I originally sent in my phone and they returned it saying physical damage.  They said no way, we’re not going to fix it for free.  I contacted them again and had an interaction with their telephone service and then via email.  The agent said I made a post about broken Droid Razr Maxx screens and it has garnered many comments and visitors.  Here are the email interactions I had, edited down only to eliminate technical things, remove names, and correct some spelling:

On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 11:20 AM, Motorola Global Reply <
motorola-reply@mailwc.custhelp.com> wrote:

> **
>
>  Via Email (D)03/30/2012 10:20 AM

Dear John,

Thanks for reaching out to Motorola. I’ve reviewed your e-mail and I’m ready to help.

We are always gathering input from owners from chat, Web and other sources. I can’t say for sure if this is known or common, but it will certainly be passed on. We do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and want to assure you that Motorola does value your feedback  We open a record for all consumer contacts which are then routed to the proper department for any further research.

Please note that Motorola stands behind our products by offering a one-year standard warranty issued from the date of purchase and validated with the receipt. This warranty does not cover physical or liquid damage and is applicable to all the products that were manufactured for the US market.

All our facilities undergo rigorous quality assurance processes to ensure that all products comply with Motorola quality standards. We want to be able to determine the cause of this issue. The unit will have to undergo phone evaluation. Our repair technicians have the tools to determine whether the screen damage was caused by mishandling or due to phone’s hardware susceptibility to physical damage

If the evaluation results don’t show any sign of physical damage, Motorola will honor the warranty thus waiving the standard repair fee. In the event in which evaluation results confirm physical abuse resulting to cracked screen, the Manufacturer’s warranty will be automatically defaulted. Motorola’s National Service Center charges a $159 flat rate repair fee. This price does not include shipping or your local taxes. All repairs done on out of warranty units include an
additional 90 day warranty.

You may prefer to check with your carrier for insurance, replacement or exchange programs available with your plan or monthly fee. You may also send the unit directly to Motorola where our technicians will make any necessary repair to ensure a properly functioning unit. Our turnaround time at our National Service Center is 5-7 business days since we receive the unit at our facility.

If you want to send it in, we have 2 options for you; first is we can schedule your device for repair or you may do it yourself on our website. (please provide your full name, complete physical address, phone number, the the phone’s serial number: Go to Settings, About Phone, Status, get the any of the following, MEID, HEX, DEC, MSN, or IMEI. If you’re unable to access the phone, kindly remove the battery. Underneath the battery, you’ll be able to see the MEID, HEX, DEC, MSN, or IMEI. Please provide any of that.

If you do decide to send the unit in please visit the link below to enter your phone’s information before shipping it to us:

https://globalrepairtools.motorola.com/serviceandrepair/

SUBMIT DEVICE FOR REPAIR, next screen> SUBMIT DEVICE FOR REPAIR, next screen> I DO NOT HAVE, next screen> MANUAL DEVICE INFORMATION CAPTURE, next screen> MANUAL DEVICE INFORMATION CAPTURE.

You will need to fill out an online service request form. Once registered, the site will generate an email repair instruction and our repair center address. Send only the phone with out any accessories. Please refer to that link for your online service request submission. Please provide the system version of the phone. Go to Settings, About Phone, System Version.

We hope that you find this information useful and we look forward to assisting you in the future.

For information about Motorola products and services, please visit us at http://www.motorola.com/

Thank you for contacting Motorola e-mail support.

Best Regards,

D

 Customer By Web Form (John)03/29/2012 09:38 PM

I sent my phone in because the screen on my new Razr Maxx mysteriously broke while in my pocket. My claim was denied from Motorola, but I still am unsure why the screen cracked. I’m not the only one either. I posted on my blog about it and every day others are coming forward with similar stories. I think the gorilla glass is defective. Here is the post:

http://www.relaxing-fun.com/android/droid-razr-maxx-broken-screen/1938

I want to know what Motorola has to say about this as the amount of customers with similar problems increases.

[---001:004630:17178---]

John	Apr 2
to Motorola

I will turn it in, but what assurance do I have that you will fix it?  I sent it in once already.  Please give me the details about what to do next.

Regards,

John

 

Then I made the post here and waited a while. I had a hunch there were more like me and when there wasn’t’ a decent page about it yet, I made one. After 50 comments that were very similar, I decided to move forward and try again. I sent it in and received notice again that they wouldn’t fix it. I called the next day and spoke with their support staff. I stayed calm the entire time and didn’t raise my voice once (Yelling at anyone probably won’t make things go better for you, no matter how right you may be). So anyway, I spoke to the support staff and they reiterated many times that they don’t fix phones for physical damage, I insisted that the phones had a problem and spoke about one comment in particular that a said the Gorilla Glass might be defective. I mentioned this post again, and they said basically they were sorry, but they couldn’t believe the post and comments credibility. Anyone could have whipped it up. Granted, I have all commentators IP addresses and emails, which if they are legitimate, could bring all of you into the argument. I would only give a lawyer the information in the event of a lawsuit, but rest assured it would only be used to to protect consumer (our) rights.

