Two Major Problems I Found With The LG500G Phone From Tracfone

Within the last couple of weeks our area was hit with a lot storm damage, and some AT&T cell towers were knocked down. So, between that and the fact that I'm pretty much someone who sees some benefit to having an extra phone or two around, when I saw the LG500G on sale in CVS for nine dollars I figured I'd pick one up. The phone if offered by Tracfone and came with "double minutes for the life of the phone".

It was packaged in one of those see-through, hang-on-hook, packages; so I could see the phone, and it looked kind of nice. I figured I'd put some basic time on it and leave it as yet another spare. I have grown kids and a couple of family members and friends who have been known to let their batteries die or else lose their own phones. Besides, it had become clear (when I'd at times seen my AT&T phone-screen read, "Emergency Call Only", right after the storm) that having another service provider might not be a bad idea. A family member's Tracfone worked mostly OK around the time of the storm; so even though I knew that cell phones towers aren't particularly exclusively used only by one company; the fact that someone's Tracfone worked (mostly) while AT&T phones were having more trouble made me apply the "eggs-in-basket" principle to whatever cell phones I hoped would be reliable, or at least good back-up.

In a time when companies like Verizon are convincing people to get rid of their old-fashioned home-phone wires (to the house) and get service "lumped in" with Internet and other services, I'd seen the need for trying to make sure cell phone service was available when my sister's once-fairly-resistant-to-winds home-phone service was knocked out with her Internet service.

So, the sale-priced LG500G seemed like a good idea when I saw it. (The regular price for it at CVS was $29.99.)

Out from the behind the clear-plastic packaging, the phone looks every bit as nice and as "quality" as it appeared behind the see-through plastic. It feels a lot cheaper than it looks, however. Some people like "lightweight", though. Even with that, it's a glossy black phone with with a QWERTY keyboard and a lighted dial. It has an mp3 player in it (nice), and the sound isn't bad (as far as music on any phone without a stereo headset goes). The phone has a nice sound to the ringtones, and I liked the fact that I could add my favorite flower wallpaper WITH a calendar as well as wallpaper.

I didn't get into all the features of the phone because I didn't really care about them. An SD card is necessary for some things (like music), so that's fine. To whatever extent I cared about what the back-up phone did or didn't do, I was pleased enough with the overall look and features. Although I'm still pleased enough with the look and features, I can't say I'm generally pleased with the phone. In fact, I kind of hate it.

Problem With Connecting The Charger

First, I discovered that the place where the plug for the charger goes is apparently damaged or flawed. To the best of my knowledge the phone is a new one (not re-furbished), so I really think there shouldn't be a problem with connecting the charger. I discovered the problem the first time I tried to plug it into the phone, and the connecting end of the cable wouldn't go all the way into the phone. I have other things that have the exact same kind of charger, so I know they usually go all the way in. The way I determined whether it was the phone or the charger that had the problem was that I plugged the phone's charger into my Kindle. It was fine.

In the meantime, charging the phone has remained a problem (at least until I see what CVS and/or Tracfone might do about it). Not only doesn't the "little plug" go all the way into where it should, but it falls out. And, it doesn't just fall out if/when the phone or the cable or moved. It falls out even when the phone is left somewhere where even slight motion won't be a factor.

Now, I know problems can show up with new items, and I know that returning items or requesting replacements is what people do. So, it's not particularly the fact that a "bad" phone happened. What irks me more is the fact that a "bad" phone made it's way past quality control and into the package that I would see at CVS. Problems with new products do happen, but, to me, it's not a good sign when something this fundamental is wrong with a product. It either means that LG has poor quality control, or else it means they have none (at least as far as I, as a consumer, am concerned).

I'm no engineer, and I know nothing about manufacturing phones or monitoring quality; but I'd think that something as basic as whether the charger can be used correctly with the phone might be one of the biggest things to check before sending a phone to be packaged.

Since I have yet contacted either Tracfone or CVS about the bad phone, I'm not particularly concerned about whether or not they'll do something to make things right. Here's one problem, however: The phone is a double-minutes-for-the-life-of-the-phone thing. I imagined Tracfone might be happy enough to send me a new LG500G, but I'm not sure what they'll go if I don't want that model. The fact is I don't think I want a replacement phone if the replacement is going to be another LG500G. Here's why:

BIG Problem With Key Location and Accidental Browser-Starting

It's really not hyperbole (well, it is just a little, but ot much) to say that every time I pick up this phone it costs me from fifty cents to a dollar a half in phone minutes (or whatever I should be calling the money I put on the phone).

