Lawnmowers, the TyTN II and one odd insurance request

Posted on 30 Oct 2009 at 11:18

Paul Ockenden explores the curious case of HTC's TyTN and the lawnmower that destroyed it

The mangled phone in the photo above is a HTC TyTN II (or rather used to be), and as soon as I saw the photo I knew it was destined to take pride of place here.

The photo comes from long-time PC Pro subscriber Charles Pearmain, who runs Select Systems – a general PC dealership and consultancy supporting SoHo and SME clients in and around the North Cotswolds.

As well as tinkering with PCs and networks, Charles also keeps a few Soay sheep as a hobby, and that’s really where his problems really began. I’ll let Charles tell the sad story in his own words:

"The phone rang while I was cutting the grass around my sheep enclosure using my big ride-on lawn tractor. It was a client so I had to stop and take the call.

"When we’d finished I shoved the phone back into my jeans pocket, but unfortunately, with the TyTN II being something of a brick, it seems like it didn’t go right into the pocket and must have fallen out when I resumed my mowing duties.

The HTC smartphone clearly wasn’t smart enough to avoid two high-speed cutting blades!

“I was trundling along admiring my sheep (and their new bells, which I’d recently bought in a Turkish market) when there was an almighty crunching noise accompanied by a shower of plastic and silicon from the side discharge chute of my mower. The HTC smartphone clearly wasn’t smart enough to avoid two high-speed cutting blades!

“When I told my 17-year-old son what had happened he laughed till the tears ran down his leg, because just days previously I’d given him the full paternal lecture about taking more care of his phone – again!

“Luckily, the phone was insured – I’d done that via my network, Vodafone. Once I’d fully explained the circumstances of the accident, the lady I spoke to seemed happy to consider a replacement but wanted me to take the phone into my nearest Vodafone shop (nearly 20 miles away). This, she explained, was so that they could assess the damage to the phone and perhaps repair it.

"'It’s pointless,' I pleaded, ‘the phone went through a huge lawnmower – it’s confetti!’ She persisted and I went through the ‘Please put me through to your supervisor’ routine, which she refused to do at first. Having long experience in the IT business I do a pretty good rat-with-a-bone impression and simply held on and on and eventually she agreed to replace the phone just to get rid of me!