8 ms·

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-google/ http://kas

by jc4p 10y ago

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-google/ http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-g... They have no Google provided support, if you drop the phone and break it your only option (if you didn't buy the third-party warranty upsell) is to take it to a repair shop. I called the ones near me, none had seen or touched the device before. Don't spend $800 on a phone that you can't send back to the manufacturer to repair. Edit: I originally said "they have no warranty" and people seem to have understood that as "they don't provide free repairs" -- what I'm trying to say is that this phone is supposedly a competitor to Apple, but if you break it you can't walk to the Apple Store and ask them how much it'd be for a repair. You can't send it in the mail to them either. You have to go to an authorized third-party repair shop. That does not sound like first-class flagship $800 product support to me.

crypto5 10y ago
What phones have warranty against dropping included?
- vamsipk 10y ago
  >I can’t send my $800 phone to the manufacturer and pay some extra money to get it repaired like I could if this was a Samsung or Apple device. It's not warranty or free repairs he is asking for isn't it? He is asking for paid support.
  - crypto5 10y ago
    Ah, I didn't read article. But google also provides some options for that: https://store.google.com/magazine/device_protection https://store.google.com/magazine/device_protection https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6309809?hl=en https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6309809?hl=en
Klathmon 10y ago
Is that a common thing? Being able to send your device back to the manufacturer for user inflicted issues for repair? I can't say I've ever done that with any product ever...
- indiv0 10y ago
  In the article, the author says that other companies (Samsung, Apple) do support that, but for a fee. It seems reasonable to expect Google to also provide that service.
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    I guess Apple is one example I've used before, so I take back my previous statement there. Still, I feel like that's a silly reason to advise people never buy the phone. Especially when they do provide an "insurance" policy with a "blessed 3rd party".
- r1ch 10y ago
  It's quite common. HTC even advertise it as something you can do for free: http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh-protection/ http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh-protection/
  - wilg 10y ago
    They also advertise it as "hassel"-free, which is funny.
    - Filligree 10y ago
      Nut allergies can be serious business.
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    Only if you buy that one phone from them on their website. You could not get that phone second hand (or from any other reseller) and send it in to them for repair. That's basically "insurance" included in the price of the phone, not a "pay for what you broke" repair center.
mrbill 10y ago
I don't know of any phone vendor that offers a warranty against accidental damage (that doesn't cost extra). By the way: "Google and uBreakiFix offer walk-in repairs for Pixel and Pixel XL" http://www.androidauthority.com/google-ubreakifix-repairs-pixel-pixel-xl-724032/ http://www.androidauthority.com/google-ubreakifix-repairs-pi...
- jc4p 10y ago
  I called the uBreakiFix in Denver: "we've never seen that phone before, but yeah I think I could fix it". I'm not upset that they don't have an accidental damage warranty, I'm upset that I can't send it to them and pay them the $100/$200/$300 or whatever it is directly for _them_ to fix it, not some random dude who's never seen the Pixel before.
  - derefr 10y ago
    Google will never do anything that involves hiring O(N) employees to support N customers. They'll always outsource things like support, repairs, etc. so that someone else can handle scaling people, while they just go on scaling machines. Given that, the only real possibility is that "some random dude" is going to end up fixing your Pixel. On the other hand, the "who's never seen the Pixel before" part? C'mon, the phone just came out—if an i-device breaks on the first day, you'd better believe that if you take it to an Apple Store someone's fixing it who has never seen that device before. That's the fundamental problem of new hardware designs (especially when coupled to bathtub curves); you can't blame Google for it. Give them a month and every repair shop around you will have fixed plenty of Pixels.
    - danielheath 10y ago
      If an i-device breaks on the first day and you take it to an Apple Store, the tech fixing it has: * A repair manual * Parts * Tools * The ability to replace your device on-the-spot with a new one if they brick it
      - CobrastanJorji 10y ago
unknownsavage 10y ago
It's funny, I'm this exact same boat. My pixel died a little after two week (which is the requirement to get a return). I filled out their warranty claim thing, and >48 hours finally got a response, which is a trouble shooting guide. I replied that I tried all that stuff, and had to wait another 2 days for another response (asking for information I already gave). I'm extremely disappointed. I thought with their whole advertising of "24 hour support" they identified customer support as a weakness of theirs, and are trying to remedy it. Nope. BTW in your case, you can probably just buy a new screen: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-ubreakifix-pixel/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-ubreakifix-pixel/
- infamousdutch 10y ago
  If you bought it with a credit card, you might want to contact your card's customer service number. Most credit cards offer protection from this type of manufacturer "weaknesses".
