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Refurbished inferno

Help,

I'm stuck in the bionic refurbished inferno. My battery life suddenly went south (I'm guessing the jelly bean update drains battery on due to its extra) got it replaced with a refurb phone which arrived with the phone unglueing from the screen. Now I've got another phone with the headphone jack making an annoying high pitched sound when playing audio/music. I know they won't give me a new bionic, I was semi-happy till this jelly update came in but I'm really not happy with my overall experience with this phone. When I first bought the phone at 250.00 bucks plus contract, the battery drain & 4g issues were so bad, I was told to use the "airplane" mode just to make it work. After a patch, the wifi and bluetooth went bad. Then the camera was finally fixed. One more patch and ics and finally some sort of stability, now I'm back to the bugs, poor battery life and a myriad of refurbished phones that seem to have bad quality issues. My work is suffering kind as I keep having to do a factory data reset (I'm now an expert at this process). My it guy just told me to get it sorted out and then contact him so he can put my work files on the phone. Not had this type of issues till recently, been with them over 10yrs.

I can do an upgrade but they want 200 dollars and a 2 yr contract, but at this point I've invested too much in this phone and survived through a myriad of bugs and patches with this phone (I don't mean ics/jelly bean but patches to correct wifi/4g/bluetooth,camera,reboots etc) to give up.

Does anyone have similar experiences or is this more of an isolated/struck by lightening/one-in-an-million type of thing?

Comments

unknown

Some phones work better than others, and that's a fact. If you are eligible for an upgrade, that means you have gotten 20 or 24 months service from your current phone and maybe it's time to replace it. I have had my Motorola Droid Razr Maxx for 16 months and it works perfectly now and always has. And yes, of course they want $200 and a new 2 year contract for a new $600+ phone. What do you expect? Verizon is not a charity. And, you haven't invested anything in your current phone. Cell phones are an expense, not an investment. If it has outlived it's useful life, it's time to dump it and get something that works.

rgor1

I have not issues with upgrading ON MY TERMS not as a replacement for a device that is defective. If a phone is no longer keeping up with my needs then I understand that it is time to get something better.

As far as a phone being an investment vs an expense, it depends on what one uses it for. I use mine for work/business and I invest in the phone's proprietary ecosystem (chargers, docks, batteries etc). I also have a contract and warranty.

As far as outliving its usefulness, we could be having this discussion in the 1st month of the phones release. I don't know about the razr maxx only the bionic so I can't comment.

We've had 4 major updates in a span of a year before ics to correct major software/firmware flaws.

When ics was finally released in oct 2012 (almost a year of bugs being corrected), I had what was a stable and perfectly ok phone. When verizon sends me another patch and suddenly puts my workflow and usability into a tailspin, I would believe that you would understand if I'm a little annoyed.

We are looking at 6 updates over 20 months of owning this phone. 4 of those updates were to correct major issues with the phone.

Google bionic release and issues and you will get a better idea of what type of product was released. The problem is that this phone has never ever quite really worked except for my few months on ics.

unknown

Your warranty period is long gone. You can keep the phone you have and continue to deal with issues or you can use your upgrade and purchase a new phone or you can go with another provider. If you stay with Verizon, it will be ON THEIR TERMS. You don't get to make up your own terms. If you don't want to sign a new contract, you can pay full retail price for a new phone or use the new 12 month financing program.

rgor1

I think we are misunderstanding each other and maybe I'm not doing a good job with conveying my point.

I have a warranty that I pay for every month. The goal is to cover defects in manufacturing and I also have warranty for self-inflicted damage. My issue is with the myriad of manufacturer defects in software and refurbished hardware (I keep getting like new phones) that is impairing my workflow. I am not asking for new terms, nor am I asking them to change my contract or give me a new phone etc. Simply put, I am on my 3rd phone and I don't like going through the process of factory data resets, sending the phone back, getting a refurb w/ poor quality control issues, and thus going through a vicious cycle.

I have no problems with my contract, the terms, or even the service. My only hitch is a phone that has had a larger than usual batch of software and hardware issues which are not getting solved with the refurbished phones I'm getting; hence the title "refurbished inferno". I could call now, they will send me another phone and go through it all over till it's right (if ever) or as you say, I could accept that despite the warranty and the assurance that they will get it right, it will not be right, that I have a lemon product and my only option is to hit the road or bite the bullet.

I do hope you understand why this might be frustrating. I'm not attacking anyone or denigrating verizon or demanding anything. Is it too much to ask for a phone to work the way it is supposed to work (a la the manual and the spec sheets) whether its day 1 or month 20?

okamsrazor22

Ask VZW to send you a different model phone. Once the replacements do not work, you can request a different model of equal value. In your case I am not sure what that would be, but it won't be the Bionic.

rgor1

Your are actually very right! Thank you for your help. I called verizon and they offered my a droid razr maxx or to wait for a patch. He suggests I wait for about 30 days and if I can't handle the issue, I should call back. He told me that they are aware of the issues and are likely to patch it. Either way, I got two very helpful solutions, and got to keep 200 bucks in my pocket! :smileyhappy:

okamsrazor22

Glad I could help!!

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