Short Story #3
THE INVOICE
I share a few experiences from my life in the form of short stories, they do not have any agenda kind of thing, they are just random things that happen in my life, which I feel like sharing. This is the third story in the Short Story Series. You can check the others in my blogs.
It was on the morning of April 2nd around 9 am I woke up to see a nightmare. You heard it right. I was using my phone and suddenly I saw a green line appearing on my phone. It was a jaw-dropping moment. I saw a green line appearing out of nowhere. My immediate expression was my phone got hacked or what? I know it was foolish to think that way but that was my immediate thought. But I understand it was a display issue. I was recalling if I had dropped my phone anywhere. There were no signs of physical damage on my phone. I then immediately called one of my friends who is also using a phone similar to mine and checked to see if she was facing the same issue. She was not and for the next thirty minutes after searching on various platforms, we got to know that the majority of the users who have updated to Oxygen OS 13 are facing this issue. I then started contacting the OnePlus team on various platforms by making a tweet on Twitter, sending an email to them, etc. The only response I got from all the platforms was to go to the service center, but I was not sure if the service was going to be for free or if they were going to cost me because my phone was out of warranty.
On the 8th of April Saturday, I visited the OnePlus store, the nearest store to me was around 14km, It was in the afternoon, it was too sunny and traffic was not very bad. There was a large queue at the service center I was waiting patiently. I was checking the phones of the people in that room to see if anyone is having the same green line as mine. The lady next to me observed mine and started talking to me about the green line. She was also facing the same issue after the OS update but when they checked her phone, there was a minute scratch on her phone due to which they cost her 14k for the replacement of the screen. So sad.
Finally, it was my turn, and the guy at the counter was like, “This can be a software or a hardware issue we want you to backup your phone and come with the invoice. If there are no physical damages OnePlus is going to bear the costs.” I was like okay, but I can't go all the way home for backup and the invoice. Thanks to Google, their cloud storage Google One backed up my phone within a few minutes. I was just checking other backups like WhatsApp, google photos, etc.
Here comes the most exciting, and thrilling part of the Story. THE INVOICE. I opened my Amazon account for the invoice, I remember purchasing my phone in April 2021. I accurately remember the date, it was the 14th of April because I purchased the phone on its release date only. So in my Amazon account, there was only one order on 14th April, It was OnePlus Buds which I ordered on the same day. But I could not see my phone order. I then checked my friend’s account which I am currently using, so it's our mutual account and we both have been using both of our accounts for a long time. Surprisingly I couldn’t find my phone order in her account as well. I then checked all my family's accounts and I did not find it. I was so shocked to see that, where on earth did I else purchase my phone? I then remembered that I was checking the OnePlus site as well to get my phone for the best price. I then checked my orders on the one plus site, and there were two orders, one order was a OnePlus mobile case which was successfully delivered. And the other was the OnePlus Phone which was ordered on the 14th of April, but the status shows canceled. Another Jaw-dropping moment. I was like what the heck? why is this order canceled and it is showing the same date? I was not sure if it was some technical issue or did I actually cancel it here before purchasing.
Then I tried contacting all my friends in my closer circle to check whether I purchased my phone using any of their accounts. The one and the only answer was no. I was scratching my head, it was almost 90 minutes and I have no clue. I then went to see the chats, definitely I would have spoken about it to anyone of my friends. The worst part is I have WhatsApp chats from the 20th of April 2021 only because that was when my phone got delivered and because I did not backup WhatsApp I lost all my chats. I did not lose hope, I was checking If I could find anything from that chat itself. I asked a few of my friends to check their chats as well, It seems I asked them if they had a credit card or not only but nothing was mentioned about the account. It was all like a mystery to me.
Then I started contacting OnePlus customer care, and I told them about the problem. I was like I have all the details about my phone, IMEI number, etc, I have the phone box and all other details except the invoice and I asked them if they could provide it. After taking all the details from my side, they told me that they can provide an invoice only if I had purchased the phone from their site. I asked them to check if they can provide the info from which Vendor I had purchased. They told me that they do not have that Information. I then started bothering Amazon customer service. I gave them multiple numbers to check the orders in those accounts. They told they can check the orders list only from the past year and to check the orders for previous years they need order ids. I called them multiple times and spoke to multiple people from customer service and I got the same response. I then checked all my emails, and my family’s emails also to see if there was any mail from Amazon for the phone order. I did not find any.
I then called my sister and I was telling her that I have no clue to proceed and looks like I have reached a dead end. It was so tough to accept it. Then she suddenly raised a point, she told that “You take all pictures and videos, didn't you take them when you bought your phone?” I then quickly checked my photos, I remember taking an unboxing video. And the sad part is I took that video on an old laptop and I don't have that laptop with me. But there was one picture that I took from my new phone and from some angle, I see there was an Amazon box. Then I confirmed that I purchased it on Amazon, but from who’s account? I have checked with all of my pals. I was then scrolling through photos and I saw a screenshot. That screenshot had my phone order details. I was on cloud nine. I immediately called Amazon and asked them to give order details based on this order id. Guess what it took me nowhere this time also, they told me that this order id doesn't exist. I lost my mind. I then realized it was the OnePlus site canceled order screenshot. I felt like I have lost the last chance I had. I felt I tried in almost all the ways I can.
I was still scrolling and then I found a screenshot containing details of the order from amazon account. I was so shocked. I have the order details now. But I don't know from whose account that was ordered. But I still called customer service to check, and for security reasons, they told me they can't provide any details unless the account is mine. I gave them a huge explanation, I told them I will share the shipping address, phone details, payment details, etc. Even though they can’t share the invoice I asked them to at least share the account holder's name. For security reasons, they told me they can't share it. They asked me to tell some names in my circle to see if it was ordered in any of theirs. I told them some names and nothing was matched. I was pleading with the guy to tell me the name and then he was like “Mam I am risking my Job but anyway, here you go” and then he told me the name. Oh, no another Jaw-dropping moment. This Guy…. oh no…
This guy was a friend of the first mentioned friend in this blog. I was not in touch with him. Seriously I don't have his number right now. But in 2021 at that point in time, I ordered my phone with his account. Sadddd.
I felt so complete, and happy, and can't express my feeling. I then somehow got his number and finally got THE INVOICE. I would like to continue about what happened after I went to the service center and how I passed my day without the phone, but I would like to continue it in another blog.
I might have slightly exaggerated my experience but it felt so much while experiencing it. It was a crazy yet little tiring experience. Thanks for sticking till here. See you soon.
Bdw, scribblesofsarika is my new account name. :)
