Oh, customer service agents, how we love you. You’re an endless source of knowledge — even if about 80% of it tends to be taken from gadget blogs, pushed through the fact distorting ears of the rumor mill. That other 20%, though.. there are some real gems in there.
Like the launch window for the Android 2.1 update for the Motorola Droid, for example.
Android fan site Droid-Life started nagging at CS agents for information about when we might see 2.1 land on the Motorola Droid – and sure enough, they got a hit:
Marcelo M.: Hi, my name is Marcelo M.. How may I help you?
Kellen B: Hey Marcelo! Since the Spain Milestone has Android 2.1 and the Bulgarian one launches at the end of this week with 2.1, should Droid users expect it this week as well?
Marcelo M.: Within the next 2-3 weeks
Kellen B: Really? That’s awesome news. So by the end of March?
Marcelo M.: Yes
Kellen B: Very cool! Any details on what will be included in the update?
Marcelo M.: Not at this time Kellen, I am sorry
Kellen B: Ok, well thanks for providing me with a more defined timeline than just “soon”. Greatly appreciated.
So, one rep says it’s coming by the end of March. One rep’s word is never enough to go off of (because, like anyone else in the world, they tend to pass on what they’ve heard, rumor or otherwise, as fact), so Droid-Life asked another rep. This one wasn’t quite as specific, saying only that it was coming in “Q1″ – which, as it turns out, happens to end in March.
Take it with a grain of salt for the time being, but Droid owners just might be in for the upgrade treatment before the month is out. We hopped on Moto’s support chat ourselves to try and confirm and, out of pure coincidence, ended up talking to the same guy quoted above. He wasn’t willing to spill the beans for me, though, leaving us with “No sir, we’re still waiting on information.”
Finally, we’ve been waiting on this for a while…
you have to take into account the cultural perspective of the rep who gave the info… meaning that in many call centers, there is an established culture of lying to the customers, of telling them any damn thing, especially in offshore call centers where the reps are especially stressed and challenged because they don’t understand the culture of the customers who are haranguing them all day. Also, lying is standard in all cultures, however, different cultures tell different lies differently… so if the call center rep is from a different culture, the lie being told in the rep’s culture may be a polite white lie or something, and may be understood as such, whereas, in the caller’s culture, it’s understood as something else, like truth.
I don’t see the point of passing on this info. Do a random polling… talk to 20 different reps, ask them all the same question, and see if you get the same answer…
you are usually not going to find a situation where only one random rep is privy to some info… maybe 75% of the reps may be too spacey to remember or understand or care about the info… but if the info is valid, then they probably are all privy to it. Otherwise, it’s just another rumor.
Here is a copy of my messages with a Motorola rep:
Gisela P: Hi, my name is Gisela P. How may I help you?
Sam B: Hi Gisela! Since the Spain Milestone has Android 2.1, and the Bulgarian one launches at the end of this week with 2.1, should Droid users expect the Android 2.1 update this week as well?
Gisela P: I apologize Sam, but unfortunately we have not receive any new notification about it
Sam B: Oh ok. Well thank you anyway! I was hoping the Droid users would receive that update soon, since in just over a week, the Nexus One will arrive at Verizon, and the Droid will already be “out-dated.”
Gisela P: You’re welcome.
Sam B: Have a nice day!
Gisela P: Have a nice day too!
hi there i have motorola droid and i am waiting for the new update 2.1 and also i like to know if they have skype ready for motorola droid ready or what date come out
thank you
Hi , I have Q
is any Droid 2.1 update in Saudi Arabia cuz I welly
want to have one ….
big fan ..
keep the good work
there*