When is this phone going to get fixed?

[trparky]

What is going to be done for us customers who have bought this phone?  When is it going to get fixed?

This phone has had issues since day one for a lot of us.  Many of us are outside the 14-day return period so many of us are up a creek when it comes to returning the phone for another phone.  Including myself.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining.  The phone is a great phone, I love the featureset and I love the LTE network.  Many of us wouldn't want to go back to a non-LTE phone including myself.

We know that Gingerbread is coming soon and that with it comes a promised fix for all these issues, including a fix for the dropping signal issue which has to be the biggest issue that all of us Droid Charge users are having.  All we ask is when we can expect this to be released to us.  A lot of the older phones are getting Gingerbread before this phone.  Why?  This phone is new, shouldn't we expect it to be the first phone on the block to get Gingerbread?  It only makes sense to have this phone get Gingerbread before every other phone.

It is after all, Verizon's "flagship" phone.  The one that Verizon is marketing the heck out of on television and the Internet with their "Rule the Air" commercials.

Some say that Gingerbread is being held up by Samsung because of issues with the new TouchWiz.  Personally, I don't care about the new TouchWiz.  Release the update without the new TouchWiz and get these immediate issues fixed then release a point-1 upgrade with the new TouchWiz when it's ready for release.

[WCMack]

Dear trparky,

I can understand your frustration, although I am one of the seeming lucky minority of Charge owners that have relatively few problems with the phone.  I live in a 3G only area, but occasionally travel into 4G-NYC for meetings and have not experienced the switching/dropping problems that many others complain of.  Based on your location, I am guessing you have 4G in your area, but can't take full advantage because of the switching/dropping problem.

I would not count too heavily on the next iteration of the OS to solve the problem.  As far as I know, no one has definitively identified the source of the issue; it could be software, but it could also be the hardware in the phone, most possibly the radios or the antenna (remember the iPhone "death grip" problem?).

I hope Android 2.3.x is released soon and that it solves the problem.  But I would not count on either of those things too much.

[PJNC284]

Everyone seems to like to like this "flagship" buzzword.  Old hardware and minimal marketing = flagship? I think not.  It's Droid branded but that's likely only because the Bionic was delayed and they haven't marketed it nearly as much as the other Droid branded devices.  IMO, the only real "flagship" Verizon has had was the OG Droid which had a ton of marketing and is still holding strong almost 2 years later.  Every other phone has been proven irrelvant in only a matter of months.  And I wouldn't hold my breath on GB on the Charge since Samsung has the worst update track record of any manufacturer in the US.

[WCMack]

Dear PJNC284,

Your profile indicates you own an HTC Thunderbolt; do you own/have you owned a Charge?

[PJNC284]

Nope.  After owning the Fascinate I vowed not to buy a Samsung device that wasn't up-to-date.  Nice hardware but awful software support.

[trparky]

Apparently the guys over at GummyCharged (a third-party ROM for the Droid Charge) has this issue fixed.  No idea how they fixed it, all I know is that they supposedly have it fixed.

Obviously if I have to load a third-party ROM to fix the issue because Verzion doesn't want to fix it, I'm going to do so.  I'd really rather not since loading third-party ROMs voids your warranty.  Hence the reason why I want this fix so quickly.

[PJNC284]

---

trparky wrote:

 I'd really rather not since loading third-party ROMs voids your warranty.  

---

It's not like there's an alarm that goes off at Verizon HQ whenever someone installs a rom.  Verizon only knows if you tell them. The good thing about Samsung devices is that they're relatively hard to brick since Odin can be used to reflash a phone.  The thing is just don't call Customer Service and say "I'm rworded and having issues" and expect them to help you.  You always have the option of flashing back to stock if you have issues.  Besides the developers and development community are much more helpful that Verizon/Samsung.   

[trparky]

They have no idea when the update is going to be released.  I asked them on Twitter for any kind of timeframe, be it a couple of days, weeks, months... etc.  Nothing, they say they have no timeframe.  This is frustrating.  We may all have to go to the community with third-party ROMs to get this fixed if they don't want to release it in a timely manner to fix what many people called a jacked-up release of a phone.

[WCMack]

tparky,

Hey, good luck with the third-party ROM! Tell us all if it works, unless the forum police block you!