Right when I thought I would fail, they said they would fix it as a customer service and I got the physical damage spiel again. I put the brakes on %100 and just said OK to get through the process faster. I had won the battle, and hopefully, together, we can win the war. The phone came while I was away, and I got it yesterday. I’m going to fire it up within the next few days. I’m hesitant to use it because I am worried that it will happen again and I’ll be falling further into this racket. I’ll fire back if it does.

Please keep commenting and letting me know how you fair with this process, and if you are a lawyer willing to take the case up for people. Thanks.

Favorite Game:  Words With Friends.  Something about this game keeps me coming back, although it may take several months to finish a game with me.

Staying in Indramayu, Indonesia for a month left me with a lot of time on my hands.   I tried to smoke my time away with cigarettes, both regular and clove.  I actually quit for good on this trip but that’s another story.  I spent a lot of time wandering round meeting the community and taking pictures.  As you could imagine, they weren’t sure what to make of me.  Many people were kind, but we couldn’t communicate very well.  Me with no Indonesian, and they no English so hanging out may be fin for about 5 minutes but after the novelty of seeing a western orangutan wore off, I became invisible to many of the community I would daily see.

This man and his family were nice, and one of the few to invite me into their house.  He made his living selling little toys off of a rack/bicycle setup, so he can bike around the neighborhoods and selll his wares to the local kids/parents.

Think of him as an ice cream man with toys.  He smiled a lot, and had a great smile.  It obviously runs in the family because his daughters had great smiles too.  It’s funny, the first time I met his daughter she wouldn’t give me any smiles; only frowns.

This stood out to me for good reason, as many kids in the Indonesian countryside had cavities, cavity related infections in their gums, and effectively no strategy for combating it.  The local shop, (basically someone’s house with a part open for the public containing drinks, snacks, groceries, and even gas.  Kinda like a mini convenience store) has cheap sugar drinks that many kids get daily.  They go for about 7 cents each.  I hated them but my daughter, go figure, loved them.

With no tooth brushes, toothpaste, or apparent lack of any understanding about why good oral health is important, the community lets the children live with cavities and all sorts of oral issues.   I think it is obvious there is no real dental care in the area for ANYONE.  Some lucky ones, like this man, still managed to have great smiles, while many have missing, decaying, and generally rotten teeth.  I would love to see a dentist in the neighborhood.  I believe that would be an effective, simpler way to raise their standard of living.  Of course, they have no money for that so it isn’t likely any dentists I know or use would go there.  Hell, most dentists I know are thieves and not only overcharge, but overcharge the shit out of you.  They’ll pull your teeth, give you root canals, and then bend you over for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

I would recommend against buying a Droid Razr Maxx however, because of my personal experience with the Razr Maxx screen breaking.  If a phone can’t handle being inside of a pocket without breaking, than what good is it?  Maybe mine was part of a bad batch or something, but Motorola denied my claim stating I abused the phone.

The cover photo was taken with the Nikon AF-S VR Micro Nikkor 105mm f2.8G IF-ED lens.

I don’t believe most people when it seems obvious they are lying, but after having this happen to me, I now believe most people when they say they don’t know how their smart phone screen broke.  These things must be fragile, so it is user beware regarding breaking the Razr Maxx screens.  My story is as follows:

Checked the phone for messages/emails before leaving for work.  Chilly morning.  Go to work.  Get out of vehicle.   Phone rings while walking to work, and when I get it out it the screen is smashed and broken.  I sent it to Motorola and they won’t cover it.  They sent it back.  It’s a shame the Gorilla Glass more resembles candy glass.  I thought I was going to have a long lasting affair with the Razr Maxx and then this happened.  If you have had something similar happen, please leave a comment here and hopefully we can prove a trend of the screens failing without abnormal wear and tear.

Lucky for me I have the insurance again on this phone and my Droid X is back and functioning properly while I deal with this new POS.  Anyone that gets a smart phone without the insurance is a fool.  These things can’t even last through being removed from a pocket.

If you try to send it in to get fixed, please reference this post so they know that this isn’t an isolated incident.

***************Update 5/16/12  I’ve never had as many problems keeping my websites working than I am right now.  Not sure why but this site won’t take comments. You may think this is a coincidence but it might be related to the fight in getting word out there via this website.

(5/15)And one more thing, here is the resolution in all of it’s wordy, drawn out goodness:

Razr Maxx Screen Broken

I dropped the old Droid X to be refurbished and factory reset, and also to get a new battery.  That phone will be my backup, but I hope to hell I never need to use it again.  I bought a new Droid Razr Maxx, chiefly for the battery life, which has the potential to keep me from charging it after less than an hour of use.  The moral of this story is to steer clear of the Droid X until it matures into a consistently useful product.

Most people think the phones stink because they are phones, and their primary function should be just that.  I’m going to need an upgrade at some point soon, and I am leaning toward an Apple iphone.  I’ve got a hunch that because they are a more controlled environment for apps, there is less margin for competing apps.  I’m no expert except for the fact I have experience using the Droid, and when it works it is an awesome tool for GPS/Mapping, Internet searches, games, etc…  When it doesn’t work though, it makes me want to throw it through the wall.

I don’t mind using a Droid OS phone, but I am going to wait until the bugs are worked out before buying another.