Need to know what to do with new phone and no screen and no support from Telus Store

Question

Purchased a brand new BB Curve 8530, and resigned another three year plan at Telus. Within 20 days, the screen went black and would not light up. I had used the phone in the morning to send a textmail, then set it on the charger. Later in the day, I picked up my phone off the counter, and the screen had gone black. I could not get it back.
I took the phone back to the Telus Store where I had purchased it, and the man who sold it to me, said it is under warranty, and he checked for moisture and any visible damages or scratches, and did not see anything wrong with it. He called to the main store to indicate that he was exchanging my phone straight accross, but the acting manager told him he could not do that. She said he must take the phone and 150.00 from me to send it in for repair and inspection.
I was told that if they decided I had done some damage, then the repair fee would be 500.00. (I am sure they would decide the latter, and I am not prepared to spend another 500.00 on a brand new phone!!!)
I called everyone I could at Telus to complain, but mostly talked to people in India and they said to contact Customer Care. This had been done, and no satisfaction received.
I tried to contact Blackberry, but no call number found, and only an online forum. No satisfaction there either.
I emailed CRTC, and have told everybody I know, about Telus, and we are all planning to get away from this company without care or concerns.
I want to get out of my three year plan with Telus, and I want my money back for this brand new blackberry phone that is sitting on my vanity. ....grrrr!
Most of my friends are moving to Bell, who incidently told me they would have done a straight out exchange for me...after I showed them the undamaged faulty Blackberry phone, and told them of my very bad experience with the Telus Store.
Any suggestions as to find any satisfaction in this scenario? I am currently using an old LG phone that was discarded by my daughter, and it is not a Blackberry, but it works, and the screen always lights up on it.

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done here.  But as a fellow Telus customer, this is bizarre behaviour, and unfortunately, you're not the first to come on here to complain about Telus' service recently.  I wonder if there have been any major corporate shake ups recently.
As a heads up, when you call the Telus Mobility line, you actually should be getting someone in Canada.  They may be in Quebec, or they may be of South Asian decent working in a Canadian call centre, but they are  supposed to be in Canada (some call centre activities have been outsourced to the Phillipines for internet and phone troubleshooting though).
I would like you to go back to the original store and ask to speak to the manager and demand to know why you were charged for a warranty repair.  There may be a legitimate reason, but I certainly don't know it and it's not normal practice for Telus and BlackBerry devices, unless they've come up with a new corporate policy.  Personally, I'd love to know what that reason is.  But it should be as simple as confirming the defect and issuing a replacement refurbished device if an easy repair is not possible.  You might also want to check the terms and conditions of the sale.
When I purchased my device, I purchased an extended warranty which guarantees that if something goes wrong with it, I get a new refurbished phone with no problem, but I'll admit, I no longer know what the case is for devices without an extended warranty.
As a final bit of info, you can follow up with filing further complaints as indicated here: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/t1021.htm  This link provides links to the other appropiate agencies to complain to, including Industry Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs and the Commisioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.  Hopefully they can help further.
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