# Don't laugh - my husband accidentally bought a Blackberry



## Epona (Jul 21, 2012)

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been sat right here and seen it with my own eyes.

His ancient Nokia is literally falling apart (and I mean literally, there are bits of the case falling off it, it looks as if it's been run over) and the battery is knackered.

So he logged into his T-Mobile account online to have a look at what phones he could get free or cheap as an upgrade - and make a decision about whether to end his contract or get an upgrade - and thought he clicked the button to see more details of one of the Blackberrys on offer - except he mis-clicked and bought the thing, there wasn't even a 'confirm purchase' button! The cost is going to be added to his next bill and he's locked into another year on his contract, just as he was considering switching to PAYG 

It was only £20 with his contract mind you (usual retail price £140 or some nonsense), so I suppose it's not the end of the world.

But what are Blackberrys like? We've both currently got antique phones that are just... you know... phones. Neither of us has any experience with these newfangled devices!

Edit to add: I just know that if he decides to keep it, he's going to fucking lose it within the week... I just know it... based on past experience.


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## Miss Caphat (Jul 21, 2012)

I'm sure you can cancel the order. If it's anything like it is here, when you buy a "smart phone" through your service provider they often force you into buying a data plan to go with it. I'd make a call to customer service asap.


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## Thora (Jul 21, 2012)

Why not call and cancel f he doesn't want it


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## stuff_it (Jul 21, 2012)

He has 7 days to cancel, same as any financial transaction. He needs to contact them asap and choose what one he wanted.


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## Epona (Jul 21, 2012)

Well he does want it now, he had a moment of OMFG what happened there, and now he's looking forward to it. Bloody T-Mobile, your evil plan worked!

I was just wondering what they were like. There was nothing mentioned about a "data plan" mind you.


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## Ax^ (Jul 21, 2012)

keep an eye on him he'll start getting all rioty...


bb are ok if you read a lot of emails from your phone


about fuck all else really


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## Firky (Jul 21, 2012)

Nokia 3310s are the only good mobile phone.

My ex had a BB, I fucking hated it. Really hated it, more than I hate Graham Carr.

*proud not to own a mobile phone, other than a payg one that gets taken out of a drawer once a year for festivals and such*


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## red rose (Jul 21, 2012)

Blackberries (or is it Blackberrys since its a proper noun?) are ergonomically awful, at least mine is.  The unlock button is right on the top so whenever I push it into my jeans pocket or sit down with it in my pocket or leave it in my handbag it unlocks 

Compared to other "smart phones" its handy for things like email and if you hate typing on a touch screen it's quite useful to have the keypad but if I didn't have to use it for work I certainly wouldn't have one.  Which is another point - since it's a work phone I didn't have to set up all the email/bluetooth technical stuff - it was already configured when I was given it - so I can't comment on how user friendly it is during set up.

I've had it for two months and not worked out how to access voicemail yet


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## stuff_it (Jul 21, 2012)

I found a 3310 earlier at my mum's, when I asked to have it she offered to buy me a £10 payg shitter brand new instead - I was like nooooooo! I'll buy another battery!!1! 

Pleased as punch now to have such a good spare phone.


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## mrs quoad (Jul 21, 2012)

red rose said:


> I've had it for two months and not worked out how to access voicemail yet


Have you tried holding down the '1' button?

Think that's been a consistent on every phone I've had since c.1997.


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## oryx (Jul 21, 2012)

red rose said:


> The unlock button is right on the top so whenever I push it into my jeans pocket or sit down with it in my pocket or leave it in my handbag it unlocks


 
A lot of people say this. I had a BlackBerry for work a few years ago and would never buy one for myself.


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## ohmyliver (Jul 21, 2012)

as others have said great keyboard, great for email (especially for connecting to MS exchange mail accounts), rubbish for browsing. 

I think you can get Opera Mini for it which will be *miles* better than BBOS's native browser.


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## Ax^ (Jul 21, 2012)

yes opera is a must


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## Epona (Jul 22, 2012)

He's only going to be using it to send text messages and receive calls from work at 1 am about problems that they can't possibly sort out by themselves 

It is a phone as well as all this other stuff isn't it?


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 22, 2012)

RiM will thank him.


