[adamrice]

In January I purchased an unlocked Blackberry Pearl from Ebay. The Blackberry arrived sealed in the original packaging, missing the button to close the battery covering. I thought fixing this problem would be an easy feat however I was mistaken. I contacted Blackberry Canada and they informed me that due to contract issues they were unable to take my new phone and replace it, that I should deal with T-Mobile, the branded company on my phone. I contacted T-Mobile only to be informed that as I am not a T-Mobile customer (bought the phone unlocked to use in China) they were unable to offer me any assistance. This was a new phone, arrived to me broken, that was unable to be replaced due to contractual issues. OMG, figure it out RIM, customer service is foremost when it comes to trying to endorse your products. I bought the phone as I thought is was attractive and would meet my needs as a business user. Business takes you around the world, right? This is what I tried to explain to RIM on ears that didn't seem to care. This was the beginning of my problems. Currently residing in China where there is no BES coverage i was SOL anyway as i could not get any of the service books. China mobile couldn't help as the said the service wasn't available in my area. Previous research online informed me that this wasn't the case however that's life. 3 months later buttons on the phone 6 and the 9 stopped working... Signalling the end of my blackberry 'experience.' I am not trying to offend any blackberry users by this post, just wanting understanding. I recently switched to the Samsung SGH-i600 which is the Blackjack for Europe (taking a $500 loss on the new Blackberry phone RIM refused to repair). It has WiFi, HSDPA, Win Mobile (with a variety of programs BB doesn't support), Push Email and a full keyboard for typing email messages... Without the BES server, that was unusable in China (where the future of global trade and business seems to be moving). The interface is great and I've had no problems with the phone. All in all, I am pretty disappointed with what Blackberry had to offer. I would appriciate your ideas and arguments.

[JSanders]

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

That is unfortunate. You made no mention of holding the Ebay seller responsible, which truly should have been your primary line of defense.

[juwaack68]

Sounds like you didn't have the experience you expected, but that's not RIM's fault. You bought an unlocked device from eBay, and tried to have T-Mobile replace it, even though you don't have an account with them? No big surprise there, and I don't blame them.

What service did China Mobile say wasn't available? I support quite a few users residing in China who use Blackberry devices.

Sounds like a Blackberry wasn't going to meet your needs anyway, so perhaps you're better off with the Samsung device.

[adamrice]

I contacted the seller on ebay and they stated that it wasn't their responsibility as the box was factory sealed by BBerry. They stated that they would not incur the loss and I needed to contact BBerry USA. Again, no help. I posted a grievence with PayPal and they stated that it did not meet the required specs. If the product was broken on delivery, sealed in packaging, why didn't RIM step up?

[adamrice]

Are the users you supporting using an american provider in China or a Chinese provider? American providers in China work fine but the charges are through the roof if you live here.

[juwaack68]

They are using Chinese provided Blackberry devices, but their work email account is on a mail server in the states - so they are on the BES that is connected to that mail server.

[adamrice]

Yeah, I heard that BBerry is giving corporate contracts not individual lisences in China. Kinda leaves a user with a small business in the dark.

[BB8100user]

Not sure what you want from us, but you can try to resell it and incur a loss.

If you're going to use a phone in a foreign country, it is risky to try to buy an expensive phone off of eBay to do that, as the eBay sellers can be unscrupulous and screw you over.

That really has nothing to do with RIM or T-Mobile in my opinion.

[adamrice]

How can it have nothing to di with RIM or T-Mobile? I recieved a broken phone sealed in the original packaging. That's crazy that RIM wouldn't replace it. It was broken on arrival. I bought it and it was broken sealed in the original packaging and noone will accept responsibility. Especially RIM who made the broken phone. Is it crazy to think that they should replace a product that on manufacture was shipped broken? Rules, so what, they made it and it was broken. How can this not be the responsibility of the people who made it??? They made it... They should endorse it. This is nuts. Fix it, do you work for them?

