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[Q] Should i get a new replacement Captivate?

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?
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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

Finally a fully functioning phone

So long story short I lost my phone a week ago, one with terrible gps I should add, I didn't get the standard 5 dollar a month insurance from the death star, the guy at the wireless place offered me some other option where you pay a hundred up front but the deductible was only fifty so I did it thank god.
The insurance was through protect cell. So i filed a claim and they two dayed me phone feddy ex new sim card all. So i activated the phone and what do you know it has constant, i mean extremely constant random shutdown, like every 20 minutes while the battery was over 50 percent. So i the insurance company back and what do you the had the cap on back order so instead of being able to over night me a phone I had to deal with random shutdowns for a few days.
So the new phone finally arrived today and so far no random shutdowns and I did a gps test today and it worked extremely better than ever before. Hopefully this continues. Because I did hear fresh phones are more apt to have a functionable gps.
So to everyone with some sort of issue I suggest using those one year manufacturers warranties until you get a completely functionable phone. I do understand that is a big hassle for most of us and we shouldn't have to do all that to get a working phone but imo its better then having a phone that is lacking in some of its functionability.
Now more testing on custom rom and I am all set, praying gps maintains cuz it's a dealbreaker for me

I got my replacement phone last week (random shutdowns). The replacement had 4 shutdowns in less than 24 hours, the phone I was replacing had 4 shutdowns in 2 months. Called and *****ed that the replacement was within the same IMEI range as the affected phones. They overnighted another phone without waiting for the first or second phone to be returned. Third phone is working fine so far. GPS on Andromeda 1.2 is awesome.

Yea my phone also falls into the random shutdown range sadly, but hey so did my first one and I hadnt had any problems with it. Curious do you have insurance through att or did you get your replacement through warranty?

Fortunately, I live within 25 miles of a AT&T Tech Center - right next to an AT&T Sales Store - and they always have the Cap in stock. I'm on my 4th one, due to hardware issues - all at 0 cost under warranty. They were nice enough to show me that the new phone would boot to recovery, lol.
Happily running Serendipity 5.12, and patiently awaiting Gingerbread.
Thanks to all the devs and members at xda forums for your tireless enthusiasm!

No insurance, all replaced under warranty.

well its day two and I'm now running andromeda, gps is decent but not spectacular. Scheming on an inspire now
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

Held out since Dec 2010...replacement on the way
There are quite a few threads about the Captivate Shutdown issue, and actually there are a few with some good observations on how to potentially correct it, but ultimately it needs to be replaced
So, what have I tried:
1) Captivate Keep Alive: Works, but battery drain...and non solution.
2) Load Monitor: Works, not a huge battery drain...still, does not fix the underlying issue.
3) Contrary to what many have said, a custom rom/custom kernel does not fix the issue.
4) It does appear some have had success with cleaning battery terminals, and a few have stated Samsung replaced the battery terminals and it fixed the issue.
I called At&t today, 03/08/2011, they asked me for the IMEI code and what color the water damage indicators where (pink or white?). No water damage here, so white please.
They are doing an exchange by mail, since I do not live close to a repair center...I have 14-days to ship the original back. It was quick and to the point. The replacement is a "refurbished device" direct from the manufacturer. Fingers crossed that I do not experience this again on the replacement as others have.
Hope this helps someone sitting on the fence on whether or not to ship theirs back. Remember to unroot, unlag, and otherwise un-fun your phone before shipping back
Enigma

[Q] Has anyone gotten a refurb from atnt recently?

I mean by calling atnt and having them send you a replacement? I was wondering what model numbers they are shipping and if anyone is having any problems? Ive gotten about 4 replacements in the past 2 months from my local device service center and they all have developed random shutdowns. Ironically my first phone (1009) didnt have a problem but I exchanged it for the gps. And all the replacements had perfect gps but all developed random shutdowns (1008 batches).
I noticed the first random shutdowns on the first few phones would shutdown in my pocket and would turn on normally. My most recent phone is shutting down while charging and the battery needs to be removed. These all all refurbished phones...
So I dont know if I should go to my local store and hopefully they got a new batch or contact atnt via phone and have them ship me one.

