E90 general construction problems - Qualification for Nokia Service Centre? — Nokia E90

Zeff 02 Dec 2007, 15:00

Hello everyone!

I have recently bought a Nokia E90 from eBay as someone's unwanted O2 upgrade. The phone arrived brand new in its box (seal broken - the usual "I opened it to check contents"😉, protectors on the screens, not a mark/scratch/blemish etc. It also had an old firmware version, 7.24.xx I cant exactly remember, and within that firmware, the usual O2 startup logo but not much else affecting the functionality.

The phone seemed indeed brand new so I proceeded with flashing it with the EN-GR firmware version (product code change was done successfully thru NSS). So far everything has been fine, both on the software side and on the hardware side (apart from the odd stalls/probs that the Windows Live imposes on the software - Damn M$ can't have them on a Symbian phone without something going wrong! 😎 )

However, I was annoyed by a couple of manufacturing "defects" or so to say. First off, and I have read quite some stuff about it, the usual wobbling when the phone is laid on a flat surface. I have read that this alone qualifies for a "Casing change" by taking the phone to a Nokia Service Centre (I presume it is done for free).

Second, there's the usual "keyboard-keys-touching-display" problem, AGAIN caused by short rubber feet that can't reach the bezel around the keyboard.

Moreover, there's an annoying squeaking of the side plastic on the back of the phone (the one that runs as a spine and completes over the two loudspeakers).

Even more than that (!) the battery rattles in the compartment and I alleviated this by inserting a small piece of paper in there, enough to make it a tight fit!

And last, and most annoying (plus disturbing I must say) of all, is a light screen wobbling when the phone is open, making me feel that the bearings in the hinges are somewhat loose.

So far I have read numerous complains against Nokia's hurry in releasing the E90 in the world market without executing important checks (such as the microphone problem that accounts for many E90 recalls) and I guess they must be acceptive towards recalls for not-so-tip-top devices.

All in all, I was wondering if they would fix all of these problems on my E90 (I have heard that the keyboard touching the display has already been corrected in the upcoming models) and if I can actually request them to do so since I feel that this is not what I have paid for.

Has anyone sent their E90 to a NSC for any of the aforementioned problems, and if so, how long did they take to repair it? Where they eager to repair the phone and did they want any proof of purchase? Last, did they want the phone to be with its original firmware? (Hope not, otherwise gotta find an O2 Mocha product code somewhere, hope someone has one!)

Thanks everyone for reading thru this and I am really looking forward to your responses!

macmon 03 Dec 2007, 00:42

How recent did you get it?
With my telco, were I got my unit, they have a 15 day outright replacement and 1 year warranty for the unit.
Based on your list, it more than qualifies for a service or better yet a replacement if at least less than a week.
Hope it goes well.

Zeff 03 Dec 2007, 06:27

I have the phone for about a week now but AFAIK the seller said that the phone was bought late October/early November. Since I didn't buy it from O2 directly I don't think I qualify for replacement by them (since most products are indeed covered by seller's/merchant's warranty for at least 1 month after purchase).

However, A friend of mine that had trouble with a N93 of his (he had it for a year or so and it looked bad, scratches and marks and the odd) took it to an NSC and they replaced the unit based on the fact that N and E-series phones have a 2 year manufacturer's warranty directly from NOKIA. All that is needed is the IMEI number of the phone which I suppose contains the date the phone left the factory.

zestuart 10 Dec 2007, 19:22

Update: slightly more clear!

Problems reported:

wobbly communicator
keys touching screen
dodgy camera button
creaking body
loose battery

Problems fixed by replacement of device:

creaking body
loose battery

Time to fix: 6 weeks.
Fix method: new device (different IMEI).

😡

Zeff 11 Dec 2007, 21:18

Thanks for the update... It's really frustrating that it takes so much to get your phone back. Shame that you got a new phone and the serious problems were not fixed.

zestuart 12 Dec 2007, 23:19

Zeff wrote:Thanks for the update... It's really frustrating that it takes so much to get your phone back. Shame that you got a new phone and the serious problems were not fixed.

Tell me about it: the Nokia Service Centre I dropped my phone off at were very apologetic about it (phoned me regularly to keep me appraised) and said that anything much over 14 days was unusual. Probably due to the short supply of the handsets, and that there are only 3-4 people qualified to work on the e90 in the UK.

Zeff 13 Dec 2007, 01:05

Did they tell you at least why couldn't they fix the serious problems like the wobbling?

zestuart 15 Dec 2007, 13:35

Zeff wrote:Did they tell you at least why couldn't they fix the serious problems like the wobbling?

Nope: just returned a new device; Surely it can't be that hard to glue a bigger rubber foot on... Or sort out the screen/keyboard contact with bigger/differently placed rubber feet.

Now I've had it back for about a week, I think it wobbles slightly less, but in comparison to my HTC Advantage (same sort of price-point, feautres &c) it still isn't very impressive.

Flavio 23 Dec 2007, 17:36

Moreover, there's an annoying squeaking of the side plastic on the back of the phone (the one that runs as a spine and completes over the two loudspeakers).

Was this problem fixed as well? My brand new E90 has this problem (not the others) and the place I bought it from says it's normal and does not want to replace the unit although I reported it the day after I got the phone.