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Help stuck in landscape mode

kmkenpo

Lurker
Oct 14, 2012
7
0
Alright... multiple days on the phone with Straight Talk, multiple factory re-set, multiple re-purchase of the same apps due to losing them with factory re-sets... absolute frustration.

My wife has the identical phone, same make, model, color and apps as mine. My phone works fine, hers... now on the 5th factory re-set to rectify the permanent landscape mode.

Samsung Galaxy Proclaim, purchased nearly 2.5 months ago, at a local Walmart Straight Talk center.

The phone goes through all of the standard screens when asking to do the factory re-set, then, after dialing *22890 to program it... Landscape Mode. No matter what I do, the Landscape Mode will not go back to normal, Portrait Mode.

After talking with Straight Talk, spending many hours with them, following what they have asked me to do, we still end up with the same results. I have scoured the net looking for others with similar issues with this phone, all seem to point to the Galaxy S3 or something like that. Pointing to a "calibration" screen, and a doing so on a "flat surface." Problem... this phone does not have a "calibration" screen that I can locate. Yes, there is an "auto rotate" on the scroll down menu from the top of the phone, but that is it.

Straight Talks' solution, finally, is for my wife to be without a phone for the next 2 weeks, while this one is shipped back, and a new one is then shipped to us. I have a slight issue with this... when we first purchased the phone, the sales associate was baffled as to why Straight Talk was packaging "refurbished" phones as new. It would seem as though the sales associate, was unable to initially set-up the phone, as it was already set-up previously. Conspiracy theories aside... how do I ensure that the phone is not just re-shipped back to her, after they smack it with a hammer?

I am at a loss... please, thank you for any assistance.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo
 
I am BACK on the phone with Straight Talk... here is one thing that I have noticed...

When the phone is re-set to factory specs, like it is out of the box, it is fine. Portrait or Landscape mode, both work. You can make calls, and send text. Problem is, it does not access the 3G network... so, you need to dial *22890. When you dial it, it says that the phone is being programmed, then asks to be restarted. Goes through the re-boot process... then... BOOM... Landscape mode.

Talking with the reps from Straight Talk... NO ANSWERS. It is a mystery to these people, an absolute Unicorn sighting. "We have never had that happen before", or "you must be doing something wrong", or one of my favorites... "there is nothing that we do on our end, there must be something that you are doing on yours."

Again, I am at a loss.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo
 
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I am BACK on the phone with Straight Talk... here is one thing that I have noticed...

When the phone is re-set to factory specs, like it is out of the box, it is fine. Portrait or Landscape mode, both work. You can make calls, and send text. Problem is, it does not access the 3G network... so, you need to dial *22890. When you dial it, it says that the phone is being programmed, then asks to be restarted. Goes through the re-boot process... then... BOOM... Landscape mode.

Talking with the reps from Straight Talk... NO ANSWERS. It is a mystery to these people, an absolute Unicorn sighting. "We have never had that happen before", or "you must be doing something wrong", or one of my favorites... "there is nothing that we do on our end, there must be something that you are doing on yours."

Again, I am at a loss.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo

Here go to walmart and buy another phone just like that one and then take the old phone back to walmart and tell them that something is wrong with it and get your money back. that way you can get a new phone.... simple there something wrong with that phone or something not install right. I have the same phone and mine is not doing it. I can't find anything wrong with my phone and I'm on net10.
 
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OK... I made the journey all the way up Straight Talk's chain, until I reached the Corporate Customer Service head honcho. The road is a dead end, in the respect, that they will not bend on their company policy of: customer sends phone to Straight Talk, Straight Talk sends new(?) phone back. A process that takes roughly 1.5 - 2 weeks, depending upon Straight Talk's response time... while the customer is without a phone and service that they have paid for.

No matter how I explained, or, who I explained it to... Straight Talk WILL NOT bend on this policy. You, as the consumer, will trust Straight Talk to send you a replacement phone that is not refurbished, rather than them standing behind a clearly defective phone, which they have service calls that document proof of malfunction.

Today, after nearly 1.5 hours on the phone with Corporate... here is their solution...

The phone has been re-set to factory settings, as it was when taken from the box. They, on their end, have verified it to be working. Now, rather than dial *22890, which immediately sets it to Landscape Mode, they have "guaranteed" us there is no need to do so. Somehow, they have been able to set the phone to now recognize the 3G network, allowing for Internet outside of our home network, as well as sending and receiving data via text, all without needing to dial the dreaded *22890... something that during my previous calls and conversations, they assured me that they were unable to do... odd.

Now, this "solution" does fix the phone... although... I am now at a loss to understand why they have customers dial *22890, if it is not needed.

With all of this somewhat concluded, I did thank the last lady that I was dealing with at Corporate. As a business owner myself, it is amazing to me how Straight Talk's employees are COMPLETELY unable AND unwilling to go outside of their assigned tasks and policy procedures. I was all too happy to explain to them, how at first, when I moved my service from a LARGE cellphone company to Straight Talk, how absolutely impressed I was with the cost reduction. Now, with this horrible excuse of customer service and their refusal to "service" the customer... I will be ALL TOO HAPPY to explain my disappointment to not only my clients, but anyone that notices the Straight Talk logo on my phone.
 
