Vodafone customers give thumbs down to Blackberry Storm 9500 - 18th Nov 2008

Vodafone released its exclusive, long awaited Blackberry Storm 9500 last week. The usual “brilliant reviews” and the advertising preceded the release of the handset. At the time of the release, Vodafone had thousands of customers pre-registered to receive the new handset as it was said to combine an iphone and a blackberry in one.

After the delays, problems with delivery etc, now that the phone has been released, a number of the customers are contemplating returning it because of hardware and software issues. These issues are compounded by the silence from Vodafone to acknowledge these issues and to suggest possible solutions and a possible time period to rectify these.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES)

Blackberry is sold as a “business person’s phone”, but the new handset cannot handle the BES. Vodafone website and telephone sale teams do not mention this. This has resulted in businesses with an enterprise server not being able to use the e-mail feature. Vodafone do not know when this feature will be available or how much it will cost.

Battery life

Vodafone promotional material states that the battery has 6 hours of talk time and 15 days of standby time. Customers are reporting that fully charged batteries, having been charged more than once, running out after 20 minutes of calls and web browsing. One customer stated that the battery went flat after 4 hours, when he only made 15 minutes of calls. Another reported that battery lasted only 12 hours in standby mode.

Flimsy buttons

The buttons on the device feel very flimsy and many people have reported that they have come off after one or two days. In majority of cases, this has happened when using the pouch which is provided with the phone.
Gap between the screen and the phone
Storm has a unique feature that allows the screen to depress when pressing the virtual buttons. This gives the users the feeling that they are using real buttons instead of a touch screen. There is a small gap, between the screen and the phone casing, presumably to allow the flexibility. Some circuitry of the phone can be seen through the gap at the bottom. This is worrying some users that this will allow dust and moisture to get into the actual handset and will interfere with the workings of the phone.

Software Issues

The software CD that loads the drivers and other software onto the computer have not worked in many cases. This software was not available to download until late on Monday 17 November. Even the download does not work with Windows Vista and Office 2007. After a short while, the following message was appearing when trying to download the file, “Sorry, the file is temporarily unavailable, please try again later or contact the webmaster.”

 For customers who bought the phone from the Tele sales department or the internet, there is a 14 days period when can return the phone and walk away. Although vast majorities of people are very impressed with the looks, the functionality of the phone is giving them a cause of concern. We have heard from customers who have been on the phone, on hold for over an hour whilst trying to arrange the return of the phone.

Almost all of the customers we spoke to wanted to resolve the issues and keep the phones. There is no official communication from the Vodafone to re-assure customers that they are aware of the issues and are working on the solutions.

This is worrying the consumers because after the 14 days cooling off period, they will be stuck with these devices for 18 months or 2 years and will have to pay the monthly charges during this time. After this period, according to Vodafone terms and conditions, customers are only entitled to getting their phone sent off and repaired, and if it cannot be repaired, they will be provided with a reconditioned handset.

Although majority of new phones have minor glitches, for some reason this handset appears to have more than usual.

In a statement Vodafone said, “The overwhelming feedback in store, in telesales and on other forums is that most people love the BlackBerry Storm - which is great news. However, we have received feedback on a handful of specific points. We always try to test the phones as much as we can ourselves before we launch them, but it is only when a large number of customers start to use the phone do we get feedback that can really inform how we develop the software. Today we have given your comments to our device management team and they are now looking into these and where they can working with RIM on solving as many of them as possible. Some may take longer than others and as and when we can update customers on improvements we have made we will." 

On 11 November 2008, Vodafone Group PLC announced that its net profit fell 35 percent during the first half of the financial year. The company said net profit for the six months through Sept. 30 was 2.14 billion pounds ($3.33 billion), down from 3.29 billion a year earlier, as consumer spending fell in developed markets amid the global economic downturn

However, shares rallied as the company announced 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) in cost cuts and stuck to its full-year profit forecast despite the global economic downturn.
 

Click here to read the Blackberry Storm Follow up article published on 15 December 2008.

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