Just Can't Win

The fault description, summarized, says: the phone has been away twice, they have a replacement IMEI, the phone hasn't left the store, it's still faulty, there's a warning next to the battery and it's not charging, the old IMEI is 1234

What is an IMEI, you might wonder, and why did I bang my head on my desk when I read that ticket?

The International Mobile Station Equipment Identity, or IMEI, is a unique number written into the main board of each phone and written on a sticker placed on each phone. This number is used to identify the device by mobile networks. If your phone is refurbished, if you change networks, if you change sim cards, the IMEI remains the same. If we replace your main board, which is the closest we come to replacing a phone, the new board is written with your old IMEI, and your old IMEI sticker is placed on it.

For all practical purposes, the only way an IMEI is different is if the phone is a different one.

Now look at that fault description again.

So, I pop open the repair history. The phone was repaired; a few months later it was sent back, and logged as No Fault Found. Right after that, the network provider gave the customer a swap - 'Dealer exchanged' the note says.

And then a week later, the customer sent their new, exchanged phone in saying it was 'still not fixed'.


This is why it never pays to give the customer what they want.