Fallen Grace. Review on Nokia 5310

Fallen for it's thin waist, chic and cute look I purchased Nokia 5310 from "The Mobile Store", Mulund(W), Mumbai, in Feb 2009 . About a month later I started experiencing problems with it like battery getting suddenly discharged particularly on taking or making calls.

So on 14 March 2009 I took it to a Nokia Care Center at Mulund-West. When my phone was being examined for physical condition, they discovered that there was something scribbled on main PCB of the cell phone. I was notified about it and told that the phone's warranty is void as there are no such markings on the original PCB and that the markings indicate that the phone was opened by an unauthorised party. They refused to accept it for repairs but the phone was reformatted. It thereafter worked for some days, not perfectly, before going back to its mood.

Since the phone was not accepted earlier citing'scribbled' PCB, I wrote/talked to Nokia. "This is a very serious problem as I can no longer avail of the warranty. Also the markings indicate that the phone that I was given is not a new piece and probably has been serviced earlier. I have paid for a new phone which carries one year’s warranty. I am entitled to everything I paid for. This is not acceptable and as such I would like my phone replaced by a new piece with warranty extended from the date of delivery of said replacement."

I was told to go to the dealer; the dealer directed me to the Service Center.and when the dealer spoke to the guy at the Nokia Care only then he accepted to send it to Delhi. After 15-20 days we got our phone back.worked well for some time.say for a month and then it was a back to square one.

This is a thin phone and we noticed later that when the phone came back from Delhi it was it was not closed well.rubber gasket was loose.and many other things were not done properly which means their craftsmanship of the service station was very poor.

You may like to know the status of the phone? it is still covered by warranty but I do not know where it is lying. I simply bought a Samsung S3500 for my wife.

I also learned from other dealers that this particular model had a faulty batch in the past no matter what is done those phones were not getting to work properly. This was also corroborated by the staff at The Mobile Store, Mulund-East. Further I happened to meet many people at the Mumbai International Airport who also had similar experience of faulty phone. I met a lady airlines staff who said that what she was flaunting was her second 5310 and that too was not working properly. I asked her why did she get a second one when her experience was bad. She said that she liked the phone very much. Friends, that’s true…the phone is a cute one and very sleek and that was the reason why I bought it for my wife.

Few points to consider:

· * It is possible that those who have access to these phones are in a position to replace new PCBs with old, serviced faulty PCBs. Have you discreetly seen if your box was with seal intact while purchasing the phone? Does the presence of a hologram automatically tells you that a thing is a genuine, or not opened? Here my finger points to the guys at The Mobile Stores, Mulund-West.

· * If the story of a particular batch or series of batches is true then Nokia has not behaved responsibly. If they had a full knowledge of the faulty batch and still did not pull out or call back these faulty phones then it’s a grave concern for consumers. Why should one have a brand loyalty when such a reputed company is bent upon cheating few unfortunate customers? We read in the media that Sony recalled laptop batteries manufactured by them or some car manufacturer recalled cars at their own expense to correct the fault or offer new car.

Again, let me tell you that phone’s features are very good, it’s sleek n chick and works well for few lucky ones.

I was hopeful that the issue will be resolved but everyone, the dealer, Nokia Call Center, Nokia Service Center, made us merry-go-round and ensured that we will lose our endurance and give up on pursuing the matter. And while I was going through this episode I purchased Nokia 5800 in April 2009 from NPD at Mulund-West…I did not want to buy anything from Mobile Store.

In the whole episode the dealer, Nokia call center and Nokia service center behaved irresponsibly. When you try to send a web-based message from their site, you are likely to get a reply, " PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER". And no matter what you try like routing your query from Nokia's other site, you will be taken to the same page to hear the same reply.

I am shocked to know that a well known and respected dealership like Mobile Store would sell off such old equipment in place of a new one. Or why should Nokia should sell a defective batch of 5310? I am not sure who is at the fault but I know that consumers like me are the sufferer.

So beware: .it's a gracious.but most probably infested.buy only if you love to risk irritating your loved one or even embracing harakiri of the phone.