BB 8830: Not Loving it Yet and Hate it in Japan

My name is NeilThem and I am a BB-aholic; this is my first post.

I had the 7250 for years and loved it. It allowed me to ditch a cell phone and add emailing on the go; what's not to love. Very easy to use also from an ergonomic pov.

VZW promoted and sold me on a new "global" 8830 and confidently replied, "yes", when asked if this model works in Japan for data and voice.

Greetings from Japan...via my laptop. From the moment I landed at Narita airport, I knew there was ("searching for network") trouble. Figuring I was underground and on a train, hoped the BB would wake-up after emerging from a tunnel. Well, NOT!

The VZW 8830 BB does not work in Japan. Uh Uh. Now I know. How come the CRACK staff that sold this to me didn't know that. Global support DID know that, but for me that was over 7000 miles too late.

Our IT dept. spent HOURS and HOURS working on the linkage of my new BB with our Microsoft Xchange server; never really getting there on contacts and calendar (are those important?) in the few days I had before departing on this trip.

I claim foul; penalty flags all over the field:
- not "global" or "world edition" in Japan; someone at VZW asked me what part of Japan I was in as if THAT mattered
- everyone at VZW should know where every model works or not
- i don't love the tracking ball yet; does everybody else?
- finding the icons and file opening/closing to be very clumsy; is it just me?

Could go on and on, but have to go stand in line somewhere in Tokyo and pick up another rental cell phone.

Thanks VZW. Will be checking all of your competitors carefully on the 14 hour trip home. Shame i'm only President of my company and can't have the impact on your business with us you truly earned with this cacophony of incompetence, deception, hype and failure.

Welcome other users comments.

Sayonara

First off, welcome to the forum Neilthem!

So sorry to hear that your BB didn't work in Japan! Thank's for apprising us. A friend of mine is going to Japan in a few weeks on business with her BB 8830 and I will give her the heads up about your horrible experience! I stupidly thought World Phone meant anywhere out of the country!!

What I can tell you is that you will love this forum and the people and the forum moderators are brilliant! The experience here for me has been outstanding. They are like a private tutor but better.

Gia

Sounds like you have a Verizon problem not BlackBerry.

With Sprint the SIM card is "Unlocked" which means I can either use Sprints' network overseas if I choose or purchase time from a local carrier while out of the country.

I'm by no means an expert, one of the forum Moderators could probably tell you more. One thing I do know is that I have not had a pleasant experience with Verizon in the past.

For me personally, I love the trackball and have no problems opening applications.

I hope you enjoy the site and can get things resolved with your BB.


SammyB

From what I'm getting reading the OP, it doesn't matter if your 8830 is unlocked or not... That is not the problem. The issue is the phone is not compatible with the cell networks in Japan. Truly not a World Phone.

Kasperapd,

Sprint offers international coverage in 99 different cities of Japan. They are listed on their website.



SammyB

Originally Posted by Giavanna

First off, welcome to the forum Neilthem!

So sorry to hear that your BB didn't work in Japan! Thank's for apprising us. A friend of mine is going to Japan in a few weeks on business with her BB 8830 and I will give her the heads up about your horrible experience! I stupidly thought World Phone meant anywhere out of the country!!

What I can tell you is that you will love this forum and the people and the forum moderators are brilliant! The experience here for me has been outstanding. They are like a private tutor but better.

Gia

Thanks for the welcome and glad to spare someone the frustration i encountered in Japan. Nice to be plugged in here; wish i had checked in before going to Japan---bet someone could have headed this off.

Originally Posted by SammyB

Kasperapd,

Sprint offers international coverage in 99 different cities of Japan. They are listed on their website.



SammyB

I'm definitely going to check out Sprint's offerings; have heard they "do" and "don't" have Japan solutions in their bag.

Originally Posted by kasperapd

From what I'm getting reading the OP, it doesn't matter if your 8830 is unlocked or not... That is not the problem. The issue is the phone is not compatible with the cell networks in Japan. Truly not a World Phone.

TRULY NOT A WORLD PHONE, EDITION, MODEL, BB, CELL PHONE, DATA DEVICE. Bigger issue is how the Verizon team could not know this!!!

