Getting screwed by Sprint - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

I realize this isn't the Sprint forum, but trying to post in many places, so they get the hint:
I'm on my 3rd Epic 4g Touch phone. It's a great phone, but the first one I had wouldn't accept OTA updates. They replaced it with a phone with a broken camera.
Most recently, I can't get text messages from certain numbers. Yeah yeah, it's just texts, but in this day and age, I need to be able to receive text messages. I've missed work meetings, notices from the baby sitter, friends visiting from out of town, etc. Some of my friends have stopped inviting me to do things because it's too big of a pain to just send a text to everyone and then remember to call me.
Here's the real problem: Sprint won't do anything about it. I've had at least 3 escalated service tickets. I've spent at least 10 hours on the phone with customer service and tech support. Each time, they tell me they'll get back to me in 48-72 hours and they never do. When I call back, they tell me that they need to create a new ticket and it will be another 48-72 hours.
Today, the customer service rep told me that I needed to go into a Sprint store and have them look at the phone. I spent $5 in gas and 2 hours out of my work day to go down there and have a very sympathetic associate tell me that there's nothing wrong with my phone, it's a network problem. We spent the time testing my phone, and transferring my number to a different phone and trying it that way. (It didn't work.)
What can I do? Is there legal recourse? Can I take Sprint to small claims and get out of my contract? They've already told me that if I just end my contract and don't pay their outrageous fee that they'll just send my account to collections.
Thanks for any advice.

Know anyone who can take over your contract? I did that with USCC to avoid an ETF.

price1869 said:
I realize this isn't the Sprint forum, but trying to post in many places, so they get the hint:
I'm on my 3rd Epic 4g Touch phone. It's a great phone, but the first one I had wouldn't accept OTA updates. They replaced it with a phone with a broken camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain. I've complained about missing calls/texts since I got the phone. I was promised it would be fixed with an update "any day now" for 2 months. I filed complaints against with with the BBB but nothing has worked to get me reliable service. I use my phone for work calls/txts and can't afford to miss things. I thought I would be in a better service area when I moved from WI to CA at the end of October, but I'm still experiencing the same very poor service. I'm living in a much more populated area but yet I'm roaming ALOT. My wife's phone (Nexus S) has the same issues as my ET4G. Constantly being in Roaming causes our batteries to get hammered, we're lucky to get 16 hours on a full charge.
Since we're constantly roaming, I've called Sprint and they still won't let us out of our contract without paying the ridiculously high ETF fee. They say we're in a "Good" coverage area. I've since started downloading movies to my phone and encouraged my wife to stream Netflix as much as possible. We hit 20gb of 3G Roaming Data last month... I hope it costs them a pretty penny for the data.
-Daryel

price1869 said:
I realize this isn't the Sprint forum, but trying to post in many places, so they get the hint:
I'm on my 3rd Epic 4g Touch phone. It's a great phone, but the first one I had wouldn't accept OTA updates. They replaced it with a phone with a broken camera.
Most recently, I can't get text messages from certain numbers. Yeah yeah, it's just texts, but in this day and age, I need to be able to receive text messages. I've missed work meetings, notices from the baby sitter, friends visiting from out of town, etc. Some of my friends have stopped inviting me to do things because it's too big of a pain to just send a text to everyone and then remember to call me.
Here's the real problem: Sprint won't do anything about it. I've had at least 3 escalated service tickets. I've spent at least 10 hours on the phone with customer service and tech support. Each time, they tell me they'll get back to me in 48-72 hours and they never do. When I call back, they tell me that they need to create a new ticket and it will be another 48-72 hours.
Today, the customer service rep told me that I needed to go into a Sprint store and have them look at the phone. I spent $5 in gas and 2 hours out of my work day to go down there and have a very sympathetic associate tell me that there's nothing wrong with my phone, it's a network problem. We spent the time testing my phone, and transferring my number to a different phone and trying it that way. (It didn't work.)
What can I do? Is there legal recourse? Can I take Sprint to small claims and get out of my contract? They've already told me that if I just end my contract and don't pay their outrageous fee that they'll just send my account to collections.
Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It states in the contract that service is not guaranteed 100% of the time and that network issues and device defects do not factor into that.
I've seen this issue before and it is indeed something in the network, if two different devices are exhibiting the same issue.
If you don't mind me asking, where are you located?

Do you have a discount on a family plan? You can get the etf fee waived if so.
I've had customers with this issue that have had similar problems getting it resolved, and a new phone fixed the problem. Since that clearly isn't given your description, I have a few suggestions.
1) try adding the numbers that can't text you to your blocked ptn list on sprint.com or through the phone. Once they are added, wait a few hours and remove them. Totally a shot in the dark, but worth a shot.
2) try enabling tight integration with Google voice. If they text you at your number once it's integrated with Google and the texts still don't work, the problem is on their carrier's end.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Fix for possible Sprint Google Voice integration issue?
I have had the same problem with sending & receiving texts since 11/2011. My Sprint # is integrated with Google Voice & somehow a few of my contacts ended up being marked as spam. Spam doesn't get routed to the native SMS, it is in the GV spam folder. Mark them as not spam & they will come to your inbox. Another issue may be in the contact's individual GV settings. Check to make sure they are not being blocked & that the boxes for sending their communications to your phone are selected in your GV settings for the contacts in general as well as individual contact settings on at www.google.com/voice

Use google voice for texting. It runs through the internet instead of sprint so it works. I don't have many problems with texting normally, but I use voice 50% of the time because its 100% reliable.

