Let me start of by saying that my charger has not caught fire....yet.
I do however have a bad charger. The one that came with my g tablet makes a very loud buzzing sound and has started to smell like burnt cicutry over the past few days and am not sure what to do. I called viewsonic and emailed them and got generic responses. The guy on the phone referred me to "viewsonic's official support forum," XDA.. Not sure why he called this their official forum, as they have nothing to do with running this place.
Moving on....
Viewsonic told me I cannot buy a new charger and they will not send me a replacement as they do not have any "extra." What am I supposed to do. My friend has Gtab and his charger does not make noise, nor smell. If I continue to use mine, I am afraid it'll catch fire because if defiantly smells like something is burning up in there. What should my next step be? Obviously not using the charger is a good start, but I want to use my Gtab. I am out of Office Depot's return period and am kind of at a loss....
any ideas?
check this one out:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-842310.html
try fleaBay, there is one listed there
I would buy a new one and ask Viewsonic to reimburse me under warranty.
Just a thought. Can you get one unverisal adaptor from Radio shack?
12v 2 amps anything that supplies 12v and at least 2 amps that would work, I picked up 2 extras from fleebay cause my brothers dog ate one cable. cut the bad part out and twisted wires so now I got 3 supplies
I am all for Viewsonic referring people to the forums for complicated software issues and unofficial matters (third party ROMs, Flash which isn't officially supported, etc.), but it's sort of ridiculous to tell you to come to XDA Forums for a bad charger. They should really ship you a replacement unit free of charge - this is a hardware failure, plain and simple. And yes, as others have pointed out, you can also buy compatible chargers elsewhere too, but that doesn't change the point that Viewsonic owes you a charger.
rcgabriel said:
I am all for Viewsonic referring people to the forums for complicated software issues and unofficial matters (third party ROMs, Flash which isn't officially supported, etc.), but it's sort of ridiculous to tell you to come to XDA Forums for a bad charger. They should really ship you a replacement unit free of charge - this is a hardware failure, plain and simple. And yes, as others have pointed out, you can also buy compatible chargers elsewhere too, but that doesn't change the point that Viewsonic owes you a charger.
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That is what I am saying. I know that there are other chargers out there, but I think they should replace it, rather than suggesting that I spend my money on something that should work from the factory. To tell me that is my only option and they are not going to send a replacement is despicable. I work with electronics and can tell by the smell that there is some major circuitry getting fried in there.
I checked my radio Shack and they are out of stock... they'll get more next week.
dougmod said:
That is what I am saying. I know that there are other chargers out there, but I think they should replace it, rather than suggesting that I spend my money on something that should work from the factory. To tell me that is my only option and they are not going to send a replacement is despicable. I work with electronics and can tell by the smell that there is some major circuitry getting fried in there.
I checked my radio Shack and they are out of stock... they'll get more next week.
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I'd call them again - often times the first try you may just get an unhelpful support person.
Explain that your charger smells like burning circuits when you plug it in and is making a funny noise. Explain that you are worried about fire risk and the resulting legal liability, and nobody wants that. If you get nowhere this time, ask to speak to a manager and repeat (don't get too worked up, just tell the story again). If that gets you nowhere, explain that you are going to post on the XDA forums about how Viewsonic refuses to honor their warranty.
Come and report back on the forums as to your results. Specifically, if they still refuse, change the thread title to "Viewsonic refuses to honor warranty". We need to document these things when they happen.
I support this message defiantly let us know how it goes. They do read the forum.
rcgabriel said:
I'd call them again - often times the first try you may just get an unhelpful support person.
Explain that your charger smells like burning circuits when you plug it in and is making a funny noise. Explain that you are worried about fire risk and the resulting legal liability, and nobody wants that. If you get nowhere this time, ask to speak to a manager and repeat (don't get too worked up, just tell the story again). If that gets you nowhere, explain that you are going to post on the XDA forums about how Viewsonic refuses to honor their warranty.
Come and report back on the forums as to your results. Specifically, if they still refuse, change the thread title to "Viewsonic refuses to honor warranty". We need to document these things when they happen.