Originally Posted by SammyB

Sounds like you have a Verizon problem not BlackBerry.

With Sprint the SIM card is "Unlocked" which means I can either use Sprints' network overseas if I choose or purchase time from a local carrier while out of the country.

I'm by no means an expert, one of the forum Moderators could probably tell you more. One thing I do know is that I have not had a pleasant experience with Verizon in the past.

For me personally, I love the trackball and have no problems opening applications.

I hope you enjoy the site and can get things resolved with your BB.


SammyB

Thanks for the post/comments. I agree most of this issue is Verizon-based and not BB. Guess it all comes down to "the buyer must be aware" and cut through the feature/benefit headlines on the box that really were written by attorneys.

The unit is advertised as a world phone I thought :confused: That makes no sense! What a pain though!!!

Originally Posted by Neilthem

My name is NeilThem and I am a BB-aholic; this is my first post.

I had the 7250 for years and loved it. It allowed me to ditch a cell phone and add emailing on the go; what's not to love. Very easy to use also from an ergonomic pov.

VZW promoted and sold me on a new "global" 8830 and confidently replied, "yes", when asked if this model works in Japan for data and voice.

Greetings from Japan...via my laptop. From the moment I landed at Narita airport, I knew there was ("searching for network") trouble. Figuring I was underground and on a train, hoped the BB would wake-up after emerging from a tunnel. Well, NOT!

The VZW 8830 BB does not work in Japan. Uh Uh. Now I know. How come the CRACK staff that sold this to me didn't know that. Global support DID know that, but for me that was over 7000 miles too late.

Our IT dept. spent HOURS and HOURS working on the linkage of my new BB with our Microsoft Xchange server; never really getting there on contacts and calendar (are those important?) in the few days I had before departing on this trip.

I claim foul; penalty flags all over the field:
- not "global" or "world edition" in Japan; someone at VZW asked me what part of Japan I was in as if THAT mattered
- everyone at VZW should know where every model works or not
- i don't love the tracking ball yet; does everybody else?
- finding the icons and file opening/closing to be very clumsy; is it just me?

Could go on and on, but have to go stand in line somewhere in Tokyo and pick up another rental cell phone.

Thanks VZW. Will be checking all of your competitors carefully on the 14 hour trip home. Shame i'm only President of my company and can't have the impact on your business with us you truly earned with this cacophony of incompetence, deception, hype and failure.

Welcome other users comments.

Sayonara

Japan is my 2nd home outside of the USA. I go there on weeks on average. When ALL these carriers advertise 'global', this is what I say

This is Global phone for everywhere except Japan. Japan has its own frequencies which it uses. I'm sure there are phones that are World and Japan related.

So sorry that you hate it but I've had phones that are world phones but they never have worked in Japan, either CMDA or GSM. When I'm in Japan I usually rent some cheapo kei-tei w/o data usage.

As far as the Trackball. i totally hate it but after playing with it in a VZW store for about 20 minutes I got very use to it. Personally right now I'm on a Treo 700p but have a work 7520. I could get a 8803 from work but not yet.. I wish there was a place i could 'rent' a 8803 for 3 weeks before buying it. Treo is too unstable as palm has gone downhill.

For the official record.. No US company has a phone that works in Japan. I think there are some 3rd party GSM phones that MIGHT work. Ive yet to see it happen. They are out there somewhere.... but not sold in the US

Here is some info about Japan's cell service.

Wow; i am very appreciative of this response. I wound up buying a TREO 750 / ATT and was told it will work in Japan. No ifs, ands or buts. Of course, I will let everyone know what happens when I turn on the phone upon next arriving in Japan. In any case, the fall from a below ground train station is relatively safe should the connection not be revealed immediately. Oncoming trains, i'm hoping won't be an issue. Stay tuned---what a fantastic locale for BB people!!!!!!
Thanks again!

Yes, it seems everything in Japan is very exclusive from their cell phone regulations to their rare 100v 50Hz current in some parts and 100v 60Hz in others...

I actually took a job in Tokyo. Shinjuku to be exact. Will be leaving in Nov to be with my fiance who is a Japanese national. I've been trying to find out if there's anyway I can take my BB with me, but it appears like I will be buying a new phone after I arrive. Probably softbank.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but I'm glad it worked out in the end.

