I can't believe this poor customer experience from BlackBerry!

I'm going to apologize for this long rant in advance. I've been a long time BlackBerry customer like many of us in this forum. It started with the pearl and continued all the way to the Passport. Last weekend, I started having network connectivity issues in that my phone displayed emergency calls only. I went through the whole security wipe and reinstall OS but that didn't fix my issue. After a quick Internet search I found my issue to probably be a defective antenna. I decided to call BlackBerry Customer Support for assistance in fixing my phone. After some back and forth, they transferred me to RMA department which advised me that my phone was out of warranty and I would have to pay $250 to have the phone looked at. Although I had expected to pay, $250 seemed like a steep price to pay for the value of the phone. This is when the problem started. For a company that is doing poorly in terms of hardware sales , you would think that they would be interested in keeping their current paying consumers. Well, they don't. The people I talked to devalued me as a customer and I don't think I've ever had a company dismiss me in such a manner. They didn't seem concerned in the least bit at the prospect of losing a long time customer. At one point, the person I talked to said that there was nothing that could be done and if I chose to go with another company that it was my choice. BlackBerry doesn't do much in terms of marketing and as such, e the CBers, act as their brand ambassadors. To belittle their dwindling customer base and not do everything in their power to retain them is something that I cannot understand. I feel stupid for sticking with BlackBerry for so long. Sorry for this long rant. Felt like CB was the only place I could voice my frustration.

Posted via CB10

Hmm, that sounds unusual for BlackBerry customer service to do. Have you considered the fact that it could be a problem in your SIM card or your carrier? If you need any repairs done I suggest you go to a third party repair shop and see how much they cost.

Posted via CB10

When the blackberry itself is in a shabby state of not knowing where they are headed it's always a better choice to look out for third party repair facilities to solve these problems.

It will take more time for the dust to settle down amidst chaos at the management to sort out their horrible marketing strategy and bad after sales service.



Posted via CB10

So which other cellphone manufacturer will freely repair an out of warranty phone as a marketing gesture?

You should look at Apple's replacement prices!

Posted via CB10

Yes I get it they have to make their money I was just shocked at the dismissive attitude. I thought that they would be inclined to show appreciation their loyal customers. I mean it's not like their phones are flying off the shelf . It's not a sim issue or network issue. Switched out the SIM get service only when I'm close to the cell tower close to my house. I'm pretty sure it's the antenna.

Posted via CB10

Your choice is to pay the $250 or not. You aren't a paying customer anymore if your phone is out of warranty. But feel free to continue rants.

One question, your antenna became defective AFTER a year of using it?

That's why I apologized for my rant. The policy has nothing to do with customer service making every customer feel valued. Plus, $250 is still a little ridiculous and I guess going to a 3rd party is the only way to go at this point.

And yes the phone stopped working after about a little over a year of use. I don't think I would be so mad if there weren't so many people with the same problem creeping up recently.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by flintlock

So which other cellphone manufacturer will freely repair an out of warranty phone as a marketing gesture?

Well, to be fair, I had a yotaphone 2 that had a in warranty display issue, but the repair did not cover postage from the UK and the cost quoted by only official repair company was outrageous (like $250).
When I balked at it mildly, the repair company contacted Yota and they agreed to pay it.

Also in a smaller example: once I ordered a case from Apple, and they sent me a joystick instead. When I called them they told me they would send the case asap.
I was expecting to have to ship back the wrong product (at their cost) since that is typical, but instead when I asked what I should do with the joystick they told me to "keep it".

So yes companies do choose to take financial losses in order to keep customers loyal.
It's too bad if BlackBerry isn't, but maybe it is because of the financial strain they are under.

Personally since it was out of warranty I think they didn't have an obligation to cover it, but they could have provided a small discount, and they also should have expressed appreciation for the customers loyalty. It sounds like they made him feel bad for supporting them, which is company suicide.
I once had a problem with verizon (their fault).. and I got so angry at them I threatened to cancel all of my services including mobile and home internet etc.
Their response was not to try to fix anything but simply said "Would you like me to cancel all your services now?".. which I did and they lost my business for years because of it.