[benway]

I am sorry you have had a bad experience but I have to agree that it is not a RIM / TMO problem as you are not a customer of either and did not buy the device from them.

was the ebay seller a licensed RIM dealer?

how did the ebay seller get the device?

in my opinion, your issue is with the person that sold you the broken handset

[juwaack68]

How could they know it wasn't broken in transit?? I have shipped devices to people only to have them broken (and the packaging NOT damaged) - in that case I have to file a claim with FedEx.

Between T-Mobile and RIM, the "responsible" party would be T-Mobile since they bought it from RIM. However, the device was unlocked and no longer used on their network with any sort of contract - that lets them off the hook, too. Would it be NICE if they replaced it, sure, but they are not under contract to do so.

** Moved to Rants & Raves Forum **

[adamrice]

Pretty Sad,

RIM manufactured the broken device. It was sealed in the box missing the button to close the battery cover completely. How is this a t-mobile issue when it is for sure an issure with manufacture. What neede to happen was T-moble to step up and say this to RIM and have them replace the device. However rules, contracts and regulations got in the way. I was shipped a broken product sealed in the original packaging, you'd think that someone would step up and accept responsibility... And i'd hope it would've been RIM as they produce and manufacture the model. How is this so hard to understand? They made it - it was broken - they should replace it. It was broken on arrival, missing pieces, how does this have nothing to do with them?

[juwaack68]

How can you GUARANTEE that they manufactured and packaged a defective product? You bought it off EBAY! Can you, without a shadow of a doubt, prove the person you bought it from didn't just make the box look like it was never opened?

As stated in this thread - you should go back the person you bought it from. Did they offer pictures of the device?

[adamrice]

They offered pictures of what the device looked like. It was sealed. Why would they take the button to close the battery enclosure off the device when RIM said they would repair it after 1 year (out of T-Mobile contract) for less than 30 bucks? Anyways, through this process (sthing that would have cost them little to repair) RIM's lost a customer and the support of many people I'm associated with here in Guangdong... I'm recommending the Samsung device to them well over the BB one due to the service and useability of the device in the Asia-Pacific region over the inefficient BB device that seems to be geared to North American and EU users not based in this area of the world. It's too bad BB couldn't step up with serivce over international carriers. That's the downfall of BES. It's not universal, BES needs to be integrated with the carrier. Where another push-email device can be used in most places offering GPRS. Why is BES so special? When I can get what I need from a device I can use anywhere on most providers with grater functionality. In my opinion, BBerry needs to step up, and quickly, if it wants to be competitive with international markets; those not just based in the EU and North American markets.... Plus, your paying more for the service. What's the point?

[Pizzle]

Originally Posted by adamrice

What's the point?

Probably the best stated part of any thread you've offered so far.

First, we're all sorry that you had a bad experience. If there was something WE could do, someone likely would. However, we can only empathize, because we do not work for RIM, nor are we qualified to fix your issue. What we ARE qualified to do, is offer you advice on how to fix your problem. That's been done.

It seems as though you either A) want everyone to agree with you or B) want to just cross your arms and whine. You're not likely to find the former (as countless users here HAVE had good/great/exceptional experiences with Blackberry devices), and you're welcome to the latter. There are MANY risks involved when purchasing on eBay, and you were, unfortunately, subject to one of them. It's also interesting that you don't hold issue with the Chinese carrier that told you the product would work there, and that you blame THAT on Blackberries as well.

If you'd like to be more specific about what you'd like US to do for you, we'd be happy to help.

[NJBlackBerry]

Originally Posted by Pizzle

There are MANY risks involved when purchasing on eBay, and you were, unfortunately, subject to one of them.

You didn't buy it from a US carrier or from RIM. You bought it from an eBay seller. End of discussion. Sorry Adam, but that is one of the risks you run when buying on eBay.