I have the same issue. With ALL my contacts from Verizon. The issue got assigned a "case number" by Sprint. That was 48 hours ago...still waiting. So frustrating.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

revamper said:
Use google voice for texting. It runs through the internet instead of sprint so it works. I don't have many problems with texting normally, but I use voice 50% of the time because its 100% reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though a bit of an annoyance when you suddenly realize you've missed a text/call, this is what I do. Whenever my phone is being sloppy I always check everything through Google Voice.
I've said it before: Google Voice integration (being able to use my Sprint number as my Google Voice number; http://www.google.com/googlevoice/sprint/) is the only reason I'm still with Sprint and haven't jumped to a provider with more reliable/faster network.

Just to let everyone know you cant dial international unless you dial 0 and bill it to you sprint account if you have this setup.

Some things I would try personally:
don't try and install root until all this is over
go to the contact list and export it to your external sdcard, I think it's a vcf file
remove sdcard
full odin factory flash to eg30
through the phone, do a full wipe back to factory
after that I would let the phone update itself to el29
create, on a computer, a new test gmail account and when the phone asks for your gmail, use the new one for troubleshooting purposes
call sprint on normal phone and tell them to fully reset your account and walk you through reprovisioning the phone
TURN ROAMING OFF
have someone text you that previously you couldn't receive texts from before
try texting yourself
You've done other things with google voice already. With the new email account, you can test if texts get through with a fresh account. That's to check if maybe some unknown setting in your original google account might be interferring. There have been some texts with myself and other people that simply fell into the black hole and I never received them or the other person never got them. The same thing has happened to google voice texting too so that's not perfect either.

Same problem here. Missed important calls, missed text, only to find out later after I receive a voicemail notification from a missed call. Text, well, you never find out about them...I called and *****ed about it myself, and I got the same response to take the phone in to a store, because it's probably an "antenna" issue, which we all know it's not.
Please let us know if you find a way out of etf , or whatever the solution may be. (Good thing I have my work blackberry from T-Mobile on me that always works...)
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] Get out of your contract without an ETF?

Ok guys, so I saw somewhere around here, a while back I think that Sprint changed some of it's fine print in the contract...Soooo, no one flame me or anything, but does anyone have any info on this? Thinking of jumping ship to verizon. I have 4 lines right now and pay around $176 a month and all the lines are still under contract for a while. I'm not set on going to verizon, but would just like to get some ideas....Thanks for any input....yes...I'm thinking about getting the iphone
edit: I think I found something...This was just on my latest bill, I did some research and any change to the previous contract is a breach and you have 30 days to get out of your contract. Now, you can get out of your contract and still keep your service, just not be tied down to a fricken contract! Here is what was on my last bill:
Directory Assistance 411 Increase
Effective 3/1/11, the domestic Directory Assistance 411 base charge will increase to $1.99 per call.
Please let me know if I am wrong, but when I worked for Verizon this is the way it was for them too.
good thread, im interested in switching away from sprint too.
my service is horrible.
i dont get calls and my texts dont always come thru
DonRSD said:
good thread, im interested in switching away from sprint too.
my service is horrible.
i dont get calls and my texts dont always come thru
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm sure a few people are interested in getting out...Have you called Sprint about it yet? Sometimes they're really helpful to me and sometimes they straight up lie to my face and say they gave me a $50 credit and I'll call back a few days later to see where it is and they have "no idea" and then wont give it to me...I guess I was a little let down after this ****ty ass "announcement" they made tonight...I've been with 'em for 8 years and really don't want to switch, but it's starting to look like that.
Nothing will get you out of the ETF right now, Sprint has been really careful with their changes lately. The Premium Data fee, Sprint Premier, 411 charges - none of those are a change to your current contract. The only way out is if you roam too much and they kick you off the network.
DonRSD said:
good thread, im interested in switching away from sprint too.
my service is horrible.
i dont get calls and my texts dont always come thru
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, some days I can't reach my wife if she's at home because the phone won't ring and my texts won't go through for a while. I tried to talk to Sprint about an Airave but they argued with me and said I'm in an "excellent coverage area" and told me no, even after contacting Executive Services. That was the last straw for me.
Change your PRL to a VZW PRL and start hitting them HARD for data. According to the terms of service, they can give you the boot for anything over 300 megs per month or more than 50% of all data as roaming data. If you're rooted on all the phones, do them all at the same time and then Sprint will want you all dead.
ZachPA said:
Change your PRL to a VZW PRL and start hitting them HARD for data. According to the terms of service, they can give you the boot for anything over 300 megs per month or more than 50% of all data as roaming data. If you're rooted on all the phones, do them all at the same time and then Sprint will want you all dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL sprint will put a hit out on you
Sent from my Evo while i should be working
I was doing some reading on and i read that if sprint can't cover you in a place they don't offer service you can complain and they will waive the ETF, for example tell them you are being relocated to somewhere overseas where they don't offer any type of service, if they can't accomadte you they will let you out, i haven't tried this soooo i can't confirm
datajosh said:
Nothing will get you out of the ETF right now, Sprint has been really careful with their changes lately. The Premium Data fee, Sprint Premier, 411 charges - none of those are a change to your current contract. The only way out is if you roam too much and they kick you off the network.
Same here, some days I can't reach my wife if she's at home because the phone won't ring and my texts won't go through for a while. I tried to talk to Sprint about an Airave but they argued with me and said I'm in an "excellent coverage area" and told me no, even after contacting Executive Services. That was the last straw for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called and got an Airave for free. What you have to do is set up a consistent series of calls with them. It took me three calls but I got it. Then again, I had a legitimate issue.
Essentially, call every time there is an issue. Write down the time it happens, what happened, and where you were. Call sprint and tell them what the issue is. They may transfer to you an "advanced" tech department. Or, they may tell you to come in to the store to have your phone checked out.
As we all know, it most likely isn't your phone because it is happening on multiple lines. Decline going to a store. Insist on speaking to the advanced tech department. Tell them your problem and they will do something on their end. Wait until that "resolves" (which usually it doesn't because the coverage is strong in that area). Then call back again and complain. Try to get transferred to retentions and see if you can get one.
yep
They would not let me out of the ETF but I was able to get a free airave myself. w00t! But I would still like to cancel and switch to BOOST mobile.

