My Bionic does not work properly. The phone should not have been released...dead Camels

I took my Bionic back to Verizon yesterday. I am not getting 4G data, and it will not work in the car dock. When I got to the store, I had 4G, and it worked perfectly in the dock, all he did was sit it in. This phone must only work in the store, maybe that is why they released it before it was ready.

The Verizon technician told me that there were problems with the phone, but that the responsibility belonged to Motorola. He said there was going to be an update in November and that I should wait. This concerns me because it means Verizon will pass the buck on this one.

What choice do I have? My return period is way over. I am paying for a service that I don't have yet I can't get out of it. If the phone can't be fixed by a software update, then what? At that point, I will either hope for a class action suite, or cancel my contract and pay $350 so that I can get a decent phone....iPhone from AT&T. That would be cheaper than buying a new phone from Verizon under my current contract. I can't keep a phone that never works.

I think yesterday was like the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I tried for 15 min to get the car dock to work, and nothing would turn it on. That is when I just drove to Verizon. I figured they should see one more unhappy customer in person instead of just online...alas, no one there gave a **bleep** and they are still trying to sell the Bionic to the unsuspecting customer. It should be pulled off of the shelf until it is fixed.

Joey

Accepted answers

vidguy7

panzer1 wrote:
how much would verizon charge to upgrade from a Bionic to a Razor? Would it be worth the cost?

Panzer

No such things as 'upgrades' from a Bionic to a Razr. If you have the Bionic, it's too new for you to be ready for an 'upgrade' and they won't do 'trades'. So you'd have to pay the full retail price which is about $649.

All comments

john49

The Motorola Droid Bionic should be renamed the Droid Moronic. I live in an extended 3G area. I had a Blackberry Storm, another android phone and an iPhone on my account. All the phones get data reception without any problem. I tried to upgrade to the Droid Moronic in the last two weeks. The first on never got any data reception and I had to drive an hour away to get it activated. The second on I was sent received data for about 24 hours. I'm sending both of them back, and reactivating my Blackberry until I find a suitable replacement. I may switch carriers too since the service during this time has been uninformed and useless. I hear Motorola may release a software fix next month.

gina7289

Do u know there is an update in Nov for data connection problem. I having the same issues as u are. If u know about the update then why complain. Complain to tech support and see if they can help u to satisfy u. They would not want to loose u as a customer u know. Did u pull the battery out to do with everything going black? I know its frustrating and totally understand with past expierences of especially the thunderbolt. U think ur situation is bad there are people who have had very bad situation with that phone.

Joey301

Yes, I know there is a update coming. I have had the phone since the day it came out, so to me, this is a very long wait. In the meantime, some good phones have come out that have data connections.

gina7289 wrote:
Do u know there is an update in Nov for data connection problem.

bearone21

john49:

something wrong with *228/1 for activation?

joey301:

i just looked at the coverage map & it doesn't look like all of md is 4g, depends on which part you're in.

fwiw:

you folks all bought this phone when it 1st came out thinking you had it all, the latest & greatest.

i wait to get the bugs get ironed out before making the plunge.

PJNC284

*228 doesn't work on lte devices.

bearone21

i wasn't aware of that, thx.

gerio

Bear, that was the case with the Droid X. Well, MY Droid X, anyway.

Between that and Moto's (former) reputation, I had no reason to think otherwise.

I do now...

Geri O

techwhiz

Verizon and Motorola didn't have the time to test the Bionic.

They were too busy working on the Razr and screwing us.

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lewwill

Is this where I report problems with my Bionic?

Car dock works perfectly, navigation is accurate and awesome, and thru my bluetooth headset, Amazing!

I have never had to pull the battery, except to put in the extended battery, no FCs etc....

I know *228 does not work in a phone with a sim card, doesn't have to. I live in a fringe 3G area so use it on Wi
Fi a lot at home and 3G in town. It transitions perfectly and very fast.

Camera software does need upgrade but that will happen soon, hardware is the same as the exalted Razer.

All in all, I guess I really don't have very many complaints and my Bionic has been working perfectly. It is fast, solid and I keep finding more and more things it will do. I upgraded from my DX which was also excellent.

I purchased the Bionic online, early, from VZ and any questions I have they have answered very well. I try to stay away from the VZ store, my experience there is they are not about to give straight answers and just want to sell phones, mostly iphones now.

For those having real problems I would suggest VZ phone tech support. Try to use common courtesy and if you have to you can ask to upgrade to the next level of support. They may suggest it themselves. I would not suggest calling the phone a "piece of s..." or threatening a class action law suit (they've heard that **bleep** before). Try to discuss and solve the problems you have, not exacerbate them. You may find them more helpful that way. Works for me.

Joey301

You have been really lucky. I am jealous. I have found Verizon techs to be dismissive more than helpful. When you go up the ladder, then they get nasty because they are not accustomed to people disagreeing with them. My first phone bill from them was for $480 and they refused to correct it but said they would credit my next bill. I made a report to the FCC and then they did treat me a little better. In today's corporate world, nothing works but power. The consumer has very little when standing alone.

Joey

lewwill wrote:
I

All in all, I guess I really don't have very many complaints and my Bionic has been working perfectly. It is fast, solid and I keep finding more and more things it will do. I upgraded from my DX which was also excellent.

For those having real problems I would suggest VZ phone tech support. Try to use common courtesy and if you have to you can ask to upgrade to the next level of support. They may suggest it themselves. I would not suggest calling the phone a "piece of s..." or threatening a class action law suit (they've heard that **bleep** before). Try to discuss and solve the problems you have, not exacerbate them. You may find them more helpful that way. Works for me.

gerio

To the OP:

I've been meaning to ask...

What is meant by the "dead camels" reference?