NascarFastcar said:
I mean by calling atnt and having them send you a replacement? I was wondering what model numbers they are shipping and if anyone is having any problems? Ive gotten about 4 replacements in the past 2 months from my local device service center and they all have developed random shutdowns. Ironically my first phone (1009) didnt have a problem but I exchanged it for the gps. And all the replacements had perfect gps but all developed random shutdowns (1008 batches).
I noticed the first random shutdowns on the first few phones would shutdown in my pocket and would turn on normally. My most recent phone is shutting down while charging and the battery needs to be removed. These all all refurbished phones...
So I dont know if I should go to my local store and hopefully they got a new batch or contact atnt via phone and have them ship me one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my wife just got a refurb about a month ago and her build is 1006

nyydynasty said:
my wife just got a refurb about a month ago and her build is 1006
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Click to collapse
I shouldn't thought twice because I know someone is gonna post about how the numbers dont matter. But I was just wondering. How is the phone doing? gps, shutting down etc? I just think my local store has a bad batch.

In october I took back original 1006 build with shutdown issue. Since it was radio shack and people around here dont know ****, they still had new ones so I exchanged it for a NIB. Another 1006 build, never a single problem with it.

Got a replacement two weeks ago for my Captivate that "disappeared" at airport security. Went through the call-in process and got a refurbished phone without sign of normal wear and tear. Build is 1010 and so far everything is perfect (including the GPS which had never worked on my previous 1008). I have it running on CM7 installed on the SD and I'm amazed how much better this unit is than the previous one. Makes me almost glad the previous one flew the coop.

FishDoc said:
Got a replacement two weeks ago for my Captivate that "disappeared" at airport security. Went through the call-in process and got a refurbished phone without sign of normal wear and tear. Build is 1010 and so far everything is perfect (including the GPS which had never worked on my previous 1008). I have it running on CM7 installed on the SD and I'm amazed how much better this unit is than the previous one. Makes me almost glad the previous one flew the coop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long does the transaction take to ship and get to you? I know they just send the phone without a battery cover and battery. They also send a box to send the old one back in? The service center is about 20 mins from me but I just dont risk another bad one.

I just got two replacements from ATT this week. One for me, one for wife. Both are build 1102. Both old ones were 1006 (need to mail those back soon). I noticed the three button combo works of stock froyo, but stopped working when I flashed stock eclair with Odin. I tried to flash GB on mine, same way I did with my 1006, soft brick. Had to buy a jig.
They wanted to give me free 5 day shipping, or charge for 2 day shipping. I explained I don't have a home phone, really need my cell to work and fast, they waived the fee. Called on Saturday night, arrived on Tuesday morning.
Sent from my Captivate running Cognition

I've gotten 2 from AT&T since January, one for me and one for my girl. I've had zero problems. Both are 1007 models. I've flashed every ROM available on XDA.... multiple times... Smooth as can be. Sucks your having so many issues. This is a great phone. Very easy to work with. You would think it would be easy enough for them to make it all but new other then the cosmetic blemish here or there. I'm a big fan of putting up a stink if I don't get what was promised to me. If anything else goes wrong, I'd push for an upgrade... With the infuse out now, that would be a great way to go. I'm waiting to make any trouble till the SGS II comes out, then I'll figure out a way to get one for free

Just got one a week and a half ago. build 1010

If there's a ATT repair store in your town, you can get a replacement in about 15min.

I sent my 1008 in for exchange due to random shutdown, paid for 2nd day shipping, received 1010 no shut downs and gps is ok.

NascarFastcar said:
How long does the transaction take to ship and get to you? I know they just send the phone without a battery cover and battery. They also send a box to send the old one back in? The service center is about 20 mins from me but I just dont risk another bad one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
48 hours from call-in to delivery of the "new" refurbished unit.

axis01 said:
If there's a ATT repair store in your town, you can get a replacement in about 15min.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I've been doing. But about a week or two in every phone develops shutdowns. I should make a fuss and see if they will give me a new one out of the box.

So wait ya'll haven't paid the $ for a refurbished cap through arts warranty?!

I got my refurbished cappy about a month ago,its a 1007 build.Had some issues with stock kb1 and a lota random restarts on ff 3.0 but ever since the switch to continuum 4(basicly onix kernel) all my issues were gone and became a happy cappy user About the gps : doesnt matter what rom I was on the gps fix from plumbob did it for me,get locks even with 70mph and tue tracking works just fine(no complaints) just be sure to follow the instructions prior flashing the fix.Also for me here in Hungary kb1 modem works the best but jk4 performance is acceptable to,so I dont feel the urge to switch to GB yet since everything runs smoooooth.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

xThe Enforcer said:
So wait ya'll haven't paid the $ for a refurbished cap through arts warranty?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope had about 4 refurbs in the past few months. Didn't have to pay a thing. But what fee are you talking about? But I never damaged a thing.

