Database Info

Sears never charged me for my G-tab . . .

I bought my G-tab online Nov. 1 via PayPal, received the tablet, and assumed the transaction went through. I just checked and they never took the money! The transaction expired Friday and is listed as "Canceled" now.
Anyone ever experienced this? I kinda want to call them to see why they didn't take the money. But, I kinda don't wanna tempt fate and look a $398.99 gift horse in the mouth either! LOL!
Thoughts???

It may sound strange and ethical, but I would call them.

call me whatever you like but I would most definitely not call them.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Where have people morals gone. Do people not feel guilt anymore?

maccaw1 said:
Where have people morals gone. Do people not feel guilt anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that easily... if they called me about it that would be different, it was their mistake. call it karma for having such a piece of **** return policy... I'm going under the assumption that you bought it from sears online. if it was from an individual or something my morals might come into play
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

maccaw1 said:
Where have people morals gone. Do people not feel guilt anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting considering you've probably intentionally voided your product warranty by making software mods using roms illegally ported from other devices. An probably side loade d hundreds of apks for which you didn't pay the developer and most likely skimmed from a wares or torrent site, or Applanet.net.
Sound like a huge case of situational ethics to me buddy. Pick a position. If you feel so much guilt about things, delete your xda account and keep it moving.

id let them know, personally. when you start taking an active role in karma, as another stated in this thread, then karma starts taking an active role in your life. ive had way too many run-ins with karma to tempt fate again.
but hey, thats just me.

aamon17 said:
That's interesting considering you've probably intentionally voided your product warranty by making software mods using roms illegally ported from other devices. An probably side loade d hundreds of apks for which you didn't pay the developer and most likely skimmed from a wares or torrent site, or Applanet.net.
Sound like a huge case of situational ethics to me buddy. Pick a position. If you feel so much guilt about things, delete your xda account and keep it moving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's actually not even a valid argument except for installing non-paid for apps.
What you do to a device you own is your choice. You can flash anything you want to it if you choose....as long as you don't expect a warranty replacement if you screw it up. If I want to flash my toaster oven with the firmware from my microwave......more power to me. But when my toaster oven no longer works, it's my fault not the manufacturers.
Now getting a toaster oven you didn't pay for is a totally different argument (the original poster's).

Sorry OP, but it's called theft of a material item. You knew that you didn't pay for it, but are keeping it anyways. Of course, many companies tack on extra charges for services and steal from consumers, so it's a gray area. I guess if you look at it from the standpoint of "business is business" then it's fair. Dunno what to say.

Thanks for the input. All is well. I'm returning the device & will let them figure out what to do. Anyone in the Richmond, VA area looking for a clearance item, check the Virginia Center Commons Sears location later this week.

Good call... You are doing the right thing.... Why are you returning?

samielowe said:
Good call... You are doing the right thing.... Why are you returning?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I also have an Archos 101 8gb that I've been comparing the last week. Sticking with the 101 and awaiting the 2.2 update.

I can tell you have good morals, why else post that you got it lol.If you honestly intended on keeping it, you shouldn't or wouldn't have said anything to anyone.
Sent from my Sprint Evo using Xda app.

Yes, not calling them and taking a free GTab will help our economy. /sarcasm

It happened to me, I called to ask about my order being placed and available, shortly after I was charged. I had received my pickup email already, so I'm sure if I had picked up the order and said nothing, it would have not been charged.

In a perfect world, when you called to tell them about the error they should have said "we appreciate your honesty and we will not charge you because of it, consider this a gift". You win, and they win as you would be more likely to be a return customer.

Lawsuit?

Due to the malfunctioning gps and the lack of a suitable fix is it possible?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Wow......I sure do love humanity

No, this was already covered before.......

Dear Judge,
We have released several GPS fixes, those who are receiving a malfunctioning GPS obviously know what they are doing. Because of this they have obviously flashed unauthorized software on their phones which is causing the GPS issue.
-The team of hundreds of Samsung Devs writing FROYO's code in the sand.
What I thought of when I read this, and felt the need to post it.
Someone could file a lawsuit, slim chance it would get anywhere, slimmer chance someone would be willing to invest the time and money in doing so.
Side note-How can Samsung get away with not publishing the source code? Isn't there like a Linus Torvolds guy we can talk to? Or some company in Cali he works for?

