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UMPC » UPDATED..OQO quality control problems - Resolved
UPDATED..OQO quality control problems - Resolved
By David Ciccone, posted Saturday, Feb. 2nd, 2008
Reader Comments: 16
UPDATE: Please note I was notified by Bob Rosin tonight from OQO in which he was very professional and apologetic for the problems I was experiencing. He assured me that it must have been a breakdown in communication and that I shouldn't have sent in the battery. Normal procedure for exchanges are that batteries should never been included with the returned unit. He also assured me that he would get me a battery first thing Monday morning. I personally cannot believe the experience I had was the real OQO customer experience and that this probably was a fluke error which we all make once in a while.
Last week, I thought I would start using my OQO Model 02 which I rarely used before since I really haven't had the the need to use it. Last week I decided to power it up and give it a charge. So I did what anyone else would do and placed it in the dock for an overnight charge. Unfortunately to amazement the battery in no way shape or form took the charge.
So I decided to reach out to Bob Rosin, VP of Marketing for OQO since he and I have chatted many times and informed me that someone would be getting in touch with me to discuss the return. I was pretty disappointed that my $2,000 investment turned into a large paperweight that couldn't keep a charge... But things happen right? Two days go by and still no call from OQO.. So I sent another email to Bob and informed him that no one called me yet. Bob once again promised me that someone would be getting back in touch with me that day.
I received a phone call around 5:30pm that day and spoke with Jose who told me to ship the unit back (battery and unit). Jose also requested that once the unit was repaired that the unit be shipped back to him so he could look it over and apply whatever BIOS updates the unit should need.
Five days went by and I received a call from Jose who told me unfortunately they had to replace the touchscreen too? That was quite strange since I wasn't having any issues with the display other than an air bubble under the screen protector. He also stated a few BIOS upgrades were needed which he applied (I wasn't shocked since like I said earlier this unit was used for appx 5 hours).
I received my unit back on Monday to notice the unit was filled with fingerprints and a bunch of scratches where the screws are to hold the unit together. I then powered the unit up and ran a bunch of tests like read write and network speed tests. I once again was greeted with pregnant pauses (30-40 seconds) and max wifi speeds of 837kbps!!! I also noticed my touch scrolls on the display were non responsive..Why in the world would a unit come back in this terrible shape and also have wifi hard drive problems?
I immediately called Jose and left him a message that I was very upset and that I needed him to call me back asap (unfortunately that asap meant two days to OQO). I spoke with Bob Rosin once again and he was shocked to hear about the problem I had and that Adam (manager) would work with me to arrange a swap for a new unit.
During my conversation with Adam while he was processing my exchange he asked me for my credit card number? I asked him why in the world would you need my credit card number? He stated if for any reason I didn't send my unit back they could charge me for another unit. That was my last straw... No offense but for the past two years I have reviewed their computers and have been invited to numerous press events. You would think they could just send me out another unit and I will supply them with the tracking number of my broken unit. No deal! Bob said its either one or the other. So I decided not to give them my credit card information and to have them ship me the unit once they receive my unit.
Both Bob and Adam assured me this unit would be a NEW unit and would be checked prior to going out. They also promised me Saturday delivery.. I called yesterday at 4pm since I still never heard back from either Adam or Jose. I asked Jose what was going on with my unit and he unbelievably asked me for the tracking #? I told him they should have the tracking number since they supplied me with the packing slip. He was very distant and didn't want to look it up and simply told me "If we promised you a unit you will get a unit!" As you probably could understand I was very upset and asked to speak with Adam. Adam told me that they received my unit and once it is checked in and looked over they will ship me out the new unit. He also promised me that he would send the tracking number...
Well today is Saturday and what do you know.. I received the OQO.. Unfortunately, I received another unit but this time WITHOUT A BATTERY!!! What kind of quality control is going on at OQO? Apparently others are having problems (battery) too but you would think someone would have checked the box prior to it going out..
So my question goes out to Dennis Moore, CEO of OQO.. Do you find this acceptable? No offense but I was one of those early adopters who bought this unit for over 2,000 which now goes for $1,400. I now have a $2,000 OQO that is useless to me until someone takes 2 minutes out of their busy day to look into a box and make sure you are sending out what was sent back to you.
Video of another user who had the same battery problem as mine
"...Maybe to you after spending 30 hours trying to resolve an issue, that constitutes a satisfactory resolution..."
Mike, that is not what I mean at all. What I meant was that it is a good thing after all the time Dave invested, he was at least able to get resolution for his problem. I have gone through similar hassles with other companies only to have the end result be a big fat nothing. That in no way means that putting up with his hastle is acceptable, just that at least he was able to get past the problem with the company and that the company actually acknowledged there was a problem within a weeks time. It took HTC almost 7 months to acknowledge the memory leak issue with the T-Mobile Wing. It has been almost 6 months since they acknowledged the problem and they STILL have not fixed it to date. It also took them almost 2 months and thousands of petitioned signatures to acknowledge the video driver issue for which they stated they will be doing nothing to resolve it for those who already bought the devices.
Mike you are correct Bob is also at fault. I only credit him for reaching out to me on a Saturday. I am having a meeting with Dennis Moore to discuss how OQO could handle things a tad better and also to ensure this doesn't happen again..
Not many companies step up to the plate and want to hear from the customer and this is a case that OQO does want to listen. Which is a good thing!
