Legal Recourse?

[Anonymous]

So the gingerbread update caused all the same issues with my phone as outlined here and on the web (phone turns itself on, contacts randomly deleted, parts of contacts randomly deleted, etc.)  I had no problems with the phone before the update.  After talking to vzw, the party line is that it is not vzw's fault and they are not willing to credit/compensate for any damage done by the update.  They claim the responsibility rests entirely with motorola and google.  They state that since I don't have insurance that I'm basically SOL and are more than willing to sell me another phone.  Needless to say, I am outraged.  When you have any issues with a phone, tech support directs you to ensure all the updates are done with the phone.  When an update breaks the phone, they have no responsibility and if you didn't opt for insurance, you are stuck buying a new phone.  I am considering contacting the BBB however, I was hoping to get feedback from anyone in the same situation and if they had a successful resolution.  Sorry if this is rambling.  I am so mad I can hardly see straight.

[mdram4x4]

how long have you had the phone?

if its under a year then its still under warranty

if over a year, then yes insurance would be needed to replace it

i think if you dont have insurance you can do a CPO phone

personally i never update a phone as long as it works.

oh and the bbb cant do anything, its a worthless organization

[bearone21]

"never update"....when gb came out last july, i was reluctant to upgrade and selected "later". after 2 or 3 "laters", 150 meg or so had downloaded & was ready to install, good thing i had enough battery for the dl.

when i did the gb install, picture perfect & has been ever since.

[droidsw]

It's not that simple. Have you troubleshot the phone?

In other words, a hard reset, cleared your cache, formatted your SD card, rebooted in Safe Mode to rule out apps as the culprit?

Don't get me wrong. My phone ran like an athlete on steroids before the gingerbread update. And since, it often acts like a drunken idiet (I misspelled that on purpose because that word is apparently deemed unacceptable and is edited out in this forum).

I agree, however that Verizon is not to blame. You don't yell at the paperboy if you don't like the news in the newspaper do you? I put the blame on Moto, but that is for my phone.

There are many threads and discussions in this forum on this topic. These threads will help walk you through troubleshooting.

As I mentioned, my phone is a buggy glitchy device from time-to-time, but not enough to call it BBB-worthy.

I think, with troubleshooting, you should get yours somewhat functional. You won't love it, but at least learn to accept it for what it is.

[Cody21]

Yep -- if you haven't AT LEAST attempted a Factory reset, then there is not much to discuss. Many MANY issues have been resolved by biting that bullet ... yes, it's painful. You will lose all of your Configurations and will have to set the phone up all over again. Make a hard copy list of your (free) 3rd party apps before starting a FR, or download & install the APP to back up a LIST of your APPS, and copy the created file OFF of your card before starting a F.R.

edit:  PS: the app is called "APP LIST BACKUP" in market

[Wildman]

If you want to backup your apps to your sd card you can use ES File Explorer which is free on the market....  Just install, open. menu, manage and Amm Manager, from this menu select all files and then backup option and all will be copied to sd card.

There also is a option to restore the files as long as you snable install unknown sources option..

[mort78]

It certainly sounds to me that a factory reset is in order. Cody21 mentioned one app that will back up all your apps, there are a few more. However, if an app is causing you these heartaches, I would not try to install all of them at once. I would copy down the apps I downloaded and install them one or two at a time, at the most. If these problems arise again after an installation, you know which one is the culprit.

[Cody21]

Maybe I wasn't clear -- that APP I mentioned only CREATES A LIST OF ALL YOUR APPS ... it does NOT back them up physically, since they're in market anyway.  The APP creates a File on your SD Card ...  The concept is you make a copy of that file to your PC, do the Factory Reset. Then the 1st APP your reinstall is "APP LIST BACKUP", then copy your backed up file back to you SD Card in the proper directory. then launch APP LIST BACKUP and select RESTORE.  That will (supposedly) straighten everything out ...

Caveat: I have never had to actually do that restore process - but I have a copy of the backed up data in the event I have to do a Factory Reset.

[mort78]

Google Accounts for Market is another one which does the same thing.

