Verizon/LG selling phones with missing screws?

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cool.develop@gmail.com - 26 Oct 2006 19:26 GMT

Is my family the only one in the world who got sold LG (vx3300 ) phones
from Verizon that are missing all the screws, as a result of which they
claim phones are damaged after a few months of use, requiring us to buy
new phones?? I can't find anybody complaining about it on the net.

We both got these phones directly from Verizon around a year ago in New
York City together with a new service plan. My wife's phone started
acting weird a few months later, suddenly turning off, not charging
fully etc. Went to an authorized Verizon dealer (Austin St, Forest
Hills), who opened the battery compartment and said all four screws
were missing, as a result of which vibrations/shocks must have damaged
the circuitry. We never even opened the compartment, much less remove
the screws, so we knew they sold us phones missing screws. The dealer
said that he could not help in any way other than selling her a new
phone, because HE DIDN'T HAVE A SCREWDRIVER!! It's a different story
that he then sold her a new battery anyway that didn't fix the issue so
she returned it within a few hours.

This dealer didn't seem honest or competent, so she went to another
authorized dealer (in the Queens Mall, Elmhurst). They said the same
thing about the missing screws, and said that they couldn't fix the
phone, and that they couldn't even give us new screws, because THEY
DIDN'T CARRY ANY KIND OF SCREWS! An authorized repair center!!

Though we felt completely ripped off by Verizon/LG she paid for a new
phone (somewhat discounted price).

Back home, we checked my phone and sure enough it was missing all the
four screws. Now my phone is acting like my wife's old phone.
Exchanging battery with my wife's phone doesn't seem to help, so it's
not a battery issue (pink dots on the battery seem intact as well). I
haven't gone to any dealer yet, but I am sure they will tell us the
same story and have me buy a new phone.

What kind of Wireless company, cell phone manufacturer sells phones
that are missing screws? Not one phone, but both, so I am pretty sure
it's more than a random, unique case. Is somebody removing the screws
on purpose so people would need to replace them soon?? How else to
explain it?

This never happned to anybody? I can't believe it.

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Douglas C. Neidermeyer - 26 Oct 2006 19:36 GMT

> Is my family the only one in the world who got sold LG (vx3300 ) phones
> from Verizon that are missing all the screws, as a result of which they
> claim phones are damaged after a few months of use, requiring us to buy
> new phones?? I can't find anybody complaining about it on the net.

<<big snip>>

Yo, dude-- you got (un)screwed. Lay back and enjoy it ;-)

Doug

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Curtis R Anderson - 06 Nov 2006 01:51 GMT

>>Is my family the only one in the world who got sold LG (vx3300 ) phones
>>from Verizon that are missing all the screws, as a result of which they
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Yo, dude-- you got (un)screwed. Lay back and enjoy it ;-)

I work in a factory where we assemble industrial machinery. One time, I
had a small item known as a "direct acting solenoid valve" intended to
pass fluid from its inlet to its outlet. The electrical connection on
this model was made with a smaller Form B DIN connector. On the valve
body, someone forgot to tap the hole where the M3 screw on the connector
attaches to the valve. I'm struggling with its assembly for a few
seconds, realizing the DIN connector is not attaching, and notice the
screw hole was untapped. I turned the part in so our vendor could get
our account credited, as this is a warranty issue.

And just this past week, I found another larger solenoid valve with a
smaller pilot valve which had a closed pilot hole. The valve worked, but
not very well. I had to disassemble the valve and replace the top body
with one we had in stock. The valve worked better after that and opened
more smoothly.

My point here is that no matter how well QC is on mass-produed parts,
some defective items will slip through. Just be assertive with your
supplier and get your replacement phone if you ever notice something
like that. It's definitely a warranty issue and you deserve to get one
that is assembled correctly.

Signature

Curtis R. Anderson, Co-creator of "Gleepy the Hen", still
"In Heaven there is no beer / That's why we drink it here ..."
http://www.gleepy.net/ mailto:gleepy@intelligencia.com
mailto:gleepy@gleepy.net (and others) Yahoo!: gleepythehen

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rocxspam - 28 Oct 2006 00:41 GMT

Sounds like you got them from the last batch someone in "Final Assembly"
in S. Korea worked on at the end of a long week while watching the news
(on their cellphone of course) about N. Korea's nuke plans ...

Stuff like this does happen on assembly lines even if not quite so
"dramatically" - one worker on one shift just misses stuff like putting
in that last set of screws. Maybe 50 phones were "un-screwed up", and
were distributed around the US in smaller batches of 5 or so ....
something like that.

You need to talk to a Verizon manager who will give serious
consideration to a scenario like that - 2 of the same model phone bought
at the same time from the same place with the same (weird) problem
cannot be sloughed off with a user abuse excuse. It might even be
worthwhile to see if you can contact LG about such a blatantly obvious
QC issue.

Good luck,
ROC

> Is my family the only one in the world who got sold LG (vx3300 ) phones
> from Verizon that are missing all the screws, as a result of which they
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> This never happned to anybody? I can't believe it.

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