The Lies

[milellie111]

I had to send back my previous Droid because of a loose headphone jack. The refurb i received has a bad proximity sensor, as the phone randomly dials numbers and mutes while i'm talking during a call. There is a Verizon store right around the corner from me but of course, they don't have any replacements in stock(as always) and they won't give me a brand new Droid. I get on the phone with a customer service tech and he says that "i understand your pain, and usually we don't do this but since this is a special case and you can't really hold any phone conversations, i will overnight you a replacement device instead of 2 day shipping." I ask him, "well what if i get another refurb like i have now and something else is wrong with it?" Then he goes on to tell me about how he has so much faith in their certified refurb program, that he guarantees me that i will be getting a new perfectly working phone. He talks about the Droid hardly ever has problems, yadda yadda yadda. But what i'm more upset about is that I look at the shipping notice from Fedex expecting the package to be delivered to day, and what do you know, the tech lied and put me down for 2 day shipping so it won't get here till tomorrow. Not able to really talk on my phone and going through more lies with verizon

 

[Flahusky]

After the 2nd replacement I'd be in the store talking to a manager about the issues you've had with 'refurbs'. Be polite, have the notes you've taken during this ordeal ( you DID remember to get names times case #s right?) express your satisfaction with Verizon in the past and mention your concern that there seems to be a lapse in quality and what steps can be taken to resolve the issue today. Most of the time you will get some type of relief be it a phone shipped to the store overnight and they verify it works then call you OR a new phone outta stock.
If that fails, ask the store manager for the regional managers name and #, again be polite and repeat the above steps. I'd bet within the day(few hours total time) you get satisfaction.

 

[jamo]

I can feel your pain. When I first got my Droid, I was impressed. It felt heavy and solid; however, I've had a lot of problems with it lately. I'm on my 2nd, the first had a loose headphone jack (does anyone else think it just looks cheap wiggling around all the time) and my screen lock button stopped working. I got my refurb and its prox sensor is messed up, half the time it won't let me access the screen while on a call, so I can't use the dialpad or hang up unless I slide it open, and it's been re-booting by itself. I haven't had any problems with the customer service yet, but I'm getting ready to call them about getting another refurb. I'm definitely looking at getting a non-Motorola phone as soon as one is released on VZW that is comparable.

 

[clintiepoo]

I'm on Droid 5. vzw refused to upgrade me to an incredible when I asked the last time. headphone jacks on these things are terrible.

 

[bose301s]

I'm on Droid 5. vzw refused to upgrade me to an incredible when I asked the last time. headphone jacks on these things are terrible.

Headphone jacks are one of the hardest things to keep from breaking, they take a lot of abuse from having headphones plugged in and out and then from bumping the cord and putting stress on the jack. I went through 2 or 3 Creative MP3 players 6 or so years back for the same problem, they just need to put more work into making it solid and anticipating the jack taking a lot of abuse.

 

[milkshed27]

What I've done is cut out a small ring from a thin drinking straw and stuffed it around the outer edge of the headphone jack. So far I haven't had anymore problems with my headphone jack wiggling around or any crackling whatsoever.

 

[jamo]

Headphone jacks are one of the hardest things to keep from breaking, they take a lot of abuse from having headphones plugged in and out and then from bumping the cord and putting stress on the jack. I went through 2 or 3 Creative MP3 players 6 or so years back for the same problem, they just need to put more work into making it solid and anticipating the jack taking a lot of abuse.

I dread making the comparison, and I'm sure that someone will immediately speak up with anecdotal evidence proving the opposite, but my iPod Touch seems to have no problems with headphones; it's solid, doesn't move, and seems pretty bulletproof. I mean, you can move the headphone jack in the Droid while not even trying; I can't imagine using it for more than plugging in while in the car. For what we pay, it shouldn't break frequently. I'm hoping they re-design in the next model.

 

[jamo]

What I've done is cut out a small ring from a thin drinking straw and stuffed it around the outer edge of the headphone jack. So far I haven't had anymore problems with my headphone jack wiggling around or any crackling whatsoever.

