OnePlus, which set smartphone fans agog with its lineup of affordable yet highly featured handsets, has formally partnered with Germany’s B2X to provide customer support, warranty repairs and phone-insurance opportunities in the U.S., Europe and India.
The phone maker, co-founded by former Oppo exec Pete Lau, won widespread praise for its OnePlus One debut model in 2014. The company generated further demand and a rabid fan base through an invite-only direct-sale system and inventive social-media marketing.
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But customers have cited, and OnePlus has acknowledged, frustrations with its tech-support function, which has struggled to keep up with global sales that exceeded 1.5 million units last year.
Enter B2X, which provides Cloud-based customer-care solutions for smartphone manufacturers in over 100 countries. The company began providing OnePlus with full-device support last fall, including service for in-warranty repairs and exclusive in-warranty after-sales support in the U.S. The new, formalized pact extends the partnership to all future devices and markets.
“In this fiercely competitive market, top-notch customer service is a critical differentiator,” said OnePlus global services director Xu Leidi. “This partnership with B2X will ensure our customers are satisfied and fully supported throughout the entire device lifecycle.”
B2X added that its strong customer service practices will result in increased customer retention and brand loyalty.
OnePlus will also offer its customers B2X’s OnGuard Plus handset insurance program, which joins a growing assortment of accessories and services designed to offset the phones’ near break-even pricing, the company’s fellow co-founder Carl Pei told TWICE.
OnePlus itself is one of a growing number of Asian OEMs including Huawei, Freetel, ZTE, TCL and Xiamoi that are helping to disrupt the traditional mobile carrier model by offering highly-spec’d unlocked phones directly to consumers at value prices.
