That Was Quick!

And Now I'm In the Dark...

My regular readers will recall that I’ve had my ups and downs with my cell phone provider, T-Mobile. Last month, I finally bit the bullet and decided to renew the contract (for a full two years!) in order to snag their latest Bluetooth Motorola phone at a downright dirt cheap price.

At a Christmas Eve gathering, someone was showing off their new Samsung phone. Never to be outdone, I flipped out my Motorola (and before I knew it an LG, and a Nokia were also on display). It was pointed out to me that the individual liked his Samsung more because the keypad was illuminated. “Yes, that’s a great feature, mine does that too,” except for whatever reason, it was now dark. There are times when I need to use the phone in the dark, and without the LED, this is not possible.

I assumed it was a dead LED at first, but on the initial bootup, the blue LED shone brightly. Nah, it must be something else. I reread the manual to see if it was some type of power saving preference that got accidentally activated, but that was not it either. Another family member has the same exact phone, and theirs lights up whenever the phone is opened, so I know that my phone’s behavior is not simply normal.

As the phone is still new, I decided to return to the T-Mobile store. It was standing room only; I’ve never seen them this busy. I suppose that all the folks that didn’t find their new cell phone under the tree were taking matters into their own hands. It was truly a mob scene.

After a short wait, I explained my issue. To my surprise, they asked me for my phone number, verified my account, and told me they’d ship me a new one. They even showed me how to swap out my battery and SIM card. While I was slightly disappointed that they couldn’t just give me a new one right there, I was impressed by the “no hassle” attitude. Supposedly I just need to ship them the old one back in the same box.

I’ll keep y’all posted how this ends up goin’ off. I'm a little curious if the replacement will be a brand new phone or a refurbed one as it is a relatively new phone.

Update: One week later the phone arrived. I guess it took a little longer because of the New Year's Day holiday. It appears to be a new phone, and only has sixteen seconds on the "odometer," which I'm guessing is from some factory testing. Best of all the keypad lights up and I can once again dial in the dark.

--Jonas

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broken led, cell phone replacement, defective phone, motorola, phone, v195