This phone looks like a lot of other "Blackberry look-alikes" as far as the buttons go. It has two "major" buttons just under the screen, with one of those buttons on the far right; and the other, on the far left. As far as I'm concerned, however, the location of the keys on this phone don't make the same good sense that the locations of keys on the Blackberry or lookalikes do.

What the unsuspecting user doesn't know it that he must be careful not to press the wrong button if he doesn't want to get the browser started. What the user needs to keep in mind is that, for the most part, the "main" functions are accessed by using one of two little buttons, recessed and "squooshed", next to the main navigation key.

The left-hand outer button is as it is on so many phones. It's the "send" button, and it gets a person to the menu. That button gets a person to recent calls. Fine. The right-hand "squooshed" button is the one that sets the browser "going wild". Both outer-edge buttons can easily be felt and accessed by touch, because the edge of the phone "marks" them. There's a slight indent that "calls" the fingertips to those buttons.

The navigation key stands out both visually and through feel. Essentially, the navigation key and outer keys call attention to themselves, while the recessed, "squooshed-in", keys a user most often may want to use can kind of get lost. I've got your basic "woman's hands/fingers", so in the scheme of hand and finger size, I don't usually have a problem with small keys. I have a big problem with the keys on this phone, however. After the first few times I accidentally got the message that the missed button has cost me fifty cents, and then after I'd further hit wrong buttons or else not been quick enough, gotten a message to say I'd run up a couple of more fifty-cent charges; I learned that if I were to use this phone I'd have to become "paranoidly careful" about making sure I kind of angled my fingers in a way that would reach the recessed and "squooshed" buttons I wanted to use. The biggest problem is the "Back" button, so you can imagine how many opportunities there are for accidentally starting the browser. (Of course, once I see that I've accidentally started the browser, I then tend to get into a flustered, "haste-makes-waste" kind of mode, which means I forget the quickest and most permanent way off "exiting". I guess the problem with aiming for "Back" is that it's very easy to hit the wrong button, or even (at least with the unfamiliar phone) forget which button gets a person "back".

I'd say, "Maybe it's me," but I've seen online that I'm not the only one to run into the accidental-browser issue. Someone wanted to know if the browser could be disabled, but the only answer given was that she could hit some key that would shut off the screen, and then turn the screen back on before using the phone. (1. There would go my calendar, and 2. who really wants to go all through all that???)

In fairness to the phone, I suppose I could eventually get used to the keys, but I don't really want to. As far as I'm concerned, the keys are set up in a way that's "stupid". There's SOME inconsistency going on with what does what, and just now when I went to the phone and tried to figure out exactly what that inconsistency is, it cost me another dollar a half (imagine one two rolling-eye emoticons here, one "mean-face" emoticon, and one laughing emoticon here, please).

Now, with a spare phone that has double minutes and quite a bit of time on it, would it really be the "end of the world" if I occasionally decide to use the phone and run up another fifty cents or dollar-and-a-half in time? Probably not. It's extremely aggravating, though. And, with a spare phone it's that much less likely I'd ever get used to button issue. I've actually considered trying to use the phone for a few days and trying to get more used to the weird button arrangement. I can't be bothered.

So, plans to return or request a replacement aside, as of right now I've got this reasonably attractive, nicely glossy, but somewhat cheesy looking and feeling phone nonetheless, that's got great wallpaper (complete with calendar) and a very nice sound in the event I ever listen to an mp3 player without a stereo headset (which I don't plan to do).

On the one hand, I know I can only expect so much for a measly nine dollars. On the same hand, I also know that is a fairly decent phone for even a measly twenty-nine dollars. On the other hand, the phone on my desk with all its issues, and it just makes me feel kind of "mean" just to see it (wallpaper or no wallpaper). (Imagine three "mean-face" emoticons here, please).

For the very modest price of a mere nine dollars, I bought myself (essentially) a big mess that I now have to deal with. I can imagine what will be involved if I bring the phone back to CVS and get into the whole SIM-card switching thing. First, the phone came with hits SIM card. Second, it was no piece of cake to get the phone registered in my name with Tracfone in the first place. Again, though, I don't even know if I want a replacement for the phone because I'm pretty much scared to death to even touch this particular model as far as running up charges goes, and I'm not sure I even want another low-priced model to replace it.

It has occurred to me that I could just consider the phone to be nine-dollars wasted (not a big deal), and if I ever use the phone (or eat away at whatever money is on it in mistaken browser sign-ons), just don't replace any time on it. I just very carefully approached the phone to look at the time on it, and I and saw that the expiration date is for March 2012. So far, I've wasted twelve dollars and change in accidental browser "issues".

You get what you pay for. In fact, I now seem to have learned that not only do you get what you pay for, but you get a whole lot more that you didn't bargain for.