[Hemiolia]

I purchased from Seidio about three weeks ago, the extended battery (1250mAh), the matching battery cover, and the crystal case. Total amount of this order: $77.27

A few observations after using the above mentioned items for almost a month. I'm not trying to knock Seido, just wanted to give an objective review of some of the problems I encountered, since no one [eerily] says anything bad about their products on this forum -- things I wish I had known prior to ordering these products.

1. I notice no negligible difference between the battery life of the original factory battery and the extended battery from Seidio. I "conditioned" the battery, exactly as instructed.

2. The grill for the speaker opening on the battery cover is very flimsy. Through normal use, one "grill" has snapped, and another has completely fallen off.

3. The crystal case fits the handset reasonably well. There are a few areas where it feels loose and therefore squeeks a little when squeezed. This wasn't a biggie for me. The biggie unfortunately, as suspected, is that there is still that tendency for particulate matter (dust, hair, dirt, sand) to work its way between the case and the handset itself. When you have that plastic-on-plastic grinding going on in there, it's inevitable that you'll end up scratching the plastic on the handset, which is exactly what happened to me.

I sent two emails, one through my account online and the other directly to Seidio with NO responses. I basically wanted to know whether this was normal and whether they received other similar complaints. If not, then I wanted to exchange it with products from maybe a different lot.

I am back to my old battery and cover (and the muffled sound).

Caveat emptor. . .

[gringoenterprises]

I was considering purchasing the extended battery but now am having second thoughts.

[k-man61]

I recently purchased from Seidio the screen guard, swivel clip holster, battery cover w/speaker opening & the super slim rubberized case w/speaker opening. I am very happy with everything however I'll share my thoughts about the speaker openings.

This is no fault of Seidio but the improvement in sound really isn't all that significant. Yes, it made some improvement but nothing like the opinions of some on this forum. My initial thoughts were that some of the threads I read were slightly exaggerated regarding exactly how much of a difference it made.

I made my purchase based on the "favorable" comments about the speaker openings on this forum. Again it helped somewhat but not enough IMHO to justify spending $15.00.

[SanFrancisco]

Firstly, thanks for the objective review. Members need a heads up.

Be aware that since Sept. 2006 there have been negative remarks and reviews of Seidio and/or some Seidio products [e.g. the black rubberized cases that first came out]. So people are not afraid to speak up and negative reviews are allowed [and welcomed].

On both extended batteries I did tests, quite extensive. The "medium" extended battery worked very well compared to the OEM battery. And of course, the 2400 battery lasts over a week without charging.

My speaker grills on both covers [the medium and the 2400] have both held up well. In fact, the covers are of far better quality than the OEM cover.

Back in October 2006 I purchased a clear case [the hard plastic one]. I noted that the construction of it appeared poorer than other Seidio cases. I disliked it so much that after one day's use I tossed it into my cell phone drawer.

Conclusion: Maybe you got a bad battery. And the case... I dunno about that, but I did not like the Seidio clear case that I got.

As to Seidio not getting back to you, other members have complained too.

Seidio used to have an employee, I think his name was David, who was a member here. He used to respond to all members who had a complaint and he always made an attempt to fix the problems. At times he also apologized for other's poor customer service [that is, other Seidio employees]. He was a damn good employee.

I have not seen him around in months. So maybe he left Seidio.

From what I can conclude from posts over time, it seems Seidio is having problems in the customer service department. But I still believe in their products.

Hopefully, they will get their act together because they deserve our business. They were the first to come out with cases, batteries and headset adapters specifically for the Pearl, so I'd hate to see them lose customers because of poor customer service.

[seidioseidio]

Originally Posted by Hemiolia

I purchased from Seidio about three weeks ago, the extended battery (1250mAh), the matching battery cover, and the crystal case. Total amount of this order: $77.27

A few observations after using the above mentioned items for almost a month. I'm not trying to knock Seido, just wanted to give an objective review of some of the problems I encountered, since no one [eerily] says anything bad about their products on this forum -- things I wish I had known prior to ordering these products.

1. I notice no negligible difference between the battery life of the original factory battery and the extended battery from Seidio. I "conditioned" the battery, exactly as instructed.

2. The grill for the speaker opening on the battery cover is very flimsy. Through normal use, one "grill" has snapped, and another has completely fallen off.

3. The crystal case fits the handset reasonably well. There are a few areas where it feels loose and therefore squeeks a little when squeezed. This wasn't a biggie for me. The biggie unfortunately, as suspected, is that there is still that tendency for particulate matter (dust, hair, dirt, sand) to work its way between the case and the handset itself. When you have that plastic-on-plastic grinding going on in there, it's inevitable that you'll end up scratching the plastic on the handset, which is exactly what happened to me.

I sent two emails, one through my account online and the other directly to Seidio with NO responses. I basically wanted to know whether this was normal and whether they received other similar complaints. If not, then I wanted to exchange it with products from maybe a different lot.

I am back to my old battery and cover (and the muffled sound).

