[mmmac]

The tale of two phones - with the same issue. The reason I have two dead devices is that I run a small IT department.

Blackberry z30 - won't power on at all - flashing red led - 2.5 months old
Apple iPhone 5 - won't power on at all - 13 months old

Blackberry:
I call Blackberry, get the complete runaround telling me that I should call my carrier vs. where I bought the phone. Ultimately I'm left with no solution because I bought the phone from an eBay store. The phone is less than 3 months old.

Apple:
I call Apple, get booked into a local store for an assessment at a "Genius Bar". The phone is on the spot replaced without me showing proof of purchase or anything.

Anyways, I find it abhorrent that Blackberry will not stand behind a phone that is clearly not out of the warranty period because of a technicality.

On this one:
Apple Blackberry

[raino]

Were you told that the warranty would have carried when you bought the Z30?

[Cordanim]

Ouch...to me the product is only a few months old, so BB needs to support people better...keep doing this, and we won't have to worry about new phones coming out

[mmmac]

I am the original purchaser - It was brand new - unopened.

Were you told that the warranty would have carried when you bought the Z30?

[mmmac]

Agreed, I'm in a position to recommend tech to people - and I'm flaunting BB left right and center and then this happens to me. I'm seriously at this point saying to myself - why am I recommending these devices with support policies such as this. It was basically my fault for buying from eBay according to the support agent.

Ouch...to me the product is only a few months old, so BB needs to support people better...keep doing this, and we won't have to worry about new phones coming out

[raino]

I am the original purchaser - It was brand new - unopened.

But did the eBay seller you bought from tell you that BlackBerry would honor warranty on a third party-sold phone? Because AFAIK, such BB phones don't carry warranty.

[Cordanim]

So mine is from the employee purchase they had on (friend works in the Waterloo office)...it's not from a carrier and completely unlocked - they'd better honour warranty if I have an issue (aside from the said friend helping me out LOL)...

[Gambit_DE]

Thanks to German consumer protection laws, we are able to get a repair or device change if anything will turn out defective in the first six months. Well, at least if you didn't destroy it.
The one who sells, has to hold brief for the product.

Warranty is a nice addition to that, but those laws should be everywhere.

Z30STA100-2/10.2.1.1925 powered cb10

[HarryLime]

Well here's my story. I bought an unlocked White Z10 on their Black Friday sale for $200. I received it in mid-December and my device had a weird, internal scuff above the bottom bezel. Like the OP, I spoke to customer service and tech support over and over because I just want to exchange the damned thing for a clean one. Best they can do is tell me that they’d be happy to refund me my funds paid ($200) and I’m welcome to purchase another phone from BlackBerry shop (now listed at $400). Some solution. Sucks to be given this only option when I’m a loyal BB user (on my 5th BB since 2008) and all want to do is exchange it!
I’ve had similar, easy experiences in the Apple store as the OP with my wife’s iPhone and an iPad as well. The road to getting back more customers for BB is to keep your current customers and treat them as if they have some value and go from there.

[NtotheK]

Two different companies with two different business models. Firstly until very recently BlackBerry never sold directly to customers so there for you were not the their direct customer. The carrier or point of sale is BlackBerry's customer and in turn you are their customer. So you must first go through the appropriate levels of customer service depending on where the phone was purchased. I agree it may not be perfect but then again I have heard my fair share of Apple turning away iPhones because they were purchased on ebay. Now a days it's pretty normal for companies to refuse service on something that was not purchased through an authorized reseller.

Posted via CB10

[raino]

Two different companies with two different business models. Firstly until very recently BlackBerry never sold directly to customers so there for you were not the their direct customer. The carrier or point of sale is BlackBerry's customer and in turn you are their customer. So you must first go through the appropriate levels of customer service depending on where the phone was purchased. I agree it may not be perfect but then again I have heard my fair share of Apple turning away iPhones because they were purchased on ebay. Now a days it's pretty normal for companies to refuse service on something that was not purchased through an authorized reseller.

