[General Topics] ugoff:
If this is not an appropriate place to make a complaint about a carrier, I apologize and understand if this post is locked, moved, or removed.

I have a Tilt 2 which recently and suddenly began not sending or receiving on its USB port. The phone would charge, but no data would move. In fact, neither the computers nor the phone itself even made notice that a device had been connected. I also noticed the battery discharging abnormally fast. So fast that even with the phone off, the next day, it would not power on. I called AT&T to get the phone replaced as it's less than a year old.

I was put through the ringer, as expected on a first call. I was then forwarded to business tech support where I was met with a seemingly slightly more intelligent person, who obviously had no experience actually using a Windows Mobile device, but had no issue reading from a guided instruction on using a WM6.1 device, for a phone using a WM6.5.

This person then contacted HTC and put me in touch with them, where I got the most intelligent person I'd spoken to all that day (an I work in a call center myself). After software removal and resinstallation as well as option swapping, I was told to take the phone to a store to see if it was both my laptop running Device Center and my desktop running ActiveSync in conjunction with the 4 cables I used, including the stock one, were at fault... I was told if they were, that the phone needed replacement.

Fine.

The next day, I discover the aforementioned battery drain to the point of no power on. I take it to the store, where they are unable to test it as it won't stay on (due to complete discharge), and am instructed to call AT&T's warranty line. I spent the next 12 minutes on the phone with the warranty rep, who, through my description of the problem, decides the best thing to do is to REPLACE THE BATTERY... I asked the rep something to the tune of 'So, are you saying that a failed battery would cause the data port not to work, when the phone is receiving power through the same cable as the data would be going through?'

To which I am replied something like 'Well, sometimes...' at which point I pulled the phone away from my head to avoid screaming at this person. I do not like being treated like an idiot. I have been using WM devices since 2003, and HTC's since 2007. It would be obvious to anyone on these forums that what this phone is doing is a hardware failure. It's been reported multiple times in the Rhodium forum that this is occurring to all forms of the Rhodium.

Anyway, the rep confirmed my information and told me to expect this battery in 2 days. Upon checking the email confirmation, it's an extended battery. Adhesive bandages for broken necks.... Once I got home, I called again and laid out my contempt for this process and negation of the word of the manufacturer. This person connected me to the warranty line and I was greeted by someone who could actually comprehended the problem and did not attempt to point fingers after accusation had been made.

I will be receiving a replacement soon. But I must say, the 2.5 hours spent talking to the collective uninformed reps at AT&T makes me think twice before buying a new device ever again. On the other hand, the singularly knowledgeable rep at HTC was a pleasant surprise. In my line of work (appliances), the relative show of knowledge and comprehension skills far exceeds anything I've encounted in the whole of the company I work for.

Bravo, HTC. Shame on you, AT&T.