Samsung doesn't have to publish the driver code because it isn't part of the os. There is other stuff for linux that is also distributed closed source as well.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

NOFSBIGE said:
Due to the malfunctioning gps and the lack of a suitable fix is it possible?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that there ought to be a class action lawsuit. I did not return the captivate after finding that there was a problem with the GPS becuase i was told that a fix would be available quickly. After I gave up on waiting I was told that i had waited to long and could not. return the phone. So now I have a 500 dollar phone that can't hold onto a satellite. Why shouldn't their be a lawsuit when a company sells a defective device, lies about a quick fix and then won't accept a return.

jamespaulritter said:
I think that there ought to be a class action lawsuit. I did not return the captivate after finding that there was a problem with the GPS becuase i was told that a fix would be available quickly. After I gave up on waiting I was told that i had waited to long and could not. return the phone. So now I have a 500 dollar phone that can't hold onto a satellite. Why shouldn't their be a lawsuit when a company sells a defective device, lies about a quick fix and then won't accept a return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so go initiate one (the class action lawsuit). And after about 1 year, if it wins, the lawyers will get their payment first. All the class members get paid second. So, maybe $10 to every GalaxyS owner.
Or, you could send it back for warranty repair repeatedly until it works. But, usually if you bang on AT&T hard enough they will let you pick a different phone from their stable.

And people wonder why phones get to be so expensive. If your life is Dependant on GPS, go buy a GPS unit. Everyone had 30 days to take the phone back. Tired of hearing all the whining"I didn't take it back because....." If you can afford to go around suing companies when you get your feelings hurt, you can afford to go buy a different phone.

Guess I wouldn't qualify to participate. My GPS works fine...

snyder650 said:
Guess I wouldn't qualify to participate. My GPS works fine...
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Click to collapse
LOL!!!!!!!!

alphadog00 said:
OK, so go initiate one (the class action lawsuit). And after about 1 year, if it wins, the lawyers will get their payment first. All the class members get paid second. So, maybe $10 to every GalaxyS owner.
Or, you could send it back for warranty repair repeatedly until it works. But, usually if you bang on AT&T hard enough they will let you pick a different phone from their stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course class actions are not about customers receiving 10 bucks they are about making a company pay for wronging the consumer so that they do not reap the rewards of selling faulty equipment and also so that they will in the future by less likely to rip off the consumer.

itsjustaphone said:
And people wonder why phones get to be so expensive. If your life is Dependant on GPS, go buy a GPS unit. Everyone had 30 days to take the phone back. Tired of hearing all the whining"I didn't take it back because....." If you can afford to go around suing companies when you get your feelings hurt, you can afford to go buy a different phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u bought a car and later you noticed the heater didn't work so you called the dealership and they said that they ordered the part to fix it you probably wouldn't take the car back and get your money back right away would you? But then when the part got in and they installed the part and the heater still didn't work you would expect them to give you your money back if asked, right? Especially if they weren't sure if they could ever fix your car. And then if some one online told you to pay out of pocket for a space heater to put in your car you would think they were kind of missing the point wouldn't you?

snyder650 said:
Guess I wouldn't qualify to participate. My GPS works fine...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you implying that since your GPS "works fine" that others don't have a real problem?

jamespaulritter said:
Of course class actions are not about customers receiving 10 bucks they are about making a company pay for wronging the consumer so that they do not reap the rewards of selling faulty equipment and also so that they will in the future by less likely to rip off the consumer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually Class Action lawsuits are designed to provide a remedy to an entire class of individuals and generally avoid everyone suing independently. The idea of suing for defective items is to obtain a remedy, not punish a company.
I don't know about you, but if i sued samsung over defective GPS, I would want a working GPS. Punishing them doesn't do much to fix my issue. If i couldn't get a working GPS, then i would want my money back.
Lawyers love Class Action suits because they get paid millions first - very little happens to positively affect the consumer.
If your GPS is not up to your standards do this: instead of waiting for a class action suit to occur, take your phone to AT&T and ask for it to be replaced or Samsung. If new phones are repeatedly defective, then ask for another type of phone or a refund on the price you paid for the phone - that is your true remedy. If they fail to accommodate you, then take them to small claims court; this costs about $30, it forces them to either pay a lawyer to go to your jurisdiction, or pay you off. You will get your small claims court fee, and your refund for the phone. If they do take it to court, you win on the basis that the product failed to perform under "fitness of purpose" definitions.
In the end you want the phone to work the way it was intended, or you want your money back - this is the way to do it - not class action.

jamespaulritter said:
Are you implying that since your GPS "works fine" that others don't have a real problem?
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Click to collapse
there was no implication at all, only stated that they would be ineligible since they don't have the problem being referenced in the CA suit...

wow!!!!! I had a Tom Tom in my car way before I bought This phone and my gps worked fine until i started flashing roms.So i guess that's my fault! But didn't some old lady get like a million bucks off Mickey D's for spilling hot coffee on herself so more power to you dude

There's this already:
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/cases.php?CaseID=335

The challenging part is proving what effect it had on you. Saying it takes a few extra minutes because you are routed all over the place seems insignificant when you say it in court.
Although we all say the GPS is broken, technically it is just poor quality that fails to live up to our expections
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Ok guys enough about this. If you feel there maybe other roads you can travel like starting a lawsuit and such, then that is your right but this is not the place for it. Good Luck to you with what ever you choose
Thread Closed