NascarFastcar said:
I shouldn't thought twice because I know someone is gonna post about how the numbers dont matter. But I was just wondering. How is the phone doing? gps, shutting down etc? I just think my local store has a bad batch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
phone is fine but no matter what ROM we put on there, her phone wont ring sometimes - which I dont understand how that is NOT a rom issue but its happened to all the rom's I installed since she got her refurb. Its random and a reboot usually fixes it for a while until it happens again. There are some other minor quirks that I can't remember too.
GPS is fine
no shutdown issues

NascarFastcar said:
Nope had about 4 refurbs in the past few months. Didn't have to pay a thing. But what fee are you talking about? But I never damaged a thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I pay the $5 a month and I thought if you want a new phone through AT&T you have to pay some $?! Do they comp everyone who has the typical Captivate problems and waive the fee?

xThe Enforcer said:
Well, I pay the $5 a month and I thought if you want a new phone through AT&T you have to pay some $?! Do they comp everyone who has the typical Captivate problems and waive the fee?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know. I don't have the $5 insurance. But every time I go get a refurb they offer it to me. But I never had to pay a dime when exchanging my phone at a service center and like someone said above it only takes about 10 mins.

Hmm, I'm using continuum now but I'm really not liking it. It has some issues like it lags on using the contact list. I've also had it randomly shut off. I was using fire fly before and it was fantastic, but I wanted to use netflix. Going to try out cyanogen.
Oh and I got a refurb 1007, which seems to have fixed my issues.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

[Q] Silent Inspire

Hello, I'm looking for a little advice.
First: the problem - phone will not make any sounds what so ever...nothing. the phone is rooted and running wcx-illuminatti (no apps or anything downloaded the day before the issues), but has been for about 2 months. phone woke me up with its morning alarm, then it rang about 20 mins later so i answered the phone and...nothing dead silent.
-speaker is silent for ringer/notifications/media player/youtube vids
-headphones don't get any sound either
-other person can't hear me talking
everything else works fine? just no speaker sounds or mic, wetness indicators still pure white
Second: what sould i do - I've had the phone for 13 months so its out of the manu warranty. do I take it to att and see what they say? call htc and explain the issue? I have tried flashing different roms to fix it...wont work, i never did change the radio. Should i return to unrooted stock before i contact htc or att?
thanks for the suggestions guys!
Luckily I still have my blackjack 2 and moto razr to use while i figure this out...

Without indicating which ROMs you tried we have no way of knowing. Each phone (even the same model) can have its quirks. I would suggest trying the stock rom just to ensure it is an actual hardware issue. If the stock rom does not fix it then I think you are out of luck for a free repair or replacement. If you have insurance it will help lower the cost of a replacement. Otherwise, you will most likely not have any other avenues other than to buy a phone outright. I have heard of a few cases where AT&T corporate store managers can work their "magic" and somehow set it up to get you a phone at a contract price (but usually is higher cost than normal contract renewal and you would most likely have to renew your contract). Gook luck with everything. Let us know if it was definitely hardware related or not.

Well this happened friday morning...I woke up and tried flashing an old nandroid of leedroid with no success
then tried leaving it in a bag of rice since the night before someone spilled on top of the pocket i had the phone in...i had immediately removed it, wiped it off and put in my other pocket and i thought it didnt get too wet or anything
so after the quick nandroid i powered it down and left it in a bag of rice overnight...then after reading your response tried flashing stock...seems to work great
I prefer sense 3.5 like in wcx so i tried to reflash from sd card and again sound is gone...could the file on my sd be corrupt or does my phone just not want the 1.3 ghz (or whatever) overclock any more?

[Q] Stock GS3 dies while taking pictures

Ok here is my issue.
I had a VZ GS3, running the same software it had out of he box. ie I never rooted it or unlocked the bootloader(I was waiting for a stable JB/Touchwiz).
Anyway, I had the phone for about 3wks. Didn't run into any issues seemed to be working fine. One morning I was sitting around playing with the camera taking pictures of my girlfriend play with her dog.
In the middle of taking pictures the phone just died. At the the time the battery was pretty low maybe 10-15%. At first I thought the battery was dead so I tried charging it but the charging LED never lit up. Pressing the home button did nothing(no battery graphic). I went and took a shower leaving it on the charger for another 30min still no change. I tried booting into ODIN mode, but still got nothing.
So I got dressed and went to VZ. The tech pulled the battery and tried one from a display unit, but we still got nothing . We tried booting into ODIN with this new battery & still nothing. The tech said he had never seen anything like that happen before so they would return my phone on warranty (I don't have insurance).
Of course they send me a refurb and it works fine but I can't help but feel a little cheated, I bought a new $250 phone and through no fault of my own I have to live with this refurb. Also, this has made me a little wary of rooting my phone since if it hard bricks I won't be able to restore it to factory before sending it back.
Anybody hear of anything like this happening with other GS3's

