Beware Of Cellular South

[yota33]

I have had service with Cellular South for 9 years,and I bought a Blackberry curve 8330 about 4 months ago for $449.99 +tax.This is how much I had to pay for the phone to keep from signing a new contract with Cellular South.
I started having problems with the phone about a month ago,it would shut off and boot back up on its own every 2 or 3 hours.
One morning I tried to turn it back on after charging it,and it had a red light on the LED.It would not boot back up..
My phone looked like new,it didnt have a scratch on it anywhere.It had an Otter Case on it from the day i bought it.
I took it to the local Cellular South office and they said they would replace it with a warranty phone which is a refurbished Curve.
I got a text message yesterday from Cellular South saying the warranty would not cover the phone,even though it is only 4 months old.
They couldnt even tell me what was wrong with my other phone.
They kept my other phone,and charged $210.00 + tax to my account for the refurbished phone.
Lets do the math and see how much money Ive spent so far:
$449.99 for the first phone
$31.50 tax
$210.00 for the refurbishes warranty replacement phone
$14,70 tax
$16.00 for an instore warranty replacement,it would have been free online
---------
$722.19 total
And all I have for that amount is a REFURBISHED Blackberry Curve 8330

IM POSTING THIS ALERT SO THAT ANYONE PLANNING ON TAKING THERE
BROKEN BLACKBERRY TO CELLULAR SOUTH FOR A WARRENTY REPLACEMENT,WILL
HAVE SOME IDEA OF HOW BAD THEIR ABOUT TO GET SCREWED OVER BY CELLULAR SOUTH....
BEST OF LUCK...DAVE

[walkintall67]

I know its off topic but I used to have insurance but dropped it. Got tired of paying 5 dollars a month then paying 150 dollars or more for a deductible.

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[yota33]

I hear you,and the insurance coverage is limited,so they may or may not replace your phone.
If I would have known that Cellular South was going to keep my other phone,I could have bought a Refurbished Curve on ebay for $225,and kept my old phone and used it for parts,sold it for parts or had it fixed.

[walkintall67]

They are very stingy with phone replacements. The only luck I had was way back in 2005 when the Nokia 6255 came out and they had a lot of problems, had to take it back and they were giving brand new phones as replacements. Can't believe you were having trouble out of the Curve.

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[yota33]

Well you can believe it.Im walking around with a $722,19 refurbished Curve in my pocket.I hope this thread will keep someone from making the same mistake I made.
Dont give CELLULAR SOUTH your broken phone,keep it and buy a refurbished phone online for less than what Cellular South will sell you one for.
You can sell your phone for parts on ebay and get some of you money back.

[vette71]

I had the same thing happen to me last April. I took back a World Edition that I had gotten for Valentines Day and by April the charging port was broken. I took it in and the Customer Service person told me it would be covered by the warrenty deal and to pay $16 to cover the warrenty deal. They gave me a new phone that day, out of the box, and told me that would take care of it. Well, a few days later, I got a text saying that it was NOT covered by the warrenty and that I was being charged $180 on my bill for the phone when I could have easily taken it to Southern Wireless or Wireless Wizard and had the port replaced for $60 bucks or bought a charger to charge the battery outside of the phone. They ripped me off bad. I went into the Clinton store and talked to the manager and all he told me was they could set me up on a payment plan! Should anything ever happen to this one, I guarantee you it won't be on the warrenty plan.

[walkintall67]

Now that y'all mention it, my Razr2 was the same way. Wheb they tore up I would just go ahead and pay full price cause of all the mess. I think it cost me 900 for 3 phones in about a year.

