Help Phone won't charge at all.

[JesusCon]

I've talked to Virgin Mobile tech support and they've sent me TWO replacement phones, both of which do this. Basically, I plug my phone in and nothing happens. The red light at the top doesn't come on, it won't charge at all. Can someone try plugging their phone in without the battery in and see if the red light comes on? I suppose it could be the battery, but if the red like comes on without the battery, it must be something else! Virgin Mobile won't sent me a new charger cable or battery since I haven't topped up for this month, and I don't want to top up if my phone isn't even going to work.

I've tried using a car charger which I thought may not work because it might not supply wall outlet voltage, thus meaning it can't charge from 0%.
I've tried my regular wall charger, with the possibility of a bad cable, but have tried another phone's cable which also doesn't work (It is possible the power goes through different ports on that charger, so not 100% credible).

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'd like to get this working ASAP, and I can't get to BestBuy to redeem my warranty till tomorrow or Saturday.

Any help would be muchly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[agentc13]

The light won't turn on unless the battery is in the phone.

 

[JesusCon]

So it's almost certain that the battery is bad.
-Edit- Wait, wouldn't it still come on even if I had a bad battery? Why wouldn't the red light come on at least, then?

 

[agentc13]

I don't know, my battery is good, and I can't test that for you.

The wall charger you are using is the one that came with the phone? I know some people have had troubles with other cords. It could be the micro usb port is bad and not the battery. You could have gotten extremely unlucky and the original and replacement phone both had battery/charging issues.

 

[JesusCon]

I've gotten two replacement phones, though, and they both have the same issue =(.

 

[agentc13]

That makes me think that your problem is not the battery. Either that or you are EXTREMELY unlucky.

 

[ipaint666]

That makes me think that your problem is not the battery. Either that or you are EXTREMELY unlucky.

Well they don't send a new battery with it. you have to use your old one, at least thats what they had me do. So it could be the battery. The only constants in the setup are the battery and the cable/charger.Sense this happend to 3 total phones and one battery(is this correct?) I would assume battery.

 

[JesusCon]

Well they don't send a new battery with it. you have to use your old one, at least thats what they had me do. So it could be the battery. The only constants in the setup are the battery and the cable/charger.Sense this happend to 3 total phones and one battery(is this correct?) I would assume battery.

Yeah, three phones, one battery, and testing charging cable with my cable (I don't see any visible shorts and I can't feel any in the cable. I know they can still be there, but usually you can tell.) as well as my car charger.

As I semi-mentioned in the first post, I DO have a BestBuy GeekSquad warrenty. This covers battery replacement, but do I need to call in advance or can I just walk in?

 

[ipaint666]

you should be able to just walk in.

 

[agentc13]

I didn't realize it was the same battery the whole time. I agree, you should be able to walk in and get a new battery.

 

[JesusCon]

When I called Virgin Mobile before, they said they didn't have any in stock. I called today and he tried sending me the stuff but said it wouldn't go through, and then asked the last time I had updated my account. Turns out my account has a hold or freeze on it because I'm not paying now.

I called Best Buy and they said they'd just mail me a new battery, so I'll see how the ship it and how fast it'd get here, and then see when I can soonest be taken to Best Buy, and pick the fastest one.

Thanks for the help, guys. I can't help but wonder, though, if people have had batteries go bad, too, why hasn't this happened to anyone else?

 

[rondizzled]

I had this problem too. They replaced the phone no questions asked. The old phone I would charge with other cords besides the one they gave me. I think this is the issues. Like it over charges the battery.

 

[melissapugs]

I have had no problems with the cables that came with the phone.
I used cheap other ones in the car, while at school - have already killed three.
Who knows. At least the original still works

 

[stef7]

The thing is, OEM USB charging cables, and 12V car chargers (I got the one with the blue LED "M" on it) are so inexpensive on eBAY, why go with anything but an official OEM product?

One benefit of these OEM charging related products, the hologram sticker that is on the connector that plugs into the phone is "face up" when plugging into the phone - and that is a big help when the lighting (or your eyesight) is poor.

