My Droid X Horror Story (don't pull the "pull" tab)

[czm2000]

That doesn't sound like a horror story. That sounds like a good luck story. Technically that voids the warranty. Since they were so accomodating and your inconvenience was limited to simply waiting for a new phone Id say it could have been a lot worse. IMHO. Hope you enjoy the new one!

Sent from my DROIDX

 

[Droiduga]

I started to pull the tab because it looked just like the other packaging and protection stuff I was pulling off, then i noticed stuff was coming out that did not look right so i stopped and started looking for directions. I figured it out but found it was very confusing. They should be more clear in the directions about what this is for and to not remove it!

 

[IIGood]

I'll agree...when I first opened mine, I saw the tab and it says "PULL" and has the "do not cut" symbol on it. I didn't see anywhere in the documentation saying what this tab was for.

Fortunately I left it alone, popped the battery in, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. It's a battery release tab. Maybe if it were labeled differently this could've been avoided by all the folks that do rip it off.

I will admit, this is the first mention I've seen of the "?" icon on the battery icon though.

 

[nthanh61]

Well, on mine it said "Release" and not "Pull". May be I have an older version.

 

[pamupnorth22]

sounds awful! i sent mine back yesterday because the phone arrived in an unsealed box. i just cant see why a 500.00 phone would be shipped without the phone or the box being wrapped in some sort of plastic which proves that the phone has not been manhandled and dropped.

 

[pamupnorth22]

sounds awful!

 

[RW-1]

FireDroid I beg to differ. If you happened to read my post carefully, you would see that I consulted the "Getting Started" Guide about the pull tab before i removed it and there is no mention or picture of it anywhere. Even on the User Guide, which is not included with the phone, you cannot even see the pull tab unless you zoom waaaayyy in on the PDF, and the tab in the diagram is a different color than on the actual device. There is no mention of the pull tab or any battery removal device in the entire "Getting Started" guide or the User Guide.

You're correct in the fact that i did not understand the purpose of the pull tab, but the fact that hundreds if not thousands of people have done the same thing i did proves that this is a design flaw. Nobody would intentionally damage their brand new phone.

I admit that i messed up my phone, but if the pull tab was properly labeled this would not be an issue for so many people. You should not have to be an electronics expert to correctly operate a cell phone.

I've seen this in a few nokia phones. I think it's not about bad design (because I think it's a pretty genius lol, efficient and cost effective) but more of bad labeling/communication lol blame the info designers! I'm sure if it was labeled correctly and in the documented better people wouldn't have tried to take it out.

Yeah documentation like DO NOT REMOVE would be nice on the attached part :icon_eek: lol

Oh you mean DO NOT CUT wasn't a hint ? :icon_ banana:

 

[GrillMouster]

I just ordered my Droid X, so I haven't seen this tab you speak of yet. Is it a ribbon, like many old radios and other electronic devices have in the battery compartment?

 

[Humpa]

I've seen this in a few nokia phones. I think it's not about bad design (because I think it's a pretty genius lol, efficient and cost effective) but more of bad labeling/communication lol blame the info designers! I'm sure if it was labeled correctly and in the documented better people wouldn't have tried to take it out.

Yeah documentation like DO NOT REMOVE would be nice on the attached part :icon_eek: lol

Oh you mean DO NOT CUT wasn't a hint ? :icon_ banana:

Well, "pull here" and "do not cut" could be taken as "pull all the way off, do not cut". (I know you were just making a light hearted post - I didn't quote you for any real reason, other than to just quote something)

I'm an electronics tech and 46, and have had all the gadgets that go along with my age an professsion.

I did like many people and tried to pull that thing that said "pull". Many things have something that needs to be peeled off some contacts or whatever, and not cut off. But since this wasn't my first rodeo, I also realized that it looked like it could be for popping the battery out and they had just done a piss poor job of labeling it clearly. ... like how about something novel like "do not remove"?

Good thing you have to be rather industrious to get the thing off, otherwise a huge percentage of users might have done it.

And GrillMouster, it is akin to those ribbon things, but rather cheesy looking - didn't really look like something that would always be there, but more like something you remove before inserting the battery.

 

[gasparov]

Luckily I knew what it was for when I saw it, otherwise I would have surely pulled it out.

 

[bigdog9586]

I worked pretty hard to pull that tab out...put the battery in and went on my merry way. A couple of days later I read your sad story here....and panicked. Luckily I had saved that sticky little pull tab thing, so I found it and put it back into the phone, put the battery in, and all seems to be fine....no wonder I had such a hard time getting that battery out the first time I tried!

Aw, now I don't feel so bad. Luckly I figured it out and dug it out of the wastebasket and stuck it back in. I didn't have any battery problem though.

 

[egrafx]

In my excitement of opening my DroidX box and wanting to get my phone up and running as fast as possible I pulled the tab and sticky label right out! There is nothing in the Quick Start Guide about this and my phone did not come with a user guide (just a reference to it in the Quick Start on how to access on the website or how to order one).

Common sense could say don't pull this because it is clearly to remove the battery (as someone mentioned that it's on so many devices) but I have never seen a tab like this before (but this is also my first smart phone). On the other hand, and obvious from how many people have made the mistake of pulling it out, common sense could say pull this thing out to make room or to expose contact area for the battery.

Anyway, for those of you who have been unfortunate enough to pull this out and throw it away, be sure to save your box because it has your serial number on it.

If you still have your sticker and want to replace it or just want to remove the battery, I have found a very good tool to remove it without any damage or scratching to the battery. Simple use on of those thin metal spring tension clips that are used to hold board into a frame. They are bent at the perfect angle and take almost no effort at all to gently wedge under the battery and lift it out.

 

[Juicemane]

Im sorry, not trying to be mean, but really? No one has ever seen a pull tab for a battery? Everything uses them... Remote controls, alarm clocks, cordless phones, PDA's,... Have you guys never owned any of these things?

Id chalk it up to lack of attention due to extreme excitement lol.

 

[Spinninghorse]

Actually, none of my remotes, cordless phones, moto q, etc have had this pull tab for a battery. But - my printer cartridges have had the pull tab to remove the sticky label before using the cartridge. I did look for the words 'do not remove', didn't see them. I reviewed the documentation, but saw nothing. It said not to cut off, but to pull. Ok, that is what I did. That being said, there was a little excitement involved.

 

[qoncept]

Sorry for your misfortune, but that story did make me chuckle a little bit. At least Verizon is taking care of you.

When I was in the Air Force, they installed these new security badge activated locks on all the doors and everyone needed to go get a new badge made. I sat there in line for probably 3 hours. On the way out, everyone needed to put their badge in front of the tester to make sure it works. Just as I'm finally about to go, the old man in front of me in line walks up to it, looks a little confused, and sticks his badge in the shredder. And I sit back down to wait.