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When is this phone going to get fixed?

What is going to be done for us customers who have bought this phone? When is it going to get fixed?

This phone has had issues since day one for a lot of us. Many of us are outside the 14-day return period so many of us are up a creek when it comes to returning the phone for another phone. Including myself.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. The phone is a great phone, I love the featureset and I love the LTE network. Many of us wouldn't want to go back to a non-LTE phone including myself.

We know that Gingerbread is coming soon and that with it comes a promised fix for all these issues, including a fix for the dropping signal issue which has to be the biggest issue that all of us Droid Charge users are having. All we ask is when we can expect this to be released to us. A lot of the older phones are getting Gingerbread before this phone. Why? This phone is new, shouldn't we expect it to be the first phone on the block to get Gingerbread? It only makes sense to have this phone get Gingerbread before every other phone.

It is after all, Verizon's "flagship" phone. The one that Verizon is marketing the heck out of on television and the Internet with their "Rule the Air" commercials.

Some say that Gingerbread is being held up by Samsung because of issues with the new TouchWiz. Personally, I don't care about the new TouchWiz. Release the update without the new TouchWiz and get these immediate issues fixed then release a point-1 upgrade with the new TouchWiz when it's ready for release.

Comments

WCMack

Dear trparky,

I can understand your frustration, although I am one of the seeming lucky minority of Charge owners that have relatively few problems with the phone. I live in a 3G only area, but occasionally travel into 4G-NYC for meetings and have not experienced the switching/dropping problems that many others complain of. Based on your location, I am guessing you have 4G in your area, but can't take full advantage because of the switching/dropping problem.

I would not count too heavily on the next iteration of the OS to solve the problem. As far as I know, no one has definitively identified the source of the issue; it could be software, but it could also be the hardware in the phone, most possibly the radios or the antenna (remember the iPhone "death grip" problem?).

I hope Android 2.3.x is released soon and that it solves the problem. But I would not count on either of those things too much.

PJNC284

Everyone seems to like to like this "flagship" buzzword. Old hardware and minimal marketing = flagship? I think not. It's Droid branded but that's likely only because the Bionic was delayed and they haven't marketed it nearly as much as the other Droid branded devices. IMO, the only real "flagship" Verizon has had was the OG Droid which had a ton of marketing and is still holding strong almost 2 years later. Every other phone has been proven irrelvant in only a matter of months. And I wouldn't hold my breath on GB on the Charge since Samsung has the worst update track record of any manufacturer in the US.

WCMack

Dear PJNC284,

Your profile indicates you own an HTC Thunderbolt; do you own/have you owned a Charge?

PJNC284

Nope. After owning the Fascinate I vowed not to buy a Samsung device that wasn't up-to-date. Nice hardware but awful software support.

trparky

Apparently the guys over at GummyCharged (a third-party ROM for the Droid Charge) has this issue fixed. No idea how they fixed it, all I know is that they supposedly have it fixed.

Obviously if I have to load a third-party ROM to fix the issue because Verzion doesn't want to fix it, I'm going to do so. I'd really rather not since loading third-party ROMs voids your warranty. Hence the reason why I want this fix so quickly.

PJNC284

trparky wrote:
I'd really rather not since loading third-party ROMs voids your warranty.

It's not like there's an alarm that goes off at Verizon HQ whenever someone installs a rom. Verizon only knows if you tell them. The good thing about Samsung devices is that they're relatively hard to brick since Odin can be used to reflash a phone. The thing is just don't call Customer Service and say "I'm rworded and having issues" and expect them to help you. You always have the option of flashing back to stock if you have issues. Besides the developers and development community are much more helpful that Verizon/Samsung.

trparky

They have no idea when the update is going to be released. I asked them on Twitter for any kind of timeframe, be it a couple of days, weeks, months... etc. Nothing, they say they have no timeframe. This is frustrating. We may all have to go to the community with third-party ROMs to get this fixed if they don't want to release it in a timely manner to fix what many people called a jacked-up release of a phone.

JerryF

One of the problems listed is:

The inability to answer a phone call because the device won't respond.

Can someone tell me if this problem happens when you get a call and you try to unlock your phone by swiping across the screen and the phone will NOT unlock so you can answer the phone? That happened to me and I fixed it.

If this is the problem switch to the Puzzle UnLock.. This fixed the problem for me and now I like the puzzle unlock better than swiping across the screen.

BTW, to do this from the home page go to Settings>Display Settings and click on Puzzle Unlock.