[Q] Deactivate the S3, Activate a Basic phone, Change Plans.

I have the S3 on the $89.99 Plan.
I want change the plan to the lowest priced plan available.
I see the only option I have with the S3 is the $79.99 plan, which is not much of a price difference.
Can I:
- Activate a Basic device I have (Motorola or Sanyo Katana,) which would then deactivate the S3.
- Change my plan from the $89.99 plan to the $29.99 Plan?
- Use the Basic device on the lower priced plan until I decide what Carrier to Port to.
Until I figure out what to do regarding changing Carriers, I want to give sprint as little money as possible, until I port.
I'll probably have to pay the $350 ETF, unless the BBB and/or the FCC decides otherwise.
Thanks.
What a Shister!
I'd bet against you but good luck.
daryllh said:
What a Shister!
I'd bet against you but good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without going into too much detail, I've not been able to complete 90% of my calls for the past 2 months without them Fading, and where the other party cannot hear me clearly.
I'm on my 3rd S3 and the issues remain.
I've contacted Sprint multiple times, and have multiple tickets on record.
Sprint has been giving me the run around for 2 months since the issue began when I renewed my contract, continuing my almost 14 year affiliation with Sprint.
I cannot continue service any longer due to not being able to complete calls without issues.
Sprint has been unable to resolve these issues, and refuses to waive the ETF.
So I've written to the BBB and FCC, and hopefully they can intervene.
This is the reason for my inquiry in this thread.
Perhaps you may get a better understanding for why I'm asking, and maybe go throw your names around to someone else,
Sorry man. I effed up. I read it as you trying to get S3 to work with $30 plan. My apoliogies.
That being said, you should be able to do that if you didn't go through wirefly where they can charge you for cancelling smartphone data.
Biker1 said:
Without going into too much detail, I've not been able to complete 90% of my calls for the past 2 months without them Fading, and where the other party cannot hear me clearly.
I'm on my 3rd S3 and the issues remain.
I've contacted Sprint multiple times, and have multiple tickets on record.
Sprint has been giving me the run around for 2 months since the issue began when I renewed my contract, continuing my almost 14 year affiliation with Sprint.
I cannot continue service any longer due to not being able to complete calls without issues.
Sprint has been unable to resolve these issues, and refuses to waive the ETF.
So I've written to the BBB and FCC, and hopefully they can intervene.
This is the reason for my inquiry in this thread.
Perhaps you may get a better understanding for why I'm asking, and maybe go throw your names around to someone else,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
daryllh said:
Sorry man. I effed up. I read it as you trying to get S3 to work with $30 plan. My apoliogies.
That being said, you should be able to do that if you didn't go through wirefly where they can charge you for cancelling smartphone data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No sweat
I edited the op for clarification.
I hope you realize that the BBB can't do anything at all. They're a non-profit business rating firm, not an enforcer.
Can't hurt.
Going to send one off to the FTC, in addition to the PUC. Enough is enough already.
What ever it takes, that's what it will be.
Tired of paying my hard earned money and not receiving services.
I'm not even talking about Data, I'm talking about making a call.
Almost 14 years as a Sprint customer, and now I need to call 3-4 times on average to complete a conversation that should only take 1 phone call.
Over 2 months and counting.
Whatever it takes.
If Sprint had to face their customers face to face they wouldn't be pulling this crap like they do over the phone.
My calls have faded calling Sprint attempting to resolve these issues.
All I get is the Sprint Endless Circle of Non Resolution.
Sorry to hear about your issues.
We'll send out an engineer to check the Towers.
We'll call you within 48 hours.
The Towers are fine.
Must be your device.
Go to the store to have it checked out.
Your device is fine.
Oh, your device is fine.
We'll open up another trouble ticket.
We'll send out the engineers........
And on and on and on.......
Hours and Hours and Hours of Wasted Time.....
One moron in account services asked if I live near a body of water.
She said that can cause the issues I'm having, although Sprint doesn't know why the body of water causes these issues, but they do.
Are you crapping me??
You can't make this crap up boys & girls........
You can do this and once you switch to the other phone, your plan should automatically change. I have done this not to long ago. I had a sg3, bought a basic flip phone and had sprint activate the basic flip phone through the online chat. Took about 5 minutes. Once I had the phone activated, my extra $10 for premium data went away. It is possible and easy to do.
P.s. good luck with your case with sprint, I hope you can get out without paying that insane etf !!! Keep us updated if you can
Thanks.
Appreciate the support.
I'll definitely keep you updated.
I was posting in another thread started by someone else, about customers who are fed up with Sprint, but I started this thread great to avoid clutter.
I actually posted more updates in that thread about Sprint account services, and their attempt to run circles around me, which is what prompted me to contact the BBB and FCC.
I'll also submit to FTC, PUC.
Maybe even have an attorney write a letter on my behalf.
The sad part is that Sprint pays its employees to dish out the crap, so they get paid to bs us.
Guys like me, and girls, have to spend many hours and days trying to resolve these issues, Without being compensated for the much time it takes to attempt to do so.
That is why paying the ETF is usually the cheaper way to go.
Less wasted time and less aggravation.
It's just that you hate to let Sprint get away with getting paid for services that you aren't receiving.
It's Horrendous.
Not being able to complete a call without issue is extremely frustrating, especially here in NYC, one of the Largest, if not the largest market in the country.
Customers thinking of renewing or porting over to sprint should Not be Fooled by the Unlimited Data Ploy. Not only will you have extremely slow data in many cases, you may have Calling issues which is of more importance to most customers.
