Where is my phone?

Word of caution: If you are looking for a happy ending or do not like whining write ups stop reading right here. If you are some kind of an activist, who believes in that we as a world are moving towards 1984 and wants to do something about it or if you are one of those people who forwards anything and everything that you read to a million people, please read on and spread my message of good will.

The first time I saw the Evo on Youtube, I fell in love with it. I wanted one for myself. But for some reason, the people at HTC thought that the Evo was no good for Europe and announced its prettier cousin, the HTC Desire HD.

From that day, every day, I read and reread every bit of everything there is on the web about the Desire HD, until finally HTC announced that the Desire HD could be pre-ordered through a number of online retailers.

I chose play.com


That was the 18th September 2010. I was expected to receive the phone by the 11th October. But then HTC had issues with the launch that play.com emailed me a delayed delivery for the 19th October.

After a sleepless 18th Oct night, I worked from home on the 19th. As I eagerly sat by the door, time ticked very slowly and soon it was end of the day. I was updated on the 20th that the launch date was reset for the 1st November. Five days later, I received an email confirming that my phone was dispatched and that I should expect the phone in three to five days. I was also provided with a tracking number to track my parcel.


Three days later, it was day 4 and then day 5 and soon it was day 6 and no trace of my phone. On day 7 I called the courier company HDNL and I was promised that I will recieve the phone in 2 days.

Two days later, and another day working from home, the phone did not arrive. So I called the courier company only to be told that the phone was lost.

Logically, I called play.com customer service to inform them what I knew from HDNL. They acknowledged that the phone was lost and I was relieved that they did. Then came the bombshell. Though all parties knew that the phone was lost, I was told to wait for 21 days and call them again to tell them that the phone was lost for them to find me a replacement.

Their logic: Company policy. My IQ has to drop fifty points for me to convince myself that their company policy was brilliant.

After very many minutes of haranguing that the principle reason for pre-ordering a phone was to receive the phone long before most people could get it and that if I waited for 21 days to report that the phone was lost in transit, I could be looking at getting an outdated phone.

I heard a million ‘I understand Sir’s. But I am convinced the lady didn’t get a bit of what I said. Finally, she agreed to send me a refund/replacement letter, which I was to send to play.com at my expense. My £470 was in their bank account, so I had to consent.

A day later, the email had not arrived. So I called them again. This time there a new customer service representative who told me that my phone was dispatched on the 25th October. So I had to run through the entire story with her again and tell them one more time why the 21 day rule is so illogical. She agreed to send me a form and told me that she was sending it as we spoke.

A day later, when the email still did not arrive, I wrote to the customer service through their website the whole history of my problem. The form finally arrived.

Another £5 from my pocket for the special trackable delivery as suggested by play.com, off went the form to them. Having had no response from play.com for the next day delivery post, I called them 3 days later only to find that they had not processed my form. The lady promised she was doing it right away and put me on hold. After several minutes of listening to the same listless music, I was informed that my phone would arrive in three to five days. Seemed like a similar story, but I was optimistic. How many times can they possibly go wrong?

It turns out that they can surprise quite a few. A week later, having not received my phone yet, I called them one more time. The lady at the other end informed me that the phone was dispatched on the 25th October...

As I sit here and write this, I am perplexed at the height of customer service I have received. At two points in the so many times I have called them I mentioned to them that it would be a good idea to sue them for their callous attitude. Their replies were the same. ‘OK’. It seemed like they didn’t care. Why would they? They have my £470. Can I really do something about them? I doubt I could. I do not have the time nor the money to do something. But what would I do if I had the time and money? I would buy the company and rip it apart so there is no play.com. The world would be a better place with one stupid company less.