This started about a week ago. I had a Samsung Gusto 2 start rebooting with no warning, so I did an online equipment change to a Gusto 3. The Gusto 3 kept rebooting as well, so I did another equipment change back to a Gusto 2 - this time a different one, one I bought only because it was on sale for $9.99 and came with $10 of airtime (in other words, free phone / battery / charger), one I hadn't used yet (except to activate it to add the $10 to my account and then switch back).
Finally, I tried switching my number to my reliable old Samsung Gusto 1, which I loved and only upgraded from because its one downside was that the alarm didn't work. No luck there, either.
To address the questions I know are coming:
1.) Yes, I tried taking the battery out for a while in all four instances. Yes, I lightly wiped the battery with a clean, dry cloth and a Q-Tip in all four instances, and yes, I did the same with the inside of the phone.
2.) Yes, in all four cases the battery was fully charged.
3.) Yes, with the third phone (the second Gusto 2) I tried a factory reset. No luck. Doing so with the other three phones is out of the question because I have at least ten games on each of them, which cost far more than the phones did. This is an important point, because...
4.) ...yes, I tried calling the 888-294-6804 number. They suggested the factory reset with the third phone, so I did it. It didn't work. Then when I refused to try it with the phones that have all the games, they said they can't open a ticket because I didn't try everything. Why should I ditch all those games for a tactic that didn't work on the first phone, one which had been used only once? Basically, when they ran out of ideas they shut me down because they knew I wouldn't delete $75-80 worth of games in a failed attempt to revive a $19 phone even once, much less three times.
5.) Yes, I tried reactivating with *228 and *22898 in all four instances.
6.) Yes, I went to a Verizon store. I was snottily told that they don't bother with us lowly prepaid trash (not the sales rep's words, but certainly her tone) before being subjected to a sales pitch.
7.) Yes,the area code is consistent with my living area. I have used the same area code (which Verizon assigned to me based on my zip code) since 2005, and have lived in the same house all that time. The reboots are a brand new problem, but nothing else has changed.
8.) No, there is no damage of any kind, water or otherwise, to any of the phones. And of the four, only two have experienced extensive use.
I have spent a week on this - calls to support, trips to the useless store, online equipment changes, reactivations, battery removal and so on. I've tried putting my wife's account on these phones, and she does not experience this problem. The support number (888-294-6804) won't help because I refuse to reset the other three phones after the first reset failed to help the unused phone, so please don't tell me to call them again. The store experience was infuriating, so I won't ever set foot in another one.
What's left? I will not upgrade to a smartphone because I don't have the patience for touch screen and none of the plans fit my low level of use. I got no help from the support number or the store. One original Gusto, two of the second model and a new Gusto 3 are all rebooting constantly, but only with my account (again, my wife's account works fine on these phones!).
I considered a couple theories, but neither make sense (for example, the phones are reacting poorly to an account with a recently grandfathered plan). I thought perhaps the Gusto series was too obsolete for the network, but the Gusto 3 is still available in stores everywhere and my wife's account even works on the original Gusto. She's now using the Gusto 3. which is not rebooting for her but did for me. Her account is almost brand new and has one of the new plans, mine is over ten years old and has a grandfathered plan I refuse to change. Is it possible that the phones just hate my account? It sounds ridiculous and makes no sense, but nothing else makes sense either.
I can't afford this level of unreliability. Because I insist on a flip phone or an equally simple locking candy bar model, there are some steps I won't take in addition to never going through the pain of calling the number or visiting a store again. This is probably my last stop before picking another carrier. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening or how to fix it?
I don't mean to sound like the curmudgeonly old man I am, but please don't tell me to call. I've done that too many times this week and if I have to hear the prepaid IVR's music again and waste an hour on steps I've done repeatedly before only to yet again hear nothing can be done, I'll lose what little sanity I have left after all of this.
Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
