Deadbeat Battery

I read about this company online and the reviews had nothing but good things to say - how could I go wrong? I ordered the GSM unlocked BLU Aria T174i with an international SIM card to go with it. This seemed completely reasonably priced at 112.00 CAD as I wanted to travel lots and supposedly the SIM card could last as long as I wanted it to. I haven't even gotten to TRY my SIM card out because the battery they sent me will not hold a charge! Yes, I suppose I could have gotten their "insurance plan" but it doesn't cover dead batteries. And for those of you who have looked at the manual for this phone, it says to charge the battery for 24 hours before use and I have done this twice now. If I could change this, I would have either

a) Just bought the SIM card and bought an unlocked GSM phone somewhere close to home or
b) Unlocked my personal phone and paid the 150.00 CAD it would cost to set my phone up to travel every single time.

This customer is extremely disastisfied with their purchase. Maybe the phones are poor and just the SIM cards are good. I will not be able to find out on THIS trip, that's for sure :(