Last week I traded in a few pieces of camera equipment for the new Kindle to really see if I could just whip through books at lightning speed and to my surprise, after about 2 days of use, I managed to mess up the screen. I am in the middle of doing an in depth review of the Kindle 2 that I will post at a later date, but after having the Kindle 2 for about 2 days, I seems that the screen on the Kindle 2 was damaged beyond a simple fix. The reason for this post was really to show what the customer service representative at Amazon did to fix the problem.
For those who don’t know, I really missed my calling in life to be a product tester. No matter what the product, I can an uncanny way of being able to break the unbreakable and find problems or issues that manufactures somehow seem to miss. I was told that the Kindle 2 was tested for durability and could withstand a drop from a two story building, but 2 days in my backpack managed to screw up the top of the screen.
Once I went through the normal troubleshooting that I knew how to do, I called the customer service number for the Kindle. She walked me through a few other tests, had me “reboot” the system (you can hold the power slider over for 20 seconds and that will initiate a reboot on the Kindle 2). After that (all of which took about 2 minutes total) Amazon told me they would just ship me a new one overnight. No questions asked, they just shipped me a new one. They paid for the shipping to return the old one, and I transferred all my book from the old kindle to the new kindle. It was easy as it possibly could have been.
As for what I did to the Kindle, I have no idea. I did put it in my backpack (in its own case) and perhaps to much pressure what applied to the top of the screen somewhere. I am not sure about the 2 story drop, didn’t try that, but I will be a little more careful with it in the future regardless. I was totally and completely thrilled with Amazon’s customer service on the kindle.
That doesn’t really have anything to do with the practicalities of the Kindle, that will come later, but as far as their customer service goes, it was great. Having also sold on Amazon for years, I can say that all of Amazon’s customers service is geared towards their buying customers (as opposed to their sellers) and they will bend over backwards to provide the best service they can.
You can see the screen issue on the photos below. It covers about an inch from the top with a blank line of gray going across the screen with a slash in the upper left corner. The last two shots are what the screen shot from the damaged kindle looks like (so it is seeing everything correctly under the screen issue) and what the new one looked like when it arrived.
Update May 21, 2010
I thought I would update this post with a few comments since it is still one of the most read posts on my blog. As some have suggested, my Kindle was NOT dropped. I simply put it in my backpack, which also wasn’t dropped, and took it out an hour later and it showed up with the damaged screen.
I did get a free replacement from Amazon, but I returned the replacement within a week for a refund (see my review A Not-So-Normal Kindle 2 Review for my reasons), but one major reason was I knew the “free screen replacement” was only going to last a short time, and it was a one time shot. Amazon did replace the damaged screen, but they said they weren’t going to do it again. Looking back now, more than a year later, it was the best decision and I am not super happy with my iPad.
Update February 12, 2011
As this post still gets heavy traffic and questions, I will say after using and testing the Apple iPad since it came out, I have never had a better ebook reader than the iPad and I am looking forward to seeing the new iPad 2 some time around April. The Kindle App for the iPad is one of the ebook reader apps I use, and although not my favorite, I do use it frequently.
The problem I still have with the Kindle is you basically can’t do anything else with it other than read a book. I can type out notes and highlights in my Kindle app on the iPad and it works great. The one great thing Amazon has done for the Kindle is continue to lower it’s price, but if you have an iPad I’m not sure what use one would have for the Kindle.
48 responses to “Damaged or Defective Kindle 2 Screen Failure :: Photos”
Ny stepdaughter got the kindle this past Xmas and doesnt use all that often…even lost privileges for several months and recently experienced the screen problem above. I was glad to see it is pretty common and that she most likely didnt cause it. I called Amazon and it took, like the person mentioned above, maybe 3 minutes to get a replacement sent out. Just have to return the other within 90 days. I wish all companies were this pleasant and quick!
Thank you amazon!
I wish I had read this section BEFORE I bought my Kindle. Of course I might have thought “these are just a few of the thousands contented people and they just had bad luck’. But lo and behold—– now after just about two weeks of use the screen on my Kindle is destroyed. I did NOT drop it or mistreat it—- in fact it’s never even been out of my apartment except once to ‘test’ the wireless in my apartment office. (It worked).
I’m going to ask for a replacement and hope Amazon does right by me. They’ve been good in all other dealings.
My wife’s Kindle 3G+WiFi, bought in mid-April of this year, just had the screen completely crap out last night. She’s not a heavy user, she’s only accidentally left it on overnight ONCE. Never dropped it, never subjected it to extreme temperatures, has never even put it in a bag or purse that could cause pressure on the screen. Amazon was very nice about it and is sending out a replacement right away but, unlike those here praising Amazon for such fast service, this gives me reason to concern.
Having spent 3 years working for Gateway Computers (before they downsized) I’ve learned that when CSRs are willing to replace your device without question they KNOW there’s a defect with the device. In our case, it was – at the time – a defective USRobotics dial up modem. If customers called in with that specific modem, CSRs were to give them a replacement with no fuss. If a customer called in with a DIFFERENT modem, CSRs weren’t allowed to give them a replacement without going through the entire troubleshooting process AND they had to get authorization from management. Amazon rapidly giving out replacements means they KNOW this is an issue, probably far more widespread than they want to admit, and they’re trying to stay ahead of the potential PR problems.
Doing a simple Google search for defective Kindle screens brought up a ton of results, most of them looking like the problem my wife’s Kindle has, and many of them dating all the way back to early 2009.
After 7 months, my Kindle 3 developed problems with the screen. I could only view the bottom half of the books (top half being blank), but the Home and ScreenSaver screens were both screwed up with multiple images and lines in different directions. After reassuring customer service that it was NOT dropped and is always kept in a leather case/holder, a new replacement Kindle was shipped 2 day. However, I was required to give them a credit card number. I was told that if I did not send the damaged one back within 30 days, I would be charged for the replacement one. No problem. I sent the “damaged” one back. However, I was later informed that they found the Kindle to be damaged due to being dropped and I was charged any way. How do they know that it was not damaged being shipped back? I am very upset because I did NOT drop it. I filed a dispute with my credit card company, but have no idea how it will all pan out. I will never buy another Kindle due to this experience.
Great post! I too have just got back from traveling with my kindle in my backpack. no issues on the way out but now similar screen issues on the return. I absolutely love my kindle and will ALMOST never read a paper book. however, I am now convinced, that one should not travel with their kindle after reading all the notes and reviews. Our new kindle has a travel case with light, so maybe this will help. I will try customer service, but our kindle is rather old; so I imagine that we will just suck it up and pay the $120 for a new one. One thing is absolutley CLEAR, this can’t be dropped off a 2 story building! I think it is much more fragile than our laptop.