[marcbyron]

Hello everyone,

this morning the keylock slider of my N97 just came off. From that moment on using the phone became quite akward. I immediately went to the Manhattan Nokia Store and they referred me to a repair center which was able to fix it within a couple of hours, but they told me it's NOT covered by warranty. I had to pay $25 to get it fixed.

When I picked up my phone I asked the technician if they are getting a lot of N97 owners with broken keylock sliders and he said "yes, it's a very flimsy design"

I think this should be covered by the warranty, it's the most important button on the phone. Without it you can almost toss the phone in the trash.

Does anyone know of an unlock-software that locks and unlocks the N97 without using the slider?

Thanks,

MB

[matt_t]

25 bucks for a bit of plastic?  I guess there's a hefty labour charge there too.  Hardly the point though.  Sorry to hear you had to pay.

[celticpride34]

MB-

This happened to me aswell yesterday. I could not believe it. The phone is 3 months old. I take care of it. Am very careful with it and yet this happened. I took it to the nokia store and they gave me a new phone (no box, but I think its "new"). They were not plesent to work with. They treated me like a peasent who bought a cheap flip phone instead of their flagship model. I have gone back to my iphone which is so sad. I hate that phone. But I dont want to risk breking the button again and then being left with a phone that Im unable to use or even better, sell and get a REAL phone. I like the N97 in many aspects, but this phone has had quality control issues from the get go. I got the camera lens scratches from the lens "protector" as well but at least I could still use the phone. Once the button breaks off your left with a paper weight. ARE YOU KIDDING ME NOKIA!!!!! SHAME ON YOU. SHAME ON US FOR CONTINUING TO BUY YOUR CHEAP, YET OVERPRICED PRODUCTS!

[crbowles]

I have same problem here, just suddenly broke.  Very annoying when you are 3 months into a 18 month contract.  I am going to ring Vodafone to see what they say.

[westarmy]

I think you can get hold of dissasembly and reassembly (official) papers

well i can, btw i somehow think its illegal because it says "company confidential" on the front page?

[marcbyron]

where can you find these "official" papers and more importantly, where do you find the parts?

[westarmy]

---

marcbyron wrote:
where can you find these "official" papers and more importantly, where do you find the parts?

---

You can get parts off ebay or amazon.

I can get you a video of the dissasembly of the n97 but i am unable to get you the papers, as i think this maybe illegal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mivRBr4HsHw

[chicodamadman]

the same thing happened to my N97 about 2 months ago, went into carphone warehouse and they said that it wouldnt be covered by the warranty and i would need to pay £65. I told them i wouldnt pay a penny, because it broke in my hand while i was using it for the function it was designed to do and walk out. i then called nokia and they told me the it would be covered under the warranty and that i had to go to a nokia repair centre, so i did and they ordered the part for me, went back when they had the part and fitted it in 20mins and didnt charge me a penny. so ppl just go down to your local nokia repair centre and if the switch inside the fone is still intact they will fix it free of charge under the warranty.

[marcbyron]

Might be covered in the UK, not the US. My local repair centre told me that hardware breaks are not covered by warranty.

[alexeiw123]

---

marcbyron wrote:

Does anyone know of an unlock-software that locks and unlocks the N97 without using the slider?

---

there is a program called nunlock it's not free, but there is a free trial. it makes the unlock screen that looks and behaves just like the iphone with the slide to unlock screen. to unlock you press the menu key to bring up the slide to unlock, then obviously.. slide as per iphone. I tried the trial, it works. as for locking the phone, can't think of anything, maybe changing the setting to lock the phone when you close the keypad?

http://thinkchange.cn/products/nunlock/52

[chicodamadman]

i used it while my keylock was broken, and its a pretty cool app. to lock your fone just press the power button and choose lock screen and keys. its that simple.

[chicodamadman]

sorry to hear that mate, maybe nokia customers in us should get together and do something to get nokia to change their terms and conditions. i find it odd that somethin like that would not be covered.

[jumperdot]

I think Nokia US have pulled a fast one. For the life of me I cant see how a warrenty can be exempt from a slider switch, a slider switch which is integral to the phone and its use.

It is like nokia are saying we only warrenty some parts of the phone but not other parts.

If it was my phone I would take it to nokia care and kick up a right stink untill they repaired the phone or refunded the money for the phone or replaced the phone with a new one and without any charge what so ever.

If the slider fell off the phone is not fit for purpose, and I'm sure a country like the US have consumer rights.

[westarmy]

Its the law that anything that's from europe is sold to anywhere else has to have a 2 year warranty,

If they don't allow you, always quote this

http://www.avforums.com/forums/xbox-360-hardware/475729-2-year-warranty-standard-eu-law.html

Nokia -- finland -- manufactured

Just complain, the power key HAS to be part of the warranty since its not hardware,nor is it wear & tear.

Hardware failure is refered to something inside the phone that has failed, (Speakers,camera etc)

Normal failure is just like you dropping it by accident and it COMPLETELY fails.

[rasmus]

I would declare War out of principle.  I think that is the biggest insult ever making you pay $25 to have that fixed - think of all the time out of your day that you had to spend going to get that fixed, then they charge to to add insult to injury.

Nokia should be careful as to not insult their customers - owning a n97 is bad enough, having to pay for their mistakes? no way.

I have had a theory since day 1 of owing the n97 that the only reason the HW button was put on there in the first place is that they had not yet figured out an intelligent way to do it with the touch screen and button combo - i.e. it was a quick hack as S60v5 was so fresh.

[froschy]

@ rasmus - I think you're probably right, the build quality of the rest of the phone is pretty good and then there is this silly plasticky slider. The first time I used it I just knew that it would be the first thing to break.

[kyrsa]

My N97 had this as well and also the camera lens issue and GPS seemed just getting weaker and weaker by day to day..... (this kind of sounds insane but with last week it never found the satellites even outside and on fixed position for 1 hour. Now it have been at nokia care point for 5 days, so lets see what they come up with the broken keylock slider.

[marcbyron]

I have a feeling my slider will break again after three months. If it does I will insist on getting it fixed for free.

[edin1965]

The lock button fell off my phone. Called Three (UK) who advised my to go to the CarPhone Warehouse in central Edinburgh where I was told that they could order the whole new back panel replacement as my camera lens was scratched, but couldn't give me a date.

Went to the Three store in Edinburgh, nothing that they would do about it.

I then started to get heavy with Three Customer Service. Eventually after 4 different people I was offered a brand new replacement (£20 charge), which arrived today and is great, has new camera cover, there is loads more c: memory (still on V11 and I now have 32Mb free) and the GPS reception is amazing. The lock switch seems sturdier and works first time, unlike the previous N97 that could take 2 or 3 attempts to get it working.

Good result all round. I did have to resort to the Sales Of Goods Act, on the basis that the phone was of faulty design/manufacture - revised back panel - and was therefore not fit for purpose and should be replaced.

[joshi139]

this just happened to me today, i went to slide the keyboard lock and it just came off, Has anyone got this covered by warranty in australia?? if this has happened to so many people there is obviously a problem with the design and should be covered. If they dont cover it i would say the ACCC or some kind of consumer protection would make them cover it.