Part III: First, let me apologize. I've been totally away from the computer since I originally posted this thread late Fri/early Sat. I had figured the thread would basically sit there maybe getting a few reads here and there; I had no idea it would generate as much activity as it has. Thank you to all those who have expressed kind words and messages of support (stolly23, itdang0, Stujoe, and others, you know who you are), I'd love to give you all a group hug! This has definitely been quite an ongoing ordeal.
Now, on to the actual update.
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Saturday 1/12/08, ~12:15pm. Fred, the escalation consult, did call me back as promised. He told me that my package had indeed been located sitting on someone's desk at the repair facility in McAllen, TX. With the unit located, the purchase date needs to be confirmed with Best Buy, which will take a couple of days to accomplish due to all the back-and-forth faxing. After confirmation of the purchase date, they will update the status on my website login for this unit's serial number, and they will also determine whether to repair or replace. Fred tells me that if the unit is replaced, it will be replaced with a refurb; no one has mentioned anything about a brand new unit being sent to me. If replaced, it will be FedEx'ed back to me at some point next week (the week of Jan 14). If repair is required, it will take a few more days. He said that by Monday (which is today) or Tuesday, they will be able to provide a tracking number for the returned unit. As of about 11:30am Central Time Monday morning, the website status of my unit has not changed, it still says, "Warranty Status: Out of Warranty, Repair Status: Waiting for Device at Service Center".
Fred then went on to attempt to reassure me that this issue is at the very highest level of escalation (Tier 3) and that it will stay in all of their faces until resolved. He also said I can call back (877-GET-ZUNE) on Monday and/or Tuesday to check status. He still would not give me a direct phone number to reach him, although I captured the caller-id that he called me from - a 585 area code (Rochester, New York). But Rochester doesn't make sense since he told me on Friday he was in the Pacific Time zone, so I would tend to bet that it's just some generic, main number for a boiler room facility or a call re-routing service. Regardless, it's crystal clear that these people (Zune customer service) want to remain deep in the shadows.
Phone Time: ~ 8 minutes.
Finally, one would think that with all the problems I've had up till now that immediately upon confirmation of the purchase date (recall that the duplicate receipt was with the Zune player in the return box, or coffin as someone else called it) that they would just send me a new (refurb) unit, forgetting the repair idea, in order to get this resolved as absolutely as quickly as possible. My son says, though, that in some ways he would rather have it repaired, at least he wouldn't lose all the content he has on it. Unfortunately, that decision is out of our hands.
Thanks for reading. Back soon with more updates as they become available.
Ron