That's a pretty clever fix, but I didn't pay $200 for a device that needs a drinking straw for it work right over time. I'm just going to keep returning while it's under warranty. But again, I don't want to hate, that is a pretty clever fix.

 

[YankeeDudeL]

The headphone jack is def a real issue as many have reported. I have a 40/09 droid and haven't had ANY physical problem w/ the phone (i.e. loose keyboard, loose headphone jack, bubbled keypad, et al). I'm thinking it may be newer releases of the phone that have these reported problems. Can anyone else verify?

As far as the phone randomly muting there may be a simple explanation. If you're holding it between your shoulder and cheek, or whatever, you're probably hitting the "add call" soft key. You'll hear them, but they hear you. And for the life of you, you won't figure out how to unmute it. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience on this one. lol Those of us who bought our Droids the first day (or month, whatev) found out a lot of these things the hard way.

 

[jamo]

I haven't had the muting problems with the prox sensor that the OP has, but mine just can't recognize when it's not covered. I take the phone away from my ear, but the screen stays off. I press the power button, and still nothing. I have to slide the phone open to unlock the screen, which is pretty awkward while on the phone. I called Motorola Support yesterday, and the rep I talked to said that the phone is supposed to work that way, which is a good sign that their phone reps are that well-trained...

 

[Legacystar]

The problem with the headphone jack is that the jack is not physically soldered to the board, ratheer it sits on the adjointing peice and makes contact via 3 little metal tabs that touch when the unit is assembled. so dust tends to get inbetween annd cause the crappy performance. try blowing decently hard in the jack and it clears it up for a bit sometimes. not saying this is excusable because it isnt, not when you pay as much as we all have for these phones, and the fact there are 100000000 devices with headphone jacks that dont suck.

 

[clintiepoo]

The problem with the headphone jack is that the jack is not physically soldered to the board, ratheer it sits on the adjointing peice and makes contact via 3 little metal tabs that touch when the unit is assembled. so dust tends to get inbetween annd cause the crappy performance. try blowing decently hard in the jack and it clears it up for a bit sometimes. not saying this is excusable because it isnt, not when you pay as much as we all have for these phones, and the fact there are 100000000 devices with headphone jacks that dont suck.

I never remember having a problem with my cassette walkman about 15 years ago. Why is this so hard? It's annoying.

 

[trav473]

I never remember having a problem with my cassette walkman about 15 years ago. Why is this so hard? It's annoying.

check your time line, 15 years ago, it would have been the CD heyday. lol. add another 5-10 years to that. (wow I'm getting old!!!)

 

[clintiepoo]

check your time line, 15 years ago, it would have been the CD heyday. lol. add another 5-10 years to that. (wow I'm getting old!!!)

I hear ya man... I always had everything later than other people. If my walkman could handle listening to Aerosmith while mowing the lawn, the droid should be able to make it more than a month without breaking.

 

[goldrush28]

My 6 month old Droid quit yesterday. I went to a Verizon service center near me and they searched within 30 miles for a replacement. None to be found. They said they would have one sent to me from "the warehouse", and I'd have it in 48 hours. That's acceptable, especially considering the fact that I didn't have insurance on it. My contacts and calender will come over from my GMail account, but I'll have to load about 50 apps and I assume any special settings I'll have to re-do. If the "Factory like new rebuilt" isn't as close to new as possible, it will go back and back and back until I get one as mint as mine was. I'm thinking positive and will let you know how I make out.

 

[clintiepoo]

My 6 month old Droid quit yesterday. I went to a Verizon service center near me and they searched within 30 miles for a replacement. None to be found. They said they would have one sent to me from "the warehouse", and I'd have it in 48 hours. That's acceptable, especially considering the fact that I didn't have insurance on it. My contacts and calender will come over from my GMail account, but I'll have to load about 50 apps and I assume any special settings I'll have to re-do. If the "Factory like new rebuilt" isn't as close to new as possible, it will go back and back and back until I get one as mint as mine was. I'm thinking positive and will let you know how I make out.