[Q] Charged for a "Free" phone

Hey guys,
About a month ago (Jan 20 I seem to recall) T-Mobile had an offer where you could get a free upgrade to a G2, only on their website.
My family had three G1s on our plan that were past due for an upgrade, since December, so we jumped at this offer.
We couldn't get the site to work, however, so we called in and a representative assured us that we would be able to get the three phones for free. We would have to call back the next day to do so, though.
After calling back the next day, we received another representative who told us that the offer was an error and shouldn't have been put online. Our response was simple- That's your problem, we agreed with the other representative in good faith and we should not have to pay for an error on your end.
After waiting about a week for that other representative to look at the call logs (which he never found, by the way), he called back and told us that since we've been waiting for so long and he never found the logs, we could have all three phones for free. We already knew there was an upgrade fee of $18 that we would have to pay, that's fine.
Now, a month later, on our bill we have three charges of "One Time charge for Handset Upgrade Revenue" that amount to $199.00 each. That makes our total bill for this month a whopping $1000.
This is far from "free" that we were promised. I am hoping it's a mistake on their end, but if I call them up and they start throwing in all of these excuses and explanations for why a "free" phone isn't free, is there some sort of agency for Customer Fair Treatment or something that we can report them to, or is there legal action that we can take?
Please, if you have any other advice or tips, it is greatly welcomed.
Hope to hear a response.
-Proxin

Sorry to hear about this. I've had a few issues with tmobile in the past 5 years i've been a customer, they've always been pretty good about resolving things to my satisfaction. I'd suggest a few things:
-If you have a twitter account, tweet something about your problem to @tmobile. It might not sound like much, but tmobile has some very active people working on twitter. When i had an issue around a year ago with my minutes and texts vanishing without being used, a tweet was really all it took to get the ball rolling. I got a direct message back within an hour, and recived a call the next day to let me know the glitch was fixed and offered me compensation.
-The Consumeris (consumerist.com) is a consumer advocacy blog. I've seen lots of stories on there similar to what you're dealing with (many from other providers too). From the stories i've read companies such as tmobile pay close enough attention to the site, and are quick to resolve any kind of issues that could result in bad press.
-If all else fails, last i checked tmobile offers a buyers remorse period of 30 days (might be less), if you arent happy with your phone for any reason, you can return it within that time.
I'd reccomend calling them and telling them if the issue can not be fixed you would like to return the phones. Another thing to maybe metion, if you where up for new phones, then your contract must have also been renewed, perhaps this could be considered a breach of contract on their part and you could mention that in a way that suggests you're thinking of ditching your contract over this (just say something like "verizon has the same deal in store").
Hope some of that helps. Good luck!

Honestly, if they can't fix the issue, tell them you want to be transfered to the loyalty department because you want to cancel. Those guys can fix anything. If you still aren't happy, file a claim with the better business bureau.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Agreed, call customer service and get with the "omgtheyregoingtocancelwtf" department and they will likely fix it. That or give the phones back. If they made a mistake they made a mistake, it doesn't entitle you to anything... if they are willing to fix it and let you keep them, then awesome.
More importantly though...
_____$1000 phone bill
_____-$199 G2
_____-$199 G2
_____-$199 G2
-------------------
$403 phone bill?!? what the hell?

File complaints with both the BBB and FCC. I had an issue with Sprint not honoring a discount coupon I used when I signed up and kept getting the runaround, but a BBB and FCC complaint led to someone higher up to contact me and get the matter resolved. Based on some google searching, it does appear T-Mobile responds to FCC complaints.

