I can't write another word this morning about the Isles loss. I just can't. So how about I use this space for a public service announcement?
DON'T BUY A PROSCAN 7" TABLET.
Curtis International LTD, a Canadian company no less, is distributing these low-end android tablets under the name PROSCAN. I saw an ad before Christmas that PC Richards was having a sale on them for the low price of only $60.
Now, you know me, I don't like to spend money I don't have so that is why I do not have an "i" anything and my phone is Amish. So when my husband was harrassing me about buying me a Christmas gift OTHER than the Shark pocket steam mop that I wanted, I found the ad and said, "I'll try a tablet and see if I like it."
He ordered it on Black Friday and held it until Christmas. Christmas morning came and there was the box with the 7" black glass challenge inside. I charged it overnight as it said, and read the instruction manual. That in itself was a challenge. The English was so poor that some of the instructions were impossible to decipher, even for my high-tech 18-year-old. We laughed at the manual and it's poorly formulated instructions.
The next day I actually managed to set the date and time properly and get onto the web. It was fast but difficult to type on. I stumbled on the "speak it" feature which I fought with trying to blog or Tweet.
But... I was still learning. The tablet came with an icon for GoogleStore for downloads, the only problem was that GoogleStore itself DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS PARTICULAR TABLET. So I am guessing the software goes with one of their other higher end products. I tried in vain to download anything, including AVG virus software for tablets. Nothing worked, so I said screw it, I'll just use it to read. I did that for two more weeks and then it just stopped turning on.
Wait, not really, it would turn on, flash it's name and "android" across that sleek screen and promptly shut off. I called the tech support number and spoke with someone regarding the problem who gave me a series of steps to take. Push in the reset hole, charge it for six hours, hold down the start button for ten seconds, wave it over your head five times - etc.
"That should work to put it back to it's factory settings." I tried it, five times. It never started up again. I called Sri-Lanka AGAIN and spoke with a different tech. He told me it needed to be repaired. Put it back in the box and let him charge my credit card $7 and send it to Curtis International in Vernon Hills, IL, and they would either fix or replace it in a few weeks.
Okay, not too bad as I didn't just want to bring it back to PC Richards because it already had my passwords stored on it, and since I couldn't reset it, I was afraid they'd just resell it. When I told the tech on the phone that I was afraid of someone getting my passwords, he assured me that the tablet would be wiped out upon arrival and fixed. I boxed it up and sent it via fed ex to the US address they gave me.
A few weeks later it arrived back. I was very excited to open the box and see if they had fixed it or if there was another one in the box. It wasn't mine as the serial number was different. Okay, so they replaced it. Not so bad. There were different icons on the screen this time when I started it up and one had a big red star on it. I looked in the poorly written manual and couldn't find anything that looked like that. But I couldn't keep the tablet turned on as it said it had only 1% battery life.
I plugged in the charger and noticed it wasn't going into the slot all the way. Hmmmm... I wiggled it and saw that the charge light was on and left it alone for the day. When I returned, it had not charged. It actually refused to charge no matter what I did. The brief moment that I actually got it running I clicked on the big red star which said "Web Connection Cannot be made."
Huh? Yep. There was something wrong with the wifi connection on this tablet because even sitting in front of my wireless router, it saw it, but refused to connect to it. Basically Curtis International took the $7.12 (with the Canadian exchange increase) and my non-working tablet and replaced it with someone elses non-working tablet.
I was pissed as hell. So I called their tech line AGAIN and spoke to yet someone else in some far off land and expressed my disatisfaction. As it was a Sunday, they told me that someone would get back to me tomorrow (Monday) regarding the problem and gave me a case number.
NO ONE EVER CALLED ME BACK. NO ONE.
I decided to call PC Richards and explain my plight. They apologized repeatedly and sent me a return UPS label via email and said my charge card would be credited upon arrival.
It was. No questions asked, although I did put a lengthly letter in the box with my problems that I had with PROSCAN and CURTIS INTERNATIONAL. NOTE TO CONSUMERS: There is a reason that Big Lots and others can sell these things cheap -- THEY DON'T WORK.
In other news, my Shark Steam pocket mop works amazing!
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