Even though you have 14 days to try the service and terminated the contract if you decide to, it's really 13 days, and usually if you're having issues, it'll be a few days until you realize the issues aren't an anomaly, but the norm.
You'll end up notifying Sprint, and then the BS will begin to ensure they keep you past the 14 days.
They will tell you that it's the Towers, and that they'll check it out for you quickly, and call you back.
Then a couple of more days will pass.
Then they'll tell you that you can get a replacement device, as that is likely the issue.
You'll go to the store, and order a replacement.
More days will pass.
You'll get your replacement device, and maybe for a day or so you'll think the issues have resolved, only to realize they have Not, and that you're past you're 14 day trial period, and that You're Crap Outta Luck.
If you leave, you'll have to pay $350 to do so.
Buyer Beware never rang so true.
Customer Service has reverted back to the bad old days of yesteryear.
I know all too well being with Sprint for so many years almost 14.
Too long........
I had a Better Idea...............
I just Ported over to VERIZON!
Had Best Buy Mobile handle the Port.
Saved $50 on my Blue S3 32GB
Seamless.
Sprint got some racket go'in on, and I'm Happy Not to be part of it Anymore......
....After 14 years...........
What a pleasure it is to be able to Complete a Call After over 2 Months!!
Btw, LTE, Yes, LTE is 11 Mbps DL, 17 Mbps UL
That's only 1 SpeedTest, and that's good enough for me.
No more 250 Kbps crap.
But the Important thing is that I can Complete a Call, and that's worth Dumping sprint...................GOLD!!
Biker1 said:
I had a Better Idea...............
I just Ported over to VERIZON!
Had Best Buy Mobile handle the Port.
Saved $50 on my Blue S3 32GB
Seamless.
Sprint got some racket go'in on, and I'm Happy Not to be part of it Anymore......
....After 14 years...........
What a pleasure it is to be able to Complete a Call After over 2 Months!!
Btw, LTE, Yes, LTE is 11 Mbps DL, 17 Mbps UL
That's only 1 SpeedTest, and that's good enough for me.
No more 250 Kbps crap.
But the Important thing is that I can Complete a Call, and that's worth Dumping sprint...................GOLD!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So u got out of contract? Im on my 2nd gs3 cannot send SMS half the time or call I want out asap!
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Frustratez said:
So u got out of contract? Im on my 2nd gs3 cannot send SMS half the time or call I want out asap!
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
I didn't get a final bill yet, but I'll be paying the ETF once I get the bill.
Account No Services wouldn't waive the ETF or reduce it.
I'll await a response from the BBB, FCC, etc.
I couldn't take 1 more day of non services from Sprint.
Not being able to complete a call without issue for over 2 months was Horrendous.
Sprint is Atrocious.
I hope many others decide to pay their ETF's and/or fight them, rather than stay with non services from sprint.
Sprint just Lost out on $2200 from me is how I see it.
I don't know why the FCC, FTC, Congress hasn't gone after Hesse and his Merry Thieves....
Can I sell my S3 now, or do I have to wait until I receive my final bill?
I already Ported.
Pretty sure you can sell it now..just call sprint and check the esn if you're concerned.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
cheaper plan.....
Biker1 said:
I have the S3 on the $89.99 Plan.
I want change the plan to the lowest priced plan available.
I see the only option I have with the S3 is the $79.99 plan, which is not much of a price difference.
Can I:
- Activate a Basic device I have (Motorola or Sanyo Katana,) which would then deactivate the S3.
- Change my plan from the $89.99 plan to the $29.99 Plan?
- Use the Basic device on the lower priced plan until I decide what Carrier to Port to.
Until I figure out what to do regarding changing Carriers, I want to give sprint as little money as possible, until I port.
I'll probably have to pay the $350 ETF, unless the BBB and/or the FCC decides otherwise.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like its time for a flash update...instead of flashing for the baddest Rom, flash for another carrier and enjoy ur freedom witout contracts..................
cslough said:
Sounds like its time for a flash update...instead of flashing for the baddest Rom, flash for another carrier and enjoy ur freedom witout contracts..................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still within the 14 day of my new contract with Verizon.
Which Carrier would you suggest to Flash to, with Everything working?
And I don't want anything affiliated with Sprint.
T-Mobile affiliates appear to be hit and miss, with a lot of miss.
At this point in time, Verizon appears to have the best coverage.
If you aren't getting phone service, you MUST send them a letter, and request a written response.
Stop using the phone to try and get this fixed.
Make SURE you always put "I am not receiving the service I am paying for" in every correspondence.
After you have a few letters from Sprint saying they do see your calls dropping, demand to be let go without ETF. If they don't, port out, and don't pay the ETF.
When they send you to collections, tell them you are sending your letters to the 3 collection agencies showing that they admitted to not providing service.
It's a tiny bill, and most credit agencies don't even look at small cellphone bills as a negative due to such poor service from all carriers.
I hear you about the emails.. I haven't written any correspondence since the issues began.. I have a few trouble tickets.. Usually I do email companies so I have written confirmation of issues, but in this case, I didn't, which is an oversight.
I was already told by account services they won't waive the etf, which is why I Ported a few days ago..
I will write an email also, as it's never too late to do so.
I have the issues logged into the Notes on my account. Sprint also said that even though my calls are Fading out, of which the reps experiences while I was speaking with them on multiple occasions, the calls don't show as dropping..
As for not paying the etf, I will exhaust all avenues of complaints to sprint, etc. Before I pay them.
Thanks for your advice.

