Cellphone service needs better models

The staff at the company's service department informed me of this fact when I took my phone for repairs.

I asked the company's service department to provide me a spare phone to use during my wait for the servicing of my phone. First, they refused, saying the company did not have spare items left, as there were a number of clients who needed them.

After negotiations, they got me a model for which I was required to pay Bt1,000 as deposit. They said it was a company rule and I would get my money back when I returned the substitute piece to the company.

Well, I was prepared to pay what they asked but wanted a model that could be used with a Bluetooth headset. Of course, that was also a Sony Ericsson.

Negotiations began again when they told me that if I wanted a piece that could be used with my Bluetooth, I would have to pay the deposit for another model - Bt7,000. This did not look so much as deposit money as the full price of the model they had offered earlier.

So much for service. The company offered me an old cellphone, provided as a spare to clients, but required me to pay deposit for the same amount for which I could buy a new one.

The company's service staff said that was the best, in terms of service, they could do for me, as the guarantee period of my P910i had already expired. The problem was by the time I took my complaint for my Bt23,000 cellphone and said I expected the company to provide better client service, even the guarantee period had expired.

The service staff insisted they had given the best service they could as per the company's rules for clients whose guarantee period had lapsed. They also repeatedly reminded me that my cellphone was an outdated model that could be bought second-hand for just about Bt3,000.

After arguing for almost two hours, I gave up. After all, it had become boring to hear the staff repeat about company rules and how they could do nothing. The service staff insisted the company's rules would provide only the cheapest model to clients who needed a spare phone for temporary use while their Sony Ericsson was being repaired.

The reason for this, the staff said, was that many clients did not return the cellphones to the company.

Again, the staff reminded me that the company did not make any profit from the deposit required from clients to pay for its spare phone.

Finally, I left Sony Ericsson's service department with an old cellphone they spared me for temporary use - the cheapest model.

Unfortunately, I did not get the sense of having received a good service as the staff claimed.

I mean "good, after-sales service" and "services without making excessive profit".