My Pixel has a manufacturing defect • Hacker News Board

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#121

Post by op00to » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:46 PM UTC

ohyoutravel wrote: post #109

This is pretty disturbing. I have a nexus 5x on Fi and would love a Pixel, but because of stories by this I haven't upgraded. Since I'm on Fi, I'm kind of stuck with Google phones unless I switch. But Fi is too friendly for international travel and data rates, and it's cheap generally.

I am an Apple user primarily for support reasons, but I have never heard of someone having this problem with a Pixel. You are probably safe from experiencing this problem if you decide to buy it. If you buy the phone with a good credit card, you can get an extra year of warranty service too.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#122

Post by dghughes » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

rfrey wrote: post #5

If Google wants to charge Apple iPhone prices, they can't continue with Google level service.

I've found the Nest protect service amazing. Sure technically they're Alphabet not Google.

I complained on Twitter about false positives and how I lost trust in it. They contacted me to say I can get a new replacement of the new version.

So I called them and the person spoke perfect fluent English and it wasn't tin can VoIP line. I was more amazed at those two things than getting a new smoke detector.

All good fast service I wish all tech support was as smooth. It was like being back in time when you got a person and everyone was polite plus your problem was resolved.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#123

Post by shakna » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

karyon wrote: post #104

shakna wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within Australia, Consumer Law overrules any and all conflicting arbitration clauses. For example, "extended warranties" you pay for are considered useless, and the ACCC recently did a public awareness campaign against them. Why? Products are guaranteed to last a "reasonable lifetime", where precedent determines reasonableness. Precedents I know: * "Dumb" phone, 10 years * Smartphone, 5 years * Fridge, 10 years * Car…

that... sounds too good to be true. could you provide any references on what the actual consequences of this warranty are?

The guarantees can be seen here [0].

Personally, I've never needed to test it, as mentioning the Consumer Rights Commission is enough to make the worst of businesses suddenly become your best friend.

However, a little research shows:

The ACL will assist if the business refuses to honour the guarantee. [0]

> "If we find that a retailer is not honouring the obligations imposed on the retailer under the consumer guarantee provisions of the Australia consumer law then the ACCC will take action to deal with those issues," Mr Samuel said.

Optus, a sizeable telecom, got a decent fine for hiding stuff in fine print.

> The ACCC has already been busy enforcing a prohibition on false, misleading or deceptive claims, with Optus recently agreeing to pay $178,200 in fines for potentially misleading consumers with some of its phone cap advertising.

There's actually a TV show revolving around this stuff [1], so I'd say its relatively enforced.

[0] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-07/broken-but-out-of-warr...

[1] http://www.abc.net.au/tv/thecheckout/

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#124

Post by givinguflac » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

Lazare wrote: post #28

It's a persistent story: Google reliably has the worst customer support of any large company, to the point that Comcast or your local DMV starts to look good in comparison. It's impressive, in its own way. And as long as their consumer facing products were things like free webapps, they could get away with it. ...but if they want to sell a premium-priced handset, they can't get away with it. It's a USD$750 phone, com…

That's exactly my experience as well, and a major reason I moved away from google services in general. I had about as much chance of my cat helping me fix an issue as I did google.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#125

Post by shakna » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:49 PM UTC

givinguflac wrote: post #120

shakna wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within Australia, Consumer Law overrules any and all conflicting arbitration clauses. For example, "extended warranties" you pay for are considered useless, and the ACCC recently did a public awareness campaign against them. Why? Products are guaranteed to last a "reasonable lifetime", where precedent determines reasonableness. Precedents I know: * "Dumb" phone, 10 years * Smartphone, 5 years * Fridge, 10 years * Car…

WOW, 5 years for a smartphone? I'm all for longer warranties but honestly that seems excessive to enforce. There's no way an even 4 year old smartphone wouldn't have at least some consumer caused damage. How do they account for that? If I beat the hell out of my phone but still insist there's "a problem" they have to just eat the cost?