[trparky]

Someone over on the AndroidForums said that he still had to cycle Airplane Mode on GummyCharged 1.9.1 so... there goes the hope that it was going to be a slam-dunk for fixing this issue.  Knowing that, I'm not even going to try rooting and loading the ROM.  Not worth it if you ask me.  Now if I was gauranteed a fix with GummyCharged 1.9.1, then yeah... I'd do it in a heartbeat.  But alas, it's not.

[javierz0509]

bump on this, i am waiting for an update, the phone seen a bit laggy also i havent rooted.

[WCMack]

Dear javier,

As has been said elsewhere, don't count on a quick update of the OS. Also, be careful about discussing unauthorized methods of manipulating the OS; the forum police will come after you!

[TamaraH_VZW]

---

trparky wrote:

They have no idea when the update is going to be released.  I asked them on Twitter for any kind of timeframe, be it a couple of days, weeks, months... etc.  Nothing, they say they have no timeframe.  This is frustrating.  We may all have to go to the community with third-party ROMs to get this fixed if they don't want to release it in a timely manner to fix what many people called a jacked-up release of a phone.

---

I know how important it is to know when the newest products and software updates will be made available for your devices.

The manufacturer nor the cell phone provider are able to release the information. However, when the update is available you WILL know. You will either get the update on the phone, you may read a blog/forum where someone has gotten it, therefore you know it's coming to you, or WE here at Verizon may even update the forum/blog the day that it becomes available.

Reason being is this: What if we hear a speculated date from the software manufacturer/developer and then they decide to make some adjustments so that speculated date comes & goes? Once that happens, you as consumers will feel we are lying or keeping you out in the dark. That is not our intention whatsoever. We don't tell you, because we truly & honestly don't know until about a day prior to release;many times we find out the same day it is released.

While it seems as though Verizon doesn't care because we don't respond to each & every post, be advised we are working on behalf of all of our customers because we too are consumers. We forward your concerns to the manufacturer in order to get a resolution.

Please also be advised, you can also sign up to get EMail Updates as to when products & services will be available.

[trparky]

Can you say with any certainty that the issues that we've all been experiencing are fixed in the next release?  Including but not necessarily limited to these issues...

• Dropped calls
• Unstable 3G/4G Data Connections
• Random Freezes/Reboots
• Periods of just plain sluggishness/slow response
• Possible operating system corruption leading to Forced Closes on just about every app on the phone including core apps
• Unreliable alarm and timer functionality
• The inablity to answer a phone call because the device won't respond

These are real issues that many of us are experiencing with this phone.  All we want are some answers as to when or even if these issues will be fixed. 

[TamaraH_VZW]

---

trparky wrote:

Can you say with any certainty that the issues that we've all been experiencing are fixed in the next release?  Including but not necessarily limited to these issues...

• Dropped calls
• Unstable 3G/4G Data Connections
• Random Freezes/Reboots
• Periods of just plain sluggishness/slow response
• Possible operating system corruption leading to Forced Closes on just about every app on the phone including core apps
• Unreliable alarm and timer functionality
• The inablity to answer a phone call because the device won't respond

These are real issues that many of us are experiencing with this phone.  All we want are some answers as to when or even if these issues will be fixed. 

---

Thanks again for commenting on my last post. 

At this time, it would be premature for me to advise as to what enhancements will be made when the new software update is launched. What I do know is that the issues you have listed have been lifted up to the software developers.

It is my hope that every last one of your bullet points will be resolved when the update is rolled around.

I know how important it is to have a fully functioning device since we all are so very dependent on cell phones.

[trparky]

People on the Internet in the various Android rooting communities have said that there have been some recent leaks of GB for the Droid Charge.  Apparently the last leak has indication about it possibly being RC2, or Release Candidate 2.

In computer version terminology that usually means we are close to a final release and that for all intents that version could be released as the final version with just a bit of version number tweaking, or in the case of Microsoft, just thrown out as the final release.

So... with that being said, how long are we looking at until we have this fix?  Usually in the computer world once a Release Candidate has been released the timeframe for a final release isn't too far behind and usually can happen within weeks or days, that is if no showstopping bugs are found.

Note: I'm not loading the leaked versions since I know that it void your warranty.

[Davidoo]

---

TamaraH_VZW wrote:

Thanks again for commenting on my last post. 

At this time, it would be premature for me to advise as to what enhancements will be made when the new software update is launched. What I do know is that the issues you have listed have been lifted up to the software developers.