[Q] [HELP] Galaxy SIII not ringing 30-40% of time-sometimes auto answers in VM!!!

** UPDATE: Both of these problems (ringing, auto-answer @ VM) have been reproduced on my wife's phone as well... that's 3 SGIII's.
Got this phone on black Friday and am on my 2nd one already (Same exact probs with both). I have had at least 10 phones with Sprint at my current address/location (Richmond, VA) and have never had service or call issues until the GSIII. Had HTC Evo 3d before this, HTC EVO, HTC Touch, Touch Pro, Sanyo 6400, etc, etc...
I am able to reproduce a 25-35% missed call rate in which the caller goes to VM (after ringing and ringing) and my phone does not ring or notify me that a call has been missed... no indication other than a VM appears a few seconds (or minute) later... if a VM was even left.
I consistently have a 3-4 bar (84-87dBm) signal quality/strength.. and even 5 or 6 bars at times while at my location.
The next problem is that on at least 4 separate occasions a caller has called my phone, it never rings like explained above, but this time the caller hears 2-4 rings and it sounds like I pick up and answer... the caller can hear my side.. my mic.. but I have no idea they are even calling. After they are done screaming or talking at me.. I get a Voicemail of them doing so. This is the 2nd phone that is doing this, mind you.
I have searched and searched for this problem with no good results:
I HAVE DISABLED ALL AUTO ANSWER FEATURES, S Voice, and shaking gestures.. all of that. I also DO NOT use a headset in which most auto-answer threads revolve around. In short, it hasn't helped.
Both phones were stock with the Sprint OTA. Android 4.1.1, Kernel 3.0.31-329968.
I have been to the Sprint store multiple times in which they couldn't reproduce the problems.. but I was armed with a video of the call failures.. so they swapped me out to my 2nd SGSIII that hasn't performed any better. I have also been on Sprint Support chat 4-5 times now in which my network area is OKAY and have been through 3 or four factory resets and/or reprograms (Ya, I saved the MSL!) and the problems persist. Sprint is going to be sending me an Airave, but that doesn't provide any comfort that the problems will not happen in other places. Maybe a new ROM can help? Has anyone seen or reported these problems? What are the chances of having 2 bad phones exhibiting the same problem?
While this phone certainly made me cream my pants at first, now that we are married, it's like a bad hangover or something. Might have to switch back to HTC products.. never had a prob with them. This is my first posting, but I have been browsing and ROMing with XDA-Dev for like 5-6 years without an account.. it's the first thing that I can't find an answer for!
EDIT: Forgot to say that I don't have a bunch of crap installed other than the normal trusted GAPPS (No GVoice) and similar.. I'm privy to the crap out there.
Update PRL and profile, if it doesn't work ask for an airave from sprint.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
dante32278 said:
Update PRL and profile, if it doesn't work ask for an airave from sprint.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
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Ya, updated PRL and Profile many times and had it pushed OTA by Sprint while on support chat. Have an airave coming, but going to be sending it back.. it is not isolated to my home.. so I don't need this kind of thing to happen at anytime, anywhere. I am going to be threatening with a FCC and BBB complaint citing privacy concerns to cancel my service without an ETF tomorrow morning in person at the Sprint Store. On my phone, and my wifes phone, known and unkown callers are being given a one-way "line of communication" to our phones without our knowledge instead of being directed to VM. This part of service is purely on Sprints side and has nothing to do with the phone. I suspected there were problems on my other phone before the GSIII but couldn't ever prove it and was quite a bit more sporadic than it is now. Now I have video of it happening 6 times on two different phones within a 20 minute period. Unacceptable. Off to Verizon I go after over 10 years with Sprint.
PHAZED999 said:
Ya, updated PRL and Profile many times and had it pushed OTA by Sprint while on support chat. Have an airave coming, but going to be sending it back.. it is not isolated to my home.. so I don't need this kind of thing to happen at anytime, anywhere. I am going to be threatening with a FCC and BBB complaint citing privacy concerns to cancel my service without an ETF tomorrow morning in person at the Sprint Store. On my phone, and my wifes phone, known and unkown callers are being given a one-way "line of communication" to our phones without our knowledge instead of being directed to VM. This part of service is purely on Sprints side and has nothing to do with the phone. I suspected there were problems on my other phone before the GSIII but couldn't ever prove it and was quite a bit more sporadic than it is now. Now I have video of it happening 6 times on two different phones within a 20 minute period. Unacceptable. Off to Verizon I go after over 10 years with Sprint.
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I'm having the same problem with my gs3,and my wife's gs2. Happens anywhere. No rhyme or reason. It also started happening to ore members of my family. Did everything you did. Sprint has no idea,or at least is denying any wide spread problems. Any updates or is your phone still doing this?

