This way, the forum contact (see the posting above by @formerFP.Com.Manager) can pick up the number and try to get some more information about what’s going on.
1 Like
Ich dachte, man nennt das eine Ticketnummer.
Vielleicht kann @formerFP.Com.Manager bei Fairphone für Sie nachfragen.
1 Like
Great, thanks! Much appreciated indeed but frankly, this can’t be the proper way - I mean what about other customers who don’t know about this forum and are as well potentially waiting for responses since weeks? 
Instead of looking into my ticket/request in particular, I’d appreciate if @formerFP.Com.Manager would talk to certain people in the company to make the support process in general a bit more sustainable for everyone.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m really thankful for your attempts to help but I don’t feel comfortable getting a “special treatment”. Ideally, it should be a smooth and transparent process for each and every support case.
6 Likes
I haven’t had your poor experience of a such an faulty phone phone ~ some audio problems ~ volume ~ clarity and battery charging. My experience of support is like yours ~ long in the tooth.
But even after a month I decided I would not recommend Fairphone and would warn anyone wanting to buy that such problems exist.
I feel for you and hope you find a satisfactory solution soon. Ideally there could be some compensation for such delays.
2 Likes
I totally get what you mean and how you feel; since I share your mindset on this.
Still, the way I see it, this “special treatment” through the forum is just a way to get at least a feedback on the status quo, not necessarily a jumping the line in servicing.
And just possibly some of the users in this forum experiencing extreme delays have been hit by hard luck and their was overlooked, while others were served much faster. I can’t say, that it’s the case, but as it’s a possibility, raising your hand/case in this forum is totally OK with me.
That - of course - doesn’t change the fact, that the process has to be refined (at least) and sped up, in any case.
1 Like
I absolutely agree. An official (or at least (semi-official) statement from any Fairphone representative, be it either here in the forum or in a blog post, would truly be appreciated to understand what’s going on behind the curtain. I can only talk about my view but transparency might help people to better understand the delays and put them into perspective. As of now, I cannot understand how advice from another department can possibly take more then 3 weeks…
If I may quote the support agent from my request:
I will now need to ask advice from the relevant department to help you further. As soon as we have an update, we will get back to you. You can expect a response from us soon.
2 Likes
Hi, My issues have been taken care of now. Thanks to a helpful person who read my complaint on FairPhone’s Facebook page. Thank you. But please do pass on – I am really bothered it took so long. This is a major reason NOT to recommend FairPhone, and I find that very sad, because I really want the FairPhone Idea to thrive.
5 Likes
I guess we all agree that the support has to improve. Both in speed and in quality.
But in my opinion the reasons for this are also important: The fact that your phone seems to have a hardware defect is sad (and should be solved very quick by the support!), but the majority of users don’t have hardware issues with a new phone.
Most users seem to contact the support because of software issues and bugs. That’s why just employing more support staff can not be the solution. Instead they have to care more about the quality of their software.
Less bugs -> less support tickets -> more time to support people like you with hardware issues.
I got my first Fairphone (FP3+) in October 2020 and there are really a lot of issues with the preinstalled Android 10.
So - in my opinion! - the key to a better user experience and to a faster support is a higher quality of the software. This seems to be the root cause of all the problems mentioned in this forum, including very slow support.
5 Likes
@ontheair , I totally agree. What disturbs me, too, is that Fairphone seems to use/abuse us customers as testers of their software. Testing and delivering an error-free software is their responsibility, not ours.
They should really improve and intensify their testing prior to release. They have all the hardware to test the software, which is an advantage if you only have one phone model (well, now two with the few altered parts of the 3+). So they have perfect opportunities to test every detail of the software. Apparently, however, they do not perform those tests thoroughly. The software has so many bugs and errors that you wonder how they could not notice those during their tests. Maybe they miss some expertise on writing test szenarios.
As it has been so far, we pay a lot of money for a fair phone. Plus we do the testing for them – at least that’s what it feels like. Nobody has ever paid me to carry out tests and report one bug after another – plus reimbursement that I have to put up with a phone which just doesn’t work the way one can expect from a brandnew product.
I have an open ticket since January 2020(!) and it does not get solved. I keep reminding the support and all I receive are apologies, but no solutions. And that ticket is about that I cannot use my FP3 to make phone calls while driving in either of my two cars, which is so annoying! What is the point of a fair phone if I must buy an additional non-fair phone just to be able to use some basic features?
Sadly a lot of what you say is correct in that it seems the support is so slow that the users have to help them disproportionately.
I imagine the basic software is reasonable in simple calls and starts to depreciate when used as you have found in slightly unusual situations.
Fair to the miners and others but but the consumer is paying such a high price in usability and reliability that the Fairphone could find their next generation under subscribed.
I just hope a) FP support gets on top of the complaints and actually fixes them and b) offers some sort of compensation for the user’s stress.
Wishes are better than expectations, as wishes are a request, expectation are what I deem I am entitled too, and the truth is hard to take ~ I’m not really entitled to anything on the greater ethical scale. It’s just my first world upbringing that I have over the top high hopes.
For what it’s worth, there is currently an open position for support staff speaking both German & English, so it looks like Fairphone is working to expand it: Customer Support Agent (DE) - Fairphone
3 Likes
I absolutely feel for all of you experiencing lots of trouble plus no or slow response from support.
And to be absolutely clear I never will or can defend it or say that’s not so bad.
Still, there is - from my totally personal point of view; no insider knowledge or whatever - a reason, that is very obivious, even though one usually doesn’t think of it beforehand.
Fairphone is a small company, having sold maybe as many FP3(+) in the last year, as Apple or Samsung are selling in the morning of one day alone.
While Fairphone is small (rather tiny in that business), the market of network providers, country standards and apps is vast.
Big companies can afford to have a large department for performing tests in all areas under all possible circumstances. Those possibilities are surely limited for a company as small as Fairphone. While they might do their best in testing under all possible conditions, they still might miss that crucial point, that will be breaking things up for lots of people. E.g. I just learned on this forum, that even standardised USB-C cables do not work in any case (and not just regarding Fairphone, but other devices as well). The breaking of sound after a game played an add with a green bar at the bottom (as reported in this forum) might be another case. How do you test a device for all those different kinds of setups.
And finally add to all that the additional challenge of modularity, that might add up to other troubles.
For that reason, I always recommend Fairphone, but add, that one has to keep in mind, that it might not work as flawless and take maybe some tinkering and testing, on doesn’t face with other brands.
It’s just an explanation, I - for myself - have come up with, to help me relax, should my phone cause troubles (as my FP2 did at some time; but support was really great back then in my case).
And - regarding such kinds of troubles - Fairphone is not alone.
E.g., besides all those recalls for faulty technical devices, I know of a luxury limousine , that was taken to inspection. They diagnosed from the black-box entries, that the electronically extendable trailer-coupling needed to be fixed. So, the car came back, but a new appointment for this issue had to be made. But, while the trailer-coupling could be electronically extended before, it now didn’t do so any longer. Plus, as bonus, the right front-lights weren’t working any longer. No matter what had happened, but it seems the car electronic had a kind of glitch.
And that’s a major German brand and an often sold model. OK, its a singular case, but maybe an example of the troubles of modern complicated electronics.
Keeping my fingers crossed for all, that your troubles will be solved soon.
And thanks a lot for being so patient and polite in this forum despite all your troubles and understandable frustration and anger.
10 Likes
@JohannaG Great to hear that you received assistance from our webcare team on social media. Although, understandably frustrating having to wait quite a while.
@Freeker47 I passed on your ticket number and you should have already heard back from our support team via email. Your point regarding process is well noted though.
In general, thank you all for your patience, but also for the feedback given here. Our support team is working hard to cut down on wait times, but I have raised the above points internally and will provide an update here asap.
8 Likes
Well, it’s still not really going well. I did eventually get the chance to return the phone: I handed it in at UPS last week. So far no notice if it arrived, let alone a replacement. This has been more than four weeks. It may be a first world problem, as someone else mentioned – but I live in this first world and need a phone for my work. I want it tob e as fair as possible, and fortunately I still have an my one that kind of works – but can’t do many of the things I need in these pandemic days. Things like Video calls. So I am not sure if I can really recommend FairPhone – great idea, but with service being so dreadfully slow it will not be an option for many people. That is really sad.
1 Like
Thanks a lot, @formerFP.Com.Manager! Yes, I’m getting replies more quickly now and it was decided to send in my Fairphone for diagnosis and repair. Hope it won’t take too long but we’ll see. Can’t wait to use it again as I’m currently forced to use an old one temporarily. Fortunately, I kept it.
Also thanks for forwarding our feedback and thoughts! 
4 Likes
Hi @JohannaG,
Would you either share your support ticket number here or pop me a DM? That way, I can check with the support team in the morning. Again, apologies for the inconvenience caused.
Thanks,
Rae
4 Likes
Hi Rae,
thanks, but I think it’s sorted now: Just got a message that the new phone has been dispatched. Or so I think. I’ll get back to you i fit isn’t here by beginning of next week, but I think it should. Thank you!
4 Likes
Dear @formerFP.Com.Manager,
maybe you are willing to help me, too? My ticket number is 330716. The ticket was raised in December 2019(!!!) and still not resolved. There were three issues in the ticket: LED, microphone and Bluetooth. LED and microphone were solved through two different OS updates in 2020.
There is absolutely no progress regarding the Bluetooth issue, though. I keep asking and just keep getting excuses but not even a glimpse of a solution in sight. I cannot use the Fairphone to make phone calls in either of my cars which is a real show-stopper. If I had known that fact beforehand and also that support does not solve obvious bugs within a reasonable amount of time, I would have purchased another phone. Now I carry two phones with me: A Sony to make phone calls in vehicles and the Fairphone for everything else. This does not exactly support the entire Fairphone philosophy.
Thanks.
At the end of December I bought a Fairphone that never turned on.
After many emails I managed to send it to the technical service that they indicated. Since then I have not had an answer from technical support.
To this day I have neither mobile nor money.
Is anyone else having these problems?
1 Like
Hi and welcome to the community forum, Rost!
I’ve moved your post here to this existing topic. Maybe @formerFP.Com.Manager can help you.
2 Likes