Caveat emptor. . .

Hemiolia,

We're sorry you had some issues getting a response to your emails. We were having some server problems but have since fixed them. For whatever reason it sounds as if you were unhappy with your purchase. Please email me your information and original order number () and I will see that you're taken care of.

Thanks,

[seidioseidio]

Originally Posted by SanFrancisco

Back in October 2006 I purchased a clear case [the hard plastic one]. I noted that the construction of it appeared poorer than other Seidio cases. I disliked it so much that after one day's use I tossed it into my cell phone drawer.

We had some complaints at the beginning so we went back and completely retooled that case. Please email me at and I'll have a replacement sent to you.

I have not seen him around in months. So maybe he left Seidio.

David did leave the company to pursue different interests. I have been answering questions since his departure and can take care of any issues you have.

From what I can conclude from posts over time, it seems Seidio is having problems in the customer service department. But I still believe in their products.

Hopefully, they will get their act together because they deserve our business. They were the first to come out with cases, batteries and headset adapters specifically for the Pearl, so I'd hate to see them lose customers because of poor customer service.

We did have some customer service issues in recent months, but have made some internal changes to greatly improve and try to eliminate those problems.

In our thousands of satisfied customers, there will always be some that are not happy for whatever reason. We are dedicated as a company to make improvements in every area possible. We will never please everyone, but we will try our best to satisfy everyone we can.

[lithic]

I'll chime in here,

I bought the Sedio slim extended battery and cover months ago. The battery cover is much better fitting (the oem battery would sometimes unlatch will putting in holster). The battery does give longer operation time for me, and even the couple of mm thickness in the middle of the back make the phone more natural to hold.

Im very happy with the 1240 battery and cover.

[churchill]

I have 2 pearls, a black and white one. I bought the 1250's and back covers for each respectively and couldnt be happier. I only have to recharge about every 48 hours and thats with 10 push mailboxes, 3 gmail pull mailboxes, jivetalk on all day and google maps and search being used about 10 times a day. I also use audible air (if you're an audible customer its a great app) and use bluetooth all the time for phone comms. In an ideal world it would hold up for a week, but Im happy with 48 hours and having come from the wm 5.0/6.0 world, that in itself is a blessing. I love the form factor, but can see a tmo 83xx in my future. As to my case I use the the holster and have no problems with that at all........Its a pleasure to have a stable phone compared to the mda/dash.

[Willie115]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

We had some complaints at the beginning so we went back and completely retooled that case. Please email me at and I'll have a replacement sent to you.


David did leave the company to pursue different interests. I have been answering questions since his departure and can take care of any issues you have.





We did have some customer service issues in recent months, but have made some internal changes to greatly improve and try to eliminate those problems.

In our thousands of satisfied customers, there will always be some that are not happy for whatever reason. We are dedicated as a company to make improvements in every area possible. We will never please everyone, but we will try our best to satisfy everyone we can.

Well, at least you guys forum and you guys actually read the things we type... unlike other big companies, and their customer service was pretty good with me when doing my warranty on the adapter.

[gilg72]

Hello to all. Thanks for all your comments regarding seidio products(Especially the extended batteries with cover). I'll be browsing their website and thinking of purchasing one of their batteries for my pearl.

[dmorrell]

FYI, for some additional peace of mind: just a few weeks ago, Seidio was very responsive to e-mails and, in a reasonable amount of time, replaced a faulty swivel holster I received.

Also... I'm a butterfingers and their hard case has saved my dropped 8100 a few times... one fall was even hard enough to crack the corner of the Seidio case. Oof!

Don

[MooseNYC]

I have to give a good comment about Seidio here.
I previously bought a bunch of stuff for my Pearl from them (about $200 worth) One item happened to be the holster. After not even 3 months of standard use the swivel wore out. I figured that I was S.O.L.
I started reading the following thread: http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...ry-8300-a.html
And let everyone know that I thought it wasn't worth it.
The next day a Seidio rep replied to my post on the forum and advised me to call their customer service for a warranty return. I did just that I am getting a new unit F.O.C.

Thats what I call "Customer Service"

[Hemiolia]

This is confusing to me. I wonder why two of my messages to them went ignored.

Needless to say, I won't be doing business with Seidio any longer.

[Mob Mentality]

I bought the rubberized slim case and the swivel holster and couldn't be happier. Both of them are very sturdy and fit like a glove. Although I have not yet had to use the customer service it seems as though if you needed to you could IM or email the rep that posts here.

[seidioseidio]

Originally Posted by Hemiolia

...Needless to say, I won't be doing business with Seidio any longer.

I'm sorry to hear that because of an email problem you're not willing to give us another chance. I really wanted to help you, but it doesn't sound like your interested in that. For the record, we like any other company do have an occasional hiccup in our servers when it comes to email. Also, like many other companies, we receive emails back every day from servers telling us that spam and junk filters will not allow our messages to go through. I can't tell you what happended to your emails but I'd be happy to try and make it right if you'd give us the opportunity.

Thanks