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> Is Hong Kong service center screwing me?
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I have a T610 that was not purchased from Hong Kong. I am planning to live in Hong Kong for a long period of time. I wanted to get my T610 upgraded but before I went to the service center in HK, I emailed them. I emailed them about how much (if any) would it cost to upgrade my T610 and how much it will cost to upgrade my T68i that was purchased in HK a little more than a year ago. The response email I got told me that the service center would not upgrade either of my phones because the T610 is not purchased in HK and the T68i's warranty is over.
Uh...I even offered to pay...so...what the heck am I supposed to do???
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Posted: 2003-08-23 22:45:47
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SE service centre in HK won't upgrade products that are not purchased in HK even if u offer to pay cos they think it may be grey market products.........and there's no international warranty for SE products too ! But if your T68i was purchased in HK more than 1 yr ago, are there any warranty sticker on your phone?? If yes, then you should be able to upgrade your phone by paying for a fee !! Good luck !
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Posted: 2003-08-24 03:04:08
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I think SE HK are chatting s**t. I get my phones bought abroad uppgraded all the time (well.. U know wot I mean)... at the official SE centre in Abu dhabi, never been a problem. They do charge a 10pound equivalvent fee.. and soemtimes ask for proof of purchase. But, have never refused me an upgrade.
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Posted: 2003-08-24 06:22:41
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okay so my T68i should be okay right? I have not checked for any sticker but it really is bought from HK.
Hm...I don't have a proof of purchase with me...What else can I do???
I don't understand why they won't upgrade my phone...I am willing to pay them for the service and therefore I'm not even using any warranty of theirs.
[ This Message was edited by: kenut on 2003-08-24 15:05 ]
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Posted: 2003-08-24 16:03:33
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Why don't you get your phones upgrade in your country now before moving to HK ??
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Posted: 2003-08-24 16:12:03
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I am already in HK...
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Posted: 2003-08-24 17:10:02
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Try to get the email/postal addresses of top SE officials in HK and blast them with the indifferent behaviour you are getting from the service centre. At the same mark a copy to the mail address of the concerned service centre just to let them know that you are informing the SE top brass in HK about this. If you are vocal enough, it'll work wonders for you. Its just my opinion though.
Read about my experience with
in India at:
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=31815&forum=35#post442705
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Posted: 2003-08-24 18:23:49
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Well here is a follow up to my situation.
I went to the SE service point regardless of what the email said. I brought my phone there and asked to get a software upgrade. They asked me where I bought my phone because they knew it was not purchased from Hong Kong...Well their main concern was that it was not purchased from an "authorzied dealer" in Hong Kong. Anyways, I told them my situation and that my phone was indeed purchased from another country. Then I was told that they had to 'inspect' my phone's mainboard to see if it was suitable for a software upgrade. The charge for this inspection was $150 Hong Kong dollars...that is equivalent to approximately $19.20 USD. If the inspection went well I would be further charged an additional $200 HKD which is approximately $25.60 USD for the upgrade. The inspection fee was non refundable regardless of the results. So I paid the inspection fee...and two hours later...
I went back to the service center to get my phone. I got my phone but was told that it was not suitable for an upgrade because the mainboard failed the inspection. I asked what I should do and the SE employee said, "Well you should go back to get it fixed from wherever you go it...uh your phone is not from an authorized dealer right? repairing or replacing the mainboard will cost about the same price as getting another T610." Since my phone failed the inspection, I was told that it is strongly recommended that I do not upgrade because an upgrade could kill my phone. Well as I walked out of the service point I felt a little ripped off and sad. I felt ripped off because I spent that $150 HKD and because I swear someone had tried to remove my screen's protective cover sticker thing. The top right corner had clearly been folded like someone tried to peel it off but decided not to afterwards. The screen protector costed me $40 HKD (approx $5.12 USD). I asked about my screen protector and the SE employee just said that there would be no reason for them to try to peel it off so it could not have been them. As I could not prove it to them...I had to walk away peacefully. But I know it was in perfect condition when I first left my phone with SE.
Well today I was walking around a cellular phone shopping center in Hong Kong and I saw that many unauthorized phone dealers were offering to update phones for $200 HKD, same price as SE. I walked into one and asked to get it done but I told them about my mainboard failing the test. The dude in the store said that it was bull and that SE was just being an ass because I had not purchased the phone from an authorized dealer in Hong Kong. The guy gauranteed me that the update would work and if the update killed my phone then he would replace it with a new one. Since he had so much confidence and I was pretty reassured with his promise of replacing my phone, I paid him the $200 HKD and left him my phone for 45 minutes. He asked for 45 minutes even though he knew it would take around 30 minutes because he was afraid he wouldn't finish in time and I would have to wait around. So I walked around the shopping center for an hour and came back for my phone. He told me he had been waiting for me for half an hour because the update was quick. I checked my phone and everything was okay. He even told me if any thing goes wrong I can bring it back and he will fix it or replace my phone. This service I am getting from an unauthorized dealer is way better than what I got from SE. Best of all there was no 'inspection' fee.
The guy from the unauthorized dealer guessed that there really wasn't an inspection of my mainboard. Instead he guessed that SE just looked up my phone's serial and found it was not from an authorized dealer from Hong Kong and decided to 'fail' my inspection. The unauthorized dealer told me that the service center in Hong Kong is not actually ran by SE. Instead it is owned and run by another company who paid SE the rights to do the service center. He added that this company that ran the service center would not make money unless everyone purchased from authorized dealers in Hong Kong. If this is true...Then I really did get ripped off by that 'inspection' fee.
Well I'll chalk this up as a lesson learned.
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Posted: 2003-08-29 19:19:04
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Can you please tell me where this is as I would like to upgrade my P800's firmware.
Thanks,
Anthony
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Posted: 2003-08-29 22:04:22
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Inspection of mainboard ? *LOL* That's just plain and utter Bullcrap.
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Posted: 2003-08-30 13:09:22
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