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Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Call Office Depot
I would call Office Depot and see if they will allow you to return the charger and swap it for another. They may allow you to exchange it even if it has been past 30 days. I am not sure if Office Depot extends the return time. However, if this was a Christmas Gift and was not opened until Christmas Morning, you should have thirty days from Christmas for exchange.
In my opinion, it won't hurt to ask (all they can do is say no) so why not give it a try? Also, they may have another unit that was returned to the store that they are sending back. So, if they do it would not cost them anything to swap out the charger from one of their other returns. Just my opinion, but I would try calling Office Depot or even better, take it back in person and talk to the store manager. You might get lucky.
It would be a shame to have to send the entire G Tablet in for repair to Viewsonic, but if Office Depot won't swap it out, my next call would be to Viewsonic asking for an RMA number for repair. I don't think you should have to buy another power supply at your expense. Also, if you do buy another charger you would want to make sure the polarity of the plug is right or you will do more damage to the G Tablet itself.
In my opinion (sounds like an episode from The Good Wife).
GaryHypnosis said:
I would call Office Depot and see if they will allow you to return the charger and swap it for another. They may allow you to exchange it even if it has been past 30 days. I am not sure if Office Depot extends the return time. However, if this was a Christmas Gift and was not opened until Christmas Morning, you should have thirty days from Christmas for exchange.
In my opinion, it won't hurt to ask (all they can do is say no) so why not give it a try? Also, they may have another unit that was returned to the store that they are sending back. So, if they do it would not cost them anything to swap out the charger from one of their other returns. Just my opinion, but I would try calling Office Depot or even better, take it back in person and talk to the store manager. You might get lucky.
It would be a shame to have to send the entire G Tablet in for repair to Viewsonic, but if Office Depot won't swap it out, my next call would be to Viewsonic asking for an RMA number for repair. I don't think you should have to buy another power supply at your expense. Also, if you do buy another charger you would want to make sure the polarity of the plug is right or you will do more damage to the G Tablet itself.
In my opinion (sounds like an episode from The Good Wife).
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rcgabriel said:
I'd call them again - often times the first try you may just get an unhelpful support person.
Explain that your charger smells like burning circuits when you plug it in and is making a funny noise. Explain that you are worried about fire risk and the resulting legal liability, and nobody wants that. If you get nowhere this time, ask to speak to a manager and repeat (don't get too worked up, just tell the story again). If that gets you nowhere, explain that you are going to post on the XDA forums about how Viewsonic refuses to honor their warranty.
Come and report back on the forums as to your results. Specifically, if they still refuse, change the thread title to "Viewsonic refuses to honor warranty". We need to document these things when they happen.
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I did not have time to call today, but sent another email and got a generic response. I will call tomorrow morning and report back.
Tried calling again this morning. After being on hold for 39 minutes, I hung up. How the heck am I supposed to get in touch with viewsonic? This is just ridiculous.
The VS team have posted here on xda, look up their exact name and send a pm?
Sent from my GTablet-TnT-Lite using Tapatalk
I sent viewsonic a pm, but have not heard back. I am currently on the phone with them, but have been on hold, waiting for a rep for the past 23 minutes.
I also posted on their facebook wall...we shall see what kind of response I get...
EDIT: For some reason the post only shows up if I login to my account. Does someone have to approve the posts or did they hide it?
EDIT #2: Can anyone tell me if they see the post?
it says this:
After trying to contact viewsonic via 3 emails, 4 phone calls (waited a minimum of 20 mins per call for a rep), I have been unable to get a solution to my huge FIRE problem. The one time I spoke to a rep, I was told to go buy a charger for a Kodak camera with no financial restitution.
My g tablet charger buzzes and smells like burnt circuity and has taken a turn for the worse. I have documented everything on my end as it has become a FIRE risk. Viewsonic has done nothing to help me as emails come back with generic responses and I cannot even speak to them, as they do not pick up the phone.
here is a link to a thread I made about the charger catching on fire.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=920985
I wonder if you wouldn't get anywhere calling US Merchants. The tablet is branded with their logo as well. And Viewsonic has said that US Merchants is handling the product.
You have already gone WAY above and beyond what you should have to for this, but it may be a better way to get things done. Also, they may have another number to call or a contact at ViewSonic that can resolve for you.