Thanx,
Geri O

Joey301

gerio wrote:
To the OP:

I've been meaning to ask...

What is meant by the "dead camels" reference?

Thanx,
Geri O

Smiles, it was in relation to the end of the posting...the straw that broke the camel's back....

Joey

gerio

Ahhh, gotcha. And I can relate... :smileyvery-happy:

Geri O

Murat

Yes, I agree that this is the biggest piece of {word filter avoidance} of a phone. It doesn't activate, it constantly drops 3G or 4G connections, bluetooth skips when playing music. (On multiple headsets) along with a heap of issues that I'm not going to waste my time describing.

My Blackberry Tour 9630 NEVER had any of these issues. I still have it and my bluetooth headsets work PERFECTLY and it does NOT drop data.

And to add insult to injury, they release a better phone that has the same features as the bionic's and in addition has MORE features...

Stay away from this crap phone. If Motorola's update doesn't resolve these issues, I'm also going to file a complaint with the FCC, BBB and file suit because the technicians/sales reps were AWARE how bad this phone was and did not warn me at all just to get a sale in. They decided to tell me it had a lot of bugs and issues AFTER my 14 days were up. I'm tired of paying for a full service and only getting 1/2 of it.

Davidoo

Do you really think an "update" is coming? Don't hold your breath waiting on it. Those of us who bought the Charge have been promised "an update that will fix all the connection issues" is coming soon since June. We're still waiting.

Murat

They promised in November that they will have a 2.3.5 update, since they're releasing Droid RAZR with 2.3.5, that MAY indicate that Droid Bionic users get that update as well.

Droid RAZR is what the Bionic SHOULD have been. 8 Mobile hotspot users on 4G, etc... This is what we get because THEY rushed the release of a phone, the consumers shouldn't get punished for Verizon and Motorola's mistakes.

I'm not kidding about filing complaints and a lawsuit if they don't release something that fixes these MAJOR issues soon. People who bought the Bionic were royally screwed over. I'm going to call customer service and ask for credit for the Intermittent data drops that happen REGULARLY...Especially in a 4G area, I go from 4G, 3G, No Data and rebooting doesn't help. It randomly comes back after a while only to go out again.

unknown

Joey301, I understand how this issue with not being able to pick up 4G on your Bionic can be very upsetting! We are working on software improvements to make the data connection more reliable, but it sounds like you are not getting 4G at all outside of the store. That may be a problem with this particular device, the SIM card or an issue we need to address in your area. Does it seem to lose 4G just in one location? Did the store try exchanging the SIM card?

I also just want to have you verify one thing. Go to Settings, Battery and Data Manager, Data Delivery, make sure Background Data and Data Enabled are turned on.

Also, what happens when you use the car dock? Does it recognize that it is in the car dock? When you went to the store, did they use a new car dock or test yours?

vidguy7

lewwill wrote:
Is this where I report problems with my Bionic?

Car dock works perfectly, navigation is accurate and awesome, and thru my bluetooth headset, Amazing!

I have never had to pull the battery, except to put in the extended battery, no FCs etc....

I know *228 does not work in a phone with a sim card, doesn't have to. I live in a fringe 3G area so use it on Wi
Fi a lot at home and 3G in town. It transitions perfectly and very fast.

Camera software does need upgrade but that will happen soon, hardware is the same as the exalted Razer.

All in all, I guess I really don't have very many complaints and my Bionic has been working perfectly. It is fast, solid and I keep finding more and more things it will do. I upgraded from my DX which was also excellent.

I purchased the Bionic online, early, from VZ and any questions I have they have answered very well. I try to stay away from the VZ store, my experience there is they are not about to give straight answers and just want to sell phones, mostly iphones now.

For those having real problems I would suggest VZ phone tech support. Try to use common courtesy and if you have to you can ask to upgrade to the next level of support. They may suggest it themselves. I would not suggest calling the phone a "piece of s..." or threatening a class action law suit (they've heard that **bleep** before). Try to discuss and solve the problems you have, not exacerbate them. You may find them more helpful that way. Works for me.

Couldn't agree more. Sweeping, inaccurate generalizations do nothing but confuse people. I too have had no issues with my Bionic. I'll look at the Razr because I like Motorola and have had historically very few issues with them and I like the upcoming OLED display.

Battery life could be a deal-breaker for me on the Razr though...especially since you can't replace it.

panzer1

how much would verizon charge to upgrade from a Bionic to a Razor? Would it be worth the cost?

Panzer

Joey301

MarquiaF_VZW wrote:
Joey301, I understand how this issue with not being able to pick up 4G on your Bionic can be very upsetting! We are working on software improvements to make the data connection more reliable, but it sounds like you are not getting 4G at all outside of the store. That may be a problem with this particular device, the SIM card or an issue we need to address in your area. Does it seem to lose 4G just in one location? Did the store try exchanging the SIM card?

I also just want to have you verify one thing. Go to Settings, Battery and Data Manager, Data Delivery, make sure Background Data and Data Enabled are turned on.

Also, what happens when you use the car dock? Does it recognize that it is in the car dock? When you went to the store, did they use a new car dock or test yours?

Hey,

Thanks. I get 4G sometimes. I can get it from my house, but not sitting outside the gym not far from my house.

I have the Data Delivery and Background Data and Data Enabled turned on

The car dock is doing better. Someone on the Motorola forum recommended that I remove the insert, and that helped a lot. It connects now on the first try about 80% of the time. When it does not connect, it is that the phone is not recogniziing that is plugged into the dock, and it just stays on the normal home screen.

I also have the standart dock that I use to make my phone a bedroom night phone, ahd that works perfecty every time.

Thx,

JOey

vidguy7

panzer1 wrote:
how much would verizon charge to upgrade from a Bionic to a Razor? Would it be worth the cost?

Panzer