It is my hope that every last one of your bullet points will be resolved when the update is rolled around.

I know how important it is to have a fully functioning device since we all are so very dependent on cell phones.

---

Tamara, I appreciate that these concerns have been raised to the developers and someday these phones might get fixed.  What I don't understand is why nothing is being done for all of us who can't use our phones as intended or what was represented they would do when sold to us?  I brought this up in another thread and was pretty much just told to shut up by another poster.  If I bought a new TV from Best Buy and found out it would only get half the channels available due to a defect or software problem, I could take it back for a full refund.  More than likely they would offer to give me another model, even a better one, or offer to give me a voucher for another one when it comes out if they didn't have anything else that could replace that TV at the present time.  In this case, we're just told to keep paying your monthly bill in full and someday, we don't know when, it will get fixed. 

[PreceptorJR]

---

TamaraH_VZW wrote:

---

trparky wrote:

Can you say with any certainty that the issues that we've all been experiencing are fixed in the next release?  Including but not necessarily limited to these issues...

• Dropped calls
• Unstable 3G/4G Data Connections
• Random Freezes/Reboots
• Periods of just plain sluggishness/slow response
• Possible operating system corruption leading to Forced Closes on just about every app on the phone including core apps
• Unreliable alarm and timer functionality
• The inablity to answer a phone call because the device won't respond

These are real issues that many of us are experiencing with this phone.  All we want are some answers as to when or even if these issues will be fixed. 

---

Thanks again for commenting on my last post. 

At this time, it would be premature for me to advise as to what enhancements will be made when the new software update is launched. What I do know is that the issues you have listed have been lifted up to the software developers.

It is my hope that every last one of your bullet points will be resolved when the update is rolled around.

I know how important it is to have a fully functioning device since we all are so very dependent on cell phones.

---

Thank you for making us aware of this...but please get them to move on it as fast as possible.

[JerryF]

One of the problems listed is: 

• The inability to answer a phone call because the device won't respond.

Can someone tell me if this problem happens when you get a call and you try to unlock your phone by swiping across the screen and the phone will NOT unlock so you can answer the phone?  That happened to me and I fixed it.

If this is the problem switch to the Puzzle UnLock..  This fixed the problem for me and now I like the puzzle unlock better than swiping across the screen.

BTW, to do this from the home page go to Settings>Display Settings and click on Puzzle Unlock.

JerryF

[Davidoo]

Mine does it with the puzzle lock also.  The only way to answer the call is to press the on/off button on the upper right portion of the phone to turn the screen blank, then press it again to make the puzzle come back and then it will work so you can answer your phone.  Got to wonder if anyone even tested this thing for more than an hour.

[JoeNe]

I have read and participated here since getting my Charge and although I have had a few minor glitches here and there I have felt fortunate that I wasn't plagued by a lot of the  same troubles as many others.

That was then . . .  this is now:

Within the last 10 days or so I have encountered the following on a regular basis

1. Dropped calls

2. Person on the other end cannot hear me even though I can hear them

3. Random reboots

4. Extreme sluggishness from time to time

5. Complete loss of data for more than just a few seconds as I experienced before.  Yes I am in strong signal areas and I have the phone locked to 3G auto, since I don't have 4G in my home area until tomorrow.  Data sometimes returns at 1X, sometimes does not return until a reboot and sometimes comes back at 3G

6. Bluetooth - dropped connections; showing connected but not really connected; having to un pair and re-pair to get reconnected

7. Callers sound so garbled that I have to constantly ask them to repeat themselves - yes good signal here too

8. Person on the other end says I sound broken up - ditto on SS

9. Times when data shows connected at 3G or even wifi at home, yet no data movement without reboot

I travel a lot for work from Omaha (home) to Des Moines, Sioux Falls, etc.  Usually on Interstate or State highway.  I understand occasionally dropping calls as I move from home to extended network, etc, but what I am experiencing over the last 10 days is bad.  I also carry a VZ BB 9630 and have none of these issues with connectivity, call drops, etc.  

I have not added any apps recently that would make me think that it could be the problem.  I really don't want a refurb and I don't want to hard reset unless necessary.  It takes too long to set everything back up, although I will do it if I have to.

I guess I'm not looking for a solution as much as hopefully letting VZ know that I am another troubled customer that actually came to VZ from ATT because of VZ's reputation.  I hope this gets fixed SOON!