[onth]

Maybe, the simplest explanation is:

I bought a so-claimed "New" car from a private party in US that claimed it is NEW, only changed/"unlock" their steering wheel from driving on the left to right so that it would be able to drive in China. Unfortunately, something happen to the car. Will you take this car back to the Car Dealer that sold the car to the person that you bought from to have them responsible for it? Or, you are going to call the Honda Corporate office up to have them replace you a brand new car?

RIM doesnt care if you are going to tell your story to hundreds or thousands of people about how bad their product is, it doesnt make them lost anything more than keep on replacing something that they are not suppose to be responsible for. If everyone like you keep going back to RIM to claim it is their fault and they have to be responsible for, RIM would just better off to manufacture double the number of their product just for the replacement.

[adamrice]

Originally Posted by onth

Maybe, the simplest explanation is:
Will you take this car back to the Car Dealer that sold the car to the person that you bought from to have them responsible for it? Or, you are going to call the Honda Corporate office up to have them replace you a brand new car?

Onth, I see your point, but in the instance of the car, if the dealer didn't step up to the plate and accept responsibility, you would think that the corporate office would heve something to say about it. Or in the least care to look and make their own assumptions regarding whether the product was shipped broken or it had been tampered with.

To get things straight, I purchased the Blackberry phone as I thought it was the sleekest new phone on the market, however I wanted to use it in China, where I live. I have read online that it is not uncommon for the Pearl to be shipped missing this latch.

China Mobile informed me that they would be opening service in the New Year. That has yet to occur in regions outside of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Service is looking like it will cost over 400RMB (about 50USD) per month just to access BES at 50 megabytes before phone and carrier charges. Plus their only going to make the service available to big corporate accounts.

Felt like I was stuck in a loophole waiting for someone to step up. Anyway, all told I sold the unit to someone in Hong Kong for 150 bucks.

I want to hear input on why BES is better than Win Mobile when you have to pay for the PUSH email service on BES, with win mobile you can simply use GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA or whatever's available. What are the benefits of using a BBerry phone for international business when you have to use your home sim card to access your email? This leads to service charges up the butt.

If i wanted to use a China Mobile sim in my Blackberry device I could but could no longer access the internet using the browser or push email service. I could use the APN for Opera Mini access but that all, the device was limited without home BES connection. Whereas Smartphone is universal, can use sims around the world, access PUSH email using GPRS, without the surcharge of accessing BES. Isn't the Smartphone a more universal application for the truly international business user? A user who can change their sim card to a local phone number where they can be contacted by local suppliers?

Thanks for your input,

[JSanders]

Adam, obviously you think everyone on here is wrong, along with TMO and RIM, and no one is going to change your mind.

If the item was TMo branded and unlocked (because TMo does NOT sell unlocked devices)--then it is obvious some third-party, like the perhaps the Ebay Seller--opened the package, inserted the battery, booted the BB up, put in the unlock code, took the battery out and in the process broke off the tab before they resealed the package.

You have only a grievance with the Ebay Seller. Neither RIM or TMo is responsible, or should be, for your BB.

Your problem is that it is YOU that is responsible party in the case when you purchase off Ebay. You are wanting to schluf the responsibility off on someone else and blame TMo and RIM along the way. That doesn't fly, and obviously everyone on here sees it differently than you.

[psxiloveyou]

Originally Posted by adamrice

I contacted the seller on ebay and they stated that it wasn't their responsibility as the box was factory sealed by BBerry. They stated that they would not incur the loss and I needed to contact BBerry USA. Again, no help. I posted a grievence with PayPal and they stated that it did not meet the required specs. If the product was broken on delivery, sealed in packaging, why didn't RIM step up?

when the seller refuses, you file a complaint with ebay stating that the product was not what it was supposed to be. you then escalate that to a claim.

you bought an unlocked phone off of ebay. RIM cannot offer support and neither can the service provider since you do not have an account with them. it isn't RIM's fault or TMobile's fault or any provider for that. and if you're going to believe the buyer that it isn't their responsibility, then you really don't have a place to complain about how RIM and TMobile will not replace it or help out.