[Shade220]

My 4 month old Blackberry Bold 9700 bought through Bell Mobility stopped working 2-3 weeks ago; was unable to send/receive calls or text even with the signal strength indicator showing full strength and the 3G symbol showing. Returned the phone to Bell Mobility for repairs and the phone was returned after about 2 weeks, but still not working, same problem.

The service report said, “a series of advanced tests were performed… device software has been reflashed… thank you for choosing Blackberry.” With a note: “LCD Major scratch” & “no defect found”. We could not find any scratch at all on the glass that covers the LCD display, and the phone does not work, so have to wonder if they looked at the right phone.

Called the Bell Mobility service center, and they had the tech at the store reload the software again, third time this was done, still not working. Also reloading software on my phone apparently takes much longer than normal, about one hour.

Tech support at Bell finally told me the phone was not fixable, and gave me a ticket number to get a replacement phone through the Bell Mobility premium plan warranty I had purchased. Called thinking I would finally get a phone that works, but the insurance company that deals with the Bell Mobility warranty said that because the phone is under the one year manufacturers(?) warranty they would not cover it, and it would cost me $150 if they were to replace the phone.

Called back Bell Mobility customer support hoping to get a phone that works, and was told that was not going to happen, and they would continue to send my Blackberry back for repairs 3-4 times more before they would revisit the situation. The customer service lady would not tell me what “revisit” means, but it seems to mean I will not be getting a working Blackberry any time soon.

Called up RIM hoping I could take the phone in to them for repairs, replacement or support, as the phone is only 4 months old and under a one year warranty, so I assumed, but RIM does not seem to offer or honor a warranty?

I find it hard to believe that RIM offers no customer support or warranty on their Blackberry products, but could not find any information on a warranty in the booklets that came with the phone. Either way, the service rep at RIM told me they do not offer warranty repair services for their products and I would have to deal with the company that sold me the phone, Bell Mobility.

These Blackberry phones are not cheap, so I can’t really afford to buy a few of them for back up. I would like a phone that works. Any advice?