[haertig]

I've had a PaperWhite for a few months that intermittently locks up. Usually responds to long-power-button-push reboot. But not last night. Had talked to Amazon a couple of times before on this, they were helpful and nice, and I kept using it, trying to collect additional data for them to troubleshoot with (how frequent lock-ups occur, what I was doing when it locks up, etc.) But all my collected information pointed to total randomness in the end.

Bottom line: Amazon is replacing the device. My best guess is a defective battery. Battery goes from 2/3 full to empty in a heartbeat sometimes. Then from completely empty to full after only 10 minutes in the charger. I think that's a big clue that the battery is whacko.

After 20 minutes of chat with tech support, I found out I wasn't really talking to tech support. No telling who I was talking too - maybe the janitor was standing in. Finally got transferred to tech support. I asked that he re-read my chat history with the janitor to familiarize himself with my issue. He said he did. Then he asked me to go to the Home screen and do blah, blah, blah. I responded, "How am I supposed to do that, it's frozen? Did you miss reading that part?" Then he asked me for the SN. I replied that there is no SN on the exterior of the device, and I can't look it up via software since the device is frozen. Next he wanted me to hold down the power button to reset the device. I asked him if the six times I had already tried this was insufficient, and also asked if he had failed to notice the conversation (with the janitor) talking about this very thing in my chat history. Next, he said "I have reset your device from my end". I replied with, "OK. But I would like to know how you did that. The thing is frozen, not plugged into anything, and is not connected to WiFi." Silence. Then he asked for my shipping address (finally, this was a hint that I might be getting somewhere!) I told him that my shipping address was the same one that is listed on my Amazon account right in front of him, but I gave it to him anyway.

Nice enough guy. But maybe not the best trained, or the best at listening/understanding. As I was about to end the chat, I asked if there was anything else that I need to do now, other than mail back the defect Kindle (he had sent me a mailing label). He said to remove the SD card. I reminded him that the PaperWhite does not have an SD card slot. He thanked me for that information.

It was humorous, but I got through it, and supposedly will have my Kindle replaced.

But wait! I got up this morning to an email from Amazon saying that my Prime membership had be canceled at my request! ??? Neither the word "Prime" or the word "membership" were never mentioned even once in our chat the night before. The Amazon person who I called today said that the chat tech had canceled my membership. I said, "Well then, since I never asked for that, reinstate it." Oops. No can do per this new Amazon person. She said the best I could do was sign up for a new Prime free trial. I told her that no doubt this would be problematic, because somehow I suspect that Amazon might have a problem with me signing up for a new free trial only a few hours after I allegedly canceled my previous membership. She was silent on that one. So I said "I think it's time for you to escalate me to your supervisor." She did.

It took about four repetitions of "I did not ask for my membership to be cancelled!" before that concept sunk into the supervisors head. After she finally comprehended what I was saying, she was able to get me re-enrolled. A new Prime membership, but with a refund for the unused part of the original membership (which had been paid up for the year in advance). She also gave me a generous credit on the new membership, which was thoughtful.

In the end, I'm happy (I think). Supposedly I'll be getting a new PaperWhite, and will continue to have my Prime membership, with a credit towards the cost of that (which I did not ask for). Amazon did step up very nicely in the end. But only after having fallen three or four times along the way.

p.s. - Update: Just spoke with my wife and told her we need to look for the Amazon credit on our CC ending in 4900 (the one that Amazon person said she crediting things to). The wife pointed out that this card was canceled months ago and a new on issued (one of those bank anti-fraud things I guess). The Amazon rep had previously told me that the credit had already gone through. I wonder how it did, to a defunct card? So I guess this Amazon saga has a few more iterations to go through before it's finally resolved...

They are trying to help. I do believe that. But it appears they have a bit of incompetence to deal with, either in their employees, or in their software systems.