Connecting the Old to the New

As I mentioned recently, Nokia changed their power adapters on new phone models. I suppose it enables them to design thinner handsets. Considering I have quite a few old chargers, I went round Chiswick today to see if I could find an adapter. It took me quite some time because Chiswick has no less than 8 mobile phone shops. Why? Go figure! But anyway, I did the rounds so here is how it went.

Vodafone

I started with Vodafone because it is the closest to my flat and this is the company with whom I have a contract and who provided me with the phone. The two guys in the shop seemed quite annoyed to see a customer come in and took some time to actually realise what I was asking for. They eventually told me that they could potentially have this and it would cost £15. When I asked how a simple adapter could cost £15, the answer was: Ask Nokia, it's not our price.

Thanks for being so helpful guys, I'll go somewhere else.

Metroline

This one is a brand new shop. The staff was really trying to help but eventually came to the conclusion that it didn't exist and I should buy a new charger instead, which is exactly what I don't want to do.

Carphone Warehouse

They knew immediately what I was looking for but said they didn't stock it and the only shop they knew that stocked it in Chiswick was Orange. When asked about the price, they said it should cost about £5, which sort of confirmed that the guys from Vodafone really didn't know what they were talking about.

O2

They were quick to understand what I was looking for but told me they didn't have that sort of things, didn't know where I could find it nor how much it would cost. At least they tried.

T-Mobile

I had to wait for someone to be available first. That took some time. Then it took even longer to get them to understand what I wanted and tell them that no, I didn't have any adapter in the box with my new phone. They then said that they could potentially order it for me and it would cost me between £10 and £15. When asked why I had been quoted anything between £5 and £15 for the same small piece of wire, the answer was: Don't ask us, ask Nokia.

Those guys must have gone to the same school as the Vodafone guys.

Phones4u

The girl I talked to had no idea whatsoever what I was talking about and got confused between the charger and data sockets on the phone. She was very nice and tried very hard to help but to no avail.

Orange

They knew exactly what I was looking for and said they normally sell it but had run out of stock. They had ordered more but didn't know when they would get them. When being asked for a price, they quoted £5.99. They suggested I check Carphone Warehouse and the internet cafe down the road called Hot Gossip. They also said I could find it on the Nokia web site.

Hot Gossip

Hot Gossip is an internet cafe that doubles as a mobile phone shop. They knew immediately what I was looking for but were out of stock. They quoted £6.99.

Nokia web site

Back home, I went onto the Nokia web site. It took a bit of wandering before I found it but I did. It is a Nokia Charger Adapter CA-44 and it costs £3.50 including VAT. Unfortunately, Nokia are out of stock as well. But they can send you an email when they have the item in stock again so I asked them to do so.

eBay

ThenI had a brainwave and went on eBay. Of course, they have tons of them there, most of them at a price below Nokia's own price. So I bought 3 for a grand total of £7.83, including postage and packing. I love eBay!

This will teach me to go on the internet before trying mobile phone high street shops. Out of 8, 2 really knew what they were talking about, 2 sort of knew but couldn't help and the other 4 were completely clueless. In particular, I was quite amused by the blatant lies from Vodafone and T-Mobile.