T-Mobile Letting Sidekick Users Break Contracts

By Jane McEntegart
published

Here's an interesting little piece of information for Sidekick users who have had it up to the teeth with T-Mobile: if you shout loud enough, you can break your contract for free.

A post on Giz tells the story of one reader who, having experienced the recent Sidekick-apocalypse first-hand, called T-Mobile to see what his options were. Here's what Gizmodo's source was offered by the T-Mobile agent:

• I'm released from the contract if I want (Yeesh, of course I better be. I can't believe I had to ask). • I can get a G1 for $129 (not sure if that's the normal contract renewal pricing or not; doesn't sound like a great deal to me). • They also suggested Blackberries etc, but I didn't get the pricing (since those are design disasters compared to SK or iPhone).

Now, earlier on T-Mobile released a statement saying they might be able to get some of the data back. For customers who felt the harsh realities of permanent data loss, T-Mobile was offering a $100 giftcard and a month of free service. Naturally there are some users who aren't satisfied and say the compensation isn't good enough.

If you were a Sidekick user and had just lost all of your photos, emails, text messages, to-do lists, contacts etc., which would you prefer? A hundred bucks and a free month of service or a clean break from your network provider, giving you the option to take your custom elsewhere? Let us know how you feel in the comments below!

Jane McEntegart
18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • I heard the sidekick basically had a fail.

    http://gizmoelectronics.blogspot.com/2009/10/powermat.html
    http://www.stophighcosts.com
    Reply
  • wildwell
    I think the customer should be given the $100 gift card regardless if they stay on as customers or not.
    Reply
  • hellwig
    It's good T-Mobile is allowing people out of their contracts. After all, how can you claim a service contract is valid when you failed to provide any service?

    However, this wasn't T-Mobile's fault past the fact that they trusted Danger (and Microsoft) with the management of the data servers. I would stick to T-Mobile, but definitely not with the Sidekick. Try a G1, MyTouch, or even a BlackBerry, and avoid the cloud.

    That said, even Google and RIM could screw-up, and cause a loss of data due to a failed synch or something similar, no modern technology is safe from idiocy. Always keep your own backups (if possible) of anything you consider valuable.
    Reply
  • I stopped reading after the person dissed Blackberry. If you put SK above Blackberry then you are retarded.
    Reply
  • sunflier
    This is Dangers fault. THEY should be the ones handing out money as they FAIL-ed to backup the data prior to the SAN upgrade.

    Reply
  • the_krasno
    I would like a phone that actually works and a compensation for the damages caused by the data loss.
    All in all, I wouldn't settle for less than $1K.
    Reply
  • arrghushakaboorga
    I'd probably want to leave contract and still be offered compensation for the time I'd have to spend getting everything back regardless of whether or not I switch networks
    Reply
  • bk420
    I need to dump Tmobile soon! I can't afford to lose credit data or security breaches.
    Reply
  • wndrrd
    "They also suggested Blackberries etc, but I didn't get the pricing (since those are design disasters compared to SK or iPhone)."

    Haha now that is funny. Umm lets see my Blackberry links to my outlook so contact, calender, to-do lists are alway at my finger tips. Design disasters that is funny SH*T......lol
    Reply
  • wndrrd
    They also suggested Blackberries etc, but I didn't get the pricing (since those are design disasters compared to SK or iPhone).



    Haha now that is funny. Umm lets see my Blackberry links to my outlook so contact, calender, to-do lists are alway at my finger tips. Design disasters that is funny SH*T......lol
    Reply