  - zspitzer 10y ago
    Australia has really good consumer protection laws which protect against exactly this kind of problem. https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees...
    - mianos 10y ago
      Except the Google store does not sell the phone in Australia. It pretends to, but it sells it to you from Singapore in Australian dollars. You have no rights in regards to the Australian law in the case. If you buy the phone at an Australian store you have access to the strong Australian rights (and you pay their retail price). I bought mine on the day from the google store and paid 3℅ more than the local price as well as getting it a week after it was available in stores. Quite a bad experience and I would not recommend friends to deal with google directly.
  - unknownsavage 10y ago
setq 10y ago
Definitely! I was burned by this and Motorola before as well here in the UK. The official repairers are just about as awful as you can get. Half the screen stopped working after a month. The official repairer cocked up the handset further and claimed water damage and sent me an invoice for £138 (handset price was £159 new) holding the handset to ransom. This was when Google/Motorola were the same company in theory. A letter was sent back suggesting that they can insert the invoice in a body orifice of their choice and send it back now or it'd be small claims court. It arrived 5 days later by courier. Proximity sensor was dicky, so it went back again. That took a month. Paying for an Apple product is almost worth it for the service. I prefer to go without either though.
bduerst 10y ago
Wait - What kind of phone manufacturer offers accident coverage right out of the box?
- gareim 10y ago
  Read the article. He's not saying he wants accident coverage, he's saying he should be able to pay a fee and get it fixed like all other manufacturers allow. >I can’t send my $800 phone to the manufacturer and pay some extra money to get it repaired like I could if this was a Samsung or Apple device. >Hey Google, if you want to pivot into a real brand: You need to provide real support. No other flagship phone tells people “well, good luck” if they have a common incident break the device.
- revjx 10y ago
  Not a phone, but Amazon offer an included 'no worries' warranty on their Kindle Fire Kids edition tablet - in the UK at least. I have two reasonably destructive young children, so it's a little extra piece of mind.
matz1 10y ago
Thats why I use case
joncalhoun 10y ago
Have you ever tried to get something Apple branded repaired when it is out of warranty? The repairs tend to basically cost as much as it would to buy the same item refurbished regardless of the issue. SSD died on your MacBook air selling for $500 on eBay? That will be a $450 repair sir. Sure, they may have manuals and everything else at the Apple store, but there is very clearly a reason why companies like iCracked and iFixIt exist, and it isn't because Apple offers such a wonderful and affordable repair shop. It would be great if Google offered a way to get the phone repaired through them, but using Apple as an example of how it should be is a bit insane to me.
- thought_alarm 10y ago
  Yes. 4+ year old iMac with dead video card. I took it to the local authorized Apple dealer, who wanted $50 to diagnose the problem. Dealer called back and said Apple agreed to replace the video card for free and cover the $50 dealer diagnosis fee.
  - _puk 10y ago
    That sounds like a recall. I had the same thing on an older MacBook Pro with dodgy graphics card. Took it in to an authorised dealer, who didn't charge me up front for diagnosis, to then get a call saying it had been replaced and no fee was due as covered by Apple under a previous recall. This was in the US.
- threeseed 10y ago
  This is just nonsense. In some cases the repair may cost the same as refurbished item but definitely not always. And remember that refurbished item is not new so it's not guarenteed to last for ever either. Cracked screen repairs for example aren't the same price as a new iPhone. At least with Apple I can drive to a physical store, hand my laptop or phone over and know it will be repaired properly. And in many cases I've been either (a) upgraded to newer hardware or (b) just had the device swapped entirely.
  - joncalhoun 10y ago
havetocharge 10y ago
The author needs to take responsibility for own actions. The phone stopped working correctly after the author damaged it.
- jc4p 10y ago
  heh, it's my phone, i broke it, I'm out a chunk of money. I am fully aware of that. I'm upset that I can't pay a small increment of money to a trusted source to remedy that. I have never felt the need to have a case on a phone before (I am a mobile developer and have dozens of phones) because all my other ones have been able to survive falls of that intensity. I'm sad that I'm out some money, and I definitely think I am at fault, but I don't think I'm being unreasonable.
Vendan 10y ago
Sounds similar to the level of support I've gotten out of Samsung. My primary consideration on phones is now: either cheap enough to chuck in the trash and buy a new one, or completely user repairable. So far I've been using $30~50 android phones off of Amazon, but I'm looking forward to the Fairphone.
yincrash 10y ago
You can turn off the cast notification[1]. I'm pretty sure they started doing that because you could start casting things from the Home, so they wanted a way for the user to control that from the phone after it started. [1] https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7206638?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7206638?hl=en

by jc4p 10y ago

crypto5 10y ago

What phones have warranty against dropping included?

