[ONE General] caseyc:
Last updated: July 16, 9:50PM MST

First and foremost, my invites are already spoken for if and when I get them (none issued yet). I feel for those that didn't get one, but then again after my experience it may be worthwhile to wait for a newer batch or even avoid the OPO all together.

Also, I don't post very often so I apologize if this is in the wrong forum for whatever reason.

Alright, so I was pretty excited to see that I won an invite to purchase a OnePlus One through the Storm of Invites contest. I had been looking forward to this phone since I'd been between the Nexus 5, Moto X, and Note 3 for the past 6 months without really loving any of them.

Here's the story so far (some emails are condensed to stay relevant and on topic).

June 26, 7:32AM

I get the email with the invite. Words of interest in the email:

June 26, 7:58AM

I create an account and purchase the phone. $349.99 USD + $27.99 USD Express Shipping = $377.98 USD = $415 CAD after conversion (I'm in Canada).

July 1, 11:52AM

I get this email from OnePlus, as I'm sure many others did:

So much for having a OnePlus in their warehouse waiting for me... Sure am happy I paid that $30 express shipping charge. And more invites eh? Big f'in deal, I just want my phone!

July 2, 7:36PM

I receive this email from OnePlus:

July 3, 7:00AM

I pull up the tracking info and it's still just "Shipping details submitted electronically."

July 3, 6:22PM

Shipment picked up from Los Angeles, California. Alright, some movement!

July 4, 6:57PM

DHL is at my door, fantastic! Definitely the fastest shipping I've had to date - crazy... Wait, what's this?! A $32 CAD customs charge at the door? Wow. The phone that was once $349 USD is now worth $447 CAD (roughly $420 USD). Oh well, it's in my hands! Awesome!

July 4, 7:05PM

After taking the phone out of the box, I notice it requires a micro SIM, I've been using a nano SIM for a while in my Moto X so I head to my local carrier and grab a new SIM for $5 (grand total $452 CAD). Power on phone, get an OTA update immediately. Reboot, and then once I open the browser (primarily white screen) I notice the infamous "yellow band" along the bottom. Whatever, not a big deal.

July 4, 7:30PM

After playing with the phone for a while I notice that the rear-facing camera (you know, the primary one) isn't recognized by the phone at all. No apps at all have the "switch camera" button and a hardware information app doesn't even know it exists. I open a support ticket.

July 5 - July 6

Blah blah in the support ticket - I did basic troubleshooting to prove the issue (factory reset, check for updates), and then I ask the following 3 questions:

I get the following response:

Alright, not bad!

July 7, 6:21AM

Receive email asking me to now open an RMA ticket instead of a support ticket... Alright, kinda figured they'd just do that for me, but sure. I can do that. Also provide them with the IMEI at their request which, for some reason, they don't have on file.

July 8, 12:16AM

Follow up on my last unanswered email, asking again about whether or not I'm going to be charged for customs.

July 8, 3:28AM

Fast response! "Approved. Let's ship from HK and pay for customs ourselves." was all I got. Sounds good, let's do this!

July 8, 3:48AM

Receive an email with the following:

Wait, what? I already gave you that information, and why would you approve an RMA without the IMEI in the first place anyway? So confused...

July 8, 6:46AM

Receive the RMA instructions:

Weird, alright. I wipe the phone, box it up and get it ready then put a comment in the RMA with the following info:

I really didn't expect them to be able to make it on such short notice, but it's worth a shot. I've never really shipped anything this way before, so I'm not sure what's realistic and the instructions weren't exactly detailed.

July 8, 6:11PM

No one came, not at 8AM and not at 5PM. Hrm. Ok, update the ticket with the following:

July 8, 8:15PM

Receive the following email:

Couldn't you have disclosed that information a little sooner? Also, expecting consumers to sit around after 5PM from Monday-Friday is a bit ridiculous... I don't have my own shipping/receiving department at home, so I can't exactly guarantee I'll be there every day after 5PM indefinitely.

July 8, 8:19PM

My response:

July 9, 2:30AM

I receive an email from them clarifying the difference between Chinese and global versions:

So they could potentially ship me a different model that wouldn't have working LTE in my country... yikes.

The intent was to save me time, but I don't think it's working. I've since requested that they cancel all of the Hong Kong/China RMA, and just RMA it normally through the USA. At least then I'll get a phone that works, even if I have to fight over the customs to get it here.

July 15, 4:00PM

Alright, so I spent most of last week arguing and dealing with OnePlus over shipping details and such for the replacement. To sum it up, I was told that it would be the international version, that it would ship from China to avoid customs fees, and that I wouldn't be paying a dime.

Fast forward to July 14 - the phone ships! Tracking information! Hoorah!

Wait, DHL?!?! From California??

Thanks for listening OnePlus. I called DHL today once it cleared customs and was told that the fees I would be responsible for at the door would be $34.71. Again. DHL mentioned that OnePlus did not mark ANYWHERE on the package that it was a warranty replacement, and that if they had the fees would have only been $10 for processing. So screw you OnePlus, and screw you DHL for trying to charge me processing for nothing.

I argued with them about it for quite some time, but it sounds like I'm pretty much screwed.

July 16, 9:50PM

Alright, so finally some good news!

To my extreme surprise, I received a call from Andy at OnePlus this morning. I had actually requested a phone call during the initial RMA request, so after several weeks without a call I definitely wasn't expecting one now. This is the only response I have had since informing OnePlus that there were customs charges on the second shipment a few days ago, so I was impressed to see that they were concerned enough to actually call about it. That, and I left some pretty heated words in the support ticket that may have forced the call. I'm not sure, but either way I was definitely happy to receive the call.

Anyhow, Andy assured me that if I did indeed get charged a second set of customs charges that OnePlus would have no problem reimbursing them for me. He sent a follow up email so that I knew where to send the invoice/receipt to, and so that's where things are sitting now.

On a side note, I managed to negotiate the charges down with DHL from $35 to $15, but not without providing them every single piece of proof I had (export paperwork with TNT, commercial invoice, copies of RMA info from 1+ website, etc.) that I had shipped the other unit back to them. Even still, I am hoping that they hold up their offer and reimburse the remaining amount.

Summary

The $350 "Flagship Killer" phone turned into a $450 "D.O.A." phone really fast.

OnePlus has had my money for nearly 2 weeks.

I have a OnePlus One with a faulty camera in a box that I can't use.

I have no idea when a courier is going to come pick it up.

I'm really hoping I'm lucky enough to be at home when they show up.

My new phone won't even ship from OnePlus until they receive the faulty one....

In China.

And then it has to ship back to Canada...

From China.

Joke's on me! It's DHL again...

And another $35 in customs fees, yay!

Updated Below:

Managed to negotiate DHL brokerage fees down from $35 to $15

Andy from OnePlus called me directly, offering to reimburse the second set of customs charges if applicable

Submitted invoice/receipt to 1+, just waiting now.