It is hard to imagine that two major players (a manufacturer and cellular carrier) in the cellular industry would hype up a product that has terrible quality issues, and continue to sell it. But we are watching it right before our eyes. You would think that these companies would care slightly about their reputation. But that does not appear to be the case. You would think they would issue a recall or stop selling the product, but again no.
So here are some lessons learned. Take note of them. I share them so that you don't have to learn from your mistakes. You can learn from mine.
1. It may be the greatest technical wonder of the world, but it can wait. Let others try it out for a month. Let them be the guinea pigs and beta testers.
2. Enter into your favorite search engine the name of the phone, the name of the carrier and the word "problems." If there have been plenty of problems, you will find reading matter. Are they minor problems that have been resolved? Or are they ongoing serious issues? (Then change your search tools for the past week to see whether issues at launch continue to be problems.)
3. Go to Amazon and enter the name of the phone. Look at the reviews. There will be critical and glowing reviews of anything. So just use common sense and look at the quantity and substance of critical reviews.
4. If you know somebody in the repair business, ask them about the types of problems people have been happening with this phone. Also ask at retail stores whether people have been returning these phones. Note that employees of the cellular company might not feel at liberty to share negatives about products they are selling.
5. If you have bought a phone and it is having problems, do not hesitate to return it within that carrier's return period. Put it to the test. See whether it works in various locations. Sound quality issues could easily be one-sided. Just because I can hear you fine, doesn't mean that you can hear me fine. So ask.
6. Don't think that the phone has undergone extensive testing before it was released to the public. It should have been, but that is obviously not always the case.
7. Don't rely on the good reputation of a manufacturer. They may be innovative. They may have a reputation for producing good products. But they can still make mistakes. You need not be the victim of their mistake.
It could be that the phone might work fine on one carrier's network, but not another carrier's. Or it might give acceptable service on 3G, but have trouble with more advanced networks. The phone might be a fantastic device for data and apps, but a horrible phone. So do your homework. It is not worth the time to deal with working out problems. It is much better to buy an acceptable quality product to begin with.
The keyword here: due diligence.
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