Unreliable product, non existent aftersale support. Review on BlackBerry Curve 8520

Because of what was perceived to be very attractive pricing, the company I work for decided a year ago to buy the Blackberry Curve 8520 in bulk for senior management staff. I am still ruing that purchase! The phone is very good for sending & receiving e-mails. & sms.

Within 6 months, the charger suddenly stopped charging the phone & since I was travelling I had no option but to buy a new charger as otherwise I would have been be out of access! This problem again cropped up  a few months later, a few days prior to expiry of the 1 year warranty & I immediately checked the Blackberry website for the name & contact details of their authorized service center in Guwahati.

This, according to the website, was Redington. I accordingly rang up Redington at the given contact no. only  to be informed that they had disengaged from Blackberry & no longer serviced Blackberry  phones!! They were also unaware as to what alternative arrangements Blackberry had in place for customers here.

I immediately sent out an e-mail to the Blackberry e mail address asking a) why  wrong information was being displayed on their website & b) asking for name & contact details of their actual authorized service center in Guwahati. About an hour later, I received what appeared to be a computer generated response saying they would shortly get back to me. Which they did not.

By now I was in some anxiety & I went to what I remembered to be an authorized Blackberry dealer only to find that even they had stopped being an authorized  dealer because of product complaint (mostly with the Curve phones) & poor after sales service for which they (the dealer) were having to face consumer ire! They were however kind enough to direct me to a location where they had heard the new Blackberry service center was located. I went & found a dingy dark  cubicle like repair shop with no Blackberry service banner displayed anywhere & a girl employed there said the Blackberry service man had not come that day & would I return the next day!

By now I had lost all patience & confidence in Blackberry's so called  "support & service"  network  & requested for help from the ex Blackberry dealer who was again kind enough to take the phone to check it out but he of course reminded me that if he had it opened up, the warranty would become invalid.Since by now I realized Blackberry service is non existent, I asked him to go ahead.

However I did send out an e-mail again to Blackberry  expressing my dismay at the callousness with which they treat their customers. Shortly after this the promised mail arrived from Blackberry, 9 hours too late ! Basically it said I had to contact the service provider (meaningless in the Indian context) or the vendor (again meaningless when bought in another city) and was  totally  silent as regards my original queries! No apology for their website carrying false information & silent as to who their authorized service center in Guwahati are!

I sent back a mail that if this is the way they treat customers in one of the fastest growing Tier 1 cities in India, I can only wish them luck as far as their ambitions in India are concerned! To which of course, there was no reply!!

*Bottom line**: Do not buy Blackberry Curve 8520. Double check availability of Blackberry after sale service in the city you live in prior to purchasing any of their phones or you may regret later! Do not  blindly believe in the authorized service center list displayed on the Blackberry website. And finally, to would be purchasers of any Blackberry phone in Assam & the rest of the north east, my one word advice : **Don't!!!*

*Post script**: Out of curiosity, I checked the Blackberry website two weeks later & I was amused to see the website still showing  Redington to be their authorized service center in Guwahati!! Way to go Research in Motion & Blackberry!! All the best for your India Story!!!

*Final Post**t: In the last three months, my handset went on the blink twice, thanks to software malfunction, - the first time when I was on a business trip in upper assam. I had to take emergency assistance from an unauthorized party  (no authorized service center, remember?) who made the handset work again but I lost all data in the phone memory. The same problem cropped up a few days ago & this was the last straw! I flung the phone into the garbage dump & purchased a Samsung smart phone! After reading about the billion dollar losses of the company, drastic cuts to the workforce & the hunt for a buyer, I think it is best to stay away from Blackberry phones, at least in India.