JerryF

Davidoo

Mine does it with the puzzle lock also. The only way to answer the call is to press the on/off button on the upper right portion of the phone to turn the screen blank, then press it again to make the puzzle come back and then it will work so you can answer your phone. Got to wonder if anyone even tested this thing for more than an hour.

joen4691

I have read and participated here since getting my Charge and although I have had a few minor glitches here and there I have felt fortunate that I wasn't plagued by a lot of the same troubles as many others.

That was then . . . this is now:

Within the last 10 days or so I have encountered the following on a regular basis

1. Dropped calls

2. Person on the other end cannot hear me even though I can hear them

3. Random reboots

4. Extreme sluggishness from time to time

5. Complete loss of data for more than just a few seconds as I experienced before. Yes I am in strong signal areas and I have the phone locked to 3G auto, since I don't have 4G in my home area until tomorrow. Data sometimes returns at 1X, sometimes does not return until a reboot and sometimes comes back at 3G

6. Bluetooth - dropped connections; showing connected but not really connected; having to un pair and re-pair to get reconnected

7. Callers sound so garbled that I have to constantly ask them to repeat themselves - yes good signal here too

8. Person on the other end says I sound broken up - ditto on SS

9. Times when data shows connected at 3G or even wifi at home, yet no data movement without reboot

I travel a lot for work from Omaha (home) to Des Moines, Sioux Falls, etc. Usually on Interstate or State highway. I understand occasionally dropping calls as I move from home to extended network, etc, but what I am experiencing over the last 10 days is bad. I also carry a VZ BB 9630 and have none of these issues with connectivity, call drops, etc.

I have not added any apps recently that would make me think that it could be the problem. I really don't want a refurb and I don't want to hard reset unless necessary. It takes too long to set everything back up, although I will do it if I have to.

I guess I'm not looking for a solution as much as hopefully letting VZ know that I am another troubled customer that actually came to VZ from ATT because of VZ's reputation. I hope this gets fixed SOON!

JerryF

JoeNe,

Check out my thread, "Is your battery causing your problems?"

JerryF

rolla020980

My opinion of VZW and Samsung was lowered a lot by this phone. It is a great piece of hardware. The screen is beautiful, but it runs like crap. It is about as responsive as my Moto Droid was... maybe because that phone didn't have all this unremovable bloatware on it. PLEASE!!! Do not include this crap on Gingerbread!!!! I think I will keep the phone for now, and I don't want to root it (warranty and all that).

AnthonyTa_VZW

JoeNe wrote:
I have read and participated here since getting my Charge and although I have had a few minor glitches here and there I have felt fortunate that I wasn't plagued by a lot of the same troubles as many others.

That was then . . . this is now:

Within the last 10 days or so I have encountered the following on a regular basis

1. Dropped calls
2. Person on the other end cannot hear me even though I can hear them
3. Random reboots
4. Extreme sluggishness from time to time
5. Complete loss of data for more than just a few seconds as I experienced before. Yes I am in strong signal areas and I have the phone locked to 3G auto, since I don't have 4G in my home area until tomorrow. Data sometimes returns at 1X, sometimes does not return until a reboot and sometimes comes back at 3G
6. Bluetooth - dropped connections; showing connected but not really connected; having to un pair and re-pair to get reconnected
7. Callers sound so garbled that I have to constantly ask them to repeat themselves - yes good signal here too
8. Person on the other end says I sound broken up - ditto on SS
9. Times when data shows connected at 3G or even wifi at home, yet no data movement without reboot

I travel a lot for work from Omaha (home) to Des Moines, Sioux Falls, etc. Usually on Interstate or State highway. I understand occasionally dropping calls as I move from home to extended network, etc, but what I am experiencing over the last 10 days is bad. I also carry a VZ BB 9630 and have none of these issues with connectivity, call drops, etc.

I have not added any apps recently that would make me think that it could be the problem. I really don't want a refurb and I don't want to hard reset unless necessary. It takes too long to set everything back up, although I will do it if I have to.

I guess I'm not looking for a solution as much as hopefully letting VZ know that I am another troubled customer that actually came to VZ from ATT because of VZ's reputation. I hope this gets fixed SOON!

JoeNe,

Thank you for posting your comments and concerns! Verizon Wireless really does appreciate your business and your time!

I understand your concern with having to do extensive troubleshooting, such as performing Hard Resets or even replacing your phone with a Certified Like New Replacement. If it would be any consolation, Samsung is aware of these issues with the Charge, and are working diligently to provide our customers a fix. If you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to me!

Again, thank you for your patience and for choosing Verizon Wireless!

trparky

I certainly hope that's not the case.

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