I loved my Fascinate when I got it, but the failure of Verizon to promptly resolve KNOWN software issues with known-to-Verizon solutions constitutes something dangerously close to fraud. Like others, I was promised a prompt upgrade to Froyo by a Verizon rep when I bought the phone. Like others. my GPS performance is terrible, with frequent delays of 10 minutes to infinity to achieve a location lock. Like others, I let my 30 day return expire because I was promised a software fix was coming out Real Soon Now, so now I am screwed.
The issue is NOT the delayed Froyo update,the issue is that the phone does not function as promised by Verizon when sold. Knowing sale of a defective product that does not meet its advertised features is fraudulent under the commercial code in any state of the union.
Therefore I am doing some of the few things I can do under the circumstances:
First of all, new buyers are warned that the phone DOES NOT WORK as advertised in many cases due to software issues with GPS, email push, and other features. If you buy it, don't expect it to work. If you are promised otherwise by a Verizon store or rep, be warned that the promises are empty. Be warned that the Verizon implementation of Bing en lieu of Google search and other disruptions of the base Google services makes the phone almost unusable compared to a true Android environment such as that on certain other Android phones and providers. Bing is terrible. VZNavigator is a rip off (and terrible). If you are a lawyer interested in a class action against Verizon related to thi sphone be aware that you should have plenty of interested parties. Personally I would like my service fees waved for the period from September when I bought the phone through whenever-they-actually-make-it-work with debugged software. It is clear that engineering KNOWS how to make the GPS work even without a full Froyo update - they just haven't released a patch.
I wish I could love this phone - but I can't recommend it any more to any one for any reason until Samsung/Verizon fix the software and de-Bing and de-bloat an otherwise excellent piece of hardware. This is EXACTLY what Apple got right, and that Verizon has wrong. A pox on them and their bloatware and BIng and broken search functions. It's like a bad dream. Swapping the hardware out for another Fasicinate won't fix it. I'm stuck.
