Like many other people, I've been having problems with my GS3 ever since I made the mistake of installing the Android 4.3 update. My phone freezes constantly--I won't even be using it and I'll pick it up and try to turn on the screen, and the screen stays black and the phone is completely unresponsive. It won't even power off. The only thing I can do to get it to respond is to remove the battery and put it back in. I've also been having issues with the battery draining ridiculously fast and the phone getting unusually hot, as well as Bluetooth connectivity issues--after a few minutes of speaking to someone on my Bluetooth headset, my microphone goes dead and they can no longer hear me unless I disconnect and reconnect the headset, making the $50 Bluetooth headset I recently purchased basically useless.
So I called Verizon tech support, and they told me to do a factory reset on my phone. Having already read about how many people were having issues, I was skeptical about its odds of success, but I went ahead and tried it anyway. It does seem to have helped the battery and heat issue somewhat, although it is still draining much faster than it ever did on 4.1.2. It's still freezing, still has Bluetooth issues, and to top it all off, it's developed a new problem since the reset. Now the Wi-Fi will go in and out, and it sporadically gives me an error message saying that my Wi-Fi connection is unstable. So Verizon drops unlimited data, and then they give us an update that forces us to use mobile data if we want to have a reliable Internet connection on our phones. Way to go, guys.
The first time I talked to tech support, when I did the factory reset, they told me to call in again if I was still having problems. So, I did. Having read all about the 4.3 issues on the Internet--issues which have been widely known about since November--all I really wanted them to do was send me a replacement phone with 4.1.2, so that I could at least have a stable operating system. Verizon is sending me a new phone, but they told me it would likely come with 4.3--so we'll see how things go, but I'm not really expecting the new phone to solve my problems, either. And worst of all, the Verizon rep I spoke to insisted on pretending that Verizon and Samsung knew nothing about the issues! There is a 39 PAGE THREAD ON VERIZON'S OWN WEBSITE with people complaining about these issues, and RIGHT HERE (https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/1039191#1039191) there is a Verizon rep ON THIS WEBSITE, publicly admitting that they know about the issues with the update. So WHY did the Verizon rep I spoke to insist on lying to me, even when I told him I already knew the truth??? I could even hear other people in the background talking about update issues when we were on the phone!! I'm already frustrated enough with these problems that I've been considering switching to another carrier. Verizon, apparently you don't know this, but...blatantly lying through your teeth to a customer that's already angry is NOT a good way to get them to stay with you. I switched from Sprint to Verizon for the sake of Verizon's superior customer service, but if this is the kind of service I can expect for the prices I pay? T-Mobile is looking better and better all the time. The ONLY reason I haven't already switched is because Verizon has better coverage.
I've been very happy with Verizon for some time--I even recently talked my fiance into signing up on our account rather than going with another carrier, since you guys have always had such amazing customer service. But this has been an awful experience, and it's really starting to change my mind. Bad enough that Verizon and Samsung let such a bug-filled update get through their quality control. Bad enough that Verizon is still forcing people to update their phones, even knowing of the issues. But for tech support to sit there and lie to me on the phone, and claim it's "not a known issue," when Samsung UK released an official statement about it back in November, it's all over every cellphone website on the Internet, and Verizon's own reps admitted it on their own website a good two weeks back? No. Just no. That is absolutely unacceptable behavior, and I have no use for a company that's going to treat me like I'm an idiot and try to give me the runaround when I call tech support. Even if my new phone works, unless Verizon does something REALLY amazing to make up for all this, I don't think I'll be staying once our contracts are up.
