaulity for their wireless service but I think in the future don't be surprised if you see cingular bought out by attws or verizon...
My phone has entered that deep sleep as well, it has happened twice, one with my first sidelick and I received another. Then, I got another and it has happend again. The phone will not turn on no matter what I press.
I had the exact same problem and resolve the problem by:
1-removing the protective cover where the simm card is located
2-find the orifice where the RIGHT leg of the SIMM CARD cover was located (under the JUMP KEY) hold the unit and locate while looking in the orifice a shiny part inside the unit
3- insert a very small screw driver or paper clip to the right of this connector and move it slightly to right and left without forcing. This contact will activate the battery vibration and restart the unit. (THIS PROCEDURE CAN VOID YOUR WARRANTY, YOU PRACTICE THIS PROCEDURE AT YOUR OWN RISK) I had the same problem described above and resolved it 3 times using this procedure. I accidently discover this solution before getting ready to exchange the unit for a 2nd time in 5 day's, I also read this is caused by a software BUG and a solution should be available. Let me know If you have another solution.:y