Until today I have been a staunch BB supporter. Sure there were some warts. But, the product was good and overall I had no motive to go anywhere else. That is, until now.

I bought two Playbooks a week ago. From the advertising and the BB web site they looked like the perfect compliment to our laptops and Torches. The vendor delivered them on time and in good condition. Then the disaster began.

Bottom line: In 2012 Blackberry is providing customer information and support at 1982 levels. I'll not bore anyone with excessive details. But here are a couple:
-Help file is online only. Even then it is not correct for setup.
-When attempting to synch my email acccount from either the Torch or the Laptop it doesn't work. The spash screen says the account is not properly configured and refers the user to a help file. That tells the user to use the synch switches. Except there are no synch swiitches displayed. Hmmm, maybe I did something wrong? So, after an hour of carefully redoing setup and checking the Help file it is off to the web site. It says the same thing. So I call Support.
-At Support, although I have already registered the Playbook and given all contact information the Rep requires me to do it again. Can't look at the customer profile? No profile? After 28 minutes that hurdle is over.
-The Rep tells me I have to get my ISP to do the Calendar and Contact synch. I ask where the ISP is going to get the info since my ISP doesn't have it. Then the rep goes off line. A few minutes later the rep comes back and tells me POP email accounts are not supported for synchronization.
-It would have been nice to know that from the initial screen displays and help files. It would have saved me a bundle of time.
-How about Favorites/Bookmarks? Can I synch them? Nope. Have to type each one in individually. Nothing in the new-guy files.

I'm not going to go into all the other links that don't work, instructions that are wrong, etc. The device itself looks good, great display, takes forever to turn On but once On is fast, Bridge is useful. But, between all the instruction and web site problems, as a user, I'm never sure whether an apparent problem is me or the machine.

Sort of a summary: Advertising was great. Price was very good. But, customer interface is poor at best. Instructions are sparse and in many cases flat wrong. This adds up to diminishing the product's value.

Oh yes: Is the Playbook worth buying, even with its' blemishes? I don't know yet. It is in the same price bracket as a Kindle Fire. So, if all you want is a book reader probably. Audio quality is good. But, unless it is bridged to the smartphone it really isn't very capable. Certainly not up to the standards set by other products.

Too bad they can't seem to get their act together.

You just bought PlayBooks NOW?? I'm sorry to say that this one's on you, not BlackBerry.

So, giving a company that claims it is reformed and is trying to become customer oriented is somehow a fault? Hardly.

Note that most of my post has to do with its' poor customer service. The minority part has to do with the actual device not performing according to current advertising.

At current prices the financial risk was small. Information gained great. Bottom line is that Blackberry demonstrated they are still not consumer friendly. If they were their advertising would have been accurate, I would not have been required to give profile information multiple times, their help screens and web site information would have been acccurate. To me those matters are much more important than actual device performance.

I have literally never called BlackBerry, or my carrier, for support, so I can't speak to the customer service aspect, but I can tell you that everything you could possibly want to know about a BB device can be found in their forums, their knowledge base, or here at blackberryforums.com.

I bet you could find most of your answers here, and never fool with tech support.

fourstringer you post as a true, died in the wool, tech who considers any problem a challenge to be solved. Back in the old days I used to think that way too. But, those days are largely gone.

Today I, and I suspect most folks, want a product that does what it is advertised to do. That, if we have a question, the manufacturer/seller will answer. In fact that is what Blackberry advertised for this product. They reinforced it with a guaranteed 90 Day support included in the purchase price. I am no longer a Techie and have no desire to go back to that.

What I just went through was perfectly acceptable only a few years ago. Today, Blackberry has said it has shifted into a more modern, consumer paradigm. I didn't experience that. If it has not shifted then the company's future is in jeopardy, I think.

with their lack of customer support, i think they will fail, among other things.
lack of app utilities, like skype has really pissed me off.
their hardware accessory selection could use some work too. i would kill for a USB and charging docking station for my playbook; the crappy cable that comes with the playbook just doesn't cut it. its downright crap. the charging pod is ok, but they failed by not having a USB data connection on it.
i thought about going to a ipad(they seem to have all the apps i want), but since i hate proprietary software for things like 'converting' mp3 files, i probably won't.
my next upgrade will probably be a pc platform tablet.
all in all, BB has lost me as a customer.

Thanks for that input.

It is your money and your choice. But, your language doesn't inspire confidence that you are for real.

I'll post a summary later. But, at this point it looks like the Playbook is a very good device. I can find no fault with the hardware or accessories. If there was a corporate mind set change Blackberry products would be without equal.

I have 3 playbooks at home. there might be some limitations but over all its a great tablet

I didn't know that Computer Science was still carrying the 7100T. They must be the last carrier to do so.

Responding to a spammer?

Sorry, bored.