Well, I've recently become the owner (well, from the company's perspective) of a Sony Ericsson V600i. A fairly new phone, if I understand correctly. Also, not bad in terms of features. But it has a serious bug in the built-in SSL library - some certificates (apparently all those signed with a certain Thawte root certificate) are rejected as invalid. Unfortunately, Google uses something like this for the mail server - I can only access my mail via the web interface with the phone, not via POP3S.

So, in May, I wrote to Sony-Ericsson support. I described my problem and asked for a comment - maybe I can work around the problem. The error causes me to be unable to install the Thawte root certificate, the phone rejects it outright. And the mail client does not allow an override for SSL connections with supposedly invalid certificates - unlike the web browser, which does allow it.

The first comment from support: they had no information about this problem. Great. But my email provided them with some, why can't they just pass it on to the technical department? Well, I described my problem again, in more detail - maybe the first email was too technical for the S-E supporters. And no, the suggestion to contact Google about the problem, or Thawte, is rather silly. SSL certificates are an industry standard.

Well, after my second email to support, the matter is at least being passed on to the technical department. So, a good sign. I thought.

What came, however, was rather embarrassing. Because in the following weeks, nothing happened. I was in the virtual equivalent of a waiting loop - every few days a note that there was still no information on the point from the technical department. Incidentally, a simple and primitive bug to replicate: try to upload the certificate I attached via Bluetooth and see the error message on the phone. Should take only a few minutes to at least confirm that the error was replicated. Well, I was in the waiting loop. For a month (pretty much exactly - the message went to the technical department on the 18th, today is the 19th).

Today, the answer from the technical department came. I can't help it, I have to quote it verbatim:

Our back office has informed us that further development for this mobile phone has been discontinued and that the conflict can therefore no longer be resolved here. This will only be possible with future models. Thank you for your understanding.

Exactly. A relatively new phone, for which there were still delivery delays due to its novelty when it was ordered. A phone that is still under legal warranty. A bug that makes an industry standard only partially usable. A bug that simply disables some functions of the phone. But I am supposed to understand that development has been discontinued. I can buy one of the mysterious successor phones. Or, as offered in the same email, buy more accessories from the store.

Hello? Reality check? You've already ripped me off once, do you really think I'll buy another phone from Sony-Ericsson? Why? So that it will no longer be developed right after purchase and I get the short end of the stick?

Phone manufacturers are just as arrogant and have the same loss of reality as the music industry - no idea about customers, no idea about customer needs, and no idea what a customer expects from a product - that it is at least supported during the legal warranty period, for example.

Take the phone as it is - bugs included? Doesn't matter, it's your problem, customer, not ours. And in the background, the bosses are rubbing their hands together, laughing maliciously, firing employees, and pocketing the big salaries. A pathetic picture, Sony-Ericsson. Quite pathetic ...