David, your update says that Bob Rosin called and was apologetic and professional. Your update implies that Bob Rosin only just got involved and having been alerted to your complaints he was now jumping on things and rolling heads.
But as I read your account, Bob Rosin the VP was involved at many points when you were trying to get the matter resolved. See, e.g.:
"So I decided to reach out to Bob Rosin, VP of Marketing for OQO since he and I have chatted many times and informed me that someone would be getting in touch with me to discuss the return."
...
"So I sent another email to Bob and informed him that no one called me yet. Bob once again promised me that someone would be getting back in touch with me that day."
...
"I spoke with Bob Rosin once again and he was shocked to hear about the problem I had and that Adam (manager) would work with me to arrange a swap for a new unit."
...
"You would think they could just send me out another unit and I will supply them with the tracking number of my broken unit [instead of supplying a credit card number]. No deal! Bob said its either one or the other. So I decided not to give them my credit card information..."
...
"Both Bob and Adam assured me this unit would be a NEW unit and would be checked prior to going out."
Were there two "Bobs" communicating with you? If not, then I don't get the point of your update, making it sound like once Bob the VP got wind of all this, he made things happen.
Sounds to me like Bob the VP was just as much at fault as the underlings. And if a VP acted like your description sets forth, this Company has real problems.
I don't get rgdyk's post. While the post about battery tech is informative, I thought the point of the your post was OQO's incompetence and negligence. His post appears to be from OQO as it seems to be blaming you for the problem. Query: Did OQO go over the issues that rgdyk discussed in his post. I suspect not since your supposed non-use of the device [as alleged by some in here] was not determined to be the cause of the problem.
And ditto what others said. If YOU can't get good service, especially when communicating with a VP, what can plain ol' consumers expect.
While in the market for one, I will be passing on even looking at this UMPC. Not only does the product appear defective, but the customer service borders on gross misconduct.
How dare they ask for a credit card as collateral to assure that you return the defective unit. And this is from someone they know. What did the VP say, "I know this David character, make sure to ask for his credit card and 'throw him against the wall.'"
Even if the product was outstanding, the way you [a big shot in the tech world, so to speak] got treated sounds off all my alarms. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't spend $2000 on something and then expect to spend twenty to fifty hours trying to get warranty coverage or the Company to back up their products.
You know, CompUSA went bankrupt, partly because they had lousy customer service and their employees suffered from gross incompetence. I was not sorry to see them finally close down.
OQO seems to be following in CompUSA's footsteps. Guess the only ironic aspect of it all is because of their arrogance and incompetence, OQO executives and management won't see what the problem is and why they went under.
And "Phys," what do you mean they finally came around? Huh? Did you read all the hassles David had. Maybe to you after spending 30 hours trying to resolve an issue, that constitutes a satisfactory resolution and they finally came to their senses, not to me.
I had an issue with a mobile device and the company sent me pamphlet which read, "Instruccioes sobre como recibir servicio para un aparato defectuoso". :(
Dave, I suspect that you have had many mobile devices and stored quite a few for awhile before comming back to them. Have you experienced any battery issues like you are having with the OQO with any of those other devices?
I understand what you are stating but I think you are missing the point of my story. The unit that went in for a battery issue came back worse with scratches, wifi and touchscreen issues.. How is that acceptable?
Batteries are stored in inventory and typically shipped in Sleep mode, which means you have to apply power first to wake them up. The battery must be attached to the OQO for that first “awakening”. Attaching a battery charging adapter will not result in a charging battery. That can be confusing because when one depresses the battery gauge button, the lights will flash as partially charged. However the lights will not flash as charging while attached to the power supply. Also note that it takes 5 or 10 seconds to wake up while attached to the OQO. Once you’ve verified that it has started to charge (lights start flashing on the gauge), you can then remove from the OQO and attach the battery charging adapter.
If batteries are stored or not used for some time (10 weeks), keep in mind it is quite normal for batteries to lose their charge even after an extended period of non-use. If a fully charged battery remains attached to the OQO while both are stored, the battery may retain a measurable charge up to three weeks, depending on the age of the battery. During the second week, it would be advisable to check the battery periodically and fully charge once again as necessary.
The leakage process can be greatly minimized (but not eliminated) by having the battery fully charged and actually disconnected from the device, as in a 'single-storage' option. A fully charged OQO battery stored in this way may retain a measurable charge up to three months, depending on its age. During the second month it would be advisable to check the battery periodically and fully charge once again as necessary.
In all cases, never attempt to store or continue to store a battery that is showing a rear LED emission down to one light, either steady or rapidly blinking. If left uncharged for a prolonged period of time, a battery may effectively become discharged to the point of not regaining any further charging ability.
I would understand your point but the battery wasnt connected for 10 weeks.. I specifically had both separated in the box it came in. Thats normally how they store inventory right?
You said, "Last week, I thought I would start using my OQO Model 02 which I rarely used before since I really haven't had the the need to use it. Last week I decided to power it up and give it a charge".
This sounds like you may have stored the battery incorrectly and as a result, it has effected the charging capability. This inevitable process is commonly referred to as "internal leakage current", and affects any battery in existence today. The process can also become more pronounced if the battery is left terminally connected within the device.
It blows my mind that the Marketing Contact you had doesn't have the sense to make this a special occurrence and watch over this exchange to make sure it goes well. If you couldn't get good service what chance would a normal (subjective of course) person like me have?
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