Friday, August 10, 2007

Last update on Helio.

So.. the good news is Helio customer service does respond to email quickly. I have to give a point in their favor. However, I really don't understand how a company can stay in business with the reply I got.

This is what they said:

"Hello from Helio, this is Joseph,

Thank you for your inquiry.

I apologize, but if those dealers do not have a working demonstration, then there are no other retailers in your area who have one. I realize that this is a huge inconvenience to you, but you may wish to take advantage of our Thirty Day Happiness Guarantee, where you can order a device and activate an account. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied, you can cancel your service and return your device for a full refund within the first thirty days. Thanks again for your inquiry. I apologize that we cannot locate any more retailers for you to visit. Have a great day!

I hope we answered your question. If we didn't answer your question or if you have additional questions, please send us another e-mail at the address below.

Helio Member Care
Membercare@helio.com "


To say that I am completely shocked by this is an understatement. They're joking. Right?

Within a 25 mile radius of me, Helio has 48 stores.

Within a 50 mile radius there are 143 stores. That covers most of the greater San Fransisco Bay Area. Including pretty much all of Silicon Valley. Which by the way - I think would be at least in the top ten of market importance.

Are they seriously telling me they don't have one working phone in a 143 stores?



Mr S. decided after the last interaction (here) with Helio that we would not be buying from them. But I am fascinated that a company can make a big deal about themselves "being different from the other guys". When they've pretty must demonstrated that they are no different from the "other guys".

Unless that means worse.

2 comments:

  1. Does their website list a customer relations or complaints type address? If so, I'd write to them. Those departments are more likely to go out of their way to check for you.

    Well, going by our company at least, they do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't know Caramaena. I usually think most modern companies have RSS feeds to see what people are saying about them.

    We were pretty motivated customers... but I'm sort of over it now.

    We even saw a working one today.
    An employee of game-stop showed us hers.. and it looks like a pretty nice product.

    But..not nice enough that I trust they are going to stay in business long enough to fulfill the contract on the phone.

    ReplyDelete