Do not do this.
Friday, 18 January 2013
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Busted!
Pro Tip: If you are pretending that you don't know that your phone is liquid damaged, then remember to remove all the rice before you send it to the repair centre.
We know exactly what grains of rice stuck to your phone mean.
We know exactly what grains of rice stuck to your phone mean.
Friday, 11 January 2013
The Other Way of Fixing
So, Paul the line manager called us all over to a corner, looking stressed.
This is not a good sign.
"Don't panic," he says, "but I've just run the first report, and we have about 70 phones over TAT (Turn Around Time, our version of a deadline) - and that's only one network provider."
"Wasn't me!" says someone.
"No, it's not you guys, it's not me - something happened on the night or early shift and we don't know whose fault it is, but we have to get these done and out the door fast..." Paul starts explaining.
"The night shift!" says someone.
"They're not to blame either," Paul continues.
"Was it Gosia's fault?" says someone who knows this place well.
"... I'm not saying anything." says Paul, and authorizes us indirectly to switch to another mode of working.
Git 'Er Done Mode.
We all develop x-ray vision, and can see from one side of a main board whether there is damage to the other side; we time-travel, and phones are sent along as repaired before the new screws have arrived for them; our psychic powers kick in and start diagnosing the phones before even removing them from their bags.
The method switches from 'run through the tests to be sure there are no other faults before you fix the phone, run through them again after the fix to be sure you didn't miss something, then QA will double check' to 'eh, QA will find it'.
Our confidence soars; suddenly we don't need to use the battery tester or Willtek machine 'to make sure' anymore.
None of the management has anything to say about this, although the technical manager does seem to find it easier to work turned away so he can't see us at it.
This is not a good sign.
"Don't panic," he says, "but I've just run the first report, and we have about 70 phones over TAT (Turn Around Time, our version of a deadline) - and that's only one network provider."
"Wasn't me!" says someone.
"No, it's not you guys, it's not me - something happened on the night or early shift and we don't know whose fault it is, but we have to get these done and out the door fast..." Paul starts explaining.
"The night shift!" says someone.
"They're not to blame either," Paul continues.
"Was it Gosia's fault?" says someone who knows this place well.
"... I'm not saying anything." says Paul, and authorizes us indirectly to switch to another mode of working.
Git 'Er Done Mode.
We all develop x-ray vision, and can see from one side of a main board whether there is damage to the other side; we time-travel, and phones are sent along as repaired before the new screws have arrived for them; our psychic powers kick in and start diagnosing the phones before even removing them from their bags.
The method switches from 'run through the tests to be sure there are no other faults before you fix the phone, run through them again after the fix to be sure you didn't miss something, then QA will double check' to 'eh, QA will find it'.
Our confidence soars; suddenly we don't need to use the battery tester or Willtek machine 'to make sure' anymore.
None of the management has anything to say about this, although the technical manager does seem to find it easier to work turned away so he can't see us at it.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Post-Holiday
I expected the lull over the holidays, as shops and service providers close and stop filtering phones through to us for a few days.
I expected the influx of brand-new phones from people who don't know how to use them yet, possibly with bits of wrapping paper still clinging to them (not yet, but we've come close).
What I didn't fully expect was the rush of disgruntled, didn't-get-a-new-phone customers who really wanted a new phone and are going to Plan B, claim theirs is broken.
More than half the phones I'm seeing are No Fault Found, this week, and if you count phones where the customer has wildly exaggerated the phone's faults, that pushes it up to most of them. I feel as though I'm actually disappointing a customer every time I repair a phone, because we all know they don't want this phone, they want an excuse to get a shinier phone. I am just delivering the bad news that no, the Evil Empire is not paying for it.
I expected the influx of brand-new phones from people who don't know how to use them yet, possibly with bits of wrapping paper still clinging to them (not yet, but we've come close).
What I didn't fully expect was the rush of disgruntled, didn't-get-a-new-phone customers who really wanted a new phone and are going to Plan B, claim theirs is broken.
More than half the phones I'm seeing are No Fault Found, this week, and if you count phones where the customer has wildly exaggerated the phone's faults, that pushes it up to most of them. I feel as though I'm actually disappointing a customer every time I repair a phone, because we all know they don't want this phone, they want an excuse to get a shinier phone. I am just delivering the bad news that no, the Evil Empire is not paying for it.
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