MyBackupPro is worth the $5 or whatever. You can back up everything to the sd card first. I use it to install all the applications again, then use atrackdog to see what needs updated. I think it saves a lot of time.

 

[ZXMustang]

I had to send back my previous Droid because of a loose headphone jack. The refurb i received has a bad proximity sensor, as the phone randomly dials numbers and mutes while i'm talking during a call. There is a Verizon store right around the corner from me but of course, they don't have any replacements in stock(as always) and they won't give me a brand new Droid. I get on the phone with a customer service tech and he says that "i understand your pain, and usually we don't do this but since this is a special case and you can't really hold any phone conversations, i will overnight you a replacement device instead of 2 day shipping." I ask him, "well what if i get another refurb like i have now and something else is wrong with it?" Then he goes on to tell me about how he has so much faith in their certified refurb program, that he guarantees me that i will be getting a new perfectly working phone. He talks about the Droid hardly ever has problems, yadda yadda yadda. But what i'm more upset about is that I look at the shipping notice from Fedex expecting the package to be delivered to day, and what do you know, the tech lied and put me down for 2 day shipping so it won't get here till tomorrow. Not able to really talk on my phone and going through miore lies with verizon

Verizon did the same thing to me with shipping TWICE.

 

[ZeroBarrier]

My contacts and calender will come over from my GMail account, but I'll have to load about 50 apps and I assume any special settings I'll have to re-do.

Once you do the initial set-up and input your Google account. Lay the phone down for half an hour or so and the phone will auto-restore all Apps you downloaded from the Market by itself.

 

[goldrush28]

If that is true you made my day. At the Verizon service center they told me only PAID apps would self restore. I hope you are right. I'll let ya know. Thanks

 

[ZeroBarrier]

Any App that is in your downloads history will auto-restore, not just paid apps. Just make sure to sign-in to your Google account from the set-up screen and don't open market after set-up. Best thing for you to do is just lay it down for 30min or so and let it do it's thing.

 

[irregularjoe]

After the 2nd replacement I'd be in the store talking to a manager about the issues you've had with 'refurbs'. Be polite, have the notes you've taken during this ordeal ( you DID remember to get names times case #s right?) express your satisfaction with Verizon in the past and mention your concern that there seems to be a lapse in quality and what steps can be taken to resolve the issue today. Most of the time you will get some type of relief be it a phone shipped to the store overnight and they verify it works then call you OR a new phone outta stock.
If that fails, ask the store manager for the regional managers name and #, again be polite and repeat the above steps. I'd bet within the day(few hours total time) you get satisfaction.

..........and after that fails, go back to the store and hit the manager over the head with the Droid. Who knows, it might even fix it.

 

[goldrush28]

Droid died last Tuesday - Had a "like new" one delivered on Thursday. Proximity sensor did not work (black screen after calls-had to open keyboard to get display back). They Fedex'd a brand new phone to me with Saturday delivery. Everything is perfect. I'm happy. Their customer service exceeded my expectations. End of story. Peace.

 

[shadowdude777]

The problem with the headphone jack is that the jack is not physically soldered to the board, ratheer it sits on the adjointing peice and makes contact via 3 little metal tabs that touch when the unit is assembled. so dust tends to get inbetween annd cause the crappy performance. try blowing decently hard in the jack and it clears it up for a bit sometimes. not saying this is excusable because it isnt, not when you pay as much as we all have for these phones, and the fact there are 100000000 devices with headphone jacks that dont suck.

Exactly. I've ripped apart $7 Chinese MP3 players and found that they have an actual 3.5mm package in them for the jack to go into, not just 3 pieces of scrap metal for the jack to touch (or not touch, based on our experiences...)

 

[Redflea]

I understand being upset, but assuming that the support agent lied is making a big assumption that has no objective supporting evidence...I have some contact w/the support organization at my company, and the vast majority of issues like this that I hear about arise from mistakes and misunderstandings (e.g., the agent thought policy allowed overnight shipping but it doesn't, or checked the wrong box accidentally, etc.). Agents are just people like you and me, trying to do a good job, often with limited training or support from the companies they work for...assuming they are out to get us is a mistake, IMHO.