evilgold said:
Sorry to hear about this. I've had a few issues with tmobile in the past 5 years i've been a customer, they've always been pretty good about resolving things to my satisfaction. I'd suggest a few things:
-If you have a twitter account, tweet something about your problem to @tmobile. It might not sound like much, but tmobile has some very active people working on twitter. When i had an issue around a year ago with my minutes and texts vanishing without being used, a tweet was really all it took to get the ball rolling. I got a direct message back within an hour, and recived a call the next day to let me know the glitch was fixed and offered me compensation.
-The Consumeris (consumerist.com) is a consumer advocacy blog. I've seen lots of stories on there similar to what you're dealing with (many from other providers too). From the stories i've read companies such as tmobile pay close enough attention to the site, and are quick to resolve any kind of issues that could result in bad press.
-If all else fails, last i checked tmobile offers a buyers remorse period of 30 days (might be less), if you arent happy with your phone for any reason, you can return it within that time.
I'd reccomend calling them and telling them if the issue can not be fixed you would like to return the phones. Another thing to maybe metion, if you where up for new phones, then your contract must have also been renewed, perhaps this could be considered a breach of contract on their part and you could mention that in a way that suggests you're thinking of ditching your contract over this (just say something like "verizon has the same deal in store").
Hope some of that helps. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting... I don't think the buyers' remorse thing would work, cause we have had the phones for over 30 days... and offering to give them back would be bad on our end because honestly, we love these new phones!
But yeah, the breach of contract you mentioned is a good point. We renewed our contracts so that we could get these phones, and if they take the phones back yet keep us locked in contract, I'm certain that the groups mentioned by the other posts (BBB and FCC) could help us out.
Andrew.Dodson07 said:
Honestly, if they can't fix the issue, tell them you want to be transfered to the loyalty department because you want to cancel. Those guys can fix anything. If you still aren't happy, file a claim with the better business bureau.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Awesome. It makes me happy that there are companies who are willing to stick up for customers.
Superbovine said:
Agreed, call customer service and get with the "omgtheyregoingtocancelwtf" department and they will likely fix it. That or give the phones back. If they made a mistake they made a mistake, it doesn't entitle you to anything... if they are willing to fix it and let you keep them, then awesome.
More importantly though...
_____$1000 phone bill
_____-$199 G2
_____-$199 G2
_____-$199 G2
-------------------
$403 phone bill?!? what the hell?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That Does make it look like less, haha. To clarify-
$199 x 3 = 600.00
+ 120.00 tax
+ 250.00 phone bill
+ 18.00 upgrade fee x 3
plus various charges
= $1000
Isira said:
File complaints with both the BBB and FCC. I had an issue with Sprint not honoring a discount coupon I used when I signed up and kept getting the runaround, but a BBB and FCC complaint led to someone higher up to contact me and get the matter resolved. Based on some google searching, it does appear T-Mobile responds to FCC complaints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much. I hope either or both of these can help if the situation turns into something nasty.

I have to harass them to make sure they apply discounts or whatever, and they tried to wiggle out of my student discount when I activated my line...
Ah well. They're almost half the price of Verizon and my service is pretty good here.

We just called T-Mobile and a representative confirmed it was a mistake and dropped the charges.
We still have to wait until the next billing cycle to see for sure, but I think this has been resolved.
Thank you all for your advice and replies.
Best,
Proxin

uppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

yeah ://....happened to me a couple of times there..

Simple solution for Verizon locked bootloader

I have read countless threads on this subject that range from just bend over and take it its not that bad to I'm selling my phone as soon as I get. There is a simple way of showing our dislike of the locked bootloader. It only takes a minute and it will get Verizons attention. it's not a smack on the head with a bag of nails but it will sting the big red bully enough to eventually act.
Go to the verizon mobile web site "my verizon" click upgrade device pick any phone click quick look click read reviews click write a reveiw and the phone you currently have wille come up and ask you to write a reveiw. Give it the lowest amount of stars Most importantly be polite, factual and don't bash Verizon (save that for the XDA forums)
This is the most efficient way a few can get their point driven home in an acceptable and respectable manner. When all the phones on its web site have only 2 or 3 stars they will definately be effected. This is the most effective civil way of letting Verizon know they are doing their customers wrong.
What do you guys think?
Press thanks if you think this will help...and because it boosts my XDA cred :laugh:

Yes at this point Verizon needs a wake up call and realize out not for its they would not have food on the table. Every one of these ways people come up with help.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

you're not going to matter to Verizon. Not trying to be a **** but the amount of customers that want an unlocked bootloader is minimal compaired to their total customer base. Yes it sucks balls and i feel for you verizon guys, but there isn't much you are going to be able to do about it.
Best option would be to call their customer service and tell them you want to cancel your account and when they ask why just say you guys refuse to unlock bootloaders so i am taking my business elsewhere. With the phone being new to the market and in high demand i would just sell it on ebay or craigslist for 500 and switch to a different carrier.

When is the developer edition of the VZW SGS3 going to be available? I think a lot of people are trying to sell their VZ S3's on eBay for $549 or $600 to buy it outright from Samsung. As long as you don't take advantage of VZ's subsidized pricing on a new device you can keep your unlimited data plan when you activate it. I'm considering that option.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

mburke178 said:
you're not going to matter to Verizon. Not trying to be a **** but the amount of customers that want an unlocked bootloader is minimal compaired to their total customer base. Yes it sucks balls and i feel for you verizon guys, but there isn't much you are going to be able to do about it.
Best option would be to call their customer service and tell them you want to cancel your account and when they ask why just say you guys refuse to unlock bootloaders so i am taking my business elsewhere. With the phone being new to the market and in high demand i would just sell it on ebay or craigslist for 500 and switch to a different carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If all the phones on their site suddenly had only two or three stars trust me it will affect verizon. Phones with low amounts of ratings could be affected by just one or two bad reviews. It is the biggest impact we can make with very little time invested. Calling in returning phones and all the other ideas are also excellent just not the best bang for the buck. I plan on doing all of the above.

