Did your wife get her Blackberry from the US or from the UK?

Many companies won't honour a warranty unless you bought their product from the same country you are trying to claim in.

I think they do this because of "grey importing" andn don't like it when you buy their stuff from a "non-supported distribution channel".

It still sucks Nokia are refusing to repair it at all but that's the way Nokia like to operate - take money, give you device then f*** off.

Considering how much grief the USB port has caused many customers I would have thought they would have done something more.

I guess Nokia doesn't care if customers are happy or not - many ex n900 owners have moved onto Android or Iphone (especially within this forum)
.
All you can do is see what legal recourse is available and good luck.
(let us know how you get on)