This one’s going to be shaky until T-Mobile makes an official statement or the first delivery is made, but it’s a nice enough idea that we figured it was worth a mention. GoogleAndBlog is reporting that T-Mobile is looking to pacify the complaints on the G1’s dismal battery by hooking up customers with a bigger, badder one.
Now, the only confirmation so far seems to be from a T-Mobile Customer Support rep. Normally we’d laugh such confirmation off; for details on new hardware or coming announcements, CS reps often just repeat slightly imaginative versions of what they’ve read on the blogs, or what their colleagues read on the blogs and regurgitated as gospel. That said, this sounds like something the Customer Service crews would be clued in on in advance, as a means of retaining customers seeking to return the G1 due to a lacking battery.
Of course, a couple hundred thousand batteries and all of the shipping involved wouldn’t come cheap, so we remain dubious on this one. If T-Mo does have something in the works involving complimentary extended batteries, we’d imagine that they’d hold off sending them out to anyone that doesn’t call in complaining.
@ Greg,
I was dubious at first and thought it was simply pollyanna hopes but this T-Mobile rep was adamant and was also posted in the T-Mobile G1 board by a moderator.
I continue to be skeptical until I see something official, but I also have hopes this post could cattle prod it along to fruition.
Thanks for the mention and great work on your all around mobile updates here at MobileCrunch.
,Michael Martin
http://www.googleandblog.com/
Ugh. I just bought an extended battery. (It literally arrived in the mail just prior to my reading this.)
NOW they tell me. lol
Cant wait, up to 2-3 charges a day. But then again, I really severely multi task my G1
Does anyone know if this applies to Google’s Dev phone? I plan on ordering the dev phone in January, and I want the more powerful battery to come with it.
I do not believe the dev phone came from tMob – As I understand it, they come directly from HTC as portal’d through Google for Android.
It would also be nice to see them divy out some of the headphone adapters that all recent buyers have received in box, but early adopters missed out on. I haven’t even been able to find one in stock at the tMob stores…
2 other notes: Last ngiht went to my local authorized tMobile retailer in Citrus Heights, Ca. and realized that the entire time I was there I had zero bars of any kind, that they were not a HotSpot and then found out that tMobile had stopped selling the USB portable battery recharger I purchased from them last month because it was a piece of junk that only recharges half of my 37 minute battery.
Let’s not forget that they removed the upgrade fee to help their “existing customers” conveniently after collecting well more than a million of them from G1 adopters…
T-Mobile – I am a long time loyal customer and you keep kicking dirt in my face, you owe me. BIG TIME. I signed a new contract to get my upgrade price.. my contract would have been up and I could have iPhone’d… There is a very bitter taste in this customers mouth.
I myself stepped into a t-mobile store. Told them I had lost my headphones.
They quickly went behind the back door and handed me a new headphone. And the headphone was this extUSB -3.5″ Adapter and a regular headphone.
So why not ask a local T-mobile rep (and a REAL store, not the resellers, they don’t care about you the moment you bought their phone)
I shall harass them!
I couldn’t find t-mobile from my native town.