Cell Phone Dispair

April 12, 2006 4:19 PM

My Sony w600i jumped 2 feet off an aquarium and cracked it's screen and has bled through. The display is totally useless and now the phone is acting up (dropping calls, static, etc.) I finally found this phone after major trouble with Blackberry and Motorolas. It was definately my favorite phone in my cell phone tenure. I now need a phone and don't want to pay 200-300 dollars (again) for a phone. I'm locked in a contact to the upgrade with a rebate is out of the question. Are there any stores online that I can find good deals on cell phones? What durable, simple frills phone would you recommend? I'm tired of spending good money and then either ruining it myself or having the phone go schizo on its own.
posted by ieatwords to Technology (11 answers total)

Nokia all the way. Most reliable, most durable, easiest to use.
Nokia 6230i, cheaper Nokias... I don't care much about frills, just how well it works.

Buy a cheap phone that'll carry you through to the end of your contract, then upgrade and get a free, good one. Or take your number (which I presume you want to keep) to another provider, and pick up their deals for a new customer.

UK so can't give you any websites...
posted by RufusW at 4:31 PM on April 12, 2006

No advice on the phone (Although I agree that Nokias are great) but next time you ought to consider getting phone insurance. I have some by my current provider and if my phone breaks: it won't cost me anything.
posted by delmoi at 4:56 PM on April 12, 2006

Phone insurance is usually a rip off really (in the UK anyway). Unless you particularly want to keep the amazing phone you got for free don't worry about it. If anything does happen just buy a cheap phone - which'll be cheaper than the insurance, and order a replacement sim card from your provider. Only get it if it's really cheap or you're worried about losing a v. useful phone (blackberry), or you're worried about it getting nicked and huge costs being run up on it...
posted by RufusW at 5:37 PM on April 12, 2006

I really love my Samsung SGH-X475 – the free phone that came with my T-mobile plan. Does what I need, fairly durable, never have problems with it. Dirt cheap, too.
posted by charmston at 6:35 PM on April 12, 2006

Some phone services will sell you "refurbished" phones that are usually returns or upgrades. We broke the display on a "plan" phone and were able to purchase a return of the same model for about 1/2 price. We kept the broken one, and a good thing because the mic went out on the refurb, so I swapped main boards and it's back on the air...
posted by plinth at 6:52 PM on April 12, 2006

I'm guessing that you have Cingular, right? (since they offer that phone) - chances are, you're locked into a 2 year service agreement, and they 99.999% of the time refuse to wave that Early Termination Fee, which I think is now $175. Ugh.

You could always try to buy an "unlocked" phone on eBay. Or, check around geeks.com - they sell unlocked phones too.
(unlocked = SOC Lock is removed. SOC = System Operator Code, and carriers will "SOC Lock" a phone to prevent you from using it on another carriers network. Stupid.)
posted by drstein at 6:52 PM on April 12, 2006

Have you tried calling your provider? Every time I've lost or broken a phone, they've just shipped me a new one, express, for free, and told me to put a the old card into the new phone.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:48 PM on April 12, 2006

Are you on Cingular? Change your plan to a family plan, adding a new number. It costs about $20 extra a month, extends your contract - in other words, it isn't a great deal, but if you really want a new phone and can't pay retail, you are eligible - when adding a new family member and number - to get the subsidy price for the phone.
posted by soulbarn at 7:51 PM on April 12, 2006

Don't discount getting out of your contract... I was a very unhappy Cingular customer (got a weak signal, if any, in all of Wicker Park, in Chicago -- and absolutely no signal in my second story apartment). I called them to see what I could do -- cancel ($150 cancellation fee, at that time), put my service on hold until my contract was up (which I could do only for up to three months, for something like $20 a month), anything. They absolutely would not budge. The rep asked me why I wanted to cancel my service, and I found myself saying something about how I was going to be moving out of the country, though that wasn't the truth. She said they had special deals for service people, and was I in the military? I said no, but... I was going into the Peace Corps. She put me on hold for about a half an hour, then came back and said her manager had agreed to waive the cancellation fee -- and they didn't require proof or anything (I know this, because I panicked and asked...).

Yes, I lied. But was it wrong? I dunno -- in my mind they were stealing my $39.99/month when I wasn't even able to use their service.

So now, in my opinion, T-Mobile + Nokia = True Love.
posted by penchant at 7:53 PM on April 12, 2006

If you can still recieve calls on your phone, then you are in luck. Call your customer service from a land line, and tell them you want the monthly insurance plan. They will have to call your cell phone to verify that it is working. All you need is for the phone to accept a call and hang on to it for like 10 seconds.

Then wait 2 or 3 days; remove the battery from the phone, then call in and say you lost it and want to make an insurance claim. They will probably ask you to file a police report, and when you go to the police station they might actually fill out the report, if they do just tell them you left it on a gas pump or something. More than likely the cop won't want to do all the paperwork and will just give you his badge number. Get the number to the police station as well.

Call the insurance claim number the customer service guy gave you, and give them all your info. You will probably pay a $50 deductible, but at least you get a new phone.

Once you get the new phone you can always call and cancel the insurance, or keep it just in case.....

good luck.
posted by TheDude at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2006

Look for a replacement on Froogle, Amazon or eBay. Just make sure you get a return-for-any-reason-or-for-no-reason guarantee in case it's a dud.
posted by KRS at 1:16 PM on April 13, 2006