Cheers,

Jim

Neilthem --

Sounds like a terrible experience -- and an eye-opener re international travel with the BB 8830.

The odd thing (or maybe not so odd for VZW) is that your experience doesn't match up with their own Website. Check this out and zoom in on the map. It appears that they do offer both voice and GPRS data coverage in the main metro areas (or at least they claim to do so).

Maybe you need to make a (toll free!) call to VZW to press them on this. :confused:

Thanks for the post about the 8830 WORLD addition. Just got off the plane at Narita and all i get is searching for network. What a joke. First country i try and the phone doesnt work. Can:t wait to hear what verizon has to say about this..sorry for the grammer, this is a japanese keyboard that i can:t get to work.

Originally Posted by jjgcolorado

Thanks for the post about the 8830 WORLD addition. Just got off the plane at Narita and all i get is searching for network. What a joke. First country i try and the phone doesnt work. Can:t wait to hear what verizon has to say about this..sorry for the grammer, this is a japanese keyboard that i can:t get to work.

I just got back from Japan. The 8830 will not work there. I had to rent a Blackberry from Vodafone, since my GLOBAL 8830 would not work.

Greetings to all who posted and commented on the woes I had in Japan with the 8830. I noted several other victims of the "global" / "world edition" 8830 "misunderstanding", who wound up like me upon arriving at Tokyo Intl. airport (which by the way, is not in Tokyo :rolleyes:
wondering what global and world really mean?

I wound up purchasing a TREO 750/ATT and have been assured, promised, guaranteed this is going to work in Japan. The sales guy looked at me weirdly when I asked him where his children go to school, in case anything goes close to wrong.

I'll be in Japan later this week and promise to let you all know. I have enjoyed your posts and experiences as misery loves company.

Can't wait for my first chance to say "mushi mushi" on a non-rental cell phone. Pray for me!

All the best- Neilthem

PS Verizon is doing back-flips trying not to lose our corp. account (45 units or so). You can tell i'm not a spiteful guy, and would never hold a grudge, or continue to complain about that horrific, disappointing, deceptive, brutal, thing that happened back in July....on the 12-19th, temperature in the '80's

I live in Canada and am on the Bell Canada network. Here is what my 8830 works on: CDMA Support: Dual Band: 800 / 1900 MHz CDMA2000 1X Networks CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO support; GSM/GPRS Support: Dual-Band: 900 / 1800 GSM/GPRS networks.

According to what AU by KDDI it works on this; cdmaOne 800MHz CDMA2000 1x 800MHz

Correct me if I am wrong, but they are the same networks. So tell me why they won't work? :confused:

Obviously, the 8830 WE may be global phone, but Verizon noted that it works in over 160 countries with voice and over 90 countries with data services. Therefore, the phone does not work in all countries. Verizon, however, has Global Rental program available to use in any country where 8830 WE or any other Verizon phones would not be accepted.

Verizon Wireless International Cell Phone, International BlackBerry, Japanese Phones and Satellite phones through Global Rental

verizon truly sucks
when i had them my bill was always at minimum $20 over for no apparent reason.
there coverage is awesome if you live in the woods/mountains
but i dont understand why they would lock the best features of their phones and not allow their customers to use them...i really dont understand
i thank god that i have t-mobile and when i get to asia next month i can simply change my sim card and just keep on talking
hey f@*k you verizon ,,!,,

Just a comment on the trackball -I thought I would hate it, too ... but really it grows on you & before you know it you will be trackballing with your eyes closed. I picked up a friend's 8700 recently & fumbled with the "old fashioned" trackwheel. :D

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I love the trackball! Question though I thought that when you go to other countries you had to switch over to the SIM card? I thought the whole point of the 8830 was so once you went over seas you can pop in a SIM card and it will work? Someone explain because I am curious now. Cause I mean when you're in the states you're not using a SIM I'm assuming when you land in Japan you got to have one?

Edit: Nevermind just read that verizon thing for japan and about their personal digital cellular network but it looks to be pretty much just Japan. I know a lot of pilots who go to europe and their BBs work fine there.