It doesn't even have to come down to business models. As a buyer, you want to make sure you're covering yourself if something goes wrong. This includes finding out what the warranty status is on a device. Last year I was buying a DSLR and found a very attractive price at a seller. When I got to investigating why it was cheaper, I found out that the camera was grey market, with warranty out of Hong Kong that Canon USA would not honor. This was not ok, so I paid a little extra and bought a US model elsewhere.

[FCSC]

So a company that is worth how many more times then blackberry, provides better customer service.. can't say that is surprising.

Apple overall, deals with consumers who are spending more money on Apple, then Blackberry with Blackberry users.

[robincoops]

Have to agree that Apple has a fantastic customer service.

I was told by vodafone rep not to get a blackberry as if anything goes wrong with the phone I would be left in limbo as they have a very poor customer service

I was advised to buy other device ie Samsung ,Google nexus etc... For this reason.

However, I went ahead and got a z30. Cross fingers nothing goes wrong

Posted via CB10

[dalight13]

The thing is, when you buy an apple product, as soon as you open it it's not covered anymore in the store... you ABSOLUTELY need to go to an apple store for a replacement/refund within the first 30 days even...

Gosh the closest apple store is more than 500km from my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a cellphone retailer in my city and all but when you buy from him and go back to him... he's like oh I can't do anything go to apple...

[mmmac]

When you're buying a brand new device that hasn't even been out NEARLY a year you shouldn't have to worry one would think! The product was preordered before it was even released.

It doesn't even have to come down to business models. As a buyer, you want to make sure you're covering yourself if something goes wrong. This includes finding out what the warranty status is on a device. Last year I was buying a DSLR and found a very attractive price at a seller. When I got to investigating why it was cheaper, I found out that the camera was grey market, with warranty out of Hong Kong that Canon USA would not honor. This was not ok, so I paid a little extra and bought a US model elsewhere.

[vVick3d]

The tale of two phones - with the same issue. The reason I have two dead devices is that I run a small IT department.

Blackberry z30 - won't power on at all - flashing red led - 2.5 months old
Apple iPhone 5 - won't power on at all - 13 months old

Blackberry:
I call Blackberry, get the complete runaround telling me that I should call my carrier vs. where I bought the phone. Ultimately I'm left with no solution because I bought the phone from an eBay store. The phone is less than 3 months old.

Apple:
I call Apple, get booked into a local store for an assessment at a "Genius Bar". The phone is on the spot replaced without me showing proof of purchase or anything.

Anyways, I find it abhorrent that Blackberry will not stand behind a phone that is clearly not out of the warranty period because of a technicality.

On this one:
Apple Blackberry

OP you do know that all you need to find out is the carrier who sold the device because the IMEI will be saved in their system. Then just go into your local carrier store (even if you are not with that carrier) and tell them you bought the device outright. Because they have the IMEI saved in their system they have to honor the warranty associated with the device (unless it was abused or water damaged or any other type of damage that isn't normally covered under the basic warranty).

Slightly more complicated way than the apple store but seeing as how blackberry does not have any retail stores (much like samsung/sony/htc...etc) is it really surprising that this is the way warranty service is carried out? No.

[lynxs_claw]

This is really strange cause I've never had issues with returning anything to Blackberry. I've returned 2 playbooks (one was even out of warranty). All I need to do was provide the serial number (no receipt whatsoever), demonstrate over the phone the issue with the defective playbook, listen to some directions from the customer rep to fix the situation and when that didn't work Blackberry initiated the return.

Their only caution they stated to me was that when they reviewed the defective product and the problem was determined to lie out side their warranty policy (meaning the user cause the issue) that I would be charged. But that's it. Both times I got a working playbook back to me in less than a week. Very happy overall with their service.

But overall a pleasant experience for an unpleasant situation. Both reps were very respectful and helpful and I was very professional when communicating my issue to them.

[jpvj]

Hi all,

Just want to share how it works here in Denmark.

In general, we have by law 6-month warranty for consumers. If the device fails, it has to be fixed, free of charge. Within the 6 months, it is the assumption that any problem was present when the device was purchased. If the vendor has another opinion, he has to prove it to void the warrant.

After 6 month, we have further 18 month to complaint about product defects. In principle, the consumer has to prove the problem was present when the product was new, but many vendors/resellers simply send them in for warranty repair.