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And, after all of that... back to square one.

My wife was alright with the "fix" that Straight Talk had suggested, where they told her to just not dial *22890. So, she was willing to comply, just to be done with this all.

Last night, my wife puts it on her charger, that is, she plugged in the charger. This morning, the moment that it was taken off of the charger, it reverts back to Landscape mode.

I guess that she (we) are left with only one alternative...
1. request the shipping slip (waiting 3-5 days per Straight Talk)
2. ship her phone to them (3-4 days before it arrives)
3. Straight Talk to receive and review the phone (unknown time)
4. wait on "new" phone to arrive (3-4 days whenever it gets shipped)
5. go through the transfer and programming

Wouldn't this all be quicker and MUCH simpler on the consumer, if Straight Talk would authorize the place that we purchased it, to ship it back for us, and Straight Talk get us the "new" phone through the place that it was purchased? The two months that she has owned the phone, seems like a pretty short time, in terms of a warranty, for it to expire... especially if you consider that this all started a month after it was purchased.

Again, rather than put the consumer out of a phone that they are paying for, while it is in transit, missing calls and texts... seems a little less like "customer service", and more like "customer, I don't care if you have service."
 
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OK... downloaded the app, and installed. Sadly, it didn't work. There is good news though. After charging the phone the next night, it corrected itself, at least long enough to turn on the app and lock it in portrait mode.

We are awaiting the shipping information, because my wife is beyond fed up with the hassle. I can't say as I blame her. The constant calls to customer service that had gotten us no where, the non stop headache with the factory resets, and on, and on, and on...

So, come Monday, she will ship the phone back, and wait for the "new" phone to arrive... most likely in 2 weeks. This has been one completely messed up train ride, with the most unacceptable customer service of any product that we have EVER had.

I will be looking forward to getting back on here to follow up with a good report, or not so good, once the other phone arrives. I certainly do hope for a good report... truly.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo
 
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Alright... She has received her "new" phone via FedEx.

After spending about an hour, talking with Straight Talk customer service, oddly enough, they were confused about how to get her new phone activated with her old number. They were unable to produce a serial number of the phone that she shipped to them, as well as being unable to figure out how to get it.

Like I said, about an our later, someone at Straight Talk decided to pull their head our of their rear, and produced a serial number. Then, after another rough 15-20 minutes, they figured out how to get the phone activated and ported properly.

The phone does not lock in Landscape mode, as the other one did... and all seems to be fine.

Feel free to take from our experience, whatever you will. It has been a true nightmare working with these people, just one problem after another. The per monthly price is low, and the customer support mirrors that. If you are thinking of purchasing a Straight Talk phone, just be forewarned... the customer service is beyond poor... I honestly lack the proper vocabulary to give it a term.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo
 
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I've been recommending to people Google Voice. Then you can exchange phones, carriers, anything you like and never, ever, lose your number or deal with number porting issues again. And even better, it can ring multiple phones if you happen to have a dead or misplaced phone problem (aka: wife keeps leaving her phone at work without a charger).
 
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Alright... She has received her "new" phone via FedEx.

After spending about an hour, talking with Straight Talk customer service, oddly enough, they were confused about how to get her new phone activated with her old number. They were unable to produce a serial number of the phone that she shipped to them, as well as being unable to figure out how to get it.

Like I said, about an our later, someone at Straight Talk decided to pull their head our of their rear, and produced a serial number. Then, after another rough 15-20 minutes, they figured out how to get the phone activated and ported properly.

The phone does not lock in Landscape mode, as the other one did... and all seems to be fine.

Feel free to take from our experience, whatever you will. It has been a true nightmare working with these people, just one problem after another. The per monthly price is low, and the customer support mirrors that. If you are thinking of purchasing a Straight Talk phone, just be forewarned... the customer service is beyond poor... I honestly lack the proper vocabulary to give it a term.

Have a blessed day,
-kmkenpo

net10 is aswsome. bootsmobile sucks and so does straight talk...
 
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net10 is aswsome. bootsmobile sucks and so does straight talk...

Umm.... NET10, Straight Talk, and TracPhone are the same company.

In similar light, Sprint, VirginMobile USA, and BoostMobile are the same company.

And I loved BoostMobile when I had them. I was rocking with $40/mo (coming up on $35/mo) unlimited everything on my Samsung Prevail. However, I needed more country-side coverage and so I skipped over to the Samsung Proclaim so I could get Verizon unlimited everything for $45/mo with Straight Talk.
 
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Mine is doing the exact same thing. but i figured out how to fix mine. Let the phone die. let it stay dead overnight. when you get up, charge the phone and it should fix. mine still flips, so just put it on charge for a couple minutes, and when you take it off, it should be fixed. mine
still occasionally flips, but the charge method still works for me. Hope you found this helpful!
 
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