Jugger naut said:
If all the phones on their site suddenly had only two or three stars trust me it will affect verizon. Phones with low amounts of ratings could be affected by just one or two bad reviews. It is the biggest impact we can make with very little time invested. Calling in returning phones and all the other ideas are also excellent just not the best bang for the buck. I plan on doing all of the above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone who is going to be researching a phone isn't going to go solely off the service providers website or at least they should be smarter than that. Also if they wanted they could easily just delete all the 1 star reviews.

You guys are no fun, either that or you are shills for Verizon LOL its always better to do nothing when done wrong or when faced with adversity
P.S. feel free to hit the donate button, gotta recoup for the hit im going to take selling my my S3 (they sould have named it the FU2). The hit I'm going to take cancelling my contract early, and a couple tubes of anal ease
(VERIZON left me a little raw) :crying::silly:

I think this is a great idea. Will it work? Maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to try. I think it's definitely worth a try.

Might as well give it a shot

I think this is a great idea! I think that not that many people give ratings anyway so even if a small number of us do it, it should have an impact. And I do think people might not read the review but they do look at the rating
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I will leave negative reviews I am not sure it will help but I I am in to make the effort. I have been getting back at them (verizon) in my own ways like running my office and most my neighborhood of some extra lines my business account has with unlimited data in 4G areas
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Well since there arent many reviews leaving a bunch of negative ones would have a pretty big impact

I think this idea is "awesome"! No it's not the one thing that's going to sway VZW's politics but hopefully one of many to curb their abuse of the consumer....
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

This is a great idea
its diffidently a better idea then sitting on your azz
:victory:

Possible lawsuit against Verizon
I ride bike with two gentlemen who are members of a large law firm. Very nice guys considering they're lawyers :laugh: Had to put that in there for when they read this...hi guys!
They informed me that if Verizon does not post the negative reviews there are grounds for legal action (it took then about six paragraphs twenty minutes and a whole bunch of what I think was Latin to explain that to me but I got the jist of most of it) There are a few guidelines keep the reviews factual polite and dont bash Verizon. They offered thier services calling it "a very high profile endeavor"
They also reminded me Al Capone didn't go to jail for being a gangster he went to jail for tax evasion
Keep fighting the good fight

Jugger naut said:
I ride bike with two gentlemen who are members of a large law firm. Very nice guys considering they're lawyers :laugh: Had to put that in there for when they read this...hi guys!
They informed me that if Verizon does not post the negative reviews there are grounds for legal action (it took then about six paragraphs twenty minutes and a whole bunch of what I think was Latin to explain that to me but I got the jist of most of it) There are a few guidelines keep the reviews factual polite and dont bash Verizon. They offered thier services calling it "a very high profile endeavor"
They also reminded me Al Capone didn't go to jail for being a gangster he went to jail for tax evasion
Keep fighting the good fight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes lawyers and hackers coming together in the search for loopholes and alternative thinking.
Sent from my Verizon S3 with locked bootloader but I would love to change my signature.

im pretty sure verizon is deleting any reviews talking about the bootloader

IAmPears said:
im pretty sure verizon is deleting any reviews talking about the bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nails in their coffin boys!
Pour it on the more they delete the stronger our case becomes, fortunately for us their disclaimer " {} I agree with terms of service " has more loopholes than their software :good:
P.S. keep an eye open for a different disclaimer
While your still pi$$ed off about Verizon being such a bully check out these other threads....I have nothing to do with them just linked them because they are ways of venting our Big V rage.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1756483
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1774849&page=4
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771335
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1759669
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1764726
Now that you are full of pi$$ and vinegar start typing make a difference :good:
.

Good idea, doing it now!

To post a review on Verizon, or not, that is the question.
Sent from my SCH-I535

How I got to keep my HOXL and got AT&T to send me a Galaxy SIII I747 free of charge

