Customer "service"

This post is not related to the normal travel stuff that I bore both my readers with...

I use a BlackBerry for work. I am on the road so much, and having email on my phone makes my life much easier and gives me more time with my family when I am home. I have come to rely on the "insert name of a berry here"Berry (my girls call it the RaspBerry, the LingonBerry, the DingleBerry, etc.).

So you can imagine my frustration as I saw my battery life grow shorter and shorter over the past few weeks. BlackBerrys are known for great battery life, and for almost a year I have had no complaints. Now, I get about 8 hours off of a full charge - way down from the 30-36 hours I would get before.

On my lunch break, I rolled over the store I purchased the phone last March, expecting to swap the battery for a new one. This store is not a "service" store and I need to go across town to the "service" store. The next morning, I wait patiently for the "service" store to open. I flashed my phone to the man behind the counter and barely got the words "I need a batter...." out when he said "Don't have a battery for that phone". ???

I have an 8700 model, which was sold by every carrier you ever heard of and was advertised heavily in early 2007. There must be millions of these phones out there. Here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation:

Me: "Um... where can I get this replaced?"

Him: "You have to order it from the manufacturer."

Me: "Aren't you the service store for XXXXX?" The service I use had their logo displayed in 4,358 places in the store.

Him: "Yeah, but we are ZZZZ ZZZ. We are just an authorized dealer."

Me: "But not authorized to carry batteries for them."

Him: "There aren't that many phones like that out there. You could check out the new battery store over at the mall, they might have it."

Me: "But that wouldn't be covered under my service plan."

Him: "The battery is not covered under the service plan. The phone is, but batteries are an accessory, and accessories aren't covered."

Me: "Don't accessories enhance the use of a product?"

Him: "...yeah..."

Me: "I can use the phone without the headset, I can use the phone without the holder, but I can't use the phone without a battery. I would say the battery is not an accessory."

Him: "Your plan doesn't cover batteries."

What you can't see from this dialogue is the body language of the man behind the counter. He was ready for me to leave as soon as he saw my phone. So I obliged.

I went to the new battery store. They don't open until 10 a.m. and it is only 9:15. I head back to the office and tell my dear wife what is going on. She goes to XXXXX's website and is informed that they can't communicate with customers until their customer service upgrade is complete. ??? A communications company can't communicate with me? Call me crazy, but I would think that a phone company could figure out a way to have their people talk to me even if they worked off a two day old database.

My dear wife found a battery at eforcity.com and promptly ordered it.

Guess what I am going to do when XXXXX's customer service upgrade is done?