Mike of Arlington Heights, IL writes:
I purchased a new Audiovox 3500XL phone from PrimeCo at a cost of $179, less $30 for my old phone. I've been a PrimeCo customer for over 2 years. I purchased a new phone because I wanted something smaller (the Audiovox is about the same size as the Motorola StarTax) and wanted a vibrating ringer so I could carry the phone and not disturb others.

The phone was advertised as having up to 55 hours of standby time, which seemed to be the case until my company moved to a new building. Now, there are areas of my new building that can't receive PrimeCo's signal, and the phone runs out of power in less than 8 hours. The local store didn't have an explanation, and replaced the battery, then the phone itself, but the problem persists.

I contacted PrimeCo's customer service department and received the following email: Thank you for your email. We apologize for any problems that you have encountered with your phone. When you are in an area where there is no service, the phone will periodically look for service. At this point the phone is no longer in a standby mode. You can trade your phone and home charger in and get $30.00 toward the price of a new phone. Thank you for choosing PrimeCo.

So, a phone that was supposed to go without a charge for up to 55 hours now loses its charge completely in less than 8 hours, and their only remedy is to give me $30 in credit towards a new phone. I never had this problem with my old phone (a Qualcomm 1920), so it's almost like Audiovox has created a defective phone. I haven't heard of this problem with any other phone, and am angry that their only remedy is to screw me out of $119 and only offer a $30 credit towards a new phone. By the time I go home in the evening, the phone is inoperative due to no battery power left. My job requires that I be reachable 24 x 7.

The company's explanation is logical but so is Mike's dissatisfaction. He should write to PrimeCo and formally request a refund in full, pointing out that he is a longtime customer and that the phone does not work as advertised.

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