Originally Posted by ravencore

Well, to be fair, I had a yotaphone 2 that had a in warranty display issue, but the repair did not cover postage from the UK and the cost quoted by only official repair company was outrageous (like $250).
When I balked at it mildly, the repair company contacted Yota and they agreed to pay it.

Also in a smaller example: once I ordered a case from Apple, and they sent me a joystick instead. When I called them they told me they would send the case asap.
I was expecting to have to ship back the wrong product (at their cost) since that is typical, but instead when I asked what I should do with the joystick they told me to "keep it".

So yes companies do choose to take financial losses in order to keep customers loyal.
It's too bad if BlackBerry isn't, but maybe it is because of the financial strain they are under.

Personally since it was out of warranty I think they didn't have an obligation to cover it, but they could have provided a small discount, and they also should have expressed appreciation for the customers loyalty. It sounds like they made him feel bad for supporting them, which is company suicide.
I once had a problem with verizon (their fault).. and I got so angry at them I threatened to cancel all of my services including mobile and home internet etc.
Their response was not to try to fix anything but simply said "Would you like me to cancel all your services now?".. which I did and they lost my business for years because of it.

This is one of those post where I wonder if the OP even read it before posting it....


There is a reason BlackBerry offers BlackBerry Care Protection Plan - United States as do most other manufactures. Now if your issue is a widely experienced manufacturing defect, you might have a case. There might have been a million Passports sold by this time, so if you find 20K - 30K other people with the issue......

Find a local repair shop.....

Originally Posted by Dunt Dunt Dunt

This is one of those post where I wonder if the OP even read it before posting it....
There is a reason BlackBerry offers BlackBerry Care Protection Plan - United States as do most other manufactures. .

I'm not sure what you did understand about my post but it was totally relevant to the thread. The OP felt treated badly by BlackBerry.. you guys responded by saying that he didn't deserve anything since it is out of warranty service and no company would do so.. I gave examples of direct experiences in which companies did go beyond what what "required" and agreed with the OP that he should have been treated better, at least treated with more respect even if not provided a big discount.

Originally Posted by ravencore

I'm not sure what you did understand about my post but it was totally relevant to the thread. The OP felt treated badly by BlackBerry.. you guys responded by saying that he didn't deserve anything since it is out of warranty service and no company would do so.. I gave examples of direct experiences in which companies did go beyond what what "required" and agreed with the OP that he should have been treated better, at least treated with more respect even if not provided a big discount.

The two examples you gave were non sequiter. The first was only for postage when a repair was "paid" for. The second was only making good on a mistake. Neither was an example of an out of warranty repair.

Originally Posted by flintlock

The two examples you gave were non sequiter. The first was only for postage when a repair was "paid" for. The second was only making good on a mistake. Neither was an example of an out of warranty repair.

Well by being excessively rigid your pretty much missing the point. In each example the companies took financial losses they had no obligation to take to make the customer happy. In the last example the company was rude and did everything they could not to solve the problem. It sounded like BlackBerry wasn't being more like the later, when they could have done some minor things to make the interaction pleasant.

BlackBerry needs to get your complaint from your carrier, not from you. imagine all the wasted time for them if everyone called BlackBerry instead of their carrier first for troubleshooting. here is how I know. ATnT referred me to BlackBerry over an old bold 9790 I could not get internet on. Blackberry tried to help me but it was locked to a carrier in south africa who refused to talk to me. BlackBerry then asked if there was ANYTHING else they could help me with, and walked me through updating my other Curve 9360 to 7.1 so I could have the FM radio. they were going to help me do the same with a Bold 9900 which I also couldnt get to update to 7.1, and after a failed troubleshooting session i was the one who said let's give up on this one.

they will go to the ends of the earth for you through the proper chain of command, but there are reasonable limits. maybe your carrier settings are the first place to troubleshoot on your phone.

i found out i was quite mistaken about why i get locked into LTE by talking to ATnT. all the while I had blamed them.

