Refurbished inferno
rahgor
Enthusiast - Level 2

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?

rg

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Re: Refurbished inferno
Not applicable

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.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
rahgor
Enthusiast - Level 2

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.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
Not applicable

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.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
rahgor
Enthusiast - Level 2

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?

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Re: Refurbished inferno
Not applicable

Your 1 year manufacturer's warranty has expired.  Perhaps you purchased insurance from Asurion.  They are a separate company totally different from Verizon.  You would need to read your insurance policy to see what they cover, but I think it's only damage, lost, or stolen phones.  I don't know that they cover manufacturer's defects.  They have a web site where you can find a form for filing a claim with them.  It has to be within 60 days of the damage, loss, or stolen phone.  You can continue to request help from Verizon customer service, but after 20 or 24 months, I doubt they are going to be willing to do much.  Or, you can continue to waste your time and post here.  If it was me, I would order a new phone and move on, especially if I needed my phone to do my job.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
rahgor
Enthusiast - Level 2

I got the extended manufacturer's warranty as well as asurion's coverage.  The extended covers the manufacturer's warranty against any defects in the phone and asurion covers the rest. They did tell me that they will keep sending me a refurb unless I damage it (which rarely do). You might be right, but maybe, I'll wait before I jump on new shiny phone.  It maybe wiser to wait till the bugs are worked out.  I got that bionic way too quickly, and they released a razr within a couple of months and the razr maxx I guess a short while later.  Shouldn't have fallen for the 4g hype which was really up there back in the day lol.

Oh well, at least it's good to be over-warrantied than under warrantied.  Each refurb has a warranty for 90 days I think so I'll see where this leads me, 4th time a charm!

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Re: Refurbished inferno
Not applicable

As I remember it, the Bionic was always problematic.  Sometimes in life, things just don't work out as we would like.  There is no magic bullet anyone can use to solve your problems.  If you have some sort of extended warranty on a problematic phone, all they are going to do is to continue to send you problematic replacement phones.  If your phone is really that important, for a lousy $200, you would have bought a new $600+ phone the day you were eligible.  By the way, check up eligibility date because they have changed from 20 months to 24 months for some of us and you may not be eligible yet.  Anyway, I think you just want to complain rather than solve the problem.  So be it.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
rahgor
Enthusiast - Level 2

Well the goal of a forum is discussion.  200 dollars is not "lousy", it's a lot of money,  even dinner for 2 in a nice restaurant would not climb up to that amount.  The problem is being solved, but isn't someone allowed to vent some degree of frustration if contractually mediated process is not solving the issue.  I had a stable phone and it went south after an update, so without acting entitled, I should have some cause to expect more than "live with it" or "give me 200 dollars" scenario.

As I am personally involved and own the bionic and I'm experiencing a problem, it wouldn't be too hard to understand my post (i.e complaining about a problem).

But, since you have this intuitive ability to decipher my intentions, maybe a better idea would be to explore why someone who doesn't have own the bionic or have an intricate understanding of my problem take such an interest in my post.

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Re: Refurbished inferno
Not applicable

I agree it is of no harm to vent. Vent away....

I understand your dilemma since I always say a refurbished phone is only another broken phone with a different set of problems.

The phones today depending on how we take care of them can last many years past that 24 months. But I understand that life situations can cause things to go wrong. To have to upgrade well that is a soul searching decision. It could be the cost, or the fact you don't want to be in a contract any longer. There are many reasons that I probably have not touched on.

The simple facts are you paid good money for the phone, of course a subsidy is way cheaper than any phone I ever bought. I pay full price. If it breaks I buy another one. But I also take good care of my toys.

But you do have the option when the times comes to replace the device.

The OTA updates are hit and miss on many different brands of phones, when Google gets around to making a patch I am sure Verizon and others will push it out to the customers. I hope they will

Other than the work arounds posted here and on the net we are powerless to do anything but complain, or replace devices. Not a good choice I may add. Oh well