[CrackBerry Question]

Id like to buy a second hand by just to me as around with, maybe a z10 or q10 but I was wondering if anyone could clarify the warranty position in the UK. I've been a few BBs which are a couple of months old but I don't nknow if BlackBerry would honour the outstanding warranty.
Could anyone provide an answer please - I tried to get BlackBerry's UK number to call them but they seem to have it well hidden!

[HomeyJay]

Never mind guys, I read a bunch of threads that filled with poor experiences in dealing with BlackBerry regarding warranty. Guess I'll buy from Amazon or simply look for another toy from another manufacturer to play with.
Weird but one would think that when they are on their knees gasping for air, BlackBerry may try and be a little more customer-centric. Guess not!!

[baarn]

Weird but one would think that when they are on their knees gasping for air, BlackBerry may try and be a little more customer-centric. Guess not!!

http://uk.blackberry.com/content/dam...om_English.pdf

You have the Sale of Goods Act and your statutory EU guarantees. In general, you need to contact your vendor to deal with warranty/guarantee claims.
Please understand that when you buy something second hand you are getting a cheaper product but trading off knowledge of that product's history, risk and also value added benefits such as warranties.
Not only do you not know the product's history, neither does the the manufacturer. This is important.

I've had my BlackBerry a couple of months now and have spent a fair amount of time on CrackBerry. I can tell you that offering a worldwide warranty with top notch customer service doesn't come cheap. Based on what I've read here, people are modding devices right left and centre.
This may be as little as updating device software to development versions, but also replacing screens, cameras, buttons etc. Never mind drying out devices which have enjoyed a swim, or fixing ones that have bounced. Just processing an invalid warranty claim costs hard cash.
BlackBerry 's international markets also mean many people are also buying their devices on market stalls, often imported devices. Nothing wrong with that, but again how can BlackBerry afford to deal with all the resulting issues, especially in light of its (self-inflicted) recent financial difficulties.

The icing on the cake is how people with second hand devices come on the forum here and then ***** and moan about faults in their devices and low quality from BlackBerry.

[HomeyJay]

"Please understand that when you buy something second hand you are getting a cheaper product but trading off knowledge of that product's history, risk and also value added benefits such as warranties.
Not only do you not know the product's history, neither does the the manufacturer. This is important."

And yet Google, Nokia, Samsung and HTC will honour a warranty regardless of who the current owner is, as long as the product is within 1 or 2 years (depending on the original warranty length) of the original manufacturing date!

Of course they won't repair it FOC if there's any evidence of user damage / modding but most people (like me) don't buy these devices to hack & mod and wouldn't know where to start!

How a company treats its customers = what they think of their customers

/rant

[baarn]

/rant

Oops, forgot to add a rant tag to my post.

And yet Google, Nokia, Samsung and HTC will honour a warranty regardless of who the current owner is, as long as the product is within 1 or 2 years (depending on the original warranty length) of the original manufacturing date!

Unfortunately BB is not Google, Nokia etc. I agree, it would be nice if they offered this, but they have to base their business decisions on what they can afford ATM.

Of course they won't repair it FOC if there's any evidence of user damage / modding but most people (like me) don't buy these devices to hack & mod and wouldn't know where to start!

But that's my point, people are buying second hand devices with an unknown past. Some may be in new condition, some may be just normal use wear and tear, some may be modded, some may be repaired, some may be repaired with parts that are not original BlackBerry and which may not have any manufacturer information on them, and some have inherent faults which the vendor may know about but chooses not to disclose. It's a lottery.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming that a new BB (or other) device will be fault free, but anyone buying second hand must accept that their right to complain about the manufacturer is significantly diminished. On the plus side, since they saved money on the purchase,. they can take more risk on a non-manufacturer repair without feeling too bad about it.

How a company treats its customers = what they think of their customers

I don't think any of these big corps are going to be sharing the love. Ultimately it boils down to money. I'm sure BB appreciates its customers like all the others (even if it sometimes has a funny way of showing it) but it can only offer what it thinks it can afford. The question is, is their thinking correct.

As you might have noticed, lately I've been feeling a bit sorry for BB and other manufacturers too when I read some of the comments people write and how unreasonable they can be (not directed at you, BTW).

It reminds me of a (very successful) white goods retailer in my area. I've watched how the products are handled. Each package is marked with instructions like this way up, trolley on this side etc. Suffice to say, the instructions go ignored and (in my personal experience) the goods are delivered damaged. A manufacturer can make the best products, but if their retailers are so incompetent that product that has fallen off a lorry is still sold as new, they have no chance of protecting their reputation.

*breathes out*

[pkcable]

Here is the UK Contact Us page, seems they don't have a UK support line (probably why you could not find a number)....

Contact Us - UK

I have heard they get back to people best via twitter believe it or not.