vamsipk 10y ago
>I can’t send my $800 phone to the manufacturer and pay some extra money to get it repaired like I could if this was a Samsung or Apple device. It's not warranty or free repairs he is asking for isn't it? He is asking for paid support.
- crypto5 10y ago
  Ah, I didn't read article. But google also provides some options for that: https://store.google.com/magazine/device_protection https://store.google.com/magazine/device_protection https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6309809?hl=en https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6309809?hl=en

Klathmon 10y ago

Is that a common thing? Being able to send your device back to the manufacturer for user inflicted issues for repair? I can't say I've ever done that with any product ever...

indiv0 10y ago
In the article, the author says that other companies (Samsung, Apple) do support that, but for a fee. It seems reasonable to expect Google to also provide that service.
- Klathmon 10y ago
  I guess Apple is one example I've used before, so I take back my previous statement there. Still, I feel like that's a silly reason to advise people never buy the phone. Especially when they do provide an "insurance" policy with a "blessed 3rd party".
r1ch 10y ago
It's quite common. HTC even advertise it as something you can do for free: http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh-protection/ http://www.htc.com/us/uh-oh-protection/
- wilg 10y ago
  They also advertise it as "hassel"-free, which is funny.
  - Filligree 10y ago
    Nut allergies can be serious business.
- Klathmon 10y ago
  Only if you buy that one phone from them on their website. You could not get that phone second hand (or from any other reseller) and send it in to them for repair. That's basically "insurance" included in the price of the phone, not a "pay for what you broke" repair center.

mrbill 10y ago

I don't know of any phone vendor that offers a warranty against accidental damage (that doesn't cost extra). By the way: "Google and uBreakiFix offer walk-in repairs for Pixel and Pixel XL" http://www.androidauthority.com/google-ubreakifix-repairs-pixel-pixel-xl-724032/ http://www.androidauthority.com/google-ubreakifix-repairs-pi...

jc4p 10y ago
I called the uBreakiFix in Denver: "we've never seen that phone before, but yeah I think I could fix it". I'm not upset that they don't have an accidental damage warranty, I'm upset that I can't send it to them and pay them the $100/$200/$300 or whatever it is directly for _them_ to fix it, not some random dude who's never seen the Pixel before.
- derefr 10y ago
  Google will never do anything that involves hiring O(N) employees to support N customers. They'll always outsource things like support, repairs, etc. so that someone else can handle scaling people, while they just go on scaling machines. Given that, the only real possibility is that "some random dude" is going to end up fixing your Pixel. On the other hand, the "who's never seen the Pixel before" part? C'mon, the phone just came out—if an i-device breaks on the first day, you'd better believe that if you take it to an Apple Store someone's fixing it who has never seen that device before. That's the fundamental problem of new hardware designs (especially when coupled to bathtub curves); you can't blame Google for it. Give them a month and every repair shop around you will have fixed plenty of Pixels.
  - danielheath 10y ago
    If an i-device breaks on the first day and you take it to an Apple Store, the tech fixing it has: * A repair manual * Parts * Tools * The ability to replace your device on-the-spot with a new one if they brick it
    - CobrastanJorji 10y ago

unknownsavage 10y ago

It's funny, I'm this exact same boat. My pixel died a little after two week (which is the requirement to get a return). I filled out their warranty claim thing, and >48 hours finally got a response, which is a trouble shooting guide. I replied that I tried all that stuff, and had to wait another 2 days for another response (asking for information I already gave). I'm extremely disappointed. I thought with their whole advertising of "24 hour support" they identified customer support as a weakness of theirs, and are trying to remedy it. Nope. BTW in your case, you can probably just buy a new screen: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-ubreakifix-pixel/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-ubreakifix-pixel/