How I got to keep my HOXL and got AT&T to send me a Galaxy SIII I747 free of charge
When my upgrade eligibility with AT&T came up last spring I decided that I needed to familiarize myself with the Android operating system. Having been a long time iPhone user (iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 4) with a mostly positive experience, I had always been frustrated by Apple's lack of Flash support and (at the time) their refusal to adjust their screen size. Little did I know that both Adobe and Apple were just "sitting in the corner" laughing at me when I came to this rationalization. Naturally, I overcompensated and went with the Galaxy Note, which, IMHO was probably not the best fit for an Android noob like myself. I did a little more research, and just on the outskirts of my 30 day return window, the HTC ONE XL was gonna debut. Bought it on launch day May 6th (before the embargo ruined the party). Like everyone else I had concerns over the lack of storage expansion from 16 Gigs - my previous iPhone 4 was 32 Gigs - but felt confident enough to pull the trigger since the 25 Gigs of free Dropbox space was on the table and according to AT&T was in play. Having been Grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited data plan and being a moderate user (I average 6-8 Gigs a month and have only been throttled twice) I felt as though I could transition to Cloud storage with ease.
I wanted to wait as long as possible before establishing my Dropbox account so I could get the maximum out of the 2 years. It wasn't until late September that I learned of AT&T purposely opting out of participating in the deal. I still can't fathom the rational for this, since its always been my understanding that not only AT&T, but all the Carriers had absolutely nothing to do with this promotion because the deal was between HTC and Dropbox. You would think the Carriers would welcome this since it would increase data usage, thus gaining them additional revenue. I'm sure that people, much smarter than myself, who contribute to the XDA forums, have the answer to this burning question since i'm clearly clueless.
Anyway, no worries, I'll just simply "Root", "Rom" and Voilà....Uh-Oh... As usual I'm a day late and a dollar short and I miss my window with the initial Root exploit that HTC closed ---- ( BTW this is in NO WAY meant as a backdoor insult or complaint to the Developers and their tirelessly Godlike work that they perpetually churn out on a daily basis, nor is it to the rest of the "awesomesauce" that describes the entire XDA Community!!!!) Now, I know in the back of my mind, there is an obvious workaround -- which I'm sure has been explained in this forum before - attach service to your previous phone for a day or so --- snag a WiFi connection and establish your Dropbox account and Boom instant 25 Gigs --then simply reattach service to your HOXL --- but ya know what....now I'm Pissed....time to call AT&T....
I started by calling sales not customer service too vent my complaint
1st Barrier ---- I get the initial non-decision making Dingbat ... As quickly as possible, I dispensed of this person and got a supervisor - I explained my issue and advised that AT&T did a "bait and switch" on me and strongly emphasized how ILLEGAL this practice is .....
2nd Barrier --- supervisor said he had no idea what I was talking about and that he had never heard of this "Dropbox freebie thing" (keep in mind I'm speaking with the sales department) --- this was easily refuted as I told the gentleman to try opening the box -- you know --the one with the AT&T logo on it that the HOXL comes in -- and to look at the paperwork inside --- it advertises the promotion!!!! Clearly his plausible deniability is out the window....
3rd Barrier --- "Can't help you because it's not our promotion..." No kidding -- that's the point..... I went on to explain how I was well aware that it wasn't their promotion and how it makes it worse because they purposely had to "opt out" --- emailed him the link to the Dropbox page explaining the promotion and How AT&T and VERIZON opted out (keep in mind the promotion is for any new HTC device running Sense 4.0 not just the HOXL) He continually stated that it wasn't their promotion for which I replied that I knew that and that it didn't matter whose promotion it was. I advised him, that I signed a contract with AT&T based on that information and that the Dropbox offer was used by AT&T as a selling tool to that end and that's why this is a bait and switch situation and that the practice is ILLEGAL
4th Barrier --- "How do we know that you were told about this offer and that our employees used this strategy...." I emailed him a link from androidcentral (Being that this is my very first post on the XDA forums protocol prevents me from posting the link that I sent ... but I can tell you that androidcentral was the original source for the "article" titled "AT&T HTC One X will have free Dropbox space, company spokeswoman affirms" and was dated Apr 24 2012) --- granted this is simply an unofficial "blog site" that can basically say anything they want but I advised him that this story was picked up by all the other major 'tech sites" and it has never been refuted by AT&T. In addition the "AT&T Spokeswomen" is Jackie Vettorino. Her official title is - Digital PR/Social Media Strategist for AT&T - She is basically their Top Dog when it comes to dealing with the press - She is widely known to many media outlets because of her role as the Point-man..er..Point-woman on "Throttlegate" last fall. I explained to him that because of her fairly high profile, it would be extremely remote that the story was fabricated or that she had somehow been grossly misquoted because of the likeliness of serious repercussions... but I did offer to three-way her office --- He declined. I also, again referred him to the materials that came in the box with my phone -- yes the Box -- the one produced and manufactured for AT&T with their logo splashed all over it.
5th Barrier --- "Did you purchase your phone and contract from a Corporate store or online through the official AT&T website ...." I told him that i didn't and that I used an "Authorized Retailer" (My friend works there and I wanted her to get the commission. To be honest, at the time I didn't know it wasn't a corporate store -- they only sell AT&T product and the only name mentioned inside or outside the building was the official AT&T logo all decked out in that crappy blue and orange - no offense to all you Miami Dolphin fans. It had been years since I had been in an AT&T store - all my recent dealings had been at an Apple store) He began to tell me that I would have to "take up this issue" with the store and that it was "out of his hands". I promptly asked him who my contract was with - He stated AT&T. I immediately repeated the question - he again correctly answered AT&T - I asked the question 3 additional times in succession and he scored a perfect 5 for 5. Finally, I asked him if he knew what the word "authorized" meant, as in "Authorized Retailer" and during my reading of this definition (straight from .merriam-webster.com) he interrupted me by resignedly asking me "what I wanted...."
Aah!!! ... Success. I went into this endeavor with the hopeful expectation that AT&T would credit my account the price of what I would have to pay for cloud storage for 2 years - It's soft money and almost always AT&T's go to when they screw up. Well after almost 90 minutes on the call, I quickly rethought my position and like any successful Rep will tell you "Ultimately, you always have to ask for it". I told the supervisor that there were 2 options:
1) AT&T could release me from my contract without penalty and refund my full purchase price for the phone...not something AT&T wants (nor did I ... again I stay because of my unlimited data plan) or....
2) Replace my HOXL with an equivalent phone that has expanded storage options at zero cost to me - of course we both knew that the only possible replacement was the Galaxy SIII
Without hesitating he asked me what color I wanted and to what address I wanted it shipped -- The phone arrived at my doorstep, Oct 2, precisely 27.5 hours from the time I ended the call. After 2 weeks and another lengthy call - this time to Customer Service - I was able to successfully argue that my contract start date should be reinstated to the original May 6th date and not the Oct 2nd citing that the SIII was not an upgrade but a replacement phone.
I created this Post not to boast or pat myself on the back, but rather as a template for other HOXL owners who may be feeling slighted by AT&T's consistently awful business practices. Hey, It doesn't have to be an SIII --- it may be a great way to offset HTC's poor decision of putting out a part deux a mere 6 months into release of their "flagship" X series. Why is it always the early adopters and loyal supporters who seem to get hosed ... but I gotta say the HOXL+ is looking mighty Dope. Although, I do question the decision of not going with a RAM increase, (can anyone confirm this?) While its not a huge hindrance, I do get a "load screen" every now and then. It just seems as though 1 Gig is really riding the line, at least with ICS 4.0.4.

