I'm pretty sure that's the weirdest looking blog post title ever to appear here on CrackBerry.com, but bare with me and I'll explain... As we were winding down Podcast Episode 041, we got a last-minute email from Lisa (who by the way has listened to every single episode - totally hardcore!) that posed the following question:
About 6 months ago, I bought a BlackBerry Curve 8330 through Verizon's New Every Two program for 49.99 and let me tell you I totally love it. My question is when you go into Options and Status and type the letters b-u-y-r, 2 hidden rows show up: Data Usage and Voice Usage. What do they mean? Should I be worried that I've exceeded these amounts? I've looked all over the web for an answer and can't seem to find it.
For users who may be on a BES, typing buyr on the options > status screen will let you know if an IT Policy is enabled on your device. If you're a BIS customer, you'll get the Data Usage and Voice Usage stats. Lisa's question had us stumped on the podcast, and to be honest, we're still not totally sure what the verdict is here. If you don't have the exceeded 250k data / exceeded 60 minutes voice message, what you'll see are actual figures of data used and minutes of voice used. Some googling around found that **maybe** this exceeded message (which can't be reset as far I know) is related to an old warranty/return type thing from RIM - once you've used over 60minutes voice/250k data the device is yours to keep whether you like it or not. But not all devices seem to show this message even when going over the limits. Below you'll see some screencaps sent in by Dave snapped from his Curve 8520, Curve 8900 and Storm. All of them are running on unlimited plans and the messages displayed are all different - on his Storm he gets the exceeded limits message, and on his 8520 he has exceeded the limits but the usage stats keep rolling. Does whether or not the exceeded message appears depend on the device, OS version, carrier, plan, BIS vs. BES, etc.? Maybe if you unlock your device the exceeded message goes away? As pointed out in the comments, does BUYR = buyer's remorse??
I'm an addict (never claim to be an expert just in case things like this pop up and I don't know the answer!), so on this one we'll throw it out to the community and hopefully somebody reading this can explain exactly what these messages refer to and why they are there. I bet it's something simple like the max usage allowed before a return, but I just don't know for sure! Type BUYR into your Status screen and see what you get. Any ideas here?Â
Curve 8520
Curve 8900
Storm
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111 comments
Data Usage: 785147.2k
Voice Usage: 7:41:32
telus tour
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Min
Was on ATT and now Tmobile
Oh yeah I have a 9000 Bold
I think it is definitely a warranty-type of thing that RIM can use to see how much voice/data has been used (250k and 60 minutes must be a benchmark that they limit certain warranties to --- on BIS). It's also good because it seems to display how much voice/data has been used up until those limits - this is good if you buy a phone off ebay and want to check if it is indeed "Brand New" or if it might be a refurb.
For the limit to be an hour on the phone is silly!
Using a Tour (Verizon,) typed it in, got the following
Data Usage: 558884.5K
Voice Usage: 12:57:18
IT Policy: Disabled
I cant seem to "clear" the numbers either...
data usage 54386.9k
Voice 11:30:42
Brand new since january Telus Storm on BIS
I don't talk all that much but 11 hours? wow already.....
I have a Verizon Tour:
Data Usage: 414714
Voice Usage: 6:02:35
IT Policy: Disabled
see..that's what's weird to me then. if it's the warranty thing, basically everybody's should be exceeded fairly quickly. yet then in many cases it keeps counting higher way beyond the limits. so for who does it show exceeded and for who does it just keep counting?
I work for a small service provider. It is our policy that a customer can return a phone they don't like, as long as less than 60 minutes of talktime is on the phone. As it was explained to me, this is because a phone with less that 60 minutes on it can still be sold as "new." I assume the data usage is for the same purpose. Hope that helps.
Also, the policy under which this return is done is referred to as Buyer's Remorse. Could explain the letters BUYR
this makes the most sense so far
Ya i agree!
I forgot to mention I am not on a BES at work. It strictly is just a blackberry phone for my personal use (BIS). If that makes any difference to people.
once on that screen, if you hit the menu button then select "database sizes" it brings up a cool screen that shows all sorts of information.. dont think it's all related to the Data Usage or Voice Usage lines though...
For all those posting comments here, please post the following section as part of your comment as follows:
Phone: Bold 9000
Carrier: AT&T
Locked: Yes
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Minutes
I believe if all those who post here their comments fill in this "form"...we might get some answers...
Thanks ya'll
338009.1K
8:33:49
telus storm running on bes
interesting!
just to clarify, mine doesnt say anything about 'exceeded'
IT policy is enabled too
I have a new Tour from Verizon (just got it 2 weeks ago and LOVE IT!!!):
Data Usage: 13549.7K
Voice Usage: 2:28:58
IT Policy: Disabled
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Min
On ATT
Verizon Storm BIS
Data Usage: Exceeded 250k
Voice Usage: exceeded 60 Minutes
Phone: 9530 Storm
Carrier: VZW
Locked: unlocked
Data Usage: 161103.6K
Voice Usage: 16:44:51
IT Policy: Disabled
Mine reads 'IT Policy Enabled' for both of my 8700c & Bold except for my Storm which is disabled. Am I in danger?
