Why the AT&T Quickfire got knicked: People weren't plugging it in correctly

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A few days ago, we found out that AT&T had decided to pull all of their Sidekicktastic Quickfire units from the shelves, citing a failure to meet “performance expectations” as the sole (and rather ambiguous) reason. While we’d gone ahead and assumed they’d come to the shocking revelation that the Quickfire was painted with pure lead or the radiation levels were causing people to grow extra limbs, the real reason isn’t quite as exciting: people couldn’t figure out how to plug in the charger properly, and jamming it in the wrong way caused the units to overheat.

AT&T customers will soon begin receiving e-mails telling them how to get the electric juices flowing the right way, along with a text sent to their devices to make sure they’re completely aware. Being that they’re already pulling them all off the shelves, we’d guess that AT&T is also planning to modify the hardware to make doing things the wrong way a bit more difficult – or at least throwing a big “Hey! Read this so your device doesn’t melt!” pamphlet into every box.

Full text of both the e-mail and the SMS follow:

Please take special care when charging your Quickfire GTX75 mobile phone. There have been a few reports of significant overheating of the phone when the AC Charger adapter is inserted incorrectly and forced into the phone.

The clearly marked, embossed arrow on the AC Charger adapter should always be face-up on the same side as the display screen of the Quickfire when it is inserted into the phone. See the diagram below for proper positioning and insertion of the AC Charger adapter into the phone. You should never force the AC Charger adapter into the phone.

If you have any questions, please call 1-800-801-1101.

Sincerely,

AT&T

TEXT MESSAGE

AT&T Free Msg. Click www.att.com/wapmyaccountqf for an important safety message on how to properly charge your Quickfire.