My Lumia 1520 has a ghost, and I want a replacement

So, at 11:39 last night I started tweeting at @lumiaHelp. By the time I stopped, I had asked Lumia support for a replacement, threatened them with consumer court and even said I should have bought a Samsung Note! And this morning they come back saying it might be a software issue. Seriously?

The display on my Lumia 1520 has now gone bad twice in about two months. I’m writing the whole thing down while the dates are fresh, because if this really ends up in consumer court, I want everything in one place.

The 1520’s box on my bed on 14 March 2014, the day I collected it.

The phone I worked for

I didn’t buy this phone. It was a DVLUP reward! In late January I spent 19,000 DVLUP points on it and tweeted that I hoped to get my hands on “that Beauty before Valentine’s”. Well, Valentine’s came and went. I finally collected it on 14 March, about six weeks after ordering, in person from Nokia’s office in Gurgaon. (How I earned those points, and the other Lumias that came with them, is in this post.)

Out of the box. I tweeted this to @dvlup: “just got this gorgeous machine!”

And it’s a proper flagship. 6 inch 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800 with 2 GB of RAM and a 20 MP PureView camera. During Nokia’s #1520Reasons campaign I even tweeted that the camera “is equivalent to all other #1519 reasons”. In May I added a Nokia wireless charging plate to it, another DVLUP reward. It has been my daily driver since March. Just last week I was asking a WP app developer to update his TV show app for native 1080p, because hey, I’m on a 1520!

September: a violet streak

In September a violet streak of light showed up on the display itself. I registered the complaint by mailing Nokia Care, and the service centre’s job sheet is dated 25 September 2014. The phone came back last month with a new display. At least, that’s what I was told.

The violet streak, in the photo I tweeted to @NokiaHelps and @NokiaIndia on 21 September 2014.

Then the ghost

A few weeks after I got it back, the ghost tapping started. The screen registers touches I never made and the whole thing goes crazy, 10 to 15 times a day, and the only way out is a restart. On my PRIMARY phone!

I have tried almost every possible way:

• a soft reset, then a hard reset
• a full factory reset, which put the phone back on Lumia Cyan
• Nokia’s diagnostic apps from the Nokia Developer wiki, the ones that check if a phone’s hardware is failing

None of it helped. If a freshly reset phone still taps on its own, it’s a hardware fault, period. I recorded the phone doing it, put the video on YouTube and wrote up all the details in the description:

Customer care, then Twitter

I followed up with customer care, and four days later, nothing. So last night I went public, tagging @lumiaHelp, @lumiaIndia and @lumia:

1/3 Hello! I’m having the following issue with Lumia1520. Did follow up with Customer Care and no use!

This is 2nd time I’m complaining for display issue, earlier also display was replaced last month and see again! This is poor!

3/3 I dont expect such issues in a Flagship device. Being a WPDev, it is very sad to see such quality prob. I need a replacement!

That’s the first tweet, with the video, and the third. Then I kept going:

Please read the description of the video! It’s been 4 days & no word yet! I am going to Consumer court if nothing happens! #Fail

Such issues shud be treated on Priority! Twice in few weeks! I should have opted for @SamsungMobile Note :(

Yes, that Samsung Note one came from a Windows Phone developer. That’s how frustrated I am.

Lumia support did reply, with a round of questions, and I answered them one by one. The earlier repair? Job sheet dated 25 September 2014. A replacement? Never got one: “Last time it was repaired and supposedly screen was replaced! I am asking for a Replacement!” Software? A factory reset had already taken it back to Lumia Cyan. The “WP Diagnostic Tools”? Nokia’s own hardware test apps on developer.nokia.com. “Told you, WP dev here. Remember?” And since I registered the first complaint with Nokia Care by mail, it should already be on record against the phone’s IMEI.

Then this morning’s reply suggested a software issue. My answer: “Wow! You guys even saw the video? How can you assume it is software issue :-O”

What I want

A replacement unit. Simple. The display has failed twice on a phone that isn’t even nine months old, and the second fault showed up a few weeks after the first repair. Sending it back for the same display again doesn’t fix anything. “It is clearly a Hardware issue!”, like I told them last night, and the video shows it.

And this isn’t even my only open case with Nokia. Since August I’ve been chasing DVLUP support over three Flipkart gift cards I redeemed with points, and none of them has ever worked. Last month DVLUP’s global support told me the local support teams had been dissolved, which I guess is what Nokia’s phone business moving to Microsoft looks like from my inbox.

If Lumia support comes back with a real fix, great! If not, next stop is the consumer forum. I’ll update this post either way.

Ever been through something like this with a phone under warranty? Do share below! :)

Update, December 2014

About a month later: the phone got repaired! The ghost is gone, and the 1520 is back to being my daily driver. :)

@dvlup Just ordered my #Lumia1520 for whopping 19k Pts ;) Fingers crossed ! Let's wish I get my hands on that Beauty before Valentine's :D

@jatinkrmalik, 25 January 2014

#1520Reasons 20MP Pureview shooter at the Back is equivalent to all other #1519 reasons for buy #lumia1520

@jatinkrmalik, 28 January 2014

@dvlup just got this gorgeous machine! #IamLovingIt #lumia1520 #wp8 #NokiaX

@jatinkrmalik, 14 March 2014

@NokiaHelps @NokiaIndia Within few months, screen of my #Lumia1520 has developed Dead pixels/Purple lines :( #help :|

@jatinkrmalik, 21 September 2014

@lumiaHelp 1/3 Hello! I'm having the following issue with Lumia1520. Did follow up with Customer Care and no use!

@jatinkrmalik, 17 November 2014

@lumiaHelp 3/3 I dont expect such issues in a Flagship device. Being a WPDev, it is very sad to see such quality prob. I need a replacement!

@jatinkrmalik, 17 November 2014

@lumiaHelp @lumiaIndia @lumia Such issues shud be treated on Priority! Twice in few weeks! I should have opted for @SamsungMobile Note :(

@jatinkrmalik, 17 November 2014

@lumiaHelp Wow! You guys even saw the video? How can you assume it is software issue :-O

@jatinkrmalik, 18 November 2014

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