Just a thought.
Edit: I'm also wondering if maybe the moderator should call ViewSonic and discuss the reference to XDA as the "Official support Forum."
Yeah. Good idea. Ill give the other number a try,
Whats funny... is today mine started to make a small faint noise...
It took about 3 weeks for mine to get bad enough to post, so keep an eye on it.
Related
My mother called me today to tell me her ATT Fuze (running completely stock rom and radio) commited touchscreen suicide. I acted up since the day she got it but it started freaking out badly this afternoon.
Symptoms:
> The phone would call random people in the middle of the night, usually whoever was the last called person during the day it will mysteriously redial at some insane hour of the morning leading to confused call-backs from people going "are you ok? you called but didn't say anything...."
> The phone didn't ring when someone called - people would call her house and say they just left a message on her phone because she didn't answer despite it was sitting there with full bars, never rang, and showed no new voicemail alert until several hours later.
> The Start menu would be stuck in the open position leaving her unable to navigate anywhere on the screen and when that occurred the navi-button would not respond to any directional movement - only clicks to the center.
> The contacts list and calendar randomly opened whenever they felt like it whether or not she touched them or was even near the phone (I've witnessed this happen when no one was within arms reach of the phone and it was just sitting on the kitchen table.
Her device was never dropped, abused, or handled harshly in any way. She took it to her local AT&T store who dismantled it (removed battery, sim, and memory chip) and blew it out with canned air before putting it back together only to have it do the same behaviors all over again with no improvement.
The guy at the counter said "we'll have your replacement tomorrow ma'am" - and that was BEFORE he called into AT&T Warranty Support to get the RMA setup. The Warranty Support person told her that AT&T would send her a brand new replacement unit (not a refurbished unit) via overnight FedEx at their expense, they are giving her 14 business days to get the data/programs/etc... off her current phone and into the new phone and then AT&T will cover FedEx overnight return shipping for the defective handset. They aren't charging her a penny.
Something tells me that some department at AT&T really wants to get their hands on her phone. Maybe there is something they know that they aren't telling us? We're thinking either they pushed some kind of OTA update that failed or they know something is wrong with some of these units that they haven't admitted to the public? I've never heard of them waving all of the replacement fees and providing a brand spanking new device instead of a refurb.... Something smells fishy about their level of urgency for this....
She's bringing her current phone and her laptop to me this coming Saturday so I can sync it one last time, try to install MyMobiler so I can remotely interact with it without futzing with the touch screen, and maybe get most of her stuff off it and into the new one so she can ship it back. I'm going to try and get a complete rom dump too to compare with mine and see if there is anything different between the two. I'll post an update as soon as her and I go over it.
yeah, they treat everyone that way. Unless it comes in a brand new box, then it's a refurb. So don't feel great haha. I'm on my 3rd refurb because ATT is a tool and won't send me a working refurb.
They swore to her that her replacement would be brand new, never opened, still sealed in the box. I'll see if their terminology definition is the same as mine when she brings it over to my place on Saturday for the great data-swap. I'll be sure to post detailed updates. Maybe somehow her problem could answer someone elses issues... we can only hope.
Thats strange man..if my phone started doing that I'd start thinking it was possessed..throw some holy water on it and pray it doesn't short out lol. This is one experience I've had with AT&T over a phone replacement...mind you this wasn't a TP but the process is in no doubt similar.
AT&T (Cingular then) told me over and over again once that a replacement RAZR would be brand spanking new. I ended up getting a refurbished phone twice, both of them weren't working correctly and I sent them both back until I received a brand new phone.
After receiving the refurbished phones and I called them back complaining, they said they "couldn't guarantee" a brand new phone...it was "whatever they had to send off" that they would send off to me. *cough BS cough* But the third time was a charm, working brand new phone. This may not be your case though.
AT&T has always paid for overnight phones with me and paid for return shipping on bad phones. I guess its just their policy or I'm just lucky lol.
I had to send a broken Nexus One for repair, and they received my phone on June 22nd
On 23rd I received the quote for the cost of repair, and I paid it right away
But since then I have not received anything or any update from them. I have been calling customer service at least once a day to track the status, but all they can say is they are working on it
I mean come on, it's almost 2 weeks now and I don't even get updated once?