Phone: Bold 9000
Carrier: AT&T
Locked: Yes
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Minutes
my bold is unlocked and i get
exceeded 250k
exceeded 60 mins
Data: Exceeded 250K
Voice: Exceeded 60 Minutes
I have the $69.99 Everything plan on Sprint.
OS 4.4.0.131 and using BBM 5.0 if that helps any.
I forgot to add BIS and BES...
I'm on BIS
Phone: Curve 8330
Carrier: Verizon
Locked: Yes
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Minutes
I wonder if you do a wipe and reinstall your os if the numbers reset to 0. I have installed 6 hybrids over the past few days, so I'm out on trying, but curious to see if this would make any difference or not. Sort of like your uptime going back to 0 after a battery pull.
I have had my Storm for months on Verizon BIS Locked and so surely these numbers should be exceeded for me, but I wiped last night and:
Data Usage: 452,101K
Voice Usage: 1:17:25:54
edit: Wait mine doesn't make any sense at all. Over 250K but it still shows the whole number. And why do I have an extra set of digits in my voice usage? Days/hrs/mins/secs? Maybe they don't reset at a wipe.
I'm using an unlocked BlackBerry Bold on AT&T with the latest official OS that was released this week. I get the same messages on the status screen. Weird stuff.
BB 8830 on US Cellular, BES user
Data Usage: IT Policy Enabled
Voice Usage: IT Policy Enabled
Phone: Curve 8330
Carrier: Alltel/Version
Locked: Yes
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Minutes
Purchased: 03-2009
Phone: Curve 8310
Carrier: AT&T
Locked: NO
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage: Exceeded 60 Minutes
I have a Blackberry Tour, and mine says the same as Dave's Curve 8520. Mybe it's like you said, it could be some type of limit of when you can return it.
if it says it policy enabled that means i gotta disable it?
data usage: exceeded 1048576k
voice usage: 1:20:19:43
IT: disabled
it is for buyers remorse...an "odometer" for vendors to see how much the blackberry has been used so they can save money by not sending it back to RIM for RMA, and to resell it. Its unaffected by wiping or unlocking
makes sense. get that. but in what situations then does it show exceeded and in what situations does it just keep counting? as people are reporting both based on any given condition (locked/unlocked, carrier, etc.)
I am running a storm (OS .151) on verizon and BPS.
Data: 61972.2K
Voice: 1:03:51:31
IT Policy: Enabled
Never seen or heard of this before so I have no clue what the numbers mean but it is weird that some show different things. Possibly an OS version thing?
Data Usage: Exceeded 250K
Voice Usage Exceeded 60 Minutes
My phone is unlocked too if that helps.
Sprint Tour 9630
Locked
BIS
Data Usage: 46248.6k
Voice Usage: 6:10:36
IT Policy: Disabled
If you close out of status and options completely it takes these lines away. Also the Database Size option is available regardless if you have the 2 lines showing or not.
mine says exceeded 60 minutes and exceeded 250k (vzw 8830 4.5 OS)
here's something to try. go to a retail store and pick up a "new" blackberry on display and type the same thing. i bet it doesn't say exceeded anything. this way you can spot a new vs used blackberry. like we needed a way to tell it's new when we're taking it out of the box. but that's all i can think this might be used for.
How do you get it off the screen once you type it in? or is it stuck
This only makes me wonder what other secret codes might there be in parts of the OS that would reveal interesting data? Anyone?
I'm wondering about the same thing as posted above. How do you get it off? any ideas pls?
How did you figure to type B-U-Y-R-2 in on the status screen? weird combo for an accident
I have an unlocked Curve 8900 running on T-Mobile and my stats are:
Data usage exceeds 1,048,576k
Voice Usage: 16:08:33:35
And no IT Policy on BIS
I'm also on OS 5.0.0.190 if that helps any either.
Wow, didn't realize I talked THAT much if thats really the case.
Go back to Options and go to the menu, and Close out to make it go away.
Is it occurring to anyone else that Kevin could tell us to do anything?
That worked, thanks!
Just upgraded to 5.0.0.190 today and have not used it to make a call on this version yet. The phone itself is about 2 months old...
Data Usage: 1384.5K
Voice Usage: 0:00
IT Policy: Enabled
I'm assuming the upgrade cleared out the values. Don't know how this could be related to a "Buyer's Remorse" policy if that's the case.
Mine came up the same as Lisa's and my 8330m is on an Everything Data Family Plan with Sprint. Curious to see if anyone knows exactly what this stands for, too!
Verizon Storm (3 weeks old)
OS 4.7..0.148
Data usage 250k
Voice Usage: 60 Minutes
IT POLICY DOES NOT SHOW AT ALL. (I'm BIS)
Verizon Tour (3 weeks old)
OS 4.7.1.0
Data usage 8098.2k
Voice Usage: 1:33:57
IT Policy: Disables (BIS)