BlackBerry

[mozbo]

Well, I've had my Storm 2 for just over a month and it's been trouble from the start.

The screen sticks intermittently, but it's getting worse every day and is now at the point where it's just about unusable. The reception is very poor, I get the red SOS signal in lots of places where I had perfect signal on my Curve.

There's no Sat Nav which I wasn't aware of when I upgraded and many of the apps do not work on the Storm 2.

To make matters worse, I've just been to the Vodafone shop where I purchased the phone and, as a business customer who relies on his phone and also has 2 other phones and mobile internet with Vodafone, I would have expected better.

Firstly, they could not replace the phone as it's more than 28 days old (by a few days!). It's immaculate, boxed and with all accessories. Had I been told this when I took out the contract, I would have taken it back earlier!

Secondly, the shop assistant asked me to telephone 191 and ask their advice, explaining that I am a business customer and need my phone for my business. They promptly told me that I shouldn't have telephoned them and that it was totally at the shop's discression to change my phone and that I should escalate my complaint to the manager.

Thirdly, I requested to speak to the manager, only to be told that she's on holiday for a few days and cannot be contacted! There was nobody else to speak to and the shop assistant could only offer repair which would take around 6 days.

Come on Vodafone, where does this leave a business customer who relies on his Blackberry, especially at this busiest time of the year??

I was offered a replacement phone, without email facility, which was 95% of the reason I went for a Blackberry in the first place.

In fairness, sensing my frustration, the shop assistant said she would try to get hold of the manager tomorrow and would phone me back.

I'm not holding my breath!

What would it take to have a couple of Blackberrys in store to lend to business customers when their Blackberry fails? And why should a customer have to put up with the inconvenience of a repair, and a repaired phone for 2 years duration of their contract, when this is a known fault with the Storm 2. They should be replaced, no questions asked.

It all rests on the manager's decision tomorrow and next step will unfortunately have to be trading standards. The Storm 2 has definitely been unfit for purpose in my case. :angry:

[Jon_V]

There's no Sat Nav which I wasn't aware of when I upgraded and many of the apps do not work on the Storm 2.

Hi Mozbo,

I'm sorry to hear about your issues. Although there is no SatNav solution at the moment, there is one in development based on the Wayfinder software, which we hope to be able to release soon.

What would it take to have a couple of Blackberrys in store to lend to business customers when their Blackberry fails? And why should a customer have to put up with the inconvenience of a repair, and a repaired phone for 2 years duration of their contract, when this is a known fault with the Storm 2. They should be replaced, no questions asked.

It all rests on the manager's decision tomorrow and next step will unfortunately have to be trading standards. The Storm 2 has definitely been unfit for purpose in my case. :angry:

If you have a Business Account rather than a standard Consumer or Consumer Business Account, then we do offer handset exchanges as standard in place of a warranty repair, as we understand that your phone is central to keeping your business running smoothly. I can only conclude if this is not being offered to you, that the account is not of that level - upgrading to a more appropriate account type may be one of your options here if you require this facility.

I'm afraid a postal repair is all we'd be able to offer at this stage - hopefully the Store Manager will be able to come to some arrangement for you and get things sorted soon

Jon

eForum Team

[mozbo]

Hi Mozbo,

I'm sorry to hear about your issues. Although there is no SatNav solution at the moment, there is one in development based on the Wayfinder software, which we hope to be able to release soon.


If you have a Business Account rather than a standard Consumer or Consumer Business Account, then we do offer handset exchanges as standard in place of a warranty repair, as we understand that your phone is central to keeping your business running smoothly. I can only conclude if this is not being offered to you, that the account is not of that level - upgrading to a more appropriate account type may be one of your options here if you require this facility.

I'm afraid a postal repair is all we'd be able to offer at this stage - hopefully the Store Manager will be able to come to some arrangement for you and get things sorted soon

Jon

eForum Team

Hello Jon,

Thank you for your reply.

It is a business account I have, but the store are only offering a replacement phone, without email capability. I have around 200 emails a day and as I'm out a lot I need the Blackberry to keep in touch. I have plenty of spare phones myself, but no spare Blackberrys!!

It's a very poor system for business users though and my wife, who's a co-director, is about to renew here phone contract so this has made me really think about who gets our next and future mobile phone contracts.

[zarkrax]

28 days is pretty much the standard across all networks, not just Vodafone.

I do sympathise about being without your email though

[Claire_V]

Hi mozbo

I'm afraid that the store will only have standard handsets available for you to loan, it intends for you to be able to make calls which is what your contract is essentially for.

Everything else is a supplementary service and so we wouldnt be able to loan you a Blackberry, but I can assure you that the phone will be repaired as soon as possible and returned to you to minimise the inconvenience caused to you.


Claire

eforum Team

[bhoy1959]

Hi mozbo

I'm afraid that the store will only have standard handsets available for you to loan, it intends for you to be able to make calls which is what your contract is essentially for.

Everything else is a supplementary service and so we wouldnt be able to loan you a Blackberry, but I can assure you that the phone will be repaired as soon as possible and returned to you to minimise the inconvenience caused to you.


Claire

eforum Team

Hi,

I find your comment negligent if a product states it does this and that then it is supposed to do everything it says it is supposed to do!!!!!!..

As you are saying that any smart phone is as only to make phone calls?..

regards,
To All

[darkone338]

no, shes saying that the contract you take out is for a phone service. The data services are supplementary and as such can be added and removed as and when you wish, as such VF give a temporary replacement to service their contractural arrangements with you (ie the phone service) and to that end they fulfill their contractual obligation.

[Matt]

Hi Bhoy1959

Looks like Darkone has supplied the answer your looking for (Thanks Darkone ) I don’t think he’s missed anything out.

If there is any more information you require let us know and we'll be in touch

Thanks
Matthew
eForum Team

[bhoy1959]

Hi Bhoy1959

Looks like Darkone has supplied the answer your looking for (Thanks Darkone ) I don’t think he’s missed anything out.

If there is any more information you require let us know and we'll be in touch

Thanks
Matthew
eForum Team

Hi,

Yes read the reply and in my view I think I have read to the contrary with regard to trading standards..

Also how come VF can justify charging me in the past and present with still 2 outstanding contracts that it does not matter about the phone just the phone service Vf supplies?..

Then howcome the phones are not allowing to use the service as in sos probs hardware probs and software probs?..

regards,
To All

[mozbo]

Update my situation, my experience with Vodafone since I last posted has been very good.

I have dealt with the same store in Bridgend, South Wales several times and the staff members there have always been extremely helpful and are very knowledgeable about the phones and services they offer.

However, they are constrained with what they can do by the restrictions that Vodafone put on them. For example, there was no way they could override the system to replace my Blackberry Storm 2, even though it was only a few days over the 28 day exchange limit.

As I said, they were very helpful and promised to phone the manager the next day and get back to me, which they did, first thing the next morning.

And the good news is, the regional manager made an exception, as I rely on my phone for my business and I was given a new Storm 2 as a replacement. Many thanks to 'Jade' at the store for going the extra mile and also the 'Blackberry Guru' (sorry I didn't get your name) for all the help and advice on the Storm 2.

I was also advised that although I am on their system as a 'business user', my account is not a business account and if I change to a business account I would get priority treatment when things go wrong, so this is something I intend to do in the near future.

So, my customer experience with Vodafone turned out very good after an initial bad start.

The only bad thing (and this is not Vodafone's fault) is that the Storm 2 does seem to have some bad design flaws and I honestly cannot see my storm 2 lasting the 24 months of the contract. I look after my phones religously, but I just cannot see the 'clicky' screen lasting 2 years, I hope I'm wrong!