diagnose my phone's issue
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
United States
December 2, 2010 9:50pm CST
Over Thanksgiving last week hubby cleaned the kitchen and misplaced my charging cable for me cell phone. He finally put effort into trying to remember what he did with it and still has no idea. So we looked around at the zillion of misc chargers & adaptors to find one that would fit my phone. Well we found a few but.... I'd plug them in the phone would turn on as it should and then the lil battery icon that should have bars moving across it to show it's charging isn't doing anything. Not a thing! The outline of the battery icon is blinking and just an outline showing it's dead. Unplug it and it makes the same music as it does turning off and shuts off.
Went & bought a charger @ one store thinking it would work but it just did the same thing even after 2hrs on the charger it should have some sort of charge in it right?!?! Just enough for a day or something KWIM? SO then I went to an electronics store thinking maybe the clerk at the other store had no idea what I was talking about. The phone still charged as far as I know, I am missing the charging cable that plugs into the wall. The clerk there said it didn't matter what brand the cord if "ment" for but that the "male" fits to the "female" of your phone. Well the replacement fit, the other ones fit, but still it will not charge. The first clerk said because it's a pre-paid phone that if it doesn't work my phone is shot & to buy a new one. I also tried to turn it off myself and it wouldn't turn off while it was plugged in. By doing that I was hoping I could get the screen it shows when it's charging that says "phone off, battery charging" & nada.
So I dunno what's wrong with it? I don't have the money to invest in a new phone and I dunno if it's worth trying a new battery as I think I'd have to order that online and I hate having to pay shipping to get my money back if theres a problem so I tend not to buy things online I may have to return. Perhaps the battery store will have something to match it? But then the cost? I recall having a battery problem w/ my first cell (over 10 yrs ago! hard to believe it's been this long) and I was told to buy a new battery & that was abt $50 then. Their middle of the road phone on display looks like a BB curve but is $100 less. I don't know if it would even work as a pay-as-you-go or I'd have to get a more formal subscription for it. *sigh* such a pain!
2 responses
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
3 Dec 10
My understanding is that some cell phone chargers do not work on all phones even if the charger male/female thingy fits. This I know as my boyfriend too had the same problem. As for batteries, their lifetime is according to Verizon is anywhere from 1 to 2 years depending on the usage.
The pay as you go cannot work on BB phones as you will need a data plan, and this I know as I am a long time BB user and gave the BB pearl to my boyfriends brother to pay as you go and it was not allowed.
My suggestion is to get the charger from the same place you got the phone at as then you can return it if it does not work. What you need to consider is how much is a battery versus how much a brand new phone may cost and this will give you an idea as to whether it is worth it or not.
Good luck Snuggles as I know what a pain it is when one of our electronics breaks down, especially a phone.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
3 Dec 10
My other battery on my old phone lasted about 5yrs before it went kaput. And I want to say this one is only 2 to 3 yrs old tops. I hardly use my phone I spend $20 every 90 days and trust me I don't use it up usually.
They do have a no-contract one thru Virgin Mobile that my hubby has for his BB. He does have to pay monthly though & it's 37 ish for unlimited datea & I think 300ish minutes. Unlike him I don't care if I have the net on my phone or not as I'm a SAHM most of the time. All I want is to be able to make calls & send texts & an occasional pic.
I did go to the store where my hubby bought it & they gave me a "universal" brand charger to buy and try.
Well I looked online and I've seen anywhere from $20-$40 for my mfgr on my phone. I can get a really basic and boring phone for say $10-20 new only those my hubby didn't care for cause they were too cheap & it showed. But there was one that was 70 I was spying up that looked similar to my old Sprint Palm & or a current BB but I have to look better at it if it's a pay as you go or if it's like hubby's where they bill him every month or if it can go either way. Like I said I don't want the data, don't need it when other than around the holidays when I get more hours I'm usually home.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
3 Jul 11
Okay well when I had Virgin I think I couldn't use any other charger even if it fit into the slot thing quite well. Not sure what you had at that time but I know you now have it resolved. It's not prepaid phones that's the problem though as I have a samsung phone that can be charged with a phone charger that is not a prepaid phone.
