Customer Reviews

Fisher-Price Elmo's World Talking Cell Phone

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

This is so easy anyone can do it. My husband travels quite a bit, and since I can't stand to have things just laying around broken, and I for sure won't throw anything away, I've been left to figure out how to fix things on my own. If I can do it so can you! I decided to figure out what was up with this Elmo phone once and for all. After taking it apart I found that there are two metal tabs inside the slit( in the back of the phone where you had to remove the plastic tab when you took it out of the box) and when they touch the volume of the phone is lowered. When they don't touch the phone goes back to the regular audible volume. To FIX IT : The easy option A, which doesn't require you to take anything apart, is to take the piece of plastic from the original box (the one that you had to pull out in the first place to lower the volume "for the children's safety" and to cut it so that it fits into the slit without sticking out so the kids can't pull on it. Option B is to remove 6 screws (1.upper left hand corner under antenna, 2. upper right hand corner next to slit, 3.screw holding the battery cover on, remove batteries you will find 4 and 5 there. Set all of these aside. Look on the inside of the back cover where the slit comes through You'll two small pieces of metal, the top piece screwed on with a white wire coming out. This is the last screw to be removed and #6. Remove and discard. Clip the white wire where it it saudered/ connected and you can throw away the little metal piece. It is NOT needed for the toy to operate in anyway, it was only used to lower the volume. Once you've done this you can replace the lid put the screws and batteries back in and you'll have a working and AUDIBLE Elmo Phone!!

I bought this toy for my 10 month old. We played with it in the store and she really enjoyed it. The way the eyes open when you flip the phone open, the picture of Elmo and Dorothy, etc. are all very cute. My one complaint is that after removing the "volume control" tab from the back of the phone, the volume plummeted. Now, I am a mom that absolutely hates loud kiddie toys. Most electronic children's toys are too loud, in my opinion. But this phone is not even at a nice, quiet level. The volume is just way too low. There is a note in the instructions that states that the volume is supposed to be lowered after the tab is removed, and that the phone is not defective when this happens. We took the toy to the grocery store and could barely hear it at all. My niece has this same toy and the volume is the same as ours. It would have been better if FP put a manual volume control on the toy instead. Bottom line: although fun, the toy must be played with in a very quiet room in order to be heard.

I bought this toy for my daughter who recently turned two and absolutely loves Elmo. As soon as we took the phone out of the box it removed a plastic strip from the back of the phone which causes the volume to decrease so much that you can barely hear it! While this was a huge disappointment for me my daughter on the other hand could've cared less which I guess is what is most important. Also when we received the phone, numbers 7, 8 and 9 were not working and we had to send it back for a replacement. I agree with the previous review saying that there should be a manual volume control. I'm all for safe levels but this one is so low it's almost ridiculous! I had my husband, who is a real electronics guru, pop open the back and he made it so the volume is what it was while it was in the package! My daughter is thrilled even more so with the phone now!

We bought this for our 1 year old who loves to play with remote controls and cell phones, hoping it would distract her from the real ones. She loves to press the buttons and pretend she's talking when Elmo speaks. Each button makes 3 or 4 different sounds, depending on how many times you press it. Opening the mouth piece causes the eyes at the top of the phone to open, while I thought this might be an area that breaks, it seems to be quite durable. Our child also likes to open the eyes with her fingers, and this does not seem to have damaged the toy in any way. Like most toys for our baby, it has had several drops from the high chair onto the hard floor, and continues to work just fine. Overall, we are pleased with this purchase, and this along with the Elmo remote control we purchased seem to have worked in distracting our baby from the real remote and cell phone. We would definitely purchase this again.

HELLO,
IF YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM I DO, THEN LISTEN UP. I THREW AWAY THE BOX THAT THE PHONE CAME IN, SO I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO GO BY. I SAW A REVIEW ON HERE BY A LADY THAT SAID THAT IF YOU LEFT A VERY SMALL PIECE OF THE PLASTIC FROM THE ORIGINAL BOX IN THE LITTLE TINY SLIT IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND SIDE ON THE BACK OF THE PHONE, THEN IT WOULD STAY LOUD, BUT I DIDN'T HAVE A BOX!!! SO I TOOK A BREAD TIE, AND STUCK IT IN THE BACK OF THE PHONE, WHERE THE LITTLE SLIT IS. I CUT IT SO THAT JUST A LITTLE WAS HANgING OUT, AND FOLDED IT DOWN SO IT WOULD LAY FLAT ON THE PHONE, AND TAPED IT..NOW IT WORKS PERFECT!!!!!!!!!! SO, ANYONE WHO EATS BREAD CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM..LOL..I HOPE I'VE HELPED, ...

My wife picked this toy up a few months ago for our twins to use. When we took it out of the box and removed the Volume Tag, the volume decreased to an almost "too faint to hear" level. So the kids basically ignored it. Today I decided to "fix" the thing. I removed the four screws holding it together, separated the top and bottom halves, then placed a tiny folded-up piece of cardboard (paper will do) into the little square "volume control" inside the device. Once you separate the metal contacts, the volume goes back to the level it was when it was in the box! It was very easy to do and only took me about 15 minutes. All you need is a Philips screwdriver and a tiny piece of cardboard, plastic or paper.

Now the kids LOVE it!

I hope this helps someone out there...

I don't know what Fisher-Price was thinking about the plastic tab ... it is true. If you take the tab out, the sound will drop to such a volume that even with your ear on the phone itself, you will still barely hear it. It was a huge disappointment. So, if you still plan to buy this item, do not throw away the plastic tab. You can still reinsert it into the hole and get the original sound back (which is not very loud either). I repeat ... do not throw away the plastic tab. I kicked myself and spent a half an hour looking through the garbage can when my child cried. She told me the toy was broken and wouldn't even go near it. Seriously, save the $10 and go buy another product, preferrably another Elmo toy NOT made by Fisher-Price.

This is a fantastic baby toy. I keep it in my purse for my little guy. Because of the low volume, I can take it out during church and other places where a louder toy is not appropriate. The design is baby hand friendly. There are enough features on this to keep it interesting but not overwhelming. It's size makes it purse friendly too.

For the money, I feel it is great. We have gotten much enjoyment from it and it has also been useful on many occasions to calm a bored or fussy baby while on outings or in the car.

I would recommend it even with the low volume.

The elmo phone keeps my baby daughter occupied for ages - keeps her aay from the real phone & remote controls for everything. Got the same problem though of getting the phone home and taking it out of the box and getting hardly any volume.

Thanks to those who were ingenious enough to figure out a fix - i couldn't.

To fix the problem, on the back of the phone (top right corner just below the eyes) is a very small thin horizontal slit. Just put a thin bit of cardboard into the slit and push about 1cm into the phone. The volume will come back. If the cardboard won't go in you will need to open the phone and prise apart these two little prongs that sit behind the slit. The cardboard will then go in and will fix the problem.

When you get this toy, instead of taking out the plastic tab from the back, just cut it off so it doesn't stick out. That way you leave part of it in the toy so the volume doesn't get reduced. That's what I did and my son really likes the phone.