One representative told me the average turnaround time for repair is 5-7 business days, I call that BS
Anyone else experienced the same thing recently? Or is it always like that?
ctbear said:
I had to send a broken Nexus One for repair, and they received my phone on June 22nd
On 23rd I received the quote for the cost of repair, and I paid it right away
But since then I have not received anything or any update from them. I have been calling customer service at least once a day to track the status, but all they can say is they are working on it
I mean come on, it's almost 2 weeks now and I don't even get updated once?
One representative told me the average turnaround time for repair is 5-7 business days, I call that BS
Anyone else experienced the same thing recently? Or is it always like that?
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I sent a Blue Angel to them a couple of years ago and had it back in 4 days i guess it boils down to whats wrong and how much work they have and same as you i was not kept informed so thats still the same
lufc said:
I sent a Blue Angel to them a couple of years ago and had it back in 4 days i guess it boils down to whats wrong and how much work they have and same as you i was not kept informed so thats still the same
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They told me that they need to replace the motherboard and that's it...I'm starting to wonder if anything happened to their system because they said they have been receiving lots of similar calls
I've had nothing but problems with HTC's repair center, I sent in my Kaiser due to several issues. They suggested I send it to them in the original box and needed to give them a credit card so they could charge a fee to diagnose the problem.
Weeks went by and they could not provide a status then one day I get a package delivered with the phone missing the original box and the phone wasn't even packaged for shipping, it was rattling around without even bubble wrap on it.
There wasn't a single note stating what work the performed or if they even charged me. I called and they couldn't tell me anything more than the phone was working within normal guidelines. The D pad was almost falling out the hinges wouldn't keep the phone closed and that was normal.
It's now the 3rd week and I still haven't received my phone
They escalated my case twice but the only thing they can tell me is that the phone is under testing...for the past 2 weeks
What the heck do they need to test for 2 weeks?
I'm going to ask for compensation if it doesn't arrive within this week.
I just got the new desire. The problem i got with the phone is that it discharges electricity and i keep getting zapped by it. So i called up the hotline and was told that i could get a 1 to 1 exchange because it was within 14 days of purchase. So i like a stupid fool brought the phone to the service centre expecting to get it replaced. But that was not the case upon arrival, i was told that it was up to them to decide if they would exchange it. So i had to go back and come again 4 days later as i did not have a spare phone with me. After sending the phone in and waiting for 6 days to get it backthe phone was still giving me problems. So i called up the hotline to find out what was done to the phone. But halfway through the call i had to hang up as i could not stand speaking to that person who could barely speak propper english. I next sent an email to htc. Their reply was that to fix the phone zapping me with electricity was to reflash th ROM. Why the heck would you reflash the ROM for a hardware problem? Now 1 week after getting my phone back i am still trading emails with htc and they can only reply 1 email a day! This is taking forever.
HTC really needs to improve its service centre, helpdesk and email support. This is the last time i am ever getting a htc phone. If you want to see the email conversation between me and htc let me know and i will copy and paste it here.
I don't have a lot of problem with the customer service quality, but I do have lots of problems with the way they communicate between departments
It is now the 20th day since I initiated the repair, and I still don't see the day I would actually get my phone back
I have called the customer service everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, but they have absolutely no way of getting a hold of my phone
Everytime I called, the status of my repair is always "the phone is under final testing". Final test my ass! What the hell are they testing? Some kind of stress test that takes 3 weeks?
They tried to escalate my case but that didn't do sh!t. I tried to contact the repair team directly but guess what they told me, they don't have a phone number!
So what they only do is send email to the repair center about the situation, and I highly doubt they actually check the email at all
I don't know how much I need to wait any longer. What other organization can I contact to help my situation?
Since u got you the google nexus one, have you tried contacting google? Its a long shot but it might work.
I guess you are from the US than if you are not getting **** customer service. I am from asia where english is not the first language of many countries. In singapore where i come from, htc hotline is outsourced to either china or taiwan. You get people who can hardly speak english even if their life depended on it. Mention a few key word and they would reply you like they are reading off a script. Its damn sad that the call centre sucks like this. I never had to deal with the call centre or service center when i was using the touch pro2. Now after this i think i am going to give up on htc and switch to motorola
thongster27 said:
Since u got you the google nexus one, have you tried contacting google? Its a long shot but it might work.
