Samsung SCH U520 (ALLTEL Wireless)

I have had several cell phones over the years, from the brick sized phone that only worked if I held it out the window at one of 2 intersections in town (seriously), to the small, sleek little jewel that never fail, and everything between.

When we left Los Angeles to move to the East Coast, our carrier was unable to supply us with a local phone number or a decent signal. So after a number of attempts we finally went with another company. A visit to the showroom was my intro to the Manager's special: Samsung SCH U520. I hate it. Let me count the ways.

First, when I open it to place a call, it is'nt balanced well, so I have to hold it carefully, very low along the sides, to avoid pressing the buttons, placed exactly where your fingers need to be. If I put my hand on the back and grasp the sides with my fingers in a natural way, I cover the antenna so I get no signal. As a result I must carefully hold the edges so I feel like I’m are going to drop the phone.

Because the buttons are located right where I need to put my finger tips, I have managed to take several great pictures of the palm of my hand. The lense is located on the outside back. It has no lens cover and no protection from scratching. It takes terrific shots of my hand though.

My last phone had a small antenna on the top. It never bothered me but one of the proclaimed advantages of the U520 is the fact that it has no visible antenna. What I didn't realize was that the phone is slightly longer because of that fact. So it won't fit in the phone pocket on my bag. I had to get a larger case to hold it and it ends up in the bottom of my bag. This can be a problem in certain locations.

Now I am going to tell you about the last straw. It's the reason I am considering dropping my service with Alltel and paying the $200 just to get rid of this phone. There was the rebate. $50 which I was disappointed in. We had gotten very nice free phones from other providers, so a $50 rebate didn't excited me very much.

The method they have designed to get the rebate is really terrible. First, you have to wait until you get your first bill. Then you have to send a copy of the bill, the receipt and the proof of purchase cut from the box. We had a family plan and I had to do this twice. And each rebate had to be sent in a separate envelope even though it was a family plan. So I copied all the required papers, stacked them together, stapled them and then made 2 Xerox copies of the stack showing I had all the necessary stuff. I was careful to make sure a part of each item clearly showed in the copy and I included the originals and one of the Xerox copies in each envelope and sent them Priority Mail with delivery confirmation.

Ok now for the good part. Three weeks later I got the first a post card. The printing on the card was so small I had to get a magnifying glass to read it. It said that I had not included a copy of the bill and needed to re-submit. They gave me 10 days to do it. You can guessed the rest, I was never given the rebate. They lost a customer for life because of that. I had a detailed receipt for the service. So, requiring a copy of the first bill was clearly a stalling tactic. I was already unhappy with the design. But I took great pains to include everything w/a photo copy showing what was in the envelope. My own copy shows it very clearly.

Bottom line: Poor design. Tiny rebate. Unnecessary delays and documentation requirements. Poor P.R. Lost a customer. JG

great phone - quick ship - just as described on the page - came with accessories and all - works perfectly

I had asked the seller if the item was 100% functional and the reply was yes. When I received the phone the connector for plugging in the recharging unit was corroded with bent wires making it impossible to recharge or use the phone with a chord. I did not return the item because I wanted the phone for other parts which appear to be working. However the seller seemed less than honest telling me the phone was 100% functional when there is such an obvious flaw.