Expert: DebiN - 11/14/2009

Question
I have had my Krzr for 3 years and all of the sudden something happen.  When it is on now there is a message that says "insert sim" even though it is in there.  I have taken it out and put it back in a couple of times and cleaned off the contacts.  I went to the At&t store and they gave me a new sim card but it still says the same error message with that one.  You can see that the phone still has my wallpaper in the background and still vibrates and everything so it is not really broken, something is just wrong with it not recognizing the sim card.  Can anyone help me?  Is there some replacement part I can buy to put in the phone?  I really like this phone so I really want to fix it.

Answer
It's unfortunate that the AT&T rep led you down the wrong path. When a phone says "Insert SIM", it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the SIM card. That is rarely, if ever, the case. Cleaning the contacts is the first step, which you have done and didn't work. If you can't make or receive calls, then the issue is actually with the radio antenna, which is what the phone uses to access the cell tower so that you can make and receive calls. It is very likely that it is cracked or broken. But in all honesty, a three year old Krzr would probably cost more to repair than to replace with a new contract. There are many nicer, better, more feature rich phones that AT&T has today and if I were you, I would seriously consider just getting a new phone. A 2 year contract is nothing these days and each month, the fee goes down by $5.00 anyway. There are several phones for free now and many at low cost. I would honestly consider getting a new phone. There's no part that you can replace on your own, you would need to have the device professionally repaired. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN