Here’s a short time line of the main events of the story, with links to more in-depth articles if you want all the details. It will take some time to write all of it, so this page serves as a first glance of what’s coming. The timeline is still a work in progress, some dates might be off of one day or so until I gather all the emails that have been (and are being) exchanged and properly sort them.
Until August 31st 2016
Hi! Want to know why I bought two OnePlus devices for me, and three other for friends and family and was super-satisfied about them? Read more here.
September 1st 2016
First symptoms of the phone issues are noticed: the phone signal disappears randomly and obviously I can’t make calls (not even emergency ones).
September 2nd to September 4th 2016
I spend a lot of time over the weekend trying to troubleshoot the problem and find a solution, I reformat the phone to factory settings, change sim cards, and do all what it can be done, until I surrender: I have to call the customer support.
September 5th 2016
I open support request 16xxxxxxxxxx02 and explain the problem in great detail. Customer support response is super fast, and an RMA request is opened.
September 6th 2016
UPS comes and takes my phone to the service center.
September 7th 2016
My phone arrives to the service center.
September 8th 2016
I get contacted by the International OnePlus Support: the IMEI I have communicated to them when opening the RMA request is not right. My bad, I send them the correct information right away and they assure me this won’t slow down the repair process.
September 15th 2016
Having heard nothing, I decide to write to the service center directly, to ask if they have received the right IMEI, but I will never hear anything back from them.
September 16th 2016
It’s been more than a week since my phone arrived to the service center, I still don’t know if it has been checked, if it can be repaired, if it will be covered by the warranty, or if I need to pay for the repair. I decide it’s time to contact the Italian OnePlus Support, maybe I’ll have better luck. They ask me for the case number, order number and so on, and tell me they’ll reach out to the repair center and get some updates about my phone.
September 23rd to September 25th 2016
The International OnePlus support contacts me and asks me for the phone IMEI, order number and shipment tracking code all over again. I reply right away with the info they need.
October 3rd 2016
My phone is now one year old.
October 7th 2016
Being almost a month since the phone arrived to the service center, I decide to write a new email to the Italian OnePlus Support. This time I’m not as pleasant as I usually do. My case gets escalated.
October 26th 2016
UPS brings back my phone from the repair center, after 51 days. The phone has the exact same defect as when I sent it out for repairs: it has not been fixed. I vomit some angry words at the OnePlus_Support Twitter account.
October 27th 2016
I write to the Italian OnePlus Support again, and explain that the phone has not been repaired by the repair center. They offer me to send it for repairs again. I accept.
October 28th 2016
UPS comes and takes my phone again.
November 2nd 2016
The phone arrives to the service center. I hope they had a “welcome back” party for him.
November 10th 2016
UPS comes and gives me back my phone. The repair summary tells that the phone motherboard was found faulty and replaced. I lost my OnePlus premium tempered glass screen protector, but got a shiny new looking phone. The phone finally is able to get network, but now the home button and fingerprint scanner don’t work.
I write to the Italian OnePlus Support once again. They offer to call me to troubleshoot the problem. I also vomit some more insults to OnePlus_Support on twitter.
November 11th 2016
A lady from the Italian OnePlus Support calls me. We do the fingerprint scanner self-test, which passes. She believes it’s a software error. I had already did a factory reset, but agree to download the update package from the website and reinstall OxygenOS 3.1.0. Nothing changes. I decide it’s time to build this site.
November 12th 2016
The Italian OnePlus Support asks me for some more details to schedule a remote-assistance session with someone from second level support team, meanwhile the International OnePlus Supports informs me that a new RMA has been created for me and that in the following days I will receive yet another shipping label.
This site opens.
November 14th 2016
The Italian OnePlus Support calls me in the morning and we agre to schedule a remote session for 2:00 PM.
2:20 PM No news. Having a work meeting at 3:00 PM, I write to the Italian OnePlus support again.
3:00 PM The Italian OnePlus support calls me: something strange happened when we scheduled the call (like, it wasn’t recorded). We reschedule for 4:00 to 4:30 PM
4:13 PM The Italian OnePlus support calls me, we go through the remote support session. The home button and fingerprint scanner are still broken. They ask me to send them my details via email to start another RMA procedure. I mention the one that was opened two days earlier from the International OnePlus Support, but they can’t see it.
November 15th 2016
I login to the OnePlus website and check the Service Requests section. I can find the new RMA request, code 16xxxxxxxxx06 that he lady from Italian OnePlus Support could not see the day before. It was created on November 12th, but I still did not receive a shipping label. I contact the Italian OnePlus Support for email asking for clarifications. They tell me I have to wait up to 2 working days since the request was created, so I have to contact them the day after, if the shipping label is not yet arrived.
November 16th 2016
The repair center informs me that UPS will call me to arrange a pickup in the next 24 hours. This time is a different repair center.
November 17th 2016
UPS comes get the package. The phone leaves for the third time.
November 22nd 2016
UPS tracking shows that the phone parcel is marked as “returned to shipper”, as if the repair center refused to accept the package. I seriously hope it’s a glitch in the UPS tracking system.
November 23rd 2016
The explanation I have given myself is that the shipment was registered as a “return” with UPS, so “returned to shipper” means “delivered”. That’s also my hope.
November 28th 2016
I receive another email from the repair center, identical to the one they sent me on November 16th, with a different tracking number. It really looks like they mistakenly sent me another label for shipping the phone, which I no longer have, since it has been shipped on November 17th and “delivered” on November 23rd. Maybe they wanted to inform me that the phone has been repaired and is being shipped back, but clicked the wrong button?
November 29th 2016
UPS comes to collect my phone. I have nothing for them. I decide to write to the Italian OnePlus Support again to ask what’s going on. I also ask to talk with a supervisor of the usual guys I talk with, but they don’t let me. They offer some explanation about what just happened with UPS, but still no updates on the repair process.
December 2nd 2016
An automated email informs me that the repair process has concluded and that phone has been shipped.
December 6th 2016
Exactly three months after the initial shipping, UPS comes and gives me back my phone. This time the home button works, and the phone can get the network. The screen protector is badly scratched, but the screen under looks fine.
The end?
Always Settle 