Originally Posted by to boldly go

BlackBerry needs to get your complaint from your carrier, not from you. imagine all the wasted time for them if everyone called BlackBerry instead of their carrier first for troubleshooting. here is how I know. ATnT referred me to BlackBerry over an old bold 9790 I could not get internet on. Blackberry tried to help me but it was locked to a carrier in south africa who refused to talk to me. BlackBerry then asked if there was ANYTHING else they could help me with, and walked me through updating my other Curve 9360 to 7.1 so I could have the FM radio. they were going to help me do the same with a Bold 9900 which I also couldnt get to update to 7.1, and after a failed troubleshooting session i was the one who said let's give up on this one.

they will go to the ends of the earth for you through the proper chain of command, but there are reasonable limits. maybe your carrier settings are the first place to troubleshoot on your phone.

i found out i was quite mistaken about why i get locked into LTE by talking to ATnT. all the while I had blamed them.

I purchased the phone directly through shopblackberry.com

Posted via CB10

That doesn't matter. Most phone problems can be solved by the carrier, having nothing to do with BlackBerry. I bought my Z30, my Classic, and now my Passport directly from BlackBerry, but I must still use a carrier for my phone. BlackBerry told me referrals for help must be made by the carrier for there not to be a charge, the last phone they helped me with was a bold bought on ebay, I don't buy phones from atnt ever bc they were resistant to selling me their BlackBerry Z10 and being still ignorant about phones I listened to them.

My point was, BlackBerry WILL help with ANY BlackBerry if the carrier first tells them it is not a carrier issue, and it makes sense people can't use BlackBerry directly to look at all their problems first.

And that's BB's biggest problem. Most consumers don't know that BB wants them to talk to their carrier first. It's stupid that the company still thinks its main customers are carriers, not retail consumers, when most other phone makers deal with consumers directly.

I had the same problem with my phone. And when I called them they refused to even talk to me about having the phone repaired and I mean refused " we cannot discuss this with you sir. Telus has to call us" even though I re explained a number of times I am out of warranty. I'm willing to pay for the repair. I had this done before why is it an issue now?!? I called telus and they were just as confused as I was. The guy from telus ended up recommending a 3rd party that was able to fix it for me.

Posted via CB10

Neither of you are getting this so I will try one more time.
I have no warranty on the bold 9790 I called about nor the curve 9360 Blackberry continued to help me with, and not even the beautiful white bold 9900 they were also helping me with before I got tired of the unsuccessful amount of time already spent, which was trying to get the laptop update to work like it did on the 9360.
AFTER calling ATnT and THEM calling BlackBerry so BlackBerry didnt have to waste time with carrier issue troubleshooting, BlackBerry was on board with me to tirelessly help me with any and all of my BlackBerry concerns even including more than one device after it was determined the phone I had called about required cooperation from C-Cell in South Africa. they would not.
You are expecting to bypass talking to your carrier and blame BlackBerry for that. this is so unfair and unfounded, my experience is from only a couple months ago so I have to speak up here.

Originally Posted by to boldly go

Neither of you are getting this so I will try one more time.
I have no warranty on the bold 9790 I called about nor the curve 9360 Blackberry continued to help me with, and not even the beautiful white bold 9900 they were also helping me with before I got tired of the unsuccessful amount of time already spent, which was trying to get the laptop update to work like it did on the 9360.
AFTER calling ATnT and THEM calling BlackBerry so BlackBerry didnt have to waste time with carrier issue troubleshooting, BlackBerry was on board with me to tirelessly help me with any and all of my BlackBerry concerns even including more than one device after it was determined the phone I had called about required cooperation from C-Cell in South Africa. they would not.
You are expecting to bypass talking to your carrier and blame BlackBerry for that. this is so unfair and unfounded, my experience is from only a couple months ago so I have to speak up here.

I'm not under contract with AT&T. Why would I not go straight to shopbb? Plus whatever irks me is how common this issue is becoming and all I want is for the company that I am loyal to to do right by its loyal customer base.

Posted via CB10

i am not under contract with atnt either. they are my service provider. if you dont understand thats ok, at least i posted my perspective for others to see. BlackBerry is not unresponsive, they are quite the opposite. there are simply ground rules to follow or they would be inundated with senseless requests that belong to the CARRIER.

your mileage with ATnT, however, may vary. i have had both good and bad experiences with them, but they are the best service in my area.