[dirkbonn · Accepted solution]

Legal Recourse?

Sure.  In this country you can sue anybody for anything.  Doesn't mean you will win, but you can sue. You don't even need an attorney, you can file your claim in small claims court. (Max $5,000 in many states) Doesn't cost a lot to file either, maybe $25 to $75?  (This fee varies but it is ususally to pay a sheriff to serve papers on the defendant) A court date is set and you both show up. You inform the court how you've been harmed and be prepared to justify to the judge the amount of damages you are claiming. Verizon will have to show up on the court date to defend.  After you present your side and Verizon presents their defense, the judge will issue a judgement.   If they don't show up you win by default.  Case closed.

In many states you can print the filing papers right off your states website.

Whadaya think?  You gonna gofer it? Without a doubt it would be an interesting decision.

If you do file, keep us informed on how it turns out.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the replies.  I would like to point out that what I was asking was not a technical solution, as I have gone through all of those.   Regarding the suspect applications, at the time of the upgrade I had only installed one (IP Calc) and after the upgrade installed one (Spanish Dic).  This phone was pristine, never modded, never abused.  Regarding the paperboy comment, Really?!  The paperboy doesn't tell me I have to do something to continue receiving the paper I have paid for and then tell me I have to pay for an entirely new subscription after I follow his instructions.  Would you not hold M$ responsible if they released a patch that made your computer practically unusable with your only recourse to buy a new computer?

I replied to dirkbonn's post in particular because it was an relative answer to the question I asked.  No, I am not pursuing as the time and effort required is not something I really have the luxury of pursuing.  In the end even if I won the case (highly unlikely) I would still lose overall.  Since 9 out of 10 people I know with droid variants ended up ditching their phones with similar stories/problems after the GB update, I didn't know if there was a collective effort to get vzw to make this right (similar to the pressure that gets put on auto industry for recalls.)

To droidsw, I don't consider my phone to be somewhat functional if the only way to turn it off is removing the battery (I have to do this several times a day due to the nature of my work) and my contacts randomly get deleted or updated with their phone numbers removed.  That makes it more of an electronic toy, not a tool and this toy has long lost it's shine and is on it's way to the bin.

[Wildman]

The one thing I can not get what going on with everyone throwing around the sueing words...  This wont resolve anything but this has been the threat of choice lately and I just thinks if funny where things goes...  

No disrespect but the one thing to consider that sometimes if you read about a update causing issues that it may be wise to not install the upfate and also it has been a on going statement from user that the device had no issues before the update, Like the old saying goes "If its not broke dont fix it"..

[droidsw]

vzwsux, don't be mislead. I have been a HARSH critic of the Droid X, Moto, Gingerbread and Android.

Your post never mentioned the extent of your troubleshooting. There are people that never troubleshoot and that is a requirement for owning an Android.

Pardon the insinuation, but you sounded like a newbie with a possible bad app wanting to blame Verizon and cry lawsuit when (maybe) some simple troubleshooting could help.

In fact, I don't even offer much troubleshooting "advice" anymore because I find that with this phone, it's like urinating into the wind.

But, instead of being so negative all the time, I thought I would offer some "advice" and you threw it back in my face.

People like you don't want advice. You want a perfect phone. A perfect contract (that you can amend at anytime, on your terms). A perfect world where everything you purchase works exactly as you want and if it doesn't, you can get a better one at no additional cost to you.

This is a buggy glitchy phone. No amount of lawsuit threats, or calls to the BBB will ever change that. Neither will trite replies.

Live and learn the next time you purchase a phone and if you have an issue with Verizon, the next time you choose a carrier.

I still don't blame Verizon, but maybe that is too logical for some to comprehend.

[bigtitan]

If you have the time/energy/resources sue them.  I am no fan of VZWs practices and policies (although I have not found a provider who is any better). However, I would imagine that somewhere in the small print there is language which allows them to do this to you.  In the meanwhile if you are going to get rid of it anyways, factory reset, flash a custom rom and if the phone works and you have no use for it, sell it.  Good luck to ya.