Comments

• Kartik Gada

  ✭✭✭✭  /  August 2019

  madbilly said:

  Hi all,

  Whilst surfing I came across this snippet of an interview with Nokia from almost 10 years ago in which they acknowledge that the customer experience for the N97 was "a tremendous disappointment".
  

  
  

  http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/11183_Video_Anssi_Vanjoki_on_the_N97.php
  

  Now, I know that many people would say the same about their experience with HMD's Nokia phones - not everyone, and probably not most, but a significant number of people would say the same. India, in particular, seems to have some terrible stories when it comes to customer support.

  The N97 was Nokia's new flagship at the time and required many updates to fix bugs and get the software working as was expected. Despite a large number of sales it was a bit of a PR disaster for Nokia due to the high profile flagship status of the N97, contributing to their demise.
  

  We can draw parallels between this and perhaps the Nokia 8 (in my experience the initial software was fine, but the upgrades to the Pro camera and to Pie were not well executed) and more recently the 9 PureView, which as we know suffered from issues with the fingerprint scanner and also rather imperfect performance from the camera app at some times.

  Do HMD take note of these lessons from the past? What do they think about them? What importance to they put on customer experience? And who has taken over responsibility for this now that Pia Kantola has left (former VP of customer experience)?

  Cheers
  

  I have read many bad experience stories from users in India who are visiting the Nokia Care Centres. Some are happy but most are unsatisfied with the service centres.
  
  Now, this is my story from the past Nokia experience. I bought my 1st phone in 2010 and that was the Nokia X2-00 (Runs S40 and still works ). Those days phones used to come with a free micro sd card inside the box. After reaching home and playing with the phone I noticed that the phone was going unresponsive every few minutes and I rushed to the store I bought this phone from. The store owner told me to reach Nokia Care and that was my 1st experience. I didn't know where the care centre was and they gave me the address. I was so happy to know that it was so close to my house. I reached there and told them what was happening and they said this is happening because of a faulty sd card which they replaced instantly.
  
  A few months later the earphone stopped working in the warranty period. I went to Nokia Care and they gave me a new headset within 2 hours. My Next visit to Nokia Care was in the 10th month of the extended one year warranty period. This time the * 0 and # keys were not responding when I pressed then. And this was random. I went there they told me to wait and they fixed it. But after a few days, the issue occurred once more. Had to visit them again and they told it cannot be repaired and they will replace my phone which will take around 15 days. I got a call from them on 11th or 12th day and I rushed to get my new Nokia X2-00. The service provided by the old Nokia made me a Nokia Fan. Sadly, the service centre near me was shut down and the remains of the old Nokia were still there till last year. 
  
  Luckily, under HMD I have never had to visit the Nokia service centre. Lucky because I am afraid to visit them as I have read they take over a month to just replace a tiny part of the phone. I am afraid to recommend Nokias to people around me and I selectively approach. I recommended a Nokia 6 and Nokia 8.1 to a friend and luckily he is happy. Nokia Mobile should provide enough spares to the care centres and it is time that they stop relying on 3rd party care centre network and slowly start building their own. A happy customer will be yours for a lifetime. And an unsatisfied customer will stop others from buying your product. Bad customer experience stories are also stopping those who would like to recommend a Nokia to someone.
  
  What phone should we recommend to someone? Most of their 2nd gen devices are now going through USB port issues and the phones are out of warranty period. They have parts for some of their phones and not for popular ones like the Nokia 7 plus. Every service centre charges a different amount and I feel they should be more transparent on this matter. Just create a webpage where they have a list of parts and what would be the approximate cost of replacing that part. This is how you generate trust.
  
  Sigh. No one listens. A sad Nokia Fan

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• Kartik Gada

  ✭✭✭✭  /  August 2019

  The old Nokia came forward and accepted how Nokia N97 failed on customer satisfaction. They faced it. HMD won't say a word about various issues most users are facing due to their defective parts. This is also about customer satisfaction. HMD knows 7 plus users are facing issues with USB ports but they don't have parts. They are giving a free Nokia 8.1 to Nokia 7 plus users who are under warranty. But what about those whose warranty expired. They are left nowhere. Can't get replacements. Can't get their phone repaired from the official care centre. Their phone goes useless as there are no official parts. I personally would never let any unauthorised person open my Nokia phone as they are bad at it. 
  
  Luckily, My 7 plus is still ok but I have noticed that sometimes it doesn't charge and I have to unplug the cable and plug it again. Hasn't occurred since past couple of weeks and hope it doesn't occur ever. I just want HMD to be more responsible and transparent in what they are doing.

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• madbilly

  ✭✭✭✭  /  August 2019

  Hi @Kartik Gada,

  That's a very well written comparison of your experience with the old Nokia and HMD. Personally I've, thankfully, not had to use the service "centre" here in Europe (it's not a centre, it's online and by post!) so I can't compare. With the old Nokia we also had the online and by-post method, together with authorised service centres, but now in Europe we have no service centres (as far as I know).

  I also struggle to recommend the new Nokia phones to people. But part of that is because I'm not very familiar with what else is available. The long list of problems I become aware of through being on this forum are one reason, but the biggest reason is HMD's lack of public response to these issues. You will remember those "open letters" that I sent to HMD (which their social media team asked me to send) which listed all the issues people had told me about with various phone models. Some of those problems have been fixed (e.g. Nokia 8 compass... finally!) but the vast majority have not been fixed and we've had no response to those letters. This is the main reason I struggle to recommend Nokias to people.

  So, I worry that the customer experience with current Nokia phones is poor, but that does depend partly on 1) where the person buys the phone from and 2) what they are comparing it to.

  1. If someone buys a phone brand new from a high-street retailer then they will probably have a better experience than someone who has bought it online, because they will more easily be able to take the phone to the shop to tell people about the problem (that's how it works in Europe and probably North America, I don't know about elsewhere).

  2. If they are used to Samsungs, Apples, LGs, Motorolas, Sonys etc, they probably won't have as good an experience with the Nokia unless they are specifically looking for "pure Android". Why do I say this? Just because those manufacturers have more established service networks and aftersales care and much more experience at making a good, smooth running fault-free smartphone. I'm not sure about OnePlus, Xiaomi and Huawei, but I imagine they're now well-enough established they they may also provide a better customer experience. But if the person buying the Nokia is used to brands which have recently popped up, the "Shenzhen generic" brands of phones, then they will probably have a better experience with a Nokia.

  All of my opinions above are subjective and speculative because I genuinely don't have experience with other brands for a long time (except my wife's Moto G3 which as far I can tell is the most durable and indestructible smartphone ever made!).

  TL/DR all of the above is just a long way of saying that we don't think that HMD have learnt from lessons of the past, yet.

  Cheers
  

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