[Q] Charged for Malfunctioning Airave?

Has anyone been charged by Sprint for their Airave when it malfunctions? We got a free Airave a year ago due to our poor in house signal. It worked fine until about 3 weeks ago, and lights started flashing. We following tech support's instructions and they finally said it was malfunctioning and that they would send us a new one. When we got the new one (it only took about 3 days) we were to package the old one back up in the same box and send it via UPS back to them. Well, everything was fine until our last bill which showed we were being charged $125 for an Airave "Damaged Beyond Repair." Several calls have not resolved this issue as of now, but they are saying it the warehouse classified it this way, due to corrosion.
rando991 said:
Has anyone been charged by Sprint for their Airave when it malfunctions? We got a free Airave a year ago due to our poor in house signal. It worked fine until about 3 weeks ago, and lights started flashing. We following tech support's instructions and they finally said it was malfunctioning and that they would send us a new one. When we got the new one (it only took about 3 days) we were to package the old one back up in the same box and send it via UPS back to them. Well, everything was fine until our last bill which showed we were being charged $125 for an Airave "Damaged Beyond Repair." Several calls have not resolved this issue as of now, but they are saying it the warehouse classified it this way, due to "damage beyond rpair," but couldn't tell me exactly why. One supervisor said it was probably corrosion or liquid damage, but the waiver request came back denied without an explaination, only that it was DBR and she wouldn't or couldn't say what of the 5 items my device was classified for.
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UPDATE: A call back from a different tech we talked to upchanneled the issue to his manager and that person made a decision that the charge was "unjustifiable" and gave us a $125 credit. The whole thing was weird, but now I won't going to Verizon over it after all.
rando991 said:
UPDATE: A call back from a different tech we talked to upchanneled the issue to his manager and that person made a decision that the charge was "unjustifiable" and gave us a $125 credit. The whole thing was weird, but now I won't going to Verizon over it after all.
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Thanks for the update, put "SOLVED" in the thread title. Sucks that you had issues, Sprint reps have usually been very nice when I call, but then theres always the one a** that has to mess it up.
I would've replied to this, but I dont even have an Airave haha
Sent from my PG06100
Beyond Charged
rando991 said:
Has anyone been charged by Sprint for their Airave when it malfunctions? We got a free Airave a year ago due to our poor in house signal. It worked fine until about 3 weeks ago, and lights started flashing. We following tech support's instructions and they finally said it was malfunctioning and that they would send us a new one. When we got the new one (it only took about 3 days) we were to package the old one back up in the same box and send it via UPS back to them. Well, everything was fine until our last bill which showed we were being charged $125 for an Airave "Damaged Beyond Repair." Several calls have not resolved this issue as of now, but they are saying it the warehouse classified it this way, due to corrosion.
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Not sure if you're a new user to the Airave or not but I figured I had better share this.
Oct. 2011 my wife and I switched carriers from a local carrier to Sprint, against my better judgement. I was a long time loyal Sprint customer from 1991-2002 until the digital switch. When we signed up this time we both got the Nexus S 4g. Thank God, because the only thing that saved us was the ability to use Google Talk over Wi-Fi throughout the next period of time.
I was working out of town 5 days a week and home on weekends at the time and from October to December Sprint nearly ruined my marriage and effectually ruined my good name and the state of my account standing because they simply could not get the two devices to communicate properly. We were experiencing things like missed calls, missed texts, no notifications of either, if missed call left a voicemail we would not be notified, texts would arrive 12+ hours after they were sent and Sprint decided we needed to implement an Airave in BOTH locations to improve reception. Unfortunately getting my roommate while working to cooperate with Sprint was virtually impossible, in hindsight, I'm glad he didn't.
Sprint never disclosed that every call going through the Airave was actually changed to an Airave usage minute that came off our then small plan because we were enjoying the unlimited mobile to any mobile minutes. It didn't matter if you were calling a mobile or a Sprint mobile even... every minute through an Airave ate away at your plan minutes. Our $169.00 bill became over $1000.00 in far less than a month. The use of it did decrease our connection issues but throughout the course of troubleshooting with support, executive services and engineers we determined the reason it helped is because the Airave had a single, hardwired MSID that all calls through it used that matched the cellular number that it was assigned. Because it isn't a mobile device it's MSID didn't have to differ from it's mobile number.
Sprint reluctantly refunded the majority of the excess charges, added the unlimited calling feature to the Airave and credited us for it's addition throughout the remainder of our contract and promised not to charge us an early term fee should we decide to take our service elsewhere. From October through April 2012 each my wife and I received 2 replacement NS4G's in spite of the fact that we asked to try something different back on October 10th and was REFUSED believe it or not because of HOW our order was placed. It was a web order that required an instore reservation and for some reason the store cancelled the web order and placed an entirely new order now requiring a deposit where my web order did not. In less than a week of receiving our 3rd NSG4 each, in March of 2012 we both knew the devices still weren't working and with the help of a couple engineers within Sprint, not only did we find the problem we also determined that Sprint was unwilling to admit it and certainly unwilling to address it or repair it.