I guess you are from the US than if you are not getting **** customer service. I am from asia where english is not the first language of many countries. In singapore where i come from, htc hotline is outsourced to either china or taiwan. You get people who can hardly speak english even if their life depended on it. Mention a few key word and they would reply you like they are reading off a script. Its damn sad that the call centre sucks like this. I never had to deal with the call centre or service center when i was using the touch pro2. Now after this i think i am going to give up on htc and switch to motorola
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yea I live in the US and the representatives on the line are all Americans...
I did try talking to Google...but unfortunately they are only responsible for the sales, so there is very little they can do about repairs
How much did they charge you for the repair. My girlfriend just drop her Droid Inc and the screen crack. I called there repair service to see how much a new screen would be but there closed
Qbfinest83 said:
How much did they charge you for the repair. My girlfriend just drop her Droid Inc and the screen crack. I called there repair service to see how much a new screen would be but there closed
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I'm not sure about that...my phone's screen seemed to be fine according to their diagnostic
I think a screen replacement is around USD90?
Things are getting even more ridiculous.
I called 2 days ago on Saturday, and to my surprised they told me that it was finally done with all testing stages and was ready to be shipped.
Delighted, I confirmed with them that I should either receive it on Monday or Tuesday.
This morning I called to obtain a tracking number, and guess what...
IT WENT BACK TO TESTING!
This is in no possible way acceptable. It is already the 4th week since I sent it back for repair, AND THEY ARE STILL TESTING IT! They even pulled it back from the package just to test it again!
WTF is wrong with them? Are they on crack or something? Do they just randomly pick a order, delay the order just to piss the customer off? Because there is absolutely no way to get a hold of them?
Please everyone, I need some advice here.
ctbear said:
Things are getting even more ridiculous.
I called 2 days ago on Saturday, and to my surprised they told me that it was finally done with all testing stages and was ready to be shipped.
Delighted, I confirmed with them that I should either receive it on Monday or Tuesday.
This morning I called to obtain a tracking number, and guess what...
IT WENT BACK TO TESTING!
This is in no possible way acceptable. It is already the 4th week since I sent it back for repair, AND THEY ARE STILL TESTING IT! They even pulled it back from the package just to test it again!
WTF is wrong with them? Are they on crack or something? Do they just randomly pick a order, delay the order just to piss the customer off? Because there is absolutely no way to get a hold of them?
Please everyone, I need some advice here.
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What i did was to go to htc website look for the feedback and ***** about them. After more than a week of trading email they are finally going to send someone to pick up my phone and deliver a loan phone to me. Not sure how this is going to workout this time.
If this is not an appropriate place to make a complaint about a carrier, I apologize and understand if this post is locked, moved, or removed.
I have a Tilt 2 which recently and suddenly began not sending or receiving on its USB port. The phone would charge, but no data would move. In fact, neither the computers nor the phone itself even made notice that a device had been connected. I also noticed the battery discharging abnormally fast. So fast that even with the phone off, the next day, it would not power on. I called AT&T to get the phone replaced as it's less than a year old.
I was put through the ringer, as expected on a first call. I was then forwarded to business tech support where I was met with a seemingly slightly more intelligent person, who obviously had no experience actually using a Windows Mobile device, but had no issue reading from a guided instruction on using a WM6.1 device, for a phone using a WM6.5.
This person then contacted HTC and put me in touch with them, where I got the most intelligent person I'd spoken to all that day (an I work in a call center myself). After software removal and resinstallation as well as option swapping, I was told to take the phone to a store to see if it was both my laptop running Device Center and my desktop running ActiveSync in conjunction with the 4 cables I used, including the stock one, were at fault... I was told if they were, that the phone needed replacement.
Fine.
The next day, I discover the aforementioned battery drain to the point of no power on. I take it to the store, where they are unable to test it as it won't stay on (due to complete discharge), and am instructed to call AT&T's warranty line. I spent the next 12 minutes on the phone with the warranty rep, who, through my description of the problem, decides the best thing to do is to REPLACE THE BATTERY... I asked the rep something to the tune of 'So, are you saying that a failed battery would cause the data port not to work, when the phone is receiving power through the same cable as the data would be going through?'
