Just FYI,

I changed my Verizon account to the phone I purchased from Tessies Toys about 6 weeks ago. I got the PDA/Phone, earbud headphone, USB synch/charging cable, and a "handy" little AC adapter that the USB cable plugs into to use as a travel charger. I made acouple of phone calls on the Thera and was quite pleased with the audio quality. I hooked the unit up to the AC?USB charger and began the ritualistic nightly charging. After about 5 minutes, the green LED began flashing. 5 flashes, then 1 long flash, then 2 short ones. It was doing this over and over. It would not power up with or with out the charging cable connected. I unpluggedd the synch/charging cable and flipped the power supply switch back to storage, and then back to supply. The unit powered back up and I restored from a previous backup on the storage card. I once again hooked it up to the AC/USB charger, and it did it all over again. I once again did a backup restore, but this time when I was done, I hooked it back up to the computer's USB port and it charged properly all night. I woke up this morning to a fully charged battery and a great performing little(?) phone. I foound out the problem was the AC/USB charger that TESSIES TOYS includes with their units they sell. The "THERA" calls for a 5 volt, 3 amp power input from the adapter whether it is to the AC adapter port or the USB port it doesn't matter. THe AC/USB adapter from TESSIES TOYS is 12 VOLTS and 400MA!!! IT will cause your THERA to lock up and can possibly do damage. DO NOT USE IT TO POWER OR CHARGE YOUR PDA. You can find other adapters that will work at Radio Shack or you might possibly have one lying around the house as I did. But remember, it CANNOT be more than 5 VOLTS and 3 Amps. I am sorry for this long post, but I did not want somebody else to have problems like I did. I also updated to the latest watcher program and the phone is even better.

Tim Pettigrew

useful info, thanks tim

Funny, I never had a problem with the sync/charger cable I got from Tessie's Toys. What tripped my Therea up was when I used the cable in conjunction with the Car Charging adapter. Then I'd get the same results you got. Once I figured that out, I pulled out my trusty old power inverter and starter using the home charger to power up my Thera in the car(Lord knows you need to have constant charging available for it!).

Tessies Toys ripped me. A simple ebay transaction turned into a nightmare with them using slanderous remarks like calling me a liar and a deadbeat bidder and on and on. It was like they were drunk and unruly. I was shocked and I still am. I sent back their defective item and they never fulfilled their return policy. I just lost the money and from their replies, they react like I did something wrong. I highly caution people and encourage you to use a different seller. Hopefully Paypal will straighten this out.

Tessies Toys also ripped me off. They are also known as SWEETSILVANA on eBay. Bought 2 Treos, Told me there were not enough phones, refunded my money (probably because price was too cheap). Looked back at their ebay account the next day, OVER 21+ phones were listed. Found out they had a second eBay account, looked there too, OVER 35+ PHONES. Confirmed both Tessies Toys and Sweetsilvana are linked by the personal email. They are related to the main company Spectre Computer. DO NOT BUY FROM ANY OF THEM!

Update: The guy filed a dispute against me after I left him neg. feedback. I am extreemly furious. He then ended communication and gave me a unpaid item strke, now I am appealing it. I might even sue him.

I ordered a phone from sweetsilvana on ebay. The seller had a 98.5% positive feedback so I decided that was good enough for me.

I emailed the seller through ebay and asked that the phone be shipped ASAP. There was response to that email within 12 hours stating that it would ship within the next 24 hours. Within 4 days after that I received the phone.

The phone was advertised as NEW but said that they were demonstrators in the stores and had never been activated and that any scratches or marring on the phone was small and due to "tinkering" with them in the stores. That was fine with me.

After I took the phone out of the envelope (no bubble wrap or any cushioning material, but was also in a small USPS shipping box) I did notice the marring and scratches that I expected, although a bit more that I expected. I then noticed several dents and scrapes on the antenna; those are signs of being dropped. Ok, I'll accept that as long as the phone works. I had to charge it do to a drained battery. I could not get the male end of the charger to stay securely in the phone. Every time the phone or charging cord was moved, the phone stopped charging. I tried my old charger (same kind) and it would not stay in the phone either...very sloppy and loose.

Then I went back to the sweetsilvana feedback and started to read all of the negative comments...oh BTW..after my payment (paypal) was received by sweetsilvana I asked him to please pose feedback for my prompt payment, his email response was AFTER I post positive feedback for him he will do it for me. So, back to the negative feedback, all of the negative feedback that I read stated that the phones were not as described or were faulty and to stay away from this seller. They also said that he would not respond to emails. His reply to these people was that they did not try to call him first to dispute. So then I tried google his address that is found on the package he sent and it came back to various phone numbers, 914-739-3273 , .800.794.5881. After calling the number I found that his answering machine states his name as Frank Tetro. He answered the phone when I called back again. I told him of the problem and he asked me if I was sure that the problem I was having was with the phone and not the charger. I Told him that I used different chargers with the same results. I mentioned to him that I saw several negative feedbacks for him and he responded that none of those persons gave him a chance to correct the problem before leaving negative feedback. I told him I would be more than happy to leave positive feedback once this transaction is complete. He stated to send the phone back to him and he will pick a "mint" phone to send me and that sometimes verifying that the phones charging receptacles work correctly can be "tricky".

I sent the phone back that same day and I confirmed that he received it via his signature.

It was delivered to Frank Tetro 11 Sonoma rd. Cortlandt Mannor NY 10567.

When you do a Zillow search, that comes back to a residence as confirmed on the tracking information.

The same name, address or phone number is linked to sweetsilvana (ebay), Tessies-Toys.com, spectrepc@optonline.net and others that are listed in this thread.

I contacted PayPal as a precaution on how to proceed, and told them that I will wait to give him a chance to send a working phone but that all of this negative reporting I have been hearing about this individual prompted me to call and get some advise.

I emailed him to let him know that I have confirmation that my phone has arrived back at his place and have a signature of acceptance for my shipment. I asked him to please email me when the replacement is shipped.

I will keep you all advised as to the progress of this seller from my experience.

As a side note, If you go to the sweetsilvana "me" on his ebay page, it states "I am a stay at home mom trying to make some extra money...."

Hi, I won a sidekick from sweetsilvana. I paid US 35 for shipping as I'm not residing in the US. I thought the feedback was good enough, having no negative remarks for their sidekick phones. One day after payment cleared, they emailed me telling that my item was shipped without leaving me any tracking number. I replied asking for my tracking number. Next thing I know, they shipped my item via USPS Priority Mail International when it's supposed to be Express which takes 3-5 days. I was angry that they misinterpret on the shipping info. I emailed them asking for a refund as Express mail will cost much more but I did not get what I paid for. They replied me in an uncivilized manner and calling me names. I said I demand a refund and they said I do not DEMAND them anything and I should be a civilized adult and speak in a courteous manner when it's actually them who are very rude. I reported this to eBay and as usual they won't do anything about it. They are big liars. I don't mind paying for what I want but I don't want to pay for things that are not promised. In this case, it's them tricking international buyers regarding the shipping cost and methods which was a big fraud! Beware! I don't mind paying even if it's $100 for shipping via Express as long as it's really express. By all means, this seller is to watch out for!