Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Hi everyone,

I'm terribly sorry for starting a new thread about this. I'm not trying to seek attention but rather looking for someone who could help me. I lurk on the forums but this is my first time posting. I have become extremely frustrated by the customer service in regards to trying to purchase the Nokia N900 from Nokia USA.

Let me start at the beginning. I pre-ordered the N900 from Nokia USA's online store on the 20th of September. I did not mind all the delays as I am a huge fan of Nokia, and was sure that the delays were necessary to improve on the device. When November 18th rolled around, I got pretty excited. I woke up on November 23rd and checked my e-mail for any shipping confirmation. Nada. I figured they would ship it by now because I noticed that my account was charged for a pre-authorization by Nokia on the 19th of November. So I called Nokia and I was told that my pre-order was canceled. I was not notified of this at all, until I called them to check on my order status. The order apparently was canceled due to the incompatibility issues between the bluetooth headset and the N900. They told me I would need to place a new order, at a 15% discount, and assured me that I would not lose my spot on the list. I agreed and placed a new order. However, they could not process my new order and told me that they charges were still pending on my credit card, and until my bank reverses those charges they could not place a new order. Why would they charge my card (pre-authorization or not) if my order was canceled? They told me to call back when the charges were cleared, because they couldn't do anything until my bank clears them.

So I called my bank, and my bank cleared the charges with no problems whatsoever. Now I call Nokia again the next day on November 24th to place the order again. Again I was on hold for 20+ minutes before finally getting to speak to someone. I went through explaining everything and giving all my information again, only to be told the same thing. My order could not be processed due to pending charges on my card. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they transfered me. The supervisor then told me it was not a problem with my bank, but rather a problem with their system, which flagged my card as being fraudulent because you couldn't place multiple orders with Nokia within the span of 3 business days. So she told me to call back on Saturday, November 28th.

Today, I called them again. The previous charges were already reversed by my bank, and I went through the entire process again, and again, their system declined to process my order, even though my bank said there was no problem. They would not let me talk to anyone higher up, or even anyone the U.S. The call center is based in the Philippines. All they would tell me is that they would escalate my issue. When asked if anyone would call me back to fix this problem, they said probably not. I asked them what I should do now, and they told me there's nothing I can do, and they can't override the system.

I have gone from being extremely excited to buy the N900, to almost not even wanting it anymore due to the frustration brought on by the customer service at Nokia. I want to speak to someone who is actually in charge, but my e-mails only get the same reply telling me to call the same number, which is the same number I've been calling dealing with the customer service in the Philippines.

I know I'm not the only one with this problem out there but can someone please help me with some information, or at least a contact of someone at Nokia who can resolve this issue for me?

I did not decide to make an order somewhere else because the waiting period would be longer, and Nokia is offering me 484USD for the device with express shipping. This is an example of terrible customer service from Nokia, and I decided to voice out my problems instead of keeping them quiet in hopes someone at Nokia might read this and do something about it. Many people out there are experiencing the same problem, and it has got to be dealt with.

Thank you so much for reading this long post, and I hope someone can help.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I placed order through Nokia Online Store - my credit card got declined. Not big deal. I checked my PayPal account which I used for that card - $613.13 were taken by Nokia Online Store NY.
Finally, I got in touch with Nokia Sales - they could not find that order. Once I finished with sales person, few minutes later Nokia sent me order cancelation.
Now I am stuck without $613.13 for 3-5 business days until PayPal revert that payment.
The worst service I have ever had. Probably I will report BBB.
I doubt Nokia will read this. But I am going to call them on Monday and give them really had time.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

My experience is nearly identical. After the bank cleared me I am still not able to buy the damn phone.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Well, sales person did tell me they had problem with online store ordering. He told me I could place order over the phone.
I told him only if he would borrow me those missing $613.13 Nokia charged me.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Their incompetence runs wide and deep. You just wasted 15 min of your life you'll never get back, and it was for nothing. The reason I say this, is because if they truly gave a crap about their customers they wouldn't have put them thru the last almost 3 months of Pre-order hell. And the saga continues...

