Smartphones suck

[mouseman004]

I have had my blackberry for just over a year, and I have not had even a minute worth of problems with it in that time. Then all of a sudden, yesterday my screen goes completely white, and now the phone won't even turn on anymore. After only a year my phone is now dead, the warranty has expired, and I am not due for an upgrade for another year. I have a Samsung flip phone (that I am currently using now that my blackberry is dead) that is five years old and still runs like it is brand new. I am tempted to not even get a new "smartphone" and just keep using this basic phone that has been through the war and yet still manages to work.

[xsecx]

I have had my blackberry for just over a year, and I have not had even a minute worth of problems with it in that time. Then all of a sudden, yesterday my screen goes completely white, and now the phone won't even turn on anymore. After only a year my phone is now dead, the warranty has expired, and I am not due for an upgrade for another year. I have a Samsung flip phone (that I am currently using now that my blackberry is dead) that is five years old and still runs like it is brand new. I am tempted to not even get a new "smartphone" and just keep using this basic phone that has been through the war and yet still manages to work.

blackberries aren't smartphones dude. they're dumbphones with a keyboard. and they suck. I had several over the years and they all sucked. I do however really like my new iphone.

[mouseman004]

blackberries aren't smartphones dude. they're dumbphones with a keyboard. and they suck. I had several over the years and they all sucked. I am however really like my new iphone.

Up until yesterday I always defended blackberries because I loved mine, but now I see what everybody has been talking about. But my problem with Iphones, or even Androids is that while I have no doubt they are much better products, I HATE touch screens and just don't think I can get used to using them.

[straightXed]

I have had my blackberry for just over a year, and I have not had even a minute worth of problems with it in that time. Then all of a sudden, yesterday my screen goes completely white, and now the phone won't even turn on anymore. After only a year my phone is now dead, the warranty has expired, and I am not due for an upgrade for another year. I have a Samsung flip phone (that I am currently using now that my blackberry is dead) that is five years old and still runs like it is brand new. I am tempted to not even get a new "smartphone" and just keep using this basic phone that has been through the war and yet still manages to work.

Surely you can argue the product sold was not fit for intended use if it malfunctions within the period of contract. I mean thats a clear distinction that the product hasn't lived up to the intended purposes it was sold for. I know that in this country consumers rights like this are a bit of a nightmare to go through and most don't even think they have any rights in such a situation, it makes me wonder if its the same there. Its pretty plain that if they supply you a phone with a 2 year contract then the phone should be fit to last 2 years regardless of warranty, and if it doesn't continue to function when used in an appropriate fashion i would say the product has been sold as not fit for intended purpose. Over here the catch becomes pinning responsibility on who is liable, its always down to the person that sells it to you but they are keen for you to go to the manufacturer themselves and not take liability. With this in mind i have never taken a warranty out on any phone i owned.

I have had a few blackberrys and they have worked fine with no problems, i guess i have been lucky.

[mouseman004]

Surely you can argue the product sold was not fit for intended use if it malfunctions within the period of contract. I mean thats a clear distinction that the product hasn't lived up to the intended purposes it was sold for. I know that in this country consumers rights like this are a bit of a nightmare to go through and most don't even think they have any rights in such a situation, it makes me wonder if its the same there. Its pretty plain that if they supply you a phone with a 2 year contract then the phone should be fit to last 2 years regardless of warranty, and if it doesn't continue to function when used in an appropriate fashion i would say the product has been sold as not fit for intended purpose. Over here the catch becomes pinning responsibility on who is liable, its always down to the person that sells it to you but they are keen for you to go to the manufacturer themselves and not take liability. With this in mind i have never taken a warranty out on any phone i owned.

I have had a few blackberrys and they have worked fine with no problems, i guess i have been lucky.

I am going to take it in to Roger's (the phone company that I am on) and see what I can do. It seems ridiculous that a phone that I paid this much money for would malfunction 1 year into a 3 year contract. They might fix it, but I just half expect that they are going to tell me that it was something I did (even though it wasn't), and that it will cost almost as much as buying a new phone to try to fix it. I am going to raise a stink and see where it gets me, but from stories I have heard through friends, I am not overly optimistic.

[xsecx]

Up until yesterday I always defended blackberries because I loved mine, but now I see what everybody has been talking about. But my problem with Iphones, or even Androids is that while I have no doubt they are much better products, I HATE touch screens and just don't think I can get used to using them.

they were great for sending texts and emails but sucked at everything else.

you get used to the touch screens. typing is hard at first, but with the auto correct that is actually good it helps a lot. Being able to browse just about everything and useful apps more than make up for it.

[straightXed]

I am going to take it in to Roger's (the phone company that I am on) and see what I can do. It seems ridiculous that a phone that I paid this much money for would malfunction 1 year into a 3 year contract. They might fix it, but I just half expect that they are going to tell me that it was something I did (even though it wasn't), and that it will cost almost as much as buying a new phone to try to fix it. I am going to raise a stink and see where it gets me, but from stories I have heard through friends, I am not overly optimistic.

Yeah, thats kinda what happens here so people usually give up before getting anywhere, is your contract clear on what happens if the device is faulty, if its unclear then it should go in your favour. If anything this could possibly allow you to cancel your contract, if companies there are set up anything like they are here you don't really want to be talking to someone in sales, i never speak to people in the stores, the better people to speak to are often tucked away behind a million different call options in a call center, if you make enough noise to them about being dissatisfied and wanting to leave the company its their job to minimise people leaving or leaving on bad terms.

The bottom line is i would not settle for this as the phone is clearly faulty and they can't tell you its caused by something you did just by looking at it...unless of cause its dripping wet etc. I mean i would not accept them saying it was my fault if it wasn't and you shouldn't either. It may seem like a pain in the ass to stand up for these rights but its better than letting these rights getting completely obscured by large companies.

If you do go to the store and they charge you to send it away i would challenge that too, you bought the phone from them in good faith that it worked and any cost in replacing it should fall on them. Focus on your contract and arm yourself with knowledge of your consumer rights and remember that you are the dissatisfied customer that they have to make happy, you choose when you are happy.

I have been reading a few articles online about canada cell phone issues, this approach is a fun one if you get any contract changes:

http://smartcanucks.ca/how-to-get-out-of-a-cellphone-contract-early/

Hopefully, one way or another you will reach a satisfactory outcome, it may even work out in your favour if you play it right.

[straightXed]

they were great for sending texts and emails but sucked at everything else.

you get used to the touch screens. typing is hard at first, but with the auto correct that is actually good it helps a lot. Being able to browse just about everything and useful apps more than make up for it.

Typing on the touch screen is the only thing on the iphone i still dislike, you do get used to it but its the inability to get any feedback and touch type that lets it down...that said i will still be going for the next iphone when it comes out.

[linsee]

Up until yesterday I always defended blackberries because I loved mine, but now I see what everybody has been talking about. But my problem with Iphones, or even Androids is that while I have no doubt they are much better products, I HATE touch screens and just don't think I can get used to using them.

I've had many Blackberrys, and I got an Iphone over the summer. I can't text as fast as I could on a phone with actual buttons, but I'll trade that for all the other awesome things it does. And, it makes a Blackberry seem like a dinosaur when it comes to speed of anything to load on it. Touch screens aren't what they used to be, they work a lot better now. I had the same opinion you did, till I got my new phone.

[mouseman004]

they were great for sending texts and emails but sucked at everything else.

you get used to the touch screens. typing is hard at first, but with the auto correct that is actually good it helps a lot. Being able to browse just about everything and useful apps more than make up for it.


I've had many Blackberrys, and I got an Iphone over the summer. I can't text as fast as I could on a phone with actual buttons, but I'll trade that for all the other awesome things it does. And, it makes a Blackberry seem like a dinosaur when it comes to speed of anything to load on it. Touch screens aren't what they used to be, they work a lot better now. I had the same opinion you did, till I got my new phone.

I have actually heard this from the friends I have been talking too lately. They all say that they hated the touch screen but once they got used to using it they actually started to like it. And I have played with Iphones before, so I know that they are by far the better product, so the next time I pay for a phone I think I am going to go with an Iphone, or possibly one of the Android products.


Yeah, thats kinda what happens here so people usually give up before getting anywhere, is your contract clear on what happens if the device is faulty, if its unclear then it should go in your favour. If anything this could possibly allow you to cancel your contract, if companies there are set up anything like they are here you don't really want to be talking to someone in sales, i never speak to people in the stores, the better people to speak to are often tucked away behind a million different call options in a call center, if you make enough noise to them about being dissatisfied and wanting to leave the company its their job to minimise people leaving or leaving on bad terms.

The bottom line is i would not settle for this as the phone is clearly faulty and they can't tell you its caused by something you did just by looking at it...unless of cause its dripping wet etc. I mean i would not accept them saying it was my fault if it wasn't and you shouldn't either. It may seem like a pain in the ass to stand up for these rights but its better than letting these rights getting completely obscured by large companies.

If you do go to the store and they charge you to send it away i would challenge that too, you bought the phone from them in good faith that it worked and any cost in replacing it should fall on them. Focus on your contract and arm yourself with knowledge of your consumer rights and remember that you are the dissatisfied customer that they have to make happy, you choose when you are happy.

I have been reading a few articles online about canada cell phone issues, this approach is a fun one if you get any contract changes:

http://smartcanucks.ca/how-to-get-out-of-a-cellphone-contract-early/

Hopefully, one way or another you will reach a satisfactory outcome, it may even work out in your favour if you play it right.

I took it into the store today, and apparently this is a common problem in blackberries and it is apparently an easy fix. I just need to reload the operating system, so once I get that process finished hopefully it will work. If not I will raise a stink about the fact I am one month out of warranty. I have heard that with Rogers, if you raise a big enough stink they generally give you what you want. And like you said, I am one year into a 3 year contract, so it would be unacceptable if after 1 year the phone stopped working because of an internal issue and they tried to tell me that they won't fix it without me paying an arm and a leg. So one way or another I will get this issue resolved.