To which I am replied something like 'Well, sometimes...' at which point I pulled the phone away from my head to avoid screaming at this person. I do not like being treated like an idiot. I have been using WM devices since 2003, and HTC's since 2007. It would be obvious to anyone on these forums that what this phone is doing is a hardware failure. It's been reported multiple times in the Rhodium forum that this is occurring to all forms of the Rhodium.
Anyway, the rep confirmed my information and told me to expect this battery in 2 days. Upon checking the email confirmation, it's an extended battery. Adhesive bandages for broken necks.... Once I got home, I called again and laid out my contempt for this process and negation of the word of the manufacturer. This person connected me to the warranty line and I was greeted by someone who could actually comprehended the problem and did not attempt to point fingers after accusation had been made.
I will be receiving a replacement soon. But I must say, the 2.5 hours spent talking to the collective uninformed reps at AT&T makes me think twice before buying a new device ever again. On the other hand, the singularly knowledgeable rep at HTC was a pleasant surprise. In my line of work (appliances), the relative show of knowledge and comprehension skills far exceeds anything I've encounted in the whole of the company I work for.
Bravo, HTC. Shame on you, AT&T.
Er... could this all have been avoided if you had contacted HTC in the first place? Because that's what your post sounds like. (Just curious!) Or did your warranty only apply though AT&T?
The warranty was through AT&T, per the HTC rep. If there's a manufacturer's warranty as well, I would have much rather went with them.
As a side note to the fiasco, the replacement battery made it to me. I called and was told to keep it.
Here's the best part:
It's an extended battery. The downside? No replacement back cover, so it won't fit in the case... Way to go, AT&T...
Your story is one of the reasons I found myself moving to Big Red last year. My TP2 (RHOD500) has not seen any of the issues mentioned here.
If you want to read about my "adventure" in AT&T-land, check out this thread from my Tilt days.
I was up at the AT&T store today to discuss some overcharges on my bill and during the conversation I mentioned my gps not working. The guy at the store acknowledged it was a problem but was under the impression that JH7 fixes it...which it doesn't. Long story short, I've been offered a replacement handset at the store level, brand new in the box, not a refurb.
So the question is, do I take him up on it? My gps is like most everyone elses and not all that useful and occasionally there's a phantom press of the search button. Those are the only problems I've had.
So, what's the likelihood that a new-in-box captivate will have the same GPS problem? Anything else I need to consider as I decide?
CoreyC said:
I was up at the AT&T store today to discuss some overcharges on my bill and during the conversation I mentioned my gps not working. The guy at the store acknowledged it was a problem but was under the impression that JH7 fixes it...which it doesn't. Long story short, I've been offered a replacement handset at the store level, brand new in the box, not a refurb.
So the question is, do I take him up on it? My gps is like most everyone elses and not all that useful and occasionally there's a phantom press of the search button. Those are the only problems I've had.
So, what's the likelihood that a new-in-box captivate will have the same GPS problem? Anything else I need to consider as I decide?
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Click to collapse
I'd keep the GPS issue rather than risking the random shut offs. Just my opinion though, especially since I am about to return my second captivate due to random shut downs.
Just wanted to followup on this. I did swap out my captivate for a new one at my local AT&T store. I even got the manager to put in writing that if I continued to have problems that I could switch to a different model.
The new captivate handset did the random poweroff trick three times the day after I brought it home. In an attempt to fix it I drained the battery and let it charge back up over night and haven't had a problem since.
GPS is also MUCH better than what it was on my original handset but still not perfect as it 'teleported' me from one road to another a few times using Navigation. I do however get a quick lock using only satellites and GPSStatus shows while driving that I was locked on to between 5 and 10 satellites with the norm being 8. With my original I'd lose a lock on all satellites once I started moving, so while not perfect, this is definitely better than my original.
Thanks for your input.
Man this GPS really frustrates me. I used to have your quality GPS and now it is broken. Thinking of flashing to stock and trying to.exchange it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I was under the impression that if you exchange a phone through ATT they will send it to the Samsung service center, and there they threaten that if they find nothing wrong with it they will charge you $600.