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## Kanda (Jul 22, 2012)

Epona said:


> Edit to add: I just know that if he decides to keep it, he's going to fucking lose it within the week... I just know it... based on past experience.


 
I look forward to next week and his next phone choice.


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## Epona (Jul 22, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> RiM will thank him.


 
What does that even fucking mean?


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## editor (Jul 22, 2012)

Blackberry's are just fine for everyday tasks.


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## Epona (Jul 22, 2012)

editor said:


> Blackberry's are just fine for everyday tasks.


 
Thank you that's sort of all I wanted to know really.  All he's going to be doing with it is occasionally phoning me to let me know he's been delayed at work, and when he's at home receiving calls from work staff who need him to tell them what to do when some sort of minor crisis arises a few times a week.  It's not as if he is going to be using it for.... whatever other stuff people expect to be doing on mobile phones these days besides making phone calls.  And I am being completely serious when I say that, I don't know what other stuff people expect them to be able to do.  I'm still using a Nokia 1100 FFS!


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## Kanda (Jul 22, 2012)

Look at their share price. That's funny.


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## mrs quoad (Jul 22, 2012)

Epona said:


> What does that even fucking mean?


Research in Motion make blackberry phones. RiM.


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## Boudicca (Jul 22, 2012)

I love my Blackberry, but I run a small business and it's the fact that I can read and reply to emails that makes it worth the extra £5 a month.  I don't use it to access the internet and the particular model I have doesn't do it very well.

To be honest, given what he is using it for, I think he would be better returning it and getting a smaller cheaper basic phone.


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## Chz (Jul 22, 2012)

While they are fine for most day-to-day stuff, it's sort of a waste if you're not a very heavy user of email/texts/BBM. The web browser on the touchscreen models is acceptable to use now, which is a first. Pity they halved the battery life for it. (it's still 2-3x the battery life of most smartphones, mind)


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 22, 2012)

Epona said:


> What does that even fucking mean?


 
Research in Motion aka: RiM, is a Canadian company that designed and makes Blackberrys; it's had some financial difficulty of late, to my understanding.


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## maldwyn (Jul 22, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> RiM will thank him.


Indeed, they need every bit of support they can muster.
Plus it's a reasonably good device for what your husband is after.


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## IC3D (Jul 22, 2012)

I find they have better clarity on calls than iphones, although so does my Nokia 1100.


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## Voley (Jul 22, 2012)

I think I might be getting one of these with my new job. All I want it for is calls and checking my email when I'm out of the office so it sounds fine.


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## stuff_it (Jul 22, 2012)

If he's likely to loose it and it's £140 to replace he will want to insure it. Normally you can only add this to your contract at the time you take it out - so even if he wants to keep it he may want to cancel the contract within the 7 days then immediately get another one with insurance.


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## xenon (Jul 22, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I found a 3310 earlier at my mum's, when I asked to have it she offered to buy me a £10 payg shitter brand new instead - I was like nooooooo! I'll buy another battery!!1!
> 
> Pleased as punch now to have such a good spare phone.



Have you bought a battery already? If no, I've got about 6 you can have gratas. Bought off Ebay years ago and never sold them all. Still got a 3310 somewhere too IIRC but keeping that.
*is clearing out drawers*


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## stuff_it (Jul 22, 2012)

xenon said:


> Have you bought a battery already? If no, I've got about 6 you can have gratas. Bought off Ebay years ago and never sold them all. Still got a 3310 somewhere too IIRC but keeping that.
> *is clearing out drawers*


Yes, someone has already offered me one in the recycling forum but I wouldn't mind a few spares if they are going.


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## Epona (Jul 22, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Research in Motion aka: RiM, is a Canadian company that designed and makes Blackberrys; it's had some financial difficulty of late, to my understanding.


 
Ah ok, thanks for the explanation!


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## Epona (Jul 24, 2012)

Well it's been delivered and he likes it well enough, it's certainly better than his old one, so looks as though he's keeping it.


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## sunny jim (Apr 5, 2013)

Gotta bump this for hopefully a bit of advice. My Blackberrys middle navigation button has stopped working - anybody know what to do about it? Its a contract phone. Are there any quick fixes for this or should I just take it to the providers shop and get them to replace it? Cheers in advance Urbz


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