Motorola slammed with $5 million lawsuit for poor customer service

Motorola offers a 1 year warranty with every device they sell, which means the company is really good at making their customers feel like they’ll be taken care of. Unfortunately, when displays go out and hardware fails, Motorola is proving not to be particularly good at actually fulfilling these warranties. That’s why a slew of betrayed-feeling customers are filing a $5 million lawsuit against the Lenovo-owned company.

You don’t have to look very hard to find evidence of Motorola’s poor customer service. At the Consumer Affairs website, the company has a 1.1-star rating out of 5, and just scratching the surface of any Motorola forum will cause a deluge of complaints to spill out. Eventually though, enough is enough, and among those taking action against Motorola is Douglas Lynch.

Douglas Lynch joined this class action case after going through the warranty renewal from hell for his Moto 360. The device’s back-plate cracked, and Lynch contacted Motorola to get a replacement. Representatives told him that once his device was received, a replacement would be shipped within four days. Nearly two weeks later, after hearing nothing, Lynch contacted Motorola to find out what gives.

The company explained that a replacement device wasn’t available. Lynch offered to upgrade to a more recent model of the smartwatch and pay the difference, but was told this was against policy. After fighting through a series of phone calls and emails over the period of the next few weeks, his replacement finally arrived… and it was a less expensive variant than the one he had purchased.

Other users have reported similar experiences with the company. Many fans of the Moto X line (some on their fourth replacement device) have pointed out that the refurbished devices Motorola ships to fulfill warranties are frequently glitchy, buggy, or just plain broken.

The $5 million class action lawsuit claims that Motorola has violated their express warranty, which means they are in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which ensures that businesses must make good on any warranties they issue. The filings also indicate that Motorola makes getting customer service even more difficult by tucking away the relevant contact information and not making it clearly available. Lawyers accuse the company of using “unfair, unscrupulous, immoral, and oppressive” business tactics.

Motorola responded to the lawsuit in a statement sent to Trusted Reviews:

Motorola has a long history of providing exceptional products and services to its customers. We are aware of the lawsuit, and are investigating the claims, which we believe to be without merit.

What are your thoughts regarding Motorola finding themselves with their feet to the fire? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to Android Authority for all the latest news about the companies that make the devices you love!

Update: After publication, Motorola reached out to Android Authority with a statement echoing the one above and adding:

If any consumer has an issue with a Motorola product, we ask them to contact customer service at 888-355-8422. We are available Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, or on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Next: Report: Motorola preparing a launch event for June 9th