Information request from users of 4/64GB Crystal bricked after OTA update

bencebacsi

Dear Users,

As you probably know, a new OTA update (V1.1_20171125) for 4/64GB UMIDIGI Crystal was released yesterday, and due to a bad command (flashing a new preloader) in the updater script, the updating process fataly bricked some devices.
As soon as this bug was revealed, we immediately terminated the OTA service to avoid further damages. Meanwhile the update file has been fixed and it's already available for the first 1000 devices. Other users will receive it later but as soon as it appears on your device as an available update, you may install it with confidence. The flash tool release is also available here: http://community.umidigi.com/thread-16412-1-1.html
However, if your 4/64GB Crystal is already bricked by the yesterday OTA update, there's no way to repair it, its motherboard must be replaced. If that happened to you, we apologize for your inconvenience while we are trying to do our best to indemnify each affected user.
To help our work on an acceptable solution, please fill in the following form with the requested data. After we collected the needed information, we'll workout an as acceptable as possible solution and we'll contact you about the further steps.
Important! Please fill in this form ONLY if you received the V1.1_20171125 OTA update for UMIDIGI Crystal 4/64GB and your device can not turn on anymore.
Link to the form: http://umidigi.com/page-feedback.html

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us here.

Sincerely yours,
Ben, UMIDIGI

bencebacsi

Dear Users,

First of all I'd like to ask you to get through this thread and read all of my earlier posts before asking or requesting anything.
We are not in silence, we are still working on a possible but better solution.
To make this case a bit clearer, here are some major principles/information, that you should be aware of.
1. That is not possible to receive a full refund/replacement without returning the defective item. There are no company that would undertake it. This kind of defection can not be proven with any kind of footage or photos.
2. UMIDIGI is a China located manufacturer without any official (owned) representation outside of China. So even if you would return your defective smartphone to the manufacturer, the destination country can only be China. Even if you purchased your device from Europe (or from anywhere else), we can not change that fact, UMIDIGI is located in China.
3. If you use national postal services, international shipping of smartphones with built-in, rechargeable lithium battery is not prohibited and not restricted. There are only a few exceptions like India or Madagascar. Local postal employees might be misinformed. Please contact your national post office (or their website) about registered priority airmails, not an expensive express carrier. Most of you received your handsets directly from China by postal delivery. It can work in the opposite direction as well, of course.
4. Please do not try to disassemble your device or your refund/replacement request will be refused.
5. If your seller already can offer a full refund, please work this case out with them. If they still offer only a partial refund or repairing your device, please wait for our (UMIDIGI's) solution. We will come back with the details as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Ben, UMIDIGI


P.s.: Me and Бо, we are paid employees, official representatives of UMIDIGI. The UMIadmin username with administrator rights is always controlled by UMIDIGI officials but it does not represent an individual person. That user has only marketing purpose. MarcinP, our global moderator (currently) works as a volunteer but he is also an official representative of UMIDIGI only here on the forum. Бо works in Shenzhen, directly for the UMIDIGI office, while Marcin and me work remotley, in Europe.

bencebacsi

penamas replied at 2017-12-20 12:04
Noted Ben thanks for responding. Will wait for your item# 5 with regards to repair and partial refun ...

I'll come back with the details later today. It turned out, this disaster was caused by the OTA provider company (Adups), not by UMIDIGI employees, so compensations will be covered by them, cutomsers' shipping costs included. Of course, the users do not have to deal with the OTA provider company, only with the sellers and with UMIDIGI.

bencebacsi

errr45 replied at 2017-12-21 00:30
There is no "goodwill" because they're just a bunch of T H I E V E S丟臉

We just want our money b ...

Of course, you have to send back your defective device to the seller, but your shipping cost will be refunded as well. You never and nowhere can get a full refund without returning the defective device, so I don't really understand your complaint about that. This disaster was caused by a third party company, Adups, not by UMIDIGI but we are trying to help you. Adups manages the FOTA updates of about one billion smart devices all around the world and amongs the many ones they have such partners like Huawei or Lenovo, they are not a small underground company.

bencebacsi

manash11 replied at 2017-12-20 23:20
Wow umidigi has lost it. I have rooted my device so did not get the ota. I am going to think twice n ...

This failure happened for the first time now and not caused by UMIDIGI but by Adups. If you return your defective device, your shipping cost will be refunded.

bencebacsi

crystaldigi replied at 2017-12-21 18:48
sorry, missing link

https://www.paketda.de/logistik-batterien-gefahrgut.php

Sorry but you share the link of a webpage without reading it?
Quote from that page:
''
DHL regulations do not require you to mark dangerous goods if you have only one package in your package:

• Button cell batteries installed in devices (also in circuit boards). So eg calculator, clocks.
• One device contains a maximum of 4 cells and / or a maximum of 2 batteries. Explanation of the difference between cell and batteries see [size=18.522px]this website at lithium-batterie-service.de .
  