For BlackBerry, the distributor wanted to give the customers the best service possible, so they made a special service agreement with an external company. This makes the phones a bit more expensive, but if something is wrong, the user may ship them directly to the service partner by mail and should expect to have a replacement device back in 72 hours.

[plmrman]

funny how bb fans defend their poor cs. i like my z10 but i have lots of apple stuff too and they are top notch on warranty and even out of warranty. my daughter dropped my ipad after it was out of warranty, called apple and they offered me a replacement at half price. they shipped me the new one with a prepaid return slip on the package. i just swapped them out, no problem no hassle. that's customer service. now mt friend had an issue with his z10 and blackberry took a month and a half to repair it. it was two months old. now bb has millions of dollars in z10s theyce written down and they can't do a swap???? seriously? their cs is pathetic and if it doesnt change they willl drive away their remaining loyal customers

[jpvj]

funny how bb fans defend their poor cs. i like my z10 but i have lots of apple stuff too and they are top notch on warranty and even out of warranty. my daughter dropped my ipad after it was out of warranty, called apple and they offered me a replacement at half price. they shipped me the new one with a prepaid return slip on the package. i just swapped them out, no problem no hassle. that's customer service. now mt friend had an issue with his z10 and blackberry took a month and a half to repair it. it was two months old. now bb has millions of dollars in z10s theyce written down and they can't do a swap???? seriously? their cs is pathetic and if it doesnt change they willl drive away their remaining loyal customers

Just remember how much you pay for an Apple device. Unfortunately not all vendors have the luxury of beeing able to charge a premium price. Apple has performed excellent in providing a near perfect user experience starting from the unpacking, to the produce design, look and feel and also customer service.

Apple is not always perfect - just read forums about how they initially denied having quality issues with laptop cabinets, miscoloured displays, batteries not beeing able to charge etc.

[senel]

BlackBerry support is the worst support I have ever met! Four months ago I reported bug in OS directly to BB and told me something in way like we dont care...

When I had broken Xbox, MS employee came, took it and personally delivered it to repair center located in Germany (I am Czech) without any bull**** and after 3 days he came with repaired unit.

BlackBerry is not competent to fix SW bug after more than 4 monhts!

Posted via CB10

[SparkyBC]

Buy it from a carrier don't have issues. 3rd party assume the risk since you got a deal..

Apple isn't always top notch support. I've been given the run around for 2 weeks when my account was hacked from their security hole..

[Jaredallister]

The thing is, when you buy an apple product, as soon as you open it it's not covered anymore in the store... you ABSOLUTELY need to go to an apple store for a replacement/refund within the first 30 days even...

Gosh the closest apple store is more than 500km from my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a cellphone retailer in my city and all but when you buy from him and go back to him... he's like oh I can't do anything go to apple...

If you don't have an Apple store close by, you can call Apple, and Apple will over night you a new device and a container for you to send back the old device.

[peter0328]

Yes BlackBerry has terrible support for their products.

Posted via CB10

[Nicholas Kathrein]

Two different companies with two different business models. Firstly until very recently BlackBerry never sold directly to customers so there for you were not the their direct customer. The carrier or point of sale is BlackBerry's customer and in turn you are their customer. So you must first go through the appropriate levels of customer service depending on where the phone was purchased. I agree it may not be perfect but then again I have heard my fair share of Apple turning away iPhones because they were purchased on ebay. Now a days it's pretty normal for companies to refuse service on something that was not purchased through an authorized reseller.

Posted via CB10

I agree with you main argument but it's clear that Apple leads everyone with their stores and customer service. Every big phone vendor needs to step up like Apple has. This is coming from an Android person. If your BB your already having issues selling devices you can't afford to **** on your customers when something goes wrong with a device. If they could show that they stand by their products more than any other company that would be a big reason to buy them. Currently unless you buy insurance Apple has the kind of customer service and store locations you can count on and their people have the leeway to make exceptions on replacing phones. All my Android phones I know I have to buy a very good case so I don't break it because the phone carriers in the U.S. don't want to replace your device unless it's in perfect condition and less than 90 days old or something like that and even then you get a refurb.