That's awesome bro lol. I wish I could pull some shiz like that.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app

haha thats great, I'm glad you made out good

dotsquad said:
t may be a great way to offset HTC's poor decision of putting out a part deux a mere 6 months into release of their "flagship" X series.
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Yeah, exactly. Let's start demanding free phones because HTC is keeping up with technology.
If this forum had a "First world problems" section, this thread would've been a sticky.
Some people need to take a long, hard look at themselves.

Great first post. Sometimes I want to tell AT&T these things. I just seem to always get a very helpful customer service rep who always make me feel warm and cared for inside. =)
After this month I'm getting pretty pissed about being throttled to 500kbps after 5GB.

whys everyone mad.... of course they gave him an s3....it's a downgrade and very likely a refurb.
Sent from my One X using xda premium

EliWay said:
Yeah, exactly. Let's start demanding free phones because HTC is keeping up with technology.
If this forum had a "First world problems" section, this thread would've been a sticky.
Some people need to take a long, hard look at themselves.
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Click to collapse
ATT= Cash Cow
Defrauding the public = illegal
Free phone to satisfy a customer who was LIED to and keep taking their money = MORE PROFIT
No sympathy for them. First or third world. Corporations and governments take advantage of all of us in order to make another buck.
Fight the man and stand up for yourself no matter where you live. Isn't that why XDA came into existence in the first place?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

I would of asked to not be throttled anymore =)

Great first post! Great story! I really felt like when u are watching a tv series that ur addicted to and cant stop watching! Really entertaining!! And congrats on demanding ur rights, thats the way to go!
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app

c5satellite2 said:
ATT= Cash Cow
Defrauding the public = illegal
Free phone to satisfy a customer who was LIED to and keep taking their money = MORE PROFIT
No sympathy for them. First or third world. Corporations and governments take advantage of all of us in order to make another buck.
Fight the man and stand up for yourself no matter where you live. Isn't that why XDA came into existence in the first place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know what else for-profit companies do? They pass their expenses down to their customers. They aren't going to eat the expense of giving out free phones like this. You're not "fighting the man". Its nice to think idealistically like that, but it really doesn't work that way. The cost gets handed down to us in the form of higher device costs, higher service costs, etc.
Their was likely no "defrauding of the public". Bonus offers like the one for Dropbox almost always come with a disclaimer that the terms of the offer can be changed at anytime, and without notice (including rescinding the offer itself). And AT&T opted out of the offer a long time before September. Just because a piece of paper has been sitting in the box since May, doesn't mean the offer is still valid.
If AT&T wanted to keep a customer happy, I can see letting him switch to another phone, if the One X is so "unacceptable" due to low storage. But it would have made the most business sense to demand the One X be returned. Otherwise its just motivation for people to game the system and get free phones.

