Last week I dropped my new cell phone [1]. Maybe three feet total [2]. And the display went wonky. Over the week it got worse. Oh sure, I could still send and receive calls and still take pictures. But I couldn't read anything on the phone. Now my previous phone has been dropped countless times and it still works (I still have it and it's currently in service, for reasons that will become apparent in a moment). But the new phone?
Pretty much unusable.
So I called the service number for my provider.
Let me state that their phone mail system is a twisty maze of voice mail boxes, all alike. Really. I thought I got into a loop the first time I called. The second time I peristed enough to talk to a Real Live Operator.
Where I learned that any physical damage to the phone, such as liquids being spilled on it, being dropped more than one inch, being breathed on too hard, is not covered by the warentee (the service provider warentee—the warentee from the manufacturer might be different), but that I might have insurance to cover a replacement phone.
So a transfer, and another twisty maze of voice mail boxes and I'm now talking to the insurance department of my cell phone provider where I'm told that no, my account does not have insurance on the phones.
Well.
Good thing the darned thing was free to begin with.
You can see the outside display was pretty bad—pretty looking image, but it's supposed to be displaying stuff like the battery status, time, photos of people that call; not an abstract painting.
[The outside screen is pretty, but it's also pretty badly damaged] [3]
And the inside display is even worse off.
[Ooooh ... pretty ... ] [4]
Mr. Cellphone, meet Mr. Hammer.
[Beauty and the Beast] [5]
Yes, that's right, snuggle up close now.
[Don't they make a cute couple?] [6]
I realize that this cell phone wasn't the cause of my problems today, but it certainly didn't help matters either. And the fact that Sony Ericssons are known to be rather fragile and can't handle drops from more than a few inches doesn't help either.
[As my friend Gregory would say, “RMA THIS!”] [7]
But it sure felt good.
[3] /boston/2006/05/11/phone.closed.jpg
[4] /boston/2006/05/11/phone.open.jpg
[5] /boston/2006/05/11/meet.mr.hammer.jpg
[6] /boston/2006/05/11/get.real.close.now.jpg
![[3] /boston/2006/05/11/phone.closed.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2006/05/11/phone.closed.jpg){kind=link}
![[4] /boston/2006/05/11/phone.open.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2006/05/11/phone.open.jpg){kind=link}
![[5] /boston/2006/05/11/meet.mr.hammer.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2006/05/11/meet.mr.hammer.jpg){kind=link}
![[6] /boston/2006/05/11/get.real.close.now.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2006/05/11/get.real.close.now.jpg){kind=link}
![[7] /boston/2006/05/11/feeling.better.jpg](/gemini.conman.org/boston/2006/05/11/feeling.better.jpg){kind=link}