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[yota33]

Originally Posted by vette71

I had the same thing happen to me last April. I took back a World Edition that I had gotten for Valentines Day and by April the charging port was broken. I took it in and the Customer Service person told me it would be covered by the warrenty deal and to pay $16 to cover the warrenty deal. They gave me a new phone that day, out of the box, and told me that would take care of it. Well, a few days later, I got a text saying that it was NOT covered by the warrenty and that I was being charged $180 on my bill for the phone when I could have easily taken it to Southern Wireless or Wireless Wizard and had the port replaced for $60 bucks or bought a charger to charge the battery outside of the phone. They ripped me off bad. I went into the Clinton store and talked to the manager and all he told me was they could set me up on a payment plan! Should anything ever happen to this one, I guarantee you it won't be on the warrenty plan.

The sales rep in Mobile,AL told me the warranty would cover it,but it didnt.
Im sure theres lots of people out there that theyve done the same thing to.
They should give me my other phone back.

If you bought a paid for a new car from a car dealer,and 4 months later you had a flat tire on it,you wouldnt take it back to the dealer and say "Heres the car I bought from you 4 months ago,it has a flat tire, you can have this car if you"ll sell me used one"

[walkintall67]

Very true. Its crazy how CS has the best plans offered in this area but to get a phone is so hard.

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[wallpaperguy]

Sorry about your ordeal. I guess I got lucky and got a good rep. but my pearl got wet last year (it was 6 months old) and I talked to them about the warranty process and was told to let a local shop try to repair it first and made me fully aware that it would not be covered under warranty and I would be billed for a refurb. My phone could not be fixed so I went to the main office in my area and put myself at "the mercy of the court" and the rep. wiped out my contract and I got a new curve for $99. You may need to take another run at them and play the "always pay on time, longtime customer " card a little more forcefully. SOMEONE in the company has the ability to make this right for you. You just need to find that person.

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All I can say is... WOW!!!

[0thundr0]

I have been with Cellular South over 10 years and have 2 lines on my account, and have never subscribed to their insurance. I've made warranty claims via their internet site on 5 different phones in the past 4 years (a Nokia, 3 Motorola's, and a BB Pearl). On each occasion, I was sent a new phone overnight, and within 72 hours I received text messages stating the old phone was covered under warranty, and my total owed was $0. The website takes you step by step, asking questions, and tells you if it will likely be covered under warranty. I'm not sure why they denied your claim, but I feel certain that someone can tell you what caused the denial. Otherwise, read the fine print of your claim, and if you still have a case, contact the Better Business Bureau discuss it with them.

[joni4]

Crap, that's a lot of money for a phone! And not even a new one.
It amazes me how companies get away with this crap. I don't know much about your phone, but isn't there some sort of manufacturers warranty you could use? Are there any other wireless companies you can switch too?

[yota33]

Originally Posted by joni4

Crap, that's a lot of money for a phone! And not even a new one.
It amazes me how companies get away with this crap. I don't know much about your phone, but isn't there some sort of manufacturers warranty you could use? Are there any other wireless companies you can switch too?

When I filed the warranty claim with Cellular south,the manufacture warranty is what I made a claim on.
I wonder if you send your phone direct to BlackBerry,will they send your phone back to you if they say your phone is not covered under the manufactures warranty.
I dont know if BalckBerry is keeping the phones we send in for a warranty claim,or if Cellular South is keeping them and selling them to another company.
Im shopping for a new cell phone company now...

[mscooley]

I actually experienced the same things with my nieces Pearl. A store rep and the store tech clearly checked out the phone and confirmed that it was a bad phone. They warrantied it for me while guaranteeing me that I wouldn't have to pay anything. Welllll...got that trusty text saying it wasn't covered under warranty, nearly $400 was immediately charged to my account coupled with my current balance put me just over my credit limit. Guess what? Service interrupted. Boy was I hot. And the store, I'm not even going to talk about that. HOWEVER, I contacted the main office in Ridgeland and the $300 was restored to my account in increments throughout the day. All that to say this, yes CSouth needs to rethink this policy. I went as far as asking for the old phone back and was willing to drive it to Ridgeland and let the "warranty team" see it first hand. They kept no record of her original phone. I'm serious, give me 90 days with their in state Customer Service team and all store reps and I'll whip em right into shape!!