 

[agentc13]

I know plenty of other people have had issues with other cables, but I have had previous phones that used the microUSB cables (a blackberry and an LG phone) and all those cables work just fine with my phone. I must just be lucky. Other cables won't overcharge your phone, that is all controlled from withing the phone itself and a cable can't change that.

Obviously if you are having charging/connectivity issues making sure the cord isn't the issue would be the first thing I would check.

 

[mantera]

Yeah, three phones, one battery, and testing charging cable with my cable (I don't see any visible shorts and I can't feel any in the cable. I know they can still be there, but usually you can tell.) as well as my car charger.

As I semi-mentioned in the first post, I DO have a BestBuy GeekSquad warrenty. This covers battery replacement, but do I need to call in advance or can I just walk in?

If you have the Best Buy Protection Plan, it's a replacement plan. Meaning that you should be able to just walk in and get the whole unit replaced with a new one out of the box and NOT a refurb. I would advise that you take your box with you to the store if you still have it. It just makes it easier since they need some of the serial numbers/esn numbers and it is just easier if they grab it off the box instead of looking for it on the phone or old receipt. At least that's what happened when I had to replace my wife's phone for some charging issues.

 

[JesusCon]

If you have the Best Buy Protection Plan, it's a replacement plan. Meaning that you should be able to just walk in and get the whole unit replaced with a new one out of the box and NOT a refurb. I would advise that you take your box with you to the store if you still have it. It just makes it easier since they need some of the serial numbers/esn numbers and it is just easier if they grab it off the box instead of looking for it on the phone or old receipt. At least that's what happened when I had to replace my wife's phone for some charging issues.

I still have this issue, and here's progress so far:
Talked to BestBuy twice about a new battery. They've sent two batteries and both for the wrong device. Apparently they don't carry the kind of battery the phone takes.

The problem with taking the whole thing into the store is that the cable's gotten pretty chopped up and I've spliced it together in two places, so I don't know that they'd accept the return. Does anyone have any other advice on what to do? At this point the only options I see are: attempt to exchange the entire phone for a new one, try to persuade someone to buy a new battery for me and then use the BestBuy reimbursement plan for the price of said battery.
Any other ideas?

 

[mantera]

I still have this issue, and here's progress so far:
Talked to BestBuy twice about a new battery. They've sent two batteries and both for the wrong device. Apparently they don't carry the kind of battery the phone takes.

The problem with taking the whole thing into the store is that the cable's gotten pretty chopped up and I've spliced it together in two places, so I don't know that they'd accept the return. Does anyone have any other advice on what to do? At this point the only options I see are: attempt to exchange the entire phone for a new one, try to persuade someone to buy a new battery for me and then use the BestBuy reimbursement plan for the price of said battery.
Any other ideas?

You don't need to bring in the cable to get the unit replaced... You don't even need the box. Just the phone itself is all you need to take in. I only suggested you bring in the box as well to make it easier and faster for the exchange. But don't do it on Black Friday, they won't do it then.

Edit: Or call Virgin Mobile to get a replacement if you'd rather do that. But you'll be getting a refurb. Personally, I'd rather get a new phone as a replacement and not a refurb.

 

[Bob Maxey]

I've gotten two replacement phones, though, and they both have the same issue =(.

Even more upsetting is the poor battery availability. I must have spent an hour looking for a local source for a replacement Triumph battery.

 

[JesusCon]

Final update on this thread from me: I called BestBuy, they sent a battery. Wrong battery. Called again, sent another battery. Wrong battery. Turns out, they don't have Triumph batteries in stock. At all. I tried FB0-2, anything we could think of. I ended up having to buy it, send them the invoice, and they reimbursed me. Put new battery in phone, red light comes on =D, Problem fixed!

 

[Whyzor]

Final update on this thread from me: I called BestBuy, they sent a battery. Wrong battery. Called again, sent another battery. Wrong battery. Turns out, they don't have Triumph batteries in stock. At all. I tried FB0-2, anything we could think of. I ended up having to buy it, send them the invoice, and they reimbursed me. Put new battery in phone, red light comes on =D, Problem fixed!

Glad it worked for you. I think you were just unlucky to get a bad battery. I don't think cheap cables had anything to do with it. Cables & chargers are rated for a certain amperage, if they overheat they would go out first. The phone has internal controls to limit the current it draws.