In our area, our devices have their cellular number and an MSID that differs from it. When I would place a call to my wife, my MSID would receive it's necessary approval from the DSLAM but then the DSLAM proceeded to record a second, different MSID that it randomly assigned to me, her or our communication as you would have it depending on who was initiating the call. Then when the equipment handed off the approved network communication to the receiving end, the second fictitious MSID was handed off and not the originating MSID and because it had no actual communication associated with it, it would simply not notify the receiving party of any call, text or voicemail whatsoever. Not only that, but when the receiving DSLAM received the communication, it recorded a third, altogether different MSID through some dynamic assignment I would assume.
Starting in Feb or Mar Sprint then decided we needed to try new numbers with new devices which was this 3rd NS4G, assuring us both that neither of us would lose our original number since we ported them in, never receiving the benefit of the $125.00 port in credit they claimed we received back in December. All I remembered was a $400.00 bill in December 2011. We tried it and they found even with the new numbers the same MSID issue was going on which prompted the next decision they made which included different devices.
Sprint finally decided to try different devices sending us both used Galaxy S II E4GT's that we were told would be new. By this time, I was no longer working out of town and because we were no longer away from each other and I wasn't using my phone near as much the trouble wasn't seen as often so when we got the new devices it was almost like the issue was non existent. However, the several times I did travel the issue resurfaced immediately. I video taped the opening of the "NEW" devices because they both showed up in a FedEx bubble pack flexible envelope in tiny little boxes with batteries free floating in the envelop in their own plastic bags. No chargers, no headsets, no documentation, no disk with drivers, and no retail box. Both phones had cosmetic damages that appeared to be scuffs. Nicks in the plastic cases on the edge near the glass display and when we registered them on Samsung dotcom, I was sure to use the live representative to do so to make sure it was all documented. We were assured by Samsung that we wouldn't have any trouble receiving warranty service for a year.
Still experiencing the issue with different devices, new numbers and actively engaged engineers calling us to test services we thought for sure they would finally get the issue resolved. Then the time came to put our numbers back where they belong as promised and somehow miraculously Sprint not only lost my number but they continued to hold it hostage until December 2012 when the VP of Consumer Credit was finally forced to send me a "loaner" phone with my original number on it. She agreed to create us a new account with only our two original numbers on it sour current account wouldn't make us look like credit derelicts to any representatives we talked to for any service or support but instead of honoring her agreement, less than a week later, just following Christmas, we receive a letter from Sprint Legal Department telling us we had 30 days to find another carrier since they were deciding to exercise their right to terminate our contract.
Executive services left us hanging, none of our service ever worked as expected, our bill was never repaired virtually none of their representatives were completely honest or knowledgeable and on top of all that, their executives were equally dishonest and frankly I feel damaged irreparably because that period of time I will never get back, I felt like a project manager for them every step of the way because expected call backs would almost never occur and I was constantly prodding someone to do their job in a timely fashion. Over the course of 16 months I spent over 400 hours on the phone with someone from Sprint and we shall see if the Legal department makes good on, not only repairing the account's final status or if they will decide rather to leave the account until it can be written off rather than crediting the account as it should be...
I am monitoring the reporting at the different bureaus very closely right now because if I see any notice of any delinquency I am prepared to take this even further because I am almost certain I will have no problem finding a lawyer in a defamation of character law suit.
I hope your charges don't get nearly as bad as mine did.
Good Luck.
OH, and P.S. This is for Sprint, when I finally complete the project I've been working on I am certain you, like all the other carriers and ISP's, will be interested in utilizing it's functionality because it, if as effective as I think it will be, will reduce network congestion by over 90% by changing the way transferred data is perceived by routing and switching equipment along the path. Don't think you will receive any consideration whatsoever.
I just had the same issue. Took 4 calls to get a new unit, and once I did I thought I was OK. Well my bill showing 300 plus owed said another. Called sprint, guy said it was because I had an innactive unit that I was being charged for it. As last long ad I sent it back I would not be charged, per the rep. It has been a week since I sent it back and still looking for the charge to be removed.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
WOW! I was going to put [SOLVED] in this post header, but maybe I won't now after some of the other comments that had unresolved issues. Very similar. No call backs...I had to call back each day they told me a call was scheduled (and none came). But for the work of one young service rep named James, who IS a concerned and valuable agent, I would have been stuck with that charge and as of today probably would have been a Verizon customer. Note, he missed a call back due to a family emergency. My wife wrote Mr Hesse a 2 page letter (no idea if he will get it) describing this poor situation, but praising the work of young James and his manager in keeping us.
On the subject of the minutes being used by Airave, I haven't noticed that because we have land lines and don't run up cell minutes at home, but I'll be watching that now because I was unaware of that.

