Has been totally scammed...
So, a couple of weeks ago I purchased what I thought was a BlackBerry Javelin 8900 from a wholesale company based in China. That should have been my first clue, right? Well, when purchasing my current phone, Arctic White Palm Centro...I searched around the depths of the internet looking for the best deal and ended up finding one.Some website somewhere was selling the phone for $49.99 when I could find it on eBay for no less than $150. Obviously, I was thrilled and it turned out to be a really great phone. So, when I began my search to join the BlackBerry cult, I didn't think I'd be scammed like I was. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I purchased this phone for 1/3 of what it goes for with AT&T or T-Mobile. I honestly thought I had just stumbled upon a great deal. I'm too trusting apparently.
It took about two weeks to receive the phone since it was coming from China (the long shipping time also had to do with me placing the order during a Chinese holiday...so the order was delayed initially). I received it today and was pleased at first. Having never been part of the BlackBerry community, I didn't really know what to expect. I began by charging it up, changing the settings around to my liking, and basically just trying to navigate around the interface. Then, I called AT&T to switch to the BlackBerry plan and most importantly...GET MY BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) SET UP! This is when the trouble began!
There is no PIN anywhere on the phone; not on the sticker under the battery, not on the box, not under the options tab in Settings, and not saved in the phone's text message automation as "mypin". I was on the phone with AT&T and BlackBerry attempting to get this issue resolved by downloading software for nearly TWO HOURS! My computer froze and I was disconnected from the call, and I decided not even to try anymore.
When James got home, I asked him to help me. He's great with electronics and I figured he'd be able to solve this mystery. After much searching with the serial numbers on the phone, he discovered that what I actually received was a BlackBerry "knock-off" A.K.A Micxon S900. This phone basically got a BlackBerry logo stamped near the screen, and got the BlackBerry menu button to replace the home button that's normally on this phones' keypad. Additionally, the phone has "motion sensors" on the screen, making it a touchscreen phone.
The original BlackBerry Javelin 8900 that has been released in the U.S.A. does NOT have a touchscreen. As you can imagine, I was very upset when James told me the news. I've since opened a dispute with the seller, contacted the website, and left extremely negative feedback. If anyone else has had something like this happen to them, please let me know. I hope to receive a full refund and warn any and all BlackBerry consumers to beware! It's really sad people like this take the time to run huge scam operations.
P.S. The first picture I've included is one that I found through Google Images searching "Micxon S900". This is what the phone looked like prior to them adding the BlackBerry images. I'm also including a picture that I took myself of the phone I received, and what the phone should actually look like.
P.S.S. I also want to note that the stylus featured in this photograph is not identical to the one I received with the phone.
