Get Their Attention!

[Jerry Raia]

With all the talk about the MPx220 and its shortcomings it seems so far that those who have tried to contact Motorola or Cingular haven't gotten very coherent responses if any at all. I brought this up in another thread but I think it merits notice here. There is a better way to get the attention of Motorola or Cingular than calling their respective tech support departments. <!>


I am going to start with a personal letter to the CEO of Motorola. Now before you all start to laugh, every time I have had a problem with some product or service that I couldn't get any help with I have done this. To name one, of all places, Verizon!

Each time I got a response from someone quite high up. I also, and this is most important, had my issues resolved. In the case of Verizon I was given contacts in areas of the company I would never ever had access to by wrestling with technical support. Your letter may not be read by the CEO, but believe me, a letter you write and hand address to the CEO gets read and not by an underling.

If you decide to do this keep it short, one page at the most. Don't try to blast them with criticism, after all how would you react to that? My letter will focus on how I have owned about 10 Motorola phones for at least that many years and have always enjoyed and appreciated how good they were. Then outline some of my concerns about the MPx220. The key here is to express it just like that. You are concerned about the problems, like the person reading the letter and has a stake in the company would be.

If you launch into a tirade about wanting to smash the phone with a hammer and Motorola is ripping you off, I guarantee that letter goes into the shredder.

Most of us who have this phone really like it and want it to be better. I think that's what the folks who make it want too. That's how they get paid.

The downside is only the time it takes to do it. I'll even take one step out of the work involved for you:

EDWARD J. ZANDER
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
MOTOROLA INC.
1303 E. ALGONQUIN ROAD
SCHAUMBURG, IL 60196
UNITED STATES

[Kris Kumar]

Most of us who have this phone really like it and want it to be better. I think that's what the folks who make it want too. That's how they get paid.

You have got my attention. :-) And now Moto will get its share.

I agree with you, that we need to be soft spoken and understanding. I too like the phone and feel that it has potential. C500 had problems at launch. i600 had some. MPx200 had some. As the second gen phone Moto should have gotten things right. But looks like they had their hands full. Or someone leading the team didn't do a good job.

[windmiller]

Must...keep hand....from....writing dirty...words

[Jerry Raia]

:rotfl:
Don't do it! You can win this battle!

[Jerry Raia]

Most of us who have this phone really like it and want it to be better. I think that's what the folks who make it want too. That's how they get paid.

You have got my attention. :-) And now Moto will get its share.

I agree with you, that we need to be soft spoken and understanding. I too like the phone and feel that it has potential. C500 had problems at launch. i600 had some. MPx200 had some. As the second gen phone Moto should have gotten things right. But looks like they had their hands full. Or someone leading the team didn't do a good job.

Think of it as their first attempt. Constructive feed back from people like us will make it better. It just has to get to the right people. The tech support goon squad is not the right people.

[fredtwd]

For me the issue is not the phone, it's contacting Motorola and not getting very coherent responses.

Sadly, it's become acceptable to purchase things with bugs in them (cell phones, cars, etc). So this is the norm; however, once you encounter the problem you hope the the company will provide you with reasonable support. For Motorola this was not the case. I ultimately returned my MPX220 because Motorola continually insisted that I was the only one to report the volume issue. If they acknowledged that it was a known issue and that they were working on it, I probably would have kept the phone.

Based on the email and phone conversations I had with Motorola support, it is pretty clear that Motorola has outsourced customer support to India. I'm not sure how much of the issue is language and how much is just policy (e.g. never acknowledge a know issue).

I agree with the letter to Zander; however, I believe one of the main points it their terrible customer support.

[Beowulf]

I think the general response Moto gives is that its "Working as Intended." Sony used to release a few of its products early and literally say "We are aware of our customers concerns. The product is working as intended." Later they usually quietly fix it.

They simply released the phone before it was ready. I'm sure the sales numbers vs the Audiovox will easily get the attention of the CEO. They may have gotten tipped about Audiovox's release and jumped on the mpx220 release date. I'm sure we'll see a flash update available when they hit the Cingular stores.

Anyway if you really want to get their attention put up a blog about all the problems and include a petition. Then periodically send letters to the CEO signed by a 1000 people. That almost always gets a better response.

[mbranscum]

I feel your on the right track and I admire your enthusiasm regarding this matter however - it seems that every Moto phone I've purchased (since the V60) has had bugs. I was one that bought the Moto V220 when it came out. I exchanged it one and took the 2nd back to BB. I ended up buying a Nokia 6620. Believe me - I really wanted the Moto to work. I loved that phone. But it is so refreshing to have a phone (6620) that actually WORKS for a change. I don't like the OS as well but I have to admit the software is good and theres alot to choose from. It actually works BETTER with my Moto H810 bluetooth headset than the 220 did!

Bottom line is that it's ashame and disgrace that we have to resort to a "letter writing campaign to get Moto to take care of a problem that was obvious from the time or release!

[Jerry Raia]

I know what you are saying and it is a shame. However the guys at the bottom usually cover thier own butts when it comes to these matters. The guy at the top, or near the top of a company as huge as Motorola may not know every little thing that goes on, the 220 might just be a fly to him. I don't know. When he, or someone near his level gets letters like this, even if all he does is pass it down, now the guy below knows the guy on top is aware or more aware.

The tech support route may just mean the trouble stops at the product manager or somebody like that.

The bottom line is getting it higher up is the idea here. Hey nothing may happen, but all it cost is a stamp and 30 minutes or so of time.

[Jerry Raia]

Maybe this should be the first place to write:


Brad Anderson CEO
Best Buy Co., Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
P.O. Box 9312
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9312