ThinkOutside "Stowaway" Bluetooth Keyboard--Hinges Broke!

[maikii]

I have a ThinkOutside "Stowaway" Bluetooth Keyboard, a few months old.

I opened the case yesterday to use it, pushed the button on the left side to open it, and the case won't open all the way, not even to 90 degrees. (The right side which unfolds, doesn't even get to vertical.

Also now, when I try to close it again, it closes all the way, but will not snap shut.

Anyone else had this kind of experience with this keyboard?

I intend to contact TO about warranty repair. Anyone had experience in dealing with their warranty repair department? How were they?

[hamishmacdonald]

The folks at ThinkOutside give extraordinary customer service. I've had my BT keyboard for nearly a year, and it started coming apart. I wrote to ask if they'd addressed the issue, since I planned to buy another one, and they sent me a new keyboard.

It's an excellent product, and an excellent company. You're in good hands with them.

[maikii]

The folks at ThinkOutside give extraordinary customer service.

I have to give mixed reviews so far on their service. I'll explain what has happened so far with this situation.

I called tech support. Impossible to reach a person there, just a recording saying to send an e-mail to tech support. I sent an e-mail. Days later I had received no response to the e-mail. So I called again, chose a different option than tech support (as that always goes to that recording), still did not reach a human being, but was able to leave a message. I left a message about my situation, and that I had not received a response to the e-mail.

Finally I got an e-mail back. This one said that he had just sent me a new keyboard.

So far, from what's above, there is some good and some bad--Bad that no one ever answers the phone there, you cannot speak to a human being. I sent an e-mail, and it took a week to get a response, after I called and left a message complaining about it. What the e-mail I finally received said was good-that they sent me a new keyboard, no questions asked, didn't ask me to send in the previous one (I had put its serial number in the e-mail), or anything.

I received the replacement a few days later. But now-- a problem with the new one. Of course not the same, no problem so far with the hinges. But the new one will not connect. It does have power, if I press CTRL and both function keys the discoverable light flashes. I went very carefully through the procedure of pairing it several times, with two devices, both of which I had successfully paired with my previous keyboard, (IPAQ 2210 PPC and Audiovox SMT5600 smart phone). I downloaded and installed the newest drivers, went through the pairing process as described several times with both devices, never a connection. After the part where you type in a passkey on the device, then you are supposed to type in the same key on the keyboard, and press Enter on it. I did this (using the left function key of course to access the numbers), but the passkey entered on the keyboard somehow never connected to the device. (The keyboard was set as discoverable.)

I finally concluded this keyboard must be defective. Has anyone else had that problem, got a keyboard that won't connect at all?

Last Monday, 10/31, I called TO tech support again about it. Again, only the recording to send an e-mail. I sent an e-mail, describing the problem with the new one in detail. As of today, November 5, no response. I called yesterday again, and left a message at custoemr service or some extension, like the previous time. We'll see if I hear something back soon. I hope so.

So--with the total lack of phone support, great delay in responding to e-mails, I would certainly not say that "Think Outside" has "extraordinary customer service, as "hamish" does above. Far from it.

Apparently others also don't agree with you that this company offers excellent support. For example, look at the following post on this forum:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42385&highlight=