infamousdutch 10y ago
If you bought it with a credit card, you might want to contact your card's customer service number. Most credit cards offer protection from this type of manufacturer "weaknesses".
- zspitzer 10y ago
  Australia has really good consumer protection laws which protect against exactly this kind of problem. https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees...
  - mianos 10y ago
    Except the Google store does not sell the phone in Australia. It pretends to, but it sells it to you from Singapore in Australian dollars. You have no rights in regards to the Australian law in the case. If you buy the phone at an Australian store you have access to the strong Australian rights (and you pay their retail price). I bought mine on the day from the google store and paid 3℅ more than the local price as well as getting it a week after it was available in stores. Quite a bad experience and I would not recommend friends to deal with google directly.
- unknownsavage 10y ago

setq 10y ago

Definitely! I was burned by this and Motorola before as well here in the UK. The official repairers are just about as awful as you can get. Half the screen stopped working after a month. The official repairer cocked up the handset further and claimed water damage and sent me an invoice for £138 (handset price was £159 new) holding the handset to ransom. This was when Google/Motorola were the same company in theory. A letter was sent back suggesting that they can insert the invoice in a body orifice of their choice and send it back now or it'd be small claims court. It arrived 5 days later by courier. Proximity sensor was dicky, so it went back again. That took a month. Paying for an Apple product is almost worth it for the service. I prefer to go without either though.

bduerst 10y ago

Wait - What kind of phone manufacturer offers accident coverage right out of the box?

gareim 10y ago
Read the article. He's not saying he wants accident coverage, he's saying he should be able to pay a fee and get it fixed like all other manufacturers allow. >I can’t send my $800 phone to the manufacturer and pay some extra money to get it repaired like I could if this was a Samsung or Apple device. >Hey Google, if you want to pivot into a real brand: You need to provide real support. No other flagship phone tells people “well, good luck” if they have a common incident break the device.
revjx 10y ago
Not a phone, but Amazon offer an included 'no worries' warranty on their Kindle Fire Kids edition tablet - in the UK at least. I have two reasonably destructive young children, so it's a little extra piece of mind.

matz1 10y ago

Thats why I use case

joncalhoun 10y ago

Have you ever tried to get something Apple branded repaired when it is out of warranty? The repairs tend to basically cost as much as it would to buy the same item refurbished regardless of the issue. SSD died on your MacBook air selling for $500 on eBay? That will be a $450 repair sir. Sure, they may have manuals and everything else at the Apple store, but there is very clearly a reason why companies like iCracked and iFixIt exist, and it isn't because Apple offers such a wonderful and affordable repair shop. It would be great if Google offered a way to get the phone repaired through them, but using Apple as an example of how it should be is a bit insane to me.

thought_alarm 10y ago
Yes. 4+ year old iMac with dead video card. I took it to the local authorized Apple dealer, who wanted $50 to diagnose the problem. Dealer called back and said Apple agreed to replace the video card for free and cover the $50 dealer diagnosis fee.
- _puk 10y ago
  That sounds like a recall. I had the same thing on an older MacBook Pro with dodgy graphics card. Took it in to an authorised dealer, who didn't charge me up front for diagnosis, to then get a call saying it had been replaced and no fee was due as covered by Apple under a previous recall. This was in the US.
threeseed 10y ago
This is just nonsense. In some cases the repair may cost the same as refurbished item but definitely not always. And remember that refurbished item is not new so it's not guarenteed to last for ever either. Cracked screen repairs for example aren't the same price as a new iPhone. At least with Apple I can drive to a physical store, hand my laptop or phone over and know it will be repaired properly. And in many cases I've been either (a) upgraded to newer hardware or (b) just had the device swapped entirely.
- joncalhoun 10y ago

havetocharge 10y ago

The author needs to take responsibility for own actions. The phone stopped working correctly after the author damaged it.

jc4p 10y ago
heh, it's my phone, i broke it, I'm out a chunk of money. I am fully aware of that. I'm upset that I can't pay a small increment of money to a trusted source to remedy that. I have never felt the need to have a case on a phone before (I am a mobile developer and have dozens of phones) because all my other ones have been able to survive falls of that intensity. I'm sad that I'm out some money, and I definitely think I am at fault, but I don't think I'm being unreasonable.

Vendan 10y ago

Sounds similar to the level of support I've gotten out of Samsung. My primary consideration on phones is now: either cheap enough to chuck in the trash and buy a new one, or completely user repairable. So far I've been using $30~50 android phones off of Amazon, but I'm looking forward to the Fairphone.

yincrash 10y ago

You can turn off the cast notification[1]. I'm pretty sure they started doing that because you could start casting things from the Home, so they wanted a way for the user to control that from the phone after it started. [1] https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7206638?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7206638?hl=en