New Kia, But No New Nokia...

So the new Nokia 6102 cell phone I got takes pictures. Neat. Except when trying to send them to my email address, the email comes through without the picture attached. So I get on the phone with Nokia customer service. "Hmmm, this is strange. We haven't had any complaints with this phone regarding picture transfer..." Yes, but this model has been out for like FIVE MINUTES, as everyone keeps telling me. "I can help you. Let me just... oh wait. We don't appear to have the manual for this phone in the call center yet. Did I mention it's a really new model?" So I get transferred to tech service, and a guy starts a trouble ticket for me, says the techs working on the issue will be calling me several times over the next couple days to resolve the problem.

That was Wednesday. Nothin'. Crickets.

So I decide maybe I can circumvent the problem by direct dumping to my computer via USB cable. Unfortunately, I made the tragic error of buying a 3rd party cable for $25, thinking foolishly that it would do what it said it would do. Lo and behold, the cable worked fine. My box saw a USB device on the other end. But the Nokia PC software suite (which is supposed to install the drivers and whatnot), just sat there and glared at me because I wasn't using a freakin' NOKIA BRAND CABLE.

Or at least that's what the tech said when I again called Nokia customer service. But he was quite happy to sell me the $50 cable, which he could not guarantee would work better than the $25 generic cable.

So by this point, I've had it with Nokia's less-than-stellar service. The hardware itself is great - it's a really good phone. But do I want to deal with a manufacturer who is certainly hot to push out new products but has no support for them?? On principle, I return the $25 cable to Radio Shack, return the Nokia 6102 to my local Cingular store (where the same two guys always give us great service), and upgrade to a new Motorola V551 with Bluetooth.

I just have to say this...

Hello, Moto.

The guy at the Cingular store very patiently puts his own SIM chip into my new phone so it will operate, while I send the pictures from my old phone to my new phone. I go to CompUSA and get a $30 USB Bluetooth adapter and install the Bluetooth software.

In less than 10 minutes of getting home, my phone and my computer are talking, and I copy the photos off the phone, and transfer a custom .mp3 ringtone to the phone. The ringtone is an a cappella snippet of Samantha's vocals from Devil's Lullaby.

So a big cupping of the crotch to Nokia's customer service, and kudos to Motorola, the guys at the Cingular store, and Bluetooth technology.

Next time, something of substance, I promise.