Not guaranteed if you caused the damage.

Its against manufacturing defects, and designed to fight planned obsolescence.

EDIT: Most warranties here don't cover consumer-caused damage either. If they do, extended warranty makes sense, but it's few and far between.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#126

Post by blockoperation » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:50 PM UTC

georgyo wrote: post #73

WhitneyLand wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Apple doesn't have the best customer service They don't? Who does then? Now if you want to say they're not perfect and they've had their problems, I would agree with that.

Without a doubt Dell has much better customer focus for technical people. The 4 year support contact w/ accidentally costs the same as 4 years of apple care, but Dell's covers everything except lost and wore down batteries. Apple requires that you book an appointment at one of their stores, go there, wait on line anyway because there are people who don't want to book online, have someone who can't fix hardware proble…

Dell also send out parts no-questions-asked if you don't mind fitting them yourself, which is pretty great when you know exactly which part you need and what to do with it.

I assume that's why there are so many new Latitude/Precision keyboards on eBay at any given time (people bullshitting their way to getting spares and then selling them on).

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#127

Post by rz2k » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:50 PM UTC

shakna wrote: post #95

mannykannot wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is not already happening, can we expect more arbitration clauses in purchase agreements, or does the law already rule that out? (There will be different answers in different jurisdictions, I expect.)

Within Australia, Consumer Law overrules any and all conflicting arbitration clauses. For example, "extended warranties" you pay for are considered useless, and the ACCC recently did a public awareness campaign against them. Why? Products are guaranteed to last a "reasonable lifetime", where precedent determines reasonableness. Precedents I know: * "Dumb" phone, 10 years * Smartphone, 5 years * Fridge, 10 years * Car…

Do you have to have purchased the items in Australia? I know some people try to only purchase electronics overseas, because they are so much more expensive there.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#128

Post by robryan » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:53 PM UTC

Lazare wrote: post #49

wlesieutre wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone on here was just telling me that their customer service is fine when you're an actual paying customer. Guess not.

I have heard SOME reports that their support is decent if you are purchasing ad space through their platform. Since that's where the bulk of their profits come from, perhaps that's to be expected.

If you are purchasing a lot of ad space. You won't be getting any higher level service spending a few thousand a month.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#129

Post by shakna » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:53 PM UTC

rz2k wrote: post #127

shakna wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within Australia, Consumer Law overrules any and all conflicting arbitration clauses. For example, "extended warranties" you pay for are considered useless, and the ACCC recently did a public awareness campaign against them. Why? Products are guaranteed to last a "reasonable lifetime", where precedent determines reasonableness. Precedents I know: * "Dumb" phone, 10 years * Smartphone, 5 years * Fridge, 10 years * Car…

Do you have to have purchased the items in Australia? I know some people try to only purchase electronics overseas, because they are so much more expensive there.

No, an item sold across the 'net is still being sold to Australia, and beholden to the Consumer Rights.

However, you're pretty much guaranteed to get nowhere unless the company, or a subsidiary, resides within Australia.

But, if in doubt, report to the ACCC, they handle the legal legwork for you, even to see if you have a case.

EDIT: I've had a few Arduinos from dealxtreme be shoddy. The ACCC got them to send replacements.

Re: My Pixel has a manufacturing defect

#130

Post by FooNull » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:56 PM UTC

georgyo wrote: post #73

WhitneyLand wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Apple doesn't have the best customer service They don't? Who does then? Now if you want to say they're not perfect and they've had their problems, I would agree with that.

Without a doubt Dell has much better customer focus for technical people. The 4 year support contact w/ accidentally costs the same as 4 years of apple care, but Dell's covers everything except lost and wore down batteries. Apple requires that you book an appointment at one of their stores, go there, wait on line anyway because there are people who don't want to book online, have someone who can't fix hardware proble…

I'll second this. Dell sent a contractor to my home on Thanksgiving day to replace a laptop screen on my kitchen table. It took under an hour to replace. I've never seen that level of service from any other company, period.