Motorola Cliq, Or How I Learned to Hate T-Mobile Customer Service in 12 Complicated Exchanges

  As a fan of technology, there are few things that I look forward to more than unboxing day.  It is a magical time in my techy life where I get to: a.) Break the seal on a box, b.) Remove the packaging, c.) Remove the protective film (usually with a ton of help from my 2 year old), d.) Discard the instructions, and e.) Power up and activate my newest product.

  When it came time for our upgrade last year I couldn't have been more excited to move on from my G1 which had 9 exchanges to something much more reliable.  Remember those words.  My wife and I decided on the Motorola Cliq, because the upgrade to 2.1 was "just around the corner".  There is a reason that you don't purchase any product based solely on potential upgrades and updates, but based on what it comes with immediately.  I was blinded by my love for Motorola and the incredible T-Mobile Customer Service that we had experienced up until that point. Who knew that everything would change in less than a year?
  After settling on the Motorola Cliq we waited patiently for the ever-delayed update to Android 2.1.  "It's coming in May" assured our salesman.  "It's coming in Q2" said Motorola.  "It's coming in July" said Motorola.  "It's coming in August, Q3, October for sure" was Motorola's string of dates.  All the while I was mildly frustrated that we had purchased a phone that was essentially a downgrade from 1.6 G1 that I had owned until the "upgrade".
  October rolls around and still no update, but we had learned to appreciate the features that our phones DID possess.  Motoblur could find itself in front of a firing squad and I wouldn't offer it a cigarette, but the widgets were pretty useful at times (when they worked).   And then came the beginning of the end, my phone died on me.  Exchange number 1 for my white Cliq.  My wife's black Cliq would follow shortly.  Perhaps the phones had a suicide pact that was hidden in the fine print?
  "Thank you for calling T-Mobile, where everything you have come to know and love has been replaced by annoyance.  My name is Nameless.  How may I not help you today?"  Exchange #1 for both my phone and my wife's phone was textbook.  I guess that they were right in the middle of changing teachers and didn't tell anyone.
  Exchange #2 for both of us came not too soon after, and would be followed by a string of exchanges for the same few reasons.  The problem that we would continue to experience is constant rebooting of the phones for no reason, failure to send or receive text messages at times, and failure to receive or send calls.  The phones have a mind of their own, and the mind oddly resembles my 2 year old, because it has no rhyme or reason, and does as it pleases.
  Flash forward to Today, 8 February 2011, and we have now exchanged my lovely wife's phone 7 times now, meaning that #8 is on it's way.  The White Cliq suffered through 5 exchanges, but lucky for me I have my HTC HD7 which has been a WONDERFUL experience.  Today we called in asking to get different phones, because the Black Cliq is on the fritz again, and the White Cliq isn't a suitable replacement because it won't even boot up!  T-Mobile has done their best to offer every bit of assistance at the lower levels, right up until actual action is needed.  Then comes the time for the Brigade of Despair to rear their useless heads.
  "Sir, we can upgrade you to a Motorola Charm."  You mean that you can give us a phone that is 20% smaller, with a horrid resolution, much smaller keyboard that my 11 year old would be uncomfortable with, and lose our sliding keyboard!?  "Of course sir, because it's an upgrade."  No, it isn't.  What about 3 different phones as an exchange?  "Of course, sir!  We can do those for a larger cost than you paid initially for a phone that has broken 5-7 times now!  Will that be cash, check, charge, or your right arm and left leg?"
  The point of my frustration right now is that we have been loyal customers for quite a while, jumped through the numerous hoops required, and still have to walk away unsatisfied at the outcome.  A Motorola Cliq should have been at least a 1.5 year phone.  Something that becomes obsolete completely by a few months before our upgrade.  Instead we couldn't make it past 6 months without having what would evolve into a string of failures that masquerade as phones and customer service.  A Charm is not an upgrade, no matter what I am told by whoever is available to answer the phone between torture sessions.  My Cliq has certain key features that it was purchased for, and whatever lateral move that we make should have the same.
  Am I asking too much to hope that T-Mobile can actually remember that it is a bigger challenge to KEEP customers happy over a lifetime than it is to make them happy one time then walk away.  T-Mobile needs to remember that, in a day where customer loyalty has become a rarified experience, focus on those special individuals.  Use common sense.  Most importantly, I am a person, and the other individual on the end of the phone should respond to me as such.  Canned responses don't cover actual logic and reasoning.