[moskatl]

Barjohn- Thanks for the information and help. Will follow-up.

[daveinpa]

So I have the same issue and wanted to know if you found a place to get the part (the outer screen for the 8700). Need help with this one. Thanks.

[barjohn]

The outer screen is a plastic screen that is part of the casing. At this time RIM is the only source for replacement. You can take it into Cingular and they will effect the non-warranty repair. Until the cases become available to a third party like PPC Techs they can not repair it. I have suggested that RIM make repair parts available to select third parties and they have it under consideration.

[fxstsb]

Originally Posted by seattle18

Buy third party insurance (search this forum), wait a week, then file new claim...?

The Cingular that I use will not warranty this type of damage for all of their expensive phones.

[jimbobjoeray]

It all depends on how you drop the poor 8700...
I've dropped mine at least a dozen times and never had even slight damage done to it. Once I even dropped it off of my 9th story balcony (onto frozen ground) and it was fine too.

If you drop it at a weird angle, or it lands screen up on something what do you think will happen to it? It is GLASS/PLASTIC you know... try dropping any cell phone screen down onto a rock and see what you get....

[barjohn]

I clearly stated it was a non-warranty repair. They will; however, repair it for a price.

[daveinpa]

Gotcha John. Thanks for clairifying. So.... at this point no one else has the part or offers service. Will have to wait then I guess for the part to hit mainstream.

[romerom]

yep! sucks :( it'd be cool if the screens were easily replaced.. maybe the next blackberry could have that as a feature.. slide-in replaceable screens

[jnelson2000]

Actually Cingular will replace under warranty just about any abuse the phone has. This is only applicable to BlackBerries. This guy said that you could drive an ice pick through the screen and they will accept it back without penalty.

Make sure you talk to the BlackBerry Data Warranty Group.

Just passing along what I was told. My boss has a really bad scratched screen from the plastic holster and they exchanged it with a new box without question.

[romerom]

do you have the number to that group? they didn't let me put insurance on the phone and the warranty department was absolutely no help.

[jnelson2000]

800-801-1101

[dwlace01]

Originally Posted by jnelson2000

Actually Cingular will replace under warranty just about any abuse the phone has. This is only applicable to BlackBerries. This guy said that you could drive an ice pick through the screen and they will accept it back without penalty.

Make sure you talk to the BlackBerry Data Warranty Group.

Just passing along what I was told. My boss has a really bad scratched screen from the plastic holster and they exchanged it with a new box without question.

well i've talked to everyone under the sun at cingular about repairing phones and they are NEVER willing to do it. I dunno, maybe you got lucky but i would've kept that my little secret. That is the only downside of the 8700c is that i cant buy insurance on it....and esentially you have your own inssurance policy and i highly doubt that the 200 phone calls cingular will be receiving tomorrow asking to get a repair done will be answered with an "ok i would be happy to repair the device."

OO WELL

[J Allan]

Originally Posted by jnelson2000

Actually Cingular will replace under warranty just about any abuse the phone has. This is only applicable to BlackBerries. This guy said that you could drive an ice pick through the screen and they will accept it back without penalty.

Make sure you talk to the BlackBerry Data Warranty Group.

Just passing along what I was told. My boss has a really bad scratched screen from the plastic holster and they exchanged it with a new box without question.

I think the above statement is true. I cracked my screen last week (had it in my right front pocket - bumped into the corner of a desk while walking around a corner in a narrow hallway), called Cingular and they asked me when I bought it (November 25). Then they asked if it had any "water damage," which it did not, and they sent me a new phone via next day air (UPS), told me to put the cracked phone in the box and keep my old accessories (battery, charger, etc.). The fee was a nominal $7 to cover the return shipping via USPS (return label provided with the new phone).

This all happened through non-business channels (I don't have use or have access to BES, and I just switched from T-Mobile to Cingular). I think there is a one year warranty on the 8700c against all manufacturing defects, but I am not 100% sure if the customer service representative was supposed to exchange my 8700c free of charge. Either way I had a new 8700 in less than 24 hours.

Hope this helps,

J

PS - I also had a moderate amount of dust under my screen (like many others) which I had learned to live with, and was not consciously looking for a way to replace the phone. The new 8700 is identical to the cracked one, and I am sure it will be just a matter of time until dust appears under the new screen.

[dwlace01]

Originally Posted by J Allan

I think the above statement is true. I cracked my screen last week (had it in my right front pocket - bumped into the corner of a desk while walking around a corner in a narrow hallway), called Cingular and they asked me when I bought it (November 25). Then they asked if it had any "water damage," which it did not, and they sent me a new phone via next day air (UPS), told me to put the cracked phone in the box and keep my old accessories (battery, charger, etc.). The fee was a nominal $7 to cover the return shipping via USPS (return label provided with the new phone).

This all happened through non-business channels (I don't have use or have access to BES, and I just switched from T-Mobile to Cingular). I think there is a one year warranty on the 8700c against all manufacturing defects, but I am not 100% sure if the customer service representative was supposed to exchange my 8700c free of charge. Either way I had a new 8700 in less than 24 hours.

Hope this helps,

J

PS - I also had a moderate amount of dust under my screen (like many others) which I had learned to live with, and was not consciously looking for a way to replace the phone. The new 8700 is identical to the cracked one, and I am sure it will be just a matter of time until dust appears under the new screen.

thats great news! I have one of the special blackberries made by RIM to ensure no dust problems so i owuld hate to have to exchange it with cingular but its good to know i have an option now other than shelling out another 400 bucks.

[romerom]

oh my god i can't believe it. I just called the number you listed... FREE REPLACEMENT, FREE EXPEDITED SHIPPING!

at first, she was trying to charge me for the replacement due to the physical damage of the cracked screen.. when i mentioned that blackberryforums.com and the "you can drive an ice pick through the screen" comment, she went to a resolution specialist that then said, "FREE REPLACEMENT APPROVED!" i am so psyched that I won't have to look at a cracked screen anymore thanks all of you and especially blackberryforums.com

[romerom]

oh also, water damage is definately not covered as part of this deal... they made sure i hadn't had any water damage at all.

[daveinpa]

Just called... they gave me the "our technicians will look at your device to determine cause of damage...." meaning - if they think I dropped it or something versus having the screen crack in the holseter, I'm toast. Completely at their disposal. Verizon is the only place I know that has a GREAT WARRANTY EXCHANGE group. Rock On Verizon. Take notes Cingular.

[romerom]

that SUCKS did you try mentioning this forum and have them ask a service advisor?

i feel really lucky right now to have gotten someone that actually helped me out! i'll pm you with my RMA# so you can have them reference that

[dwlace01]

IMO its stupid to be bragging about this right now. Cingular will now have a barage of callers requesting that their phones be replaced and it is only a matter of time before this feature with cingular goes away. its like the dust issue with RIM...they handled so many of them until it got to a point of absurdity and stopped doing it.

[romerom]

I think stupid is a pretty strong word. Why hide something like this? This is a policy that's been set and I believe its a great one seeing how simple it was for my screen to crack (drop from 2 feet onto thin carpet, sitting down). The more things like this come in, the more they'll focus on a way to improve their design i.e. slide-in replaceable plastic screens.