c5satellite2 said:
Fight the man and stand up for yourself no matter where you live. Isn't that why XDA came into existence in the first place?
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Click to collapse
No. XDA developers came into existence because we believe that if we bought a device, it's ours to reverse engineer or do whatever we want with it.
What you are doing is trying to game the system to get free stuff. It's SHAMEFUL.
redpoint73 said:
You know what else for-profit companies do? They pass their expenses down to their customers. They aren't going to eat the expense of giving out free phones like this. You're not "fighting the man". Its nice to think idealistically like that, but it really doesn't work that way. The cost gets handed down to us in the form of higher device costs, higher service costs, etc.
Their was likely no "defrauding of the public". Bonus offers like the one for Dropbox almost always come with a disclaimer that the terms of the offer can be changed at anytime, and without notice (including rescinding the offer itself). And AT&T opted out of the offer a long time before September. Just because a piece of paper has been sitting in the box since May, doesn't mean the offer is still valid.
If AT&T wanted to keep a customer happy, I can see letting him switch to another phone, if the One X is so "unacceptable" due to low storage. But it would have made the most business sense to demand the One X be returned. Otherwise its just motivation for people to game the system and get free phones.
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Couldn't have said it better myself.

IMHO and no disrespect to the OP, after spending so much time talking to their customer service, I would have been very upset if ATT tries to compensate me with an S3, I would have preferred an HTC One X+, too bad is not available yet.

OP, I need to give you props for your effort. In your particular case, I think you did the absolute right thing in complaining to AT&T about the whole issue. You getting the S3 for free is just a bonus in my eyes. IMO, this isn't defrauding a company; it's a situation where the customer was promised something and wasn't delivered by the company and the company made things right.

Congrats on the phone. Although i prefer the one x, gs3 is easier to work with for roms.
I'm surprised AT&T finally gave in. I guess they realized you were persistent and it wasn't worth it.
P.S. 6-8GB isn't moderate use by any means. You're lucky to be on unlimited data.

Great job dotsquad. Maybe others will get the same results.
As for the two that think this is shameful and wrong, ATT doesn't care about you. They only want your money regardless if their products or service work as advertised. And losing dotsquad as a customer costs them more than giving him a new phone and keeping him. Higher costs would be passed on if he went to another carrier.
Give customer a new phone, less than $250
Lose the customer, lose $1000+ per year. They don't really give you anything other than the next monthly bill.
And remember Randall Stevenson CEO of ATT lost the company 4+billion dollars with the failed T Mo merger, and then received a 22million bonus. 4 billion in costs passed on to customers.
If you really want to complain about something, that might be a better start.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

c5satellite2 said:
Great job dotsquad. Maybe others will get the same results.
As for the two that think this is shameful and wrong, ATT doesn't care about you. They only want your money regardless if their products or service work as advertised. And losing dotsquad as a customer costs them more than giving him a new phone and keeping him. Higher costs would be passed on if he went to another carrier.
Give customer a new phone, less than $250
Lose the customer, lose $1000+ per year. They don't really give you anything other than the next monthly bill.
And remember Randall Stevenson CEO of ATT lost the company 4+billion dollars with the failed T Mo merger, and then received a 22million bonus. 4 billion in costs passed on to customers.
If you really want to complain about something, that might be a better start.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Well played sir. I agree 100%
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app

Awesome!
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

You know I may try something similar to this. Although not talking about DropBox I genuinely thought that the HTC One X had 32GB of space (and it does). I didn't know the At&t version, or as I know now the HTC One Xl only had 16GB. And the thing is I remember asking the sales associate at Wal-Mart (which is also authorized reseller as you may know) "How much space does it have" and she said "32GBs". I was like yesss, because I have a bunch of music, take a lot of video and photos and of course fill up on apps. Now I have to constantly clear things up. And I didn't notice it only had 16GBs until my return period was up (I was too amazed at android and didn't really download many apps until later on, I switched from iOS ).
So what do you think my odds are at getting a device with 32GB?
----------
And yes I tried to make it work but I just can't. I haven't complained about the space issue but here recently it's beging to be a real problem.

All I need to say is 'good work'
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium

McMichael96 said:
You know I may try something similar to this. Although not talking about DropBox I genuinely thought that the HTC One X had 32GB of space (and it does). I didn't know the At&t version, or as I know now the HTC One Xl only had 16GB. And the thing is I remember asking the sales associate at Wal-Mart (which is also authorized reseller as you may know) "How much space does it have" and she said "32GBs".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Improper research before buying a device. And I wouldn't trust a Walmart employee to give me any correct information on phones, or an AT&T rep, for that matter. That part was clearly the Walmart employee's bad. But in the future, just do your own research. How hard would it have been to just read the box, before purchasing?
This is the exact reason that this thread is a poor precedence. Now people are trying to get free phones, for their own mistakes.