How many Eri have you gone through?

[wamsille]

I'm on my second replacement with Verizon. I bought my phone in January on a one-year contract extension. I sold a Samsung Omnia that I had on Craig's List and combined a mail-in-rebate to bring the cost of the phone down to a palletable $80.

Out of the box, I thought the Eris was rather responsive. The only "issue" I had with the first phone is that I thought the location-based services weren't working right. The tech support rep thought it may have been an issue with the device radio so he issued an in-warranty replacement for the phone. (I later found out that I didn't have an issue to begin with...oh well)

The first replacement had issues with heat. It would overheat if you just looked at it funny. The phone was really tempermental and just a major pain in the ass to use. Verizon didn't believe me when I called in to complain so they issued a new battery for me. Um.....ok.... The phone in about a week's time did the same thing and I was able to replicate the problem for support in a store. Suck it Verizon. So I got another replacement.

The 2nd replacement has the following issues:

Call audio / silent bug
50% w/o signal
Trackball moves screens on its own

Time without a signal and the trackball moving screens - for whatever reason - seem isolated to stock 2.1. Doubt me all you want, stock 2.1 has issues on my phone. Instead of the audio bug, on CELB Froyo I get a "dropped" call that returns in 15-20 seconds. On other ROMs I have no issues other than lag that occurs every now and then.

So I called Verizon about my phone, and seeing as this is now the 3rd replacement I was hoping for some intervention. Zero. Why? I know. Its cause I'm marked as a royal pain in the ass.

I negotiated an out-of-warranty replacement for my wife's horrid Storm 2. She received a Droid Incredible with an extended battery no less. Verizon accidentally shipped an additional extended battery believing the first order wouldn't be fulfilled. I was told to KEEP the battery and I actually have it in writing.

So I have a $500+ phone, two brand new $60 extended batteris and I paid $0. Then I negoitated our lines out of contract. So I have a virtually brand new Droid Incredible with two extended batteries and no contract. I am free to go to any other carrier. This after two weeks of hell on the phone.

While I'm out of contract, I'm not currently eligible for an upgrade with two-year pricing until the fall. I'll miss out on the R2D2 promotional Droid 2, but possibly there will be an LTE device that makes me take a contractual plunge again.

I'd love to have a phone that's the same size of my Eris, but with a slide out keyboard to keep from losing valuable screen real estate. 2.2 is a must - I've gotten spoiled with all the features I now have access to.

I've seen a few Ally phones locally, but people want upwards of $180 to $200 for them. I also don't see a thriving dev community and I know I want as much fo a vanilla Android experience as possible.

I know I should just wait, bide my time and save my cash until the fall.

Perhaps I'll look into the G2 once it comes out on T-Mobile?

 

[UnexplodedCow]

Hi all, I just registered to make a comment on this thread. I'm on my third now, and probably going to take it back today.

1st phone: Was laggy, unresponsive, and had a serious trackball and memory card issue. I waited for 2.1 to come out, and the problem became worse so it went back.

2nd phone: had to charge 2-3 times a day (same battery from first phone), constantly crashed the HTC UI, had to manually connect with wireless every time. Also had a serious trackball issue. The final straw with it was when charging over a USB cable from the computer, the phone became rather warm, and the HTC battery widget showed a temp of 67.2C.

3rd phone: trackball problem out of the dang box, constantly force closing every single program I've opened (built in ones included), have to charge twice a day (doesn't run as warm as #2 phone), phone lag is abysmal, and will be unresponsive when playing music. God forbid I receive several texts at once, while playing music..whole phone locks for about 5 minutes.

The local Verizon store has been about as apathetic as it gets, and refuse to even let me upgrade...I get another Eris, or cancel the contract. This is my first cell ever...and if this is how things go, I really don't want another. 1 bar of service, and dropped calls are not what I'd call "the best network," but my complaints have been ignored by Verizon. Another year+ left on my contract, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to just cancel early, eat the absurd fee, and get some VOIP.

 

[ErisYarr]

Funny. First one I had the charging port quit working. Second one the tracball stopped working. Third one the trac ball stopped working right out of the refurb box. I get the fourth one tomorrow.

 

[ErisYarr]

UnexplodedCow, Im pretty sure the untold rule of thumb for verizon to allow an upgrade in cases like that is 5 warranty replacements. Ill be on my 4th tomorrow. If it craps out I was told to call them at *611 and Tell them if they do not send me a different model then I will be glad to pay the fee to cancel my contract and go with a different carrier that would treat me better as it would be the same fee to get a new phone anyways.

 

[UnexplodedCow]

UnexplodedCow, Im pretty sure the untold rule of thumb for verizon to allow an upgrade in cases like that is 5 warranty replacements. Ill be on my 4th tomorrow. If it craps out I was told to call them at *611 and Tell them if they do not send me a different model then I will be glad to pay the fee to cancel my contract and go with a different carrier that would treat me better as it would be the same fee to get a new phone anyways.

I actually went to a store and was asking for a different model, not even an upgrade, as after the 2nd phone got so hot I was a little worried about the other Eris phones I might get.
The manager of the store was the one who spoke to me, and basically told me I could either get another Eris, I could buy a refurb phone (all they had were Eris phones..supposedly), or I could cancel and pay a $260 early cancellation fee. I don't have time to keep wasting two hours getting to the Verizon store and getting a phone, which is the biggest problem for me.
I'm almost out of the year warranty period, too...since I tried for months to get the first phone to work...and that was the best one of the bunch. I was never told about *611, but I'll keep it in mind if necessary. I've also complained about abysmal service (1 bar at best where I live), and the people ignore it, as though it's expected in my area (WV). So far I've received little to no support on that, and have had to argue to get the people to replace the phones at all, even after showing the thing crashing, lagging, and overheating. I'm wondering if contacting corporate would yield better results. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ErisYarr]

AN update here. I just left the Verizon store and told them my problem (to a manager). He said, "Holy Shyt! Man that is horrible. We should have switched you over after your third one. Ill be more then happy to put you in a D1." I know in most cases it has to be a hardware issue for them to consider replacing.

Just depends on who you talk to.

So if I do not end up getting a Droid X or Fascinate from Best Buys Free Phone Friday on the 8th ill get the droid 1 and live with it until I can upgrade. (Yes there is a 50% chance right now the Fascinate will be eligible again)

 

[D1RTY R1CE]

Received my third Eris today from Fed Ex.

First Eris got really hot when it was charging so took it to the store and got my 2nd Eris.

Second Eris worked perfectly up until recently and the trackball went crazy and would constantly scroll to the left and would cause the phone to freeze.

Third Eris has a messed up loud speaker right out of the box.

Eris #4 coming soon, Im sure.