I’ve used a Blackberry for many years. I loved my BB. It was absolutely reliable, had asmall keyboard, so that I never made typing errors, because it was easy to strike the right letters. And it was indestructible. OK, that’s not quite true, because a few days before my trip to the USAby mistake my youngest had thrown it down onto stones, screen first, from two metres high. Then I wasn’t really surprised that the screen was smashed. It stillworked. It was just more complicated to use. But apart from this single event in all the years, I never used safety glass or a protective cover and I was not so squeamish in handling the instrument. On numerous occasions it has fallen to the floor – AND NOTHING. It never broke. I always observed my colleagues with their expensive I-phones and splintered screens and thought thankfully of my instrument. But in December the battery pack died. After two hours I had to reload, because, if I didn’t, the battery was empty. That is very unpractical and therefore it was obvious that the time had come to change my club.

I was taken by the Samsung 9 Note. Huge screen, notes, which I can make by hand. The instrument was expensive, even very expensive. But I made the investment and looked forward to all the new possibilities. But at the same time, I began to feel concerned as to how I am to protect my instrument. How do I succeed in keeping this tender plant away from all the negative influences. No, that is impossible, but with safety glass and a cover I should be able to sleep soundly again, the experts said. I was quite surprised. Why does someone produce and sell a product for everyday use that is so super-sensitive that you have to buy extras so that it can even survive daily use? To me it seemed to be a faulty design. I bought the safety glass and the cover. And, lo and behold, after two weeks the safetyglass already had scratches. I thought „Wow, now I have bought a poor product”and went to the specialist. The specialist sold me a more expensive and “better” safety glass and a larger cover.

I sprinted to the bus and only in the bus did I discover that my telephone with the new safety glass could no longer be operated with the finger, but only with the stylus. Therefore, I then missed some calls, because I did not succeed in pressing the button with the stylus in time. The following day, I returned to the specialist to complain. But then I could only discover that I’m simply a stupid customer. Of course, in the telephone the sensibility of the surface can be adjusted. That I didn’t know, because in my whole life I have never used it. Now I learned the new functionality. But, when checking it, the sales lady discovered that my safety glass didn’t fit properly. When she tried to improve it, the safety glass broke. She replaced it with a new one, but I was appalled. Why is something so sensitive that it actually breaks in a deep breath called safety glass? I can’t see the logic of it.

Now I already have the third safetyglass within six weeks and the new one also already has scratches. As customer I feel “cheated” both by the manufacturer and also by the sellers of all these extras. Can we undertake anything against it?