MetaChat - AskMeCha: Can this phone be saved?

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13 July 2013

AskMeCha: Can this phone be saved? I have a cordless phone that's conked out on me and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestion as to how I could fix it.
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It seems to be the base that isn't working. The phone in it rings when I receive a phone call, but I can't connect when I pick it up and press the "talk" button, nor can I dial out. I can't get any of my other cordless receivers to work with it either, and I've tried replacing the cords that run to it and that hasn't gotten the thing working.

It's about 6 years old, which I guess isn't an unreasonable life span for a cordless phone, but it's not had much use and I'm definitely a fix things and make them last kind of person, so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone had some ideas as to how I could salvage the phone and avoid the waste and expense of having to buy a new one.

post by: Orange Swan at: 17:59 | 7 comments

Why not just go get a 1950s Western Electric phone and plug it in. I have one and it still works beautifully. Seriously, this cordless is the kind of planned-obsolescence thing that wasn't made to last - if you must have a landline, get hardware that was built to stay functional for the longest possible time and built to be fixed if it didn't.

posted by Miko 13 July | 20:20

You're right that a simple reconditioned corded phone would be the most inexpensive and reliable solution. The problem is, this cordless phone is up in my attic workroom, which is pretty spacious, and I really, really like being able to move around, or even to come downstairs, while I talk on the phone.

posted by Orange Swan 13 July | 22:13

Smartphone?

posted by Miko 13 July | 23:07

If it turns out you must buy a new one, I do see them all the time at Goodwill, so whatever thrift store equivalent you've got where you live might be the way to go.

posted by JanetLand 14 July | 06:12

ya seriously this is exactly what a mobile + bluetooth headset is for. It sounds like one of the capacitors in the base unit is blown. This is not unreasonable for a unit of that age.

I vote either thrift store or just get a cheap feature phone with a cheap bluetooth headset. Cordless land lines are going the way of the dinosaur and it's likely because of folks like myself and the younger "mobile" set who move once a year and don't want to fuck with all the service fees and hassle of connecting a land line. I haven't had one since the 1990s actually.

posted by lonefrontranger 14 July | 11:03

oh and the reason I say this is that I had this exact conversation with my mom a couple years ago and I was like geez, mom - this is exactly what things like mobile phones and Skype accounts and bluetooth headsets were created for. Stop putting a crick in your neck with that cordless handset. I got her a nice little rechargeable bluetooth boom headset for like $30 or so off Amazon, got her a basic Skype account and showed her how it worked.

if you have internet Skype is really the way to go.

posted by lonefrontranger 14 July | 11:09

I got a replacement base for MY cordless on ebay for 12 dollars.

posted by Obscure Reference 14 July | 16:11

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