Research In Motion & Blackberry Take Easy Way Out; Offer Free Apps & Tech Support Instead Of Cash For Outages

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Instead of offering a credit or money back following the massive service outage last week, Research In Motion is offering free apps and tech support.

The move is almost comical considering the tech support wouldn’t be needed if their service actually worked.

RIM said it will give away applications worth US$100 to consumers and offer enterprise customers one month of free support to help make up for the problems.

“As an expression of appreciation for their patience,” RIM said users will be able to download premium applications such as Sims 3, Bejeweled and Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant beginning Oct. 19 from BlackBerry App World. The applications will be available for download until Dec. 31.

The total value of the applications will be more than $100, but availability of the applications depend on what phone and operating system version a user has, RIM added.

Enterprise users will receive free support instead of applications. Current customers will get a one-month extension of their existing technical support contract. Those who don’t have a technical support contract will receive a one month trial of RIM’s BlackBerry Technical Support Services, according to RIM.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.