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Just goes to show, sometimes the bricks and mortar shop is better than buying online. There has not been a single product that has launched in the last few years, iphone included, that you couldn't get by walking into the retail store a day after the official launch.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Well for 99.999999999% of the Planet, you can't walk into a Brick and Mortar and buy this. You HAVE to buy it online. So not really sure why you would make this post.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

still, bricks and mortar FTW :p

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I have my 2 different credit card charged for about 6 times my nokia sales rep guy and still said he cannot get approval from bank. I later checked my credit card to see it had pre authorizations from nokiausa for all 6 times. They have serious issues with sales and credit card processing

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

It's Saturday when you called again, so I wouldn't expect anyone (the supervisors) to be working.

Call again on Monday.

It seems you're based in the UK so just pop-in to the flagship store and get it on Monday when it's available for general release.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Ughhhh.. man it seems it was almost better to never pre-order. Strangely enough, I never pre-ordered, went yesterday evening and bought it from nokiausa.com since it's in stock, and they've already shipped the damn thing. How in the hell does that work? A guy PRE-ORDERS and gets screwed, and I quite literally walk up and order, and its already in the mail?

Fail.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I did the exact same thing. Mine arrives via fedex on Monday.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Exactly my point! Don't pre-order. It's a bad habit I've grown out of :D

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I'm in the U.S and the closest flagship store is 4 hours away in New York. I'm not willing to drive that far just to buy the N900. My problem here is not that I'm getting the device late, but the terrible customer service that Nokia doesn't seem bothered to deal with.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Online Company Status:

AMAZON = FAILED
NOKIAUSA = FAILING
DELL = FAILED
NEWEGG = FAIL

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Something is terribly wrong with Nokia's system in which they charge your card and their customer service. This same problem happened to me. I tried to place my order on NokiaUSA this weekend since the sale was going on and they have the phone in stock. At the last step I get an authorization error even though all of the information is correct. I tried 1 more time and it still did not work. I called them to place an order over the phone after waiting 20 minutes on hold, the same thing happened and it was not authorized.
When I called my credit card company, they said that 3 temporary charges of $613 were charged onto my card, but Nokia is saying that it did not go through. They told me to wait a day and try again. Today, I tried again this morning and I get the same error so I called Nokia and was on hold for 30 minutes this time. They tried to place the order and the same error occurred. I called my credit card company and they said over $3000 in temporary charges were on my account made by Nokia.
The credit card service rep and I 3-way called Nokia only to wait another 30 minutes on hold. The rep at Nokia said "wait 2-3 minutes while I check your file." He returned 20 minutes later to be yelled at by my credit card rep about terrible customer service. The Nokia rep said there was nothing he could do and that I would have to wait at least 3-5 business days before attempting to order again and that I would have to pay full price in 3-5 business days since the sale would be over. 2 Reps from Nokia also said that they would "call me back in an hour" to resolve the problem and try to get my order through, but of course there were no callbacks.

My credit card company was able to cancel all of Nokia's $3000+ dollars in temporary charges.

In the end, Nokia has VERY terrible customer service. Their online shopping system is flawed (they couldn't even get their prices right for a day let alone charge me to buy a phone). They can't do a simple purchase because of their servers. They couldn't even take a fax giving authorization from my credit card company. They can only go through their online system to take orders. They suck.

I was about to completely give up on the N900, but I'm with T-Mobile and their 3G capable phones are terrible. The N900 does have a lot of flaws, but it seems to have potential and it does use T-Mobile 3G. The thing I'm worried about is the way Nokia handles things. I hope this doesn't carry over into support for the N900.

Luckily I found a seller on eBay with 1800 feedback and 10 N900's posted at $750 or best offer. I made a reasonable offer and he is shipping it Monday.

Hope you're able to solve your problem too.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

There speaks someone who lives in the South East. 'Popping into the Flagship store' would be a 600 mile round trip for me, and I'm by no means the furthest away. ;)

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I live in Honolulu, about 4,230 Miles away from the Nokia Flagship Store in Chicago. Do I when the prize for longest distance from any brick and mortar store that will sell me an N900?

