Meta Quest Pro Lens Issue
The Problem Meta Doesn't Want You to Know About...and The Worst Customer Support Ever
The Problem
When using the Meta Quest Pro with a game or app taking place in a dark environment, yellow / brown / auburn colored haze appears along the outer edge of the lenses (more so, seemingly, on the right lens, and more near the top of the lens). In a bright game or app, the problem isn't visible, but when using a dark one, this problem is apparent.
In the picture below, the issue can be observed most prominently near the top of the lens -- that brownish haze.
It's been speculated that the issue could be backlight bleed or IPS glow, but as far as I know, neither has been confirmed.
Here are some of the threads from Reddit and from Meta's Support forum discussing the issue:
(This one contains a "solution" that does not fix the problem.)
This one is the most concerning, where the author states that Meta told him this was "normal":
These are just a few of the online discussions about this issue.
The issue was noticed shortly after the product was released. So what has Meta said or done about it?
Very little.
Meta's Support Staff
At this point I have to admit to purchasing this headset. There were people skeptical of the price, and of the technology, and they were right. There are some things the Quest Pro does very well, but overall, between the price, this lens issue they seem to be trying to keep quiet, and their awful support process, Meta is a company to be avoided.
My own experience with the support staff followed these general steps:
- I submitted a support ticket, providing the details of the problem along with links to pictures of it.
- I was advised to do a factory reset (on a device I had owned for a handful of days at that point and had installed few apps on).
- The factory reset did not help.
- I was offered a replacement unit.
- I expressed concern about getting a replacement unit if the engineers did not know the cause of the problem.
- Reports began rolling in to Reddit about people getting replacement units having the same problem (sometimes having it worse than the unit they sent back).
- After a lull, Meta followed up, again offering me a replacement.
- I, again, expressed my concerns.
- Meta claimed to inspect each unit thoroughly before sending it out for replacement.
- I let them know about the people getting replacement units having the same problem.
Then, the following steps would repeat:
- I'd follow-up with Meta, asking for an update on this problem.
- Meta would ask me for information I had already provided.
- The support rep seemed to not know anything about my ticket, nor did they seem to have read anything prior in the thread.
This happened multiple times. It's worth noting that I don't think I ever received a response from the same person at Meta. They seem to have a pool of people, and each new person on the thread would appear to be unfamiliar with the issue, as if they hadn't read any of the previous messages.
Finally, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Twice. After the second time, they told me it was not possible, gave me instructions on how to get in touch with support over the phone, then told me they were closing my ticket.
Additionally, I left messages on the Meta Support forum. This is the only place where I saw any response that mentioned that they were aware of the issue but still trying to determine what the cause was. And unfortunately, the lack of care and attention to detail was the same here as well. At one point, I mentioned having submitted a ticket about the issue and not getting any help, and a moderator responded and advised me to...open a support ticket. At one point in this whole process, I had even created a support ticket about how bad Meta Support is, and that I need support of an issue, and was admonished for creating a second ticket.
This company just does not care. Legendary developer John Carmack summed it up best in his recent resignation letter from Meta, when he said "Make better decisions and fill your products with 'Give a Damn!'".
Tell Us What You Think
One last point to illustrate Meta's terrible support process is the pop-up you get when visiting their support forum. It's titled "Tell Us What You Think", and asks you to provide feedback. I did this once, and was prompted to again later. So, again, I took time to provide information, only to have the prompt reject my feedback because I'd already provided it. For a forum that requires you to be logged in to post any messages, rather than check who you are and if you've already provided feedback, the company asks for your feedback regardless. For those of us already unhappy with them, spending a few minutes to provide feedback only to be told "Nevermind" just makes us angrier.
Next Steps?
I remember a number of years back when Samsung had released defective DVD players and wasn't making things right with their customers, a class action lawsuit was filed. I'd love to know if this an option. If anyone reading this knows more, or would like to join one, I would be very interested.
Comments
Post a Comment