This has always intimidated me since I only paid $60 and I don't want like not being in control of something (like whether or not they will charge me).
Is it really this easy to exchange for a broken GPS?
fatttire said:
I was under the impression that if you exchange a phone through ATT they will send it to the Samsung service center, and there they threaten that if they find nothing wrong with it they will charge you $600.
This has always intimidated me since I only paid $60 and I don't want like not being in control of something (like whether or not they will charge me).
Is it really this easy to exchange for a broken GPS?
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The only time you risk being billed for a new phone at full price is if you send it back with problems, and there was physical damage or you're rooted and messed with things or running a custom rom. Now it's not guarenteed that they will bill you but i'd imagine that the likelihood increases.
As far as returning phones past the 30 day window it usually isn't a problem if you speak calmly to a manager. Explain that you have tried all of the fixes that Samsung has offered, nothing has worked, and you believe you were sold a defective product with which you are unhappy.
fatttire said:
Is it really this easy to exchange for a broken GPS?
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It was for me...but I think that was largely because both the rep I talked with and the manager were aware of the GPS problems. I tried doing the exchange while the rep I had been working with was at lunch and got fed the "exchanges can only be done within the first 30 days of purchase" line by another rep. I came back later in the day and talked to my original rep who brought over the manager and it was smooth sailing after that. If you can believe it, the manager even apologized for the problems I had with the phone.
Worst case, have the manager at your local store browse this forum or do a little googling and he'll quickly see how widespread this problem is. And be sure you have the stock JH7 loaded up; that was the one check that the rep did when we started talking about an exchange.
looks like I spoke too soon - 3 random shutdowns today. Now to decide if I want to try a 3rd Captivate or jump ship and go with the HTC Surround. And here I thought I was done with all my research for a year or two.
fatttire said:
I was under the impression that if you exchange a phone through ATT they will send it to the Samsung service center, and there they threaten that if they find nothing wrong with it they will charge you $600.
This has always intimidated me since I only paid $60 and I don't want like not being in control of something (like whether or not they will charge me).
Is it really this easy to exchange for a broken GPS?
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As mentioned before it is easy to swap for gps issues and the $600 is only if you did something bad. If you rooted the phone you can restore to stock using 1-click odin and master clear, it passed scrutiny on my case (disclaimer: can't guarantee it would for you).
Sent from mobile xda
Captivate running Axura
I'm glued to this thread like a good tv series ahemm. I've had the exact same issue(s), namely the random search pop-up. It drove me crazy for quite some time, I could even shake the phone without touching any buttons and the search dialog would present itself (sometimes other apps popped-up). I eventually read up on roms and now run perception b8. I ran cognition previously, but experienced 2 deal breakers issues (bluetooth and radio problems). As for the search dialog, it no longer occurs. While on cognition I did experience two random shutdowns, and I thought the battery ran down in a hurry, just a beep and short vibrate and it was deadso. If you stay with the cap, read up on perception stat.
tsachi said:
As mentioned before it is easy to swap for gps issues and the $600 is only if you did something bad. If you rooted the phone you can restore to stock using 1-click odin and master clear, it passed scrutiny on my case (disclaimer: can't guarantee it would for you).
Sent from mobile xda
Captivate running Axura
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THanks, this helps. It's good to know a) whether they let you swap for gps issues and b) whether they check really hard or flash to stock odin lets you do it.
i appreciate your feedback.
i had a bad case with best buy where i returned a broken item and they claimed it was fine... it was broken... but they said it worked okay... had to pay a fee to get it back.. now i'm kinda paranoid about returning items for "subjective" issues (i.e. not a hard brick)
Quick update to the saga....on my 3rd captivate, worst one yet. Seems to poweroff if i set it down for more than 30 minutes. I've had it 3 days and i lost count of the poweroffs around 14 or 15.
Learned they will only exchange at the store 3 times, so i was advised to call customer care and/or samsung to have a fresh from the factory handset (see the poweroff press release thread) sent to me. Thought being that if the brand new one still had problems they could still put me into a Surround at the store.
Getting frustrated, starting to look for ways to migrate my text messages to WP7.