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Yep definitely. 'Pop into the local flagship store' takes on a whole new meaning, doesn't it. :D

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Ordering through the phone is basically telling someone to do the exact same thing you could do online. They don't know anything more than you do. Which is ridiculous. Customer service should have information and know how to resolve issues. They only enter the information you give them, the same information you enter online, and when it doesn't work, that's it, they don't know what else to do. I got a call back and did a search for the area code online and found that it was from the Philippines. They're using the same system we do when placing an order online, and don't know any more than that.

I submitted my story to the Consumerist and hope that this issue gets more press so that Nokia would take notice of it.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Has anyone successfully ordered from the phone after being denied online? I was told by the rep that their system has more or less "banned" me, and that I should wait a few more days before ordering from the phone.

I was cleared Saturday, she told me to try again in a week. All because NewEgg didn't ship my preorder. FML

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I highly doubt that waiting a few days will fix the problem. The told me the same thing. That I was "flagged" in their system as fraudulent activity. When you attempt to buy it in a few days you'll probably encounter the same error. They just want you off the phone and off their backs for a few days. Worst experience ever.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I don't know why everyone is having so many issues ordering form Nokia. I placed my order on Friday 11/27 and my phone shipped yesterday 11/28, i will have it on Wednesday. I did receive a call from my credit card company about a possible fraudulent charge, but i told them i did in fact place the order and that was that.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I just tried both my CC and Debit Card. BOth failed.... so NokiaUSA hates me too.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Thread merge time? This is covered in a few places...

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Just ordered mine through Nokia USA online and checked my online account in my credit card and I am missing twice the amount I authorized nokia to take out. Which is not good what if there was not enough for two on my card. the credit card company would charge me extra for over the limit and nokia would not pay me to pay for my over limit charges. WTF?????????

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

So does anyone know if this Nokia is a legitimate corporation?

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Their antics do tend to make you ask that...

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I can't imagine them being one too long if they keep antics like this up.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I live in Peru, South America and I went to the flagship in Chicago to get a N97. According to a Google search, it is 3782.07 miles. It was completely impossible to get it another way.

I have to admit that I was in Chicago on my way to Canada (so it wasn´t a purpose trip only for the N97).

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I placed an order for N900 November 27th, last Friday - did ont go through. My debit card was charged though.
I called Sales people today, on Monday, I was lucky to get one alive. She promised she would send a fax to my credit card company within 1 hour in order to release the money - my bank never got that fax.
I tried to call Sales department during the day - 45min to 1.5 h hold time. Several times Nokia sales phone would not go through at all.
Any time I would talk to sales people I would get e-mail from Nokia stating that order was canceled as per customer request.
I think they are smoking heavy crack there. What a shame for such company.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

wow finally after 4 hour hold I got a live person to talk with to know what was that double charges and found out that one was a charge and another was a hold? wtf???
they said that is a known issue and are resolving it.
he had no answer what if i did not had enough of credit limit and that would have exceeded my limit and I got charged for over limit charges?

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Just ordered on NokiaUSA and my card has been charged everything went through smoothly. After reading here I made sure all the info on Nokias site matched my card info to the T.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

4 hours, amazing. I tried to call Nokia CS and most of the time the phones would not work. Whenever I was lucky to get through - at least 45 min. hold time. I tried few times and I gave up.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

yep called this morning at 9 on my way to school and did not got hold of anyone until 1 the whole time phone was on and I had a wire running through my jacket to my ear no body noticed but sure felt like hell listening to: lines are busy, we will answer your call shortly.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I got a 45 minute one this morning too, and I'm not confident the charge will be revoked.

I suggest doing a Skype call, as it's free (tool-free number), and you can actually do something productive meanwhile.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I have unlimited calls and txt and web from Tmobile for 70 so had to use those minutes sometime, ;):D

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

I tried 3 times today with no luck. The support is abysmal. I hope peter or quim gil passes this to the management

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

That's a good idea - I will use Skype and I have few other VoIP providers I can call US numbers for free - what the heck. One will answer.

Re: Customer Service Nightmare For Nokia N900
 

Support from Nokia does not exist - phone calls are answered from abroad, those are not from US.
I am still surprised how Nokia does business in US - what happened to this beautiful country?