What's wrong with a refurb? How do you feel cheated? You returned your non working phone for a phone that does work and passed another round of QC. I don't see the problem here.

mustbepbs said:
What's wrong with a refurb? How do you feel cheated? You returned your non working phone for a phone that does work and passed another round of QC. I don't see the problem here.
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Click to collapse
I feel cheated because using electronics puts on wear. The processor, the OLEDs, every piece of silicon in the phone is subject to degradation based on the amount of use, heat, liquid and impact its exposed to. By definition, the refurb is a phone that had some issue and was repaired.
I don't know what the phone has been exposed to prior to me receiving it. For all I know they re-flashed someones highly used phone stuck it in a new case/bezel and sent it to me. Any additional wear may down the road effect the performance of my phone. Its the same reason that the display unit at most stores is sold at a discount.
As to your talk of QC. They actually sent me 2 refurbs. The first one was put back together incorrectly & the battery door wouldn't close, so I had to return that one immediately after opening the box.

sololhj said:
I feel cheated because using electronics puts on wear. The processor, the OLEDs, every piece of silicon in the phone is subject to degradation based on the amount of use, heat, liquid and impact its exposed to. By definition, the refurb is a phone that had some issue and was repaired.
I don't know what the phone has been exposed to prior to me receiving it. For all I know they re-flashed someones highly used phone stuck it in a new case/bezel and sent it to me. Any additional wear may down the road effect the performance of my phone. Its the same reason that the display unit at most stores is sold at a discount.
As to your talk of QC. They actually sent me 2 refurbs. The first one was put back together incorrectly & the battery door wouldn't close, so I had to return that one immediately after opening the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if you buy new or get new for a replacement, you're still subject to the same problems that could arise, as you've already experienced. As for your other points, the phone has been out for a few months. I think you need to relax a little bit if you have legitimate issues, verizon will give you another refurb as you've already had to do.
Just because it's new doesn't make it impervious, as again you've already seen.

This was replaced under warranty so you should, in my opinion, have gotten a brand new phone. It's not like it was replaced out of warranty by an insurance company. You paid for a new phone that was defective at the fault of Samsung. It was not your fault. I'd contact Verizon AND Samsung and complain. Rerburb is NOT new. I call refurbished items used because that's a better definition of what they are.

I agree with sololhj. Even though the phone works and went through further qc, it's still not new. I paid for a new phone, I want a new phone. On my last phone there were issues, so I had it replaced. I got sent a refurbished one and it just wasn't the same. Weird feeling, hard to explain lol.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

mustbepbs said:
Even if you buy new or get new for a replacement, you're still subject to the same problems that could arise, as you've already experienced. As for your other points, the phone has been out for a few months. I think you need to relax a little bit if you have legitimate issues, verizon will give you another refurb as you've already had to do.
Just because it's new doesn't make it impervious, as again you've already seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course the same problems could arise, in fact I don't even blame Samsung for my phone bricking itself in the first. I probably just got a bad piece of silicon. The whole reason I started this thread is because now that this phone has been out for a month I thought I would have heard of this happening to someone else, but apparently it hasn't.
The point is, what if this phone belonged to a fellow XDA member who had a custom kernel running and had the cpu overclocked to 3GHZ, burning a whole in the phone? Then because of some other issue he reflashed the stock ROM, used the flash counter hack to return the phone to normal and returned it to Verizon.
Now that's my phone and all that wear & tear is on the chip potentially reducing its overall life. Aren't I entitled to a new unused piece of silicon, even if the probability of it having issues is the same as the refurb I received?

sololhj said:
Of course the same problems could arise, in fact I don't even blame Samsung for my phone bricking itself in the first. I probably just got a bad piece of silicon. The whole reason I started this thread is because now that this phone has been out for a month I thought I would have heard of this happening to someone else, but apparently it hasn't.
The point is, what if this phone belonged to a fellow XDA member who had a custom kernel running and had the cpu overclocked to 3GHZ, burning a whole in the phone? Then because of some other issue he reflashed the stock ROM, used the flash counter hack to return the phone to normal and returned it to Verizon.
Now that's my phone and all that wear & tear is on the chip potentially reducing its overall life. Aren't I entitled to a new unused piece of silicon, even if the probability of it having issues is the same as the refurb I received?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah if you bought it in the last 14 days, verizon should give you a new one. Maybe I'm just not that paranoid about refurbished things as others.