''

The UMIDIGI Crystal contains one piece of one-cell battery with an approximately 11.5Wh (that equals to 3000mAh) capacity, what is far below the maximum 20Wh capacity allowed.
Please also check the following document:
http://www.dhl.com/content/dam/downloads/g0/express/shipping/lithium_batteries/lithium_ion_batteries_regulations.pdf
See the last column (PI967 - Section II). Lithium Cells / Batteries contained in equipment under 20Wh can be accepted for door to door shipments and no specific requirements are applied.

bencebacsi

crystaldigi replied at 2017-12-21 23:09
Hi umidigger,
ich bin gespannt! Ich war ja auch schon bei der Post, aber Versand als Päckchen. Auf  ...

Better to read official documents written by legistlators, rather than such informatives writen by marketing officials.Please read my earlier comments and also check Page 12, paragraph F in the following document (if you have no time to get through the whole document): https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-guidance-document-2017-en.pdf

nandomore

Hi,
As the problem was caused by UMI shouldn’t be UMI the one providing transportation for our bricked phones?
get it real… we could provide an video proving that our UMIDIGI is a brick as the company want and after they should send us one without having to spend 40/50 € to send it back to China if it is allowed!
Learn with Vernee company, they do several updates on their sold smartphones and never brick one with that (and they do a lot of updates).
Hope UMI get reasonable and do what is best for your customers that are the ones that give you profits!

Best regards
Fernando Silva

errr45

This is ridiculous. We ordered our phones and we had to tinker with them to fix various stuff (low volume in-call, bad quality camera/speaker, GPS living its own life, etc.). I wasted few days to make it work, although it was still garbage. Now you give us a faulty OTA update which has destroyed many devices. Very unprofessional and I think you guys are going to lose your 面子 if you don't come up quickly with a proper solution.

Tomastec

I beg you to send us an address within europe to send the broken phones, and as soon as possible, I bought a phone because I needed it for my wife, it is not a whim, and now my wife is without a phone, so I I ask please do everything possible to provide us with an address in Europe to be able to send it without restrictions due to the problems of the batteries

Tomastec

the days pass and umidigi does not respond, what a good way to lose customers and sales has umidigi

Tomastec

I do not know any brand there released an update and the phones are dead, and you think I'm here wasting time to cheat and send me a new phone? I deduce from your words that you are a young person, you need to learn good manners and learn to respect when talking to a person, and you should have more respect even when that person is your client and feed you and your family , and I ask you again to provide us with an address in Europe to send the phones that you broke

Magicred

Returned phone to UK address by Royal Mail tracked and signed for. Receipt acknowledged and have been advised new phone will be sent soon.

PayPal also agreed to refund postage.

Looks like a result!!

penamas

Hi Ben (Bencebacsi), it has been a while since the last time you indicate ADUPS as the origin of fault. Anyway you still yet to reply to me how to relate to GEARBEST in order to get a full refund and how to claim back the return postage charges. Is there any documentation that you can provide to pass to GEARBEST so they stop using standard templates responses on this particular case.

Appreciate your soonest response as my ticket is over 2 weeks at GEARBEST. Thank you.

umidigger

\n\nDear Admin Ben,
Dear Admin Marcin,

as you know from my pervious posts, I was a strong defender of Umidigi in this issue, because I think everyone can make a mistake.
Now we are doing as you advise and are willing to send our by your OTA update bricked phones back to China on our own costs. And you know what? That`s still OK.
But as you can see in this forum I am not the only one who went to the post office and got the shipment denied because it is declared as a dangerous good. Lying in the custom declaration is a criminal offense, please don't encourge your customers to do so. Also sending it as a dangerous good for more than 60€ is not a satisfactory solution considering the phone cost us ~120€.
The way you are handling this issue distrubs the feeling of my customer rights deeply. I hope this message reaches out to anyone who is willing to buy a Umidigi phone in the future.

Best regards,
Umidigger

tamonegdje

Banggood asked me to record video, so here it is crystal video

Tomastec

dear friends and clients of umidigi, in case of not fixing the mistake of umidigi, I beg you to record videos and upload them to youtube so that everyone who searches for umidigi information finds out what kind of company is umidigi, regards

penamas

\n\nFeedback submitted, do note that no files are attached as the phone is non operatable to post any print-screen.

SandovalSantos

Great, I just want my refund.

fanales

good morning, thanks for your post,
I filled out the form,
in the bricked phone I had all my work and I let you imagine what damage you have caused me.
As I need the phone for work I would like to know how long it takes to get the problem solved and of course I hope without spending any more money.
thanks for the reply.

alessandro

SandovalSantos

fanales replied at 2017-12-14 18:26
good morning, thanks for your post,
I filled out the form,
in the bricked phone I had all my work  ...

me too

hugo

Hello, thank you for the information, I sent the information and I hope the solution will be to my satisfaction. The phone also has all the contacts and important information for me, but I probably will never get it from the phone :-(

KassioCard

Obrigado, pelo pronunciamento. Já era tempo.
Pois bem, como eu e outros usuários de Umidigi,
usamos oos aparelhos para trabalho. Queria uma resposta "rapida"
de quanto tempo teremos uma solução.

pilepalle

Hallo, ich habe eben auch das Formular ausgefüllt. Bin schon sehr traurig. Mir wäre es am liebsten wenn ich das Telefon ersetzt bekommen würde. Grüße

smartrule

Also submitted.  How about upgrading us to a better and more stable model? We were constantly delayed on preorder, received a phone that was not stable then sent an OTA update that killed.  You need to win back our loyalty!