Caution using t-mo international "free" data yet

Counting down the hours until I can load up speedtest.net with my T-Mo sim instead of Telcel in Mexico. I know it's not going to be fast, but I want to see what speeds I get. Hopefully this data thing shakes up the whole mobile industry. Anyone else planning on kicking the tires on it as soon as it's live?
edit - I called yesterday to activate the service on my line. I was told to restart my phone and it would take effect immediately. I waited about 15m and restarted. Ran a speed test, got texts saying I owed 50USD, then one for 100USD very quickly. I called back and was assured the texts were not accurate and that the data was free, not to worry. In the course of just running speed tests I racked up $400 of charges. Apparently today they are saying the feature won't go active until the 27th, even though I called early to activate it.
If you have or are going to call early get names and badge numbers and note the time. Hell, record the call if you can(inform the person you are recording...or don't the laws don't matter to me). Personally, I'd wait til after the 31st, then call in and double check. They are looking in to removing the charges from my account, and I think they probably will, but it's still a shock. Best to avoid the problem if you can help it.
I will keep this post updated to let everyone know if I was able to get the charges resolved. Feel free to add any experiences you may have had.
edit 2 - The rep called back (3-4hours later) and was able to get the charges removed AND activate the feature going forward. I applaud T-Mobile for doing that so quickly. I would still caution anyone activating this feature before the official rollout to be very wary of making sure it is actually activated and noting the time and who you speak with.
Just activated the service with a call to 611. Turned off my phone, restarted it. Enabled data roaming. I was surprised it popped up as 3G. Immediately ran speedtest.net. I am getting between 4-6Mbps down and around 0.4Mbps up. This is a lot more than I expected to get. My location is Mexicali, Baja California Norte, Mexico.
I nearly had a stroke as after the first test I got a text saying my international data roaming charges had hit $50, then 10 seconds later another saying $100. I called 611 again and they confirmed it was an issue, but I would not be billed(or be responsible for) that amount. I ran the test again, this time filming it. The video should be up on Youtube shortly. You can see where I get another SMS saying I have hit $200 in charges.
What are others finding on their speeds and what are your locations? It will be interesting to see what people are getting. I will update this post with the Youtube URL once it's up.
muqali said:
Just activated the service with a call to 611. Turned off my phone, restarted it. Enabled data roaming. I was surprised it popped up as 3G. Immediately ran speedtest.net. I am getting between 4-6Mbps down and around 0.4Mbps up. This is a lot more than I expected to get. My location is Mexicali, Baja California Norte, Mexico.
I nearly had a stroke as after the first test I got a text saying my international data roaming charges had hit $50, then 10 seconds later another saying $100. I called 611 again and they confirmed it was an issue, but I would not be billed(or be responsible for) that amount. I ran the test again, this time filming it. The video should be up on Youtube shortly. You can see where I get another SMS saying I have hit $200 in charges.
What are others finding on their speeds and what are your locations? It will be interesting to see what people are getting. I will update this post with the Youtube URL once it's up.
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I will run a few tests also when I take my 900T to the UK. Good feedback thanks.
The video is now up. Damn Youtube has been a pain in the nuts today, took 3 tries. I finally had to use the https uploader.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-2h8q0Mc0

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