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Aussies Dunk, Drop and Throw Their Mobiles |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 05 December 2007 |
Telstra warns that phones damaged when they are dropped, thrown, dunked
in the toilet or gnawed by the dog are not covered by warranty, only
manufacturing and phone faults will get you a sympathetic hearing when
you phone is damaged.
Telstra reports that the most common reported cause of damage in 2007
was that old favourite - driving off with the
handset on the roof of the car. That was followed though, by all manner
of water faults caused by spills and dunkings including taking calls in
the rain or that other old favourite - dropping it in the toilet.
Third most popular way to damage you phone in 2007 was
actually to sit on you handset. Dropping it - most often on the
footpath - came in fourth, while throwing it on a desk, in a drawer or
to a friend rounded out the top five accidental damage reports made to
Tesltra's contact centre.
"We've even heard from a customer who retrieved their Next G
handset after losing it when back burning a sugar cane field.
Incredibly the handset still worked, even though it was a little
scorched and melted in places," said Telstra spokesman, Peter Taylor.
The bad news of course, is that none of these will be covered by your
carrier or the phone manufacturer. Australia mobile carriers have not
offered insurance, which would cover such damage, since the very early
days of the cell phone's introduction into this country. Possibly due
to the high levels of fraud with people reporting their phone stolen or
damaged in order to obtain a free upgrade to the latest device.
All handsets sold by Telstra have a
12 month manufacturer's warranty, which Telstra manages for the
customer. Customers can also purchase warranties for an extra 12 months
at the time of purchase from a Telstra Shop.
Telstra suggest phone owners try to reduce the risk of damage to their
handset by always
storing it handset in the same place or by using a belt clip or pouch
to
secure the device (as if that's going to happen) or even letting the
call go through to voicemail if you are caught in a tricky position -
like on a Golf course in a lightening storm.
The telco also suggests that if you spend a lot of time outdoor you
may be better served by a more robust mobile that is protected
in rubber casing and is dust, shock and liquid resistant. The company make much of how it's new NextG handsets are more robust that those CDMA phones it is trying to get rural Australia to throw in the bin before the proposed switch off date for the old network.
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