upgrade update

back in april, during the a-z blogging challenge, i told you about my blackberry dilemma (for that story, “upgrade? yes or no,” click here!).

well, today’s story is a wonderful example of how things turn out as they’re meant to be! let me explain…i’ll be as brief as possible in summarizing a few weeks’ worth of happenings – we’ll call this the coles notes version of the blackberry saga.

when we last left off, i was debating whether or not to upgrade my blackberry because it had started to act wonky. i really appreciated the advice and comments you provided when i sought out your opinions on whether to trade in my mobile or not.

the first recommendation that i acted upon (from the sales associate at the bell store at fairview park mall) was to install onto my laptop the blackberry desktop system that would allow me to back up my blackberry (ie save all my contacts, bookmarks, etc). man, was that ever a nerve-wracking sweatfest! i was on the phone with patient mike for over 45 minutes as we got the install completed. literally, i was perspiring – electronics issues freak me out at the best of times, and we ran into a few glitches (the install would not upload, my computer crashed and we had to start over). but, by the time i hung up the phone, everything was set and my blackberry was backed up (with the back-up on my laptop, i could get a new blackberry, simply plug it in and switch over the data in a nano-second…supposedly!). i give an A+ to the customer service that i received from mike!

the next step was to return to the bell store at fairview. i completed this errand one friday eve after work at theOTHERstore. i had decided that i would indeed upgrade my blackberry – better safe than sorry.

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the first sales associate with whom i spoke was a cocky young punk who made me cringe with his unprofessional demeanor and attitude. he was totally dissing the blackberry brand, was not listening to me, and relentlessly pushed the android option at me [when i explained that blackberry messenger is something i use all the time and would miss if i didn’t have it, his snap reply was “there’s an app for that!”]. i also found out that to upgrade to the blackberry bold 9900 would NOT be $25 as i had previously been told, but $99! so, cut out that option. but, i was interested in the curve…i told young punk that i was going to ponder my options for a moment, and thankfully, he left me alone.

shortly thereafter, i was able to consult with a different sales associate, mild-mannered nice guy, who was much more professional and informed. after answering a few more of my questions, i committed: i’d switch to the new curve for free. for how i use my blackberry (in order of importance: blackberry messaging, internet browsing, emails – NO apps) the curve sounded just fine.

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minutes later, the curve was sitting in front of me at the sales desk, ready to go! then, we pulled up my file…and discovered that i am not authorized to make a phone switch under the current contract! [a situation that could be rectified with a couple of phone calls]. foiled at the eleventh hour. disappointed, i went home that day with no new curve!

😦

over the next few weeks, the issues with my blackberry worsened: the battery was draining after 8-10 hours instead of 24-36 hours. the spinny time-out clock was appearing with alarming frequency – like, every 2-5 minutes. it was time to take further action.

so, one day last week, i made the time to go up to the bell store at conestoga mall. i explained the two primary issues to the most wonderfully helpful sales associate (i so appreciate customer service that does not make me feel like a stupid door knob). easy-going competent girl had answers at the ready! both the battery issue and the spinny clock were happening because my blackberry needed to have its innards updated – the blackberry was working really hard to reconcile what i was demanding asking it to do with its older software. easy-going competent girl popped off the battery…and discovered that my SIM card was a defective model – so, that was replaced for free, and i was told to go home, plug the blackberry into my laptop, run the update, and all should be improved.

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i sped home, eager – ok, anxious! – to update my blackberry. the install went WAY faster than the predicted 45-60 minutes. in under 20 minutes, the install was done, and immediately, i noticed that dear blackberry was acting like its old self again. the only problem was that i had lost my customized ring tones for emails, messages and phone calls. and i lost my wallpaper background photo. however – proud moment! – after a little fiddling around (ok, and 30 seconds of assistance from manager paul!), i managed to reset the wallpaper and the ring tones my byself! there is hope for this technically-challenged girl, yet.

over the last week, little blackberry has been perfectly normal and awesomely fast. i like the updates from doing that install, and at this time, have no reason, want or desire to get a new blackberry.

looking back, it was just meant to be that i did not get that new curve at the fairview store.

all’s well that ends well!

note: i am still on the hunt for a sequined, bedazzled blackberry protector…something like this would be perfect:

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🙂

how is your cell phone/mobile provided when it comes to customer service? i have no complaints about bell (young punk was the only negative experience)…likely, i will stay with them for future contracts.