Other bit of info, guy at the store doesn't expect any new models until Spring at the earliest.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
So, after spending 3 weeks not driving my car due to replacing fuel pumps, sending units, and numerous sensors, and thinking the car I borrowed from my mom was having issues with Bluetooth, it turned out the Bluetooth in my S8 Plus was completely toast. Would not turn on. Tried factory reset, the whole nine yards. So Samsung set up a repair, sent me a 2 day shipping label, and I sent it in on December 8th. I got the phone back on the 21st, almost 2 weeks after it was sent in. Nothing was fixed. The Bluetooth still wouldn't turn on. Somehow, when I signed up for the Samsung Care, it got cancelled, so not like I can get it serviced locally or swapped out. Samsung's attitude was, gee, we can send you an overnight UPS label. Sure, and with the holidays, you'll get it earliest next Wednesday, and I'll be without a phone until likely January 9th, earliest, to get it back. Samsung said they'd swap out the logic board, but my argument was, how stupid can you be that all you tested was the module for known good, but didn't actually see if it performed with the actual device? How do you send a unit back after 2 weeks that's no better than when you received it? They weren't willing to do anything to even offer a solution beyond a one day shipping label. I work as a manager for a company that does tech support for Apple, and this is the kind of run around I expect from Apple, not Samsung. I remember last year, iPhone 7's showing up on door steps with a piss yellow screen because quality control didn't catch it. I know of several DOA express replacements on iPhone 10's with $1250 holds on credit cards. I was cool with not having the phone for 2 weeks, I couldn't find anyone with an extra to borrow, but to be told to go another 2 or 3 weeks, over the holidays, without a phone, and trust you'll fix it right the second time is a bit much. Has anyone else had issues with the Bluetooth just not turning on, or having a repair with Samsung just go completely stupid?
chernabog88008 said:
So, after spending 3 weeks not driving my car due to replacing fuel pumps, sending units, and numerous sensors, and thinking the car I borrowed from my mom was having issues with Bluetooth, it turned out the Bluetooth in my S8 Plus was completely toast. Would not turn on. Tried factory reset, the whole nine yards. So Samsung set up a repair, sent me a 2 day shipping label, and I sent it in on December 8th. I got the phone back on the 21st, almost 2 weeks after it was sent in. Nothing was fixed. The Bluetooth still wouldn't turn on. Somehow, when I signed up for the Samsung Care, it got cancelled, so not like I can get it serviced locally or swapped out. Samsung's attitude was, gee, we can send you an overnight UPS label. Sure, and with the holidays, you'll get it earliest next Wednesday, and I'll be without a phone until likely January 9th, earliest, to get it back. Samsung said they'd swap out the logic board, but my argument was, how stupid can you be that all you tested was the module for known good, but didn't actually see if it performed with the actual device? How do you send a unit back after 2 weeks that's no better than when you received it? They weren't willing to do anything to even offer a solution beyond a one day shipping label. I work as a manager for a company that does tech support for Apple, and this is the kind of run around I expect from Apple, not Samsung. I remember last year, iPhone 7's showing up on door steps with a piss yellow screen because quality control didn't catch it. I know of several DOA express replacements on iPhone 10's with $1250 holds on credit cards. I was cool with not having the phone for 2 weeks, I couldn't find anyone with an extra to borrow, but to be told to go another 2 or 3 weeks, over the holidays, without a phone, and trust you'll fix it right the second time is a bit much. Has anyone else had issues with the Bluetooth just not turning on, or having a repair with Samsung just go completely stupid?
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Sorry to hear that. I know you said you did a factory reset, but did you try installing new firmware via odin? If not, give it a shot. It's easy to do. I and many others have had issues that factory resets did not help, but re-installing firmware did.
nugzo said:
Sorry to hear that. I know you said you did a factory reset, but did you try installing new firmware via odin? If not, give it a shot. It's easy to do. I and many others have had issues that factory resets did not help, but re-installing firmware did.
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I actually did try to flash the firmware, didn't fix it either. There was something seriously bad with the device. Samsung Pay quit working at like Walmart and Dollar General, worked when it wanted, and also the video for USB C to HDMI quit as well. Major failure with the logic board.