INFERIOR CELL PHONES

I have been forced to turn to the Bureau of Standards in Jamaica to start monitoring the quality of telephones being brought into Jamaica by cellular provider Digicel for it appears that some of what they are selling to the public cannot cannot cope with the tropical climate.

In November last,I bought a bought a Nokia phone from a Digicel outlet and within a month the glass cracked and the dial became marred.When I took it back to the outlet, I was made to understand that this could have happened because of the heat or moisture, not only in one’s car, but in one’s hand.The phone was replaced, not because of the guarantee, but only because the owner of the company was a friend of mine who said he was replacing it at his own expense as the guarantee did not cover exposure to what is supposed to have caused that crack.

Within weeks, the glass of the new phone also cracked and since "Courts" was having a special, I decided to get a cheap spare and bought as Samsung. This I did on the 3rd December 2008. This new phone also stated to act up within weeks, dropping calls and the microphone is also obviously defective since those who call me on this instrument say they just cannot hear what I am saying.

So I took the phone back to Courts with my guarantee. I immediately detected a backing away from the product by the attendant who sought to inform me that they were not responsible for they were only selling it for Digicel. She then told me the board in the phonewas wet.


This I found surprising since the phone had never gotten wet and I certainly would not have returned it had it if it had, since I am aware that phones and water do not go together. That’s when she explained that the mere sweating of the palms could be responsible and then she pointed out that I had signed a document about the moisture getting into the phone.

Now I would like to know how on earth could one possibly use a phone without using one’s hand at some point and are we supposed to dry out palms first before answering a Digicel phone? (I have no such problem with phones supplied by other providers.)

Based on my experiences, it appears to me that some phones being brought in by Digicel are not made for tropical climates and the Bureau of Standards should never be allowing them to bring in inferior products and foisting them on consumers. For how can the unsuspecting public know which are durable in the tropics and which are not?