Stuck to my guns. My Behold II replaced with Samsung Vibrant

Alright thanks. Hopefully I get a response tonight, and the latest tomorrow.

Well.. at least I finally got a text message with the tracking number for my order lol.

Edit: it is scheduled to come on Monday . So I guess Ralph meant 2 days to prepare, and 3 days to ship.

That's awesome! You're lucky they actually did it for you.

No response yet for me.

TeleNubby said:

That's awesome! You're lucky they actually did it for you.

No response yet for me.

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It took a few days for me to hear - not sure, but 3 or 4 I think, then I got a call from Customer Care. Guy's name was Aaron, and he was really cool - no BS, just said okay we can do that for you. I didn't ask for too much, maybe that made it easier - I just asked for my upgrade back and a refund of what I paid ($99) when I return my BH2.

I think I'm going to get the Vibrant! Makes me nervous to go with Samsung again, but I've been reading up on it at xda forums and it seems like a lot of people, including those coming from the N1, are pretty happy with it. I will definitely put it through its paces in the first 14 days ...

I got my Vibrant on the 5th. I talked to an Executive on the 3rd. He was really friendly, and listened to what I had to say. He apologized for the problems and issues and blew me out of my seat when he proceeded to offer the Vibrant. Each person's case will call for their own resolve for sure, so I won't disclose my case. I just wanted to share that T-Mobile did take care of me. I have read on another forum that people have ordered phones with express shipping on 7/31 and still haven't gotten their phone when they checked status on 8/6. Now their source for checking on the status says it's back ordered. Must be the distribution center they are getting their phones out of in my opinion. I have gotten phones from Georgia and Kentucky for the KC area now. so I know there is more than one.

How DirecTV does things, a bit off topic but might help understand, is that they have receivers in the UPS distribution centers, say Mobile, Alabama, when there is an order for a replacement, they ship it from there. A very simple explanation that was told to me by their CSR when I was needing a receiver replacement. I can only assume that T-Mobile has some kind of similar business shipment model.

For Bugdog: The Behold 2 for me had real problems. It to me was a flop. I think software might have cured some if not all of it's problems, maybe they could have released the source code and driver information to developers or the public to fix issues. But that was the case, it is locked up tight.

The Vibrant, it's a step in the right direction for sure. I want a phone that works, is efficient, and will be reliable. I didn't have that with the Behold 2. So far this Vibrant has kicked the living guano out of the Behold 2 and I am not looking back. It is a bummer however, that T-Mobile is the one stuck having to deal with the customers and take care of the discontent that Samsung left them with. I only hope that T-Mobile can get some resolve in their supplier issues. But after my experience, the JD Power and Associates award they earned this year is well deserved in my opinion. Not only that but their HSPA+ service is spreading like what, wild fire? Can any other carrier answer the call of the blaze, so far I doubt it.

My experience with Samsung...poor customer service. If there was a rating of 1-100 choices, ok 1-5, no I like 1-3 better, 1 being worst and 3 best, it was and has been, 1. They have a phone that hasn't even seen 6-8 months at time of dealing with them. Where is their support structure? It seems that maybe there was never one in place or it has dissolved quickly. You know, I don't have just a phone with them, I have more products and I personally like them, but they have a thing or two to learn about customer service I really do believe. It is really like to me, there is none. To me that is just weird, maybe to someone that makes sense.

Anyways, I rambled on a way bit too much there. The Vibrant, very impressive, I barely had hands on in the store, like zilch. I have played with all the other phones though. The on-screen keyboard, using swype but not swyping..., just tapping out the words, is a lot more accurate and a lot better user experience. I am not even interested in getting a replacement keyboard, this will do for me, it has won me over. I had it briefly on the Behold 2 with a brief exchange I had, it worked but just wasn't as responsive as it is on the Vibrant. Bugdog, if you can get over some of the minor problems they are having with them right now, I'd say you're going to love it! The minor problems I mention but have not said is the compass and gps. Other than that, it is great. One example, runtime. I am running more social apps in the background, have been running for 15 hours straight now, with 24% battery left. The Behold 2, I'd be like with 6% or so if that, that's without running apps with ATK killing automatically. Again, I ran on rambling too much even after I already noted it, man! There is just too much to say about this phone to be honest, you'll have to get your hands on one to enjoy it's full potential.

@Bugdog: Thats good to hear, you should get the vibrant or wait for a newer phone. Since, the vibrant is the best phone now.

@TeleNubby: well patience is a virtue xD, but I still had to go through "hardships" and had to contact ralph multiple times through phone and e-mail. I hope at least you will not have to.

@the1who: your so called rambling shows how much you like the phone, so I am sure it must be good . Like I said, mine is coming tomorrow.

007shinobi said:

@Bugdog: Thats good to hear, you should get the vibrant or wait for a newer phone. Since, the vibrant is the best phone now.

@TeleNubby: well patience is a virtue xD, but I still had to go through "hardships" and had to contact ralph multiple times through phone and e-mail. I hope at least you will not have to.

@the1who: your so called rambling shows how much you like the phone, so I am sure it must be good . Like I said, mine is coming tomorrow.

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I think I'm going to go with the Vibrant - you can go nuts waiting for the next great phone, and there's nothing out there but rumors right now. So I think you just have to get the best available at the time, and live with it, unless there is something CONFIRMED out there. So, you get what you get, and you stop reading Android blogs

@the1who: what he said ^. Thanks for your input.

i still havent talked to them. i will talk to them 2morrow and hopefully can get the vibrant free aswell

My situation involves two problems, one of which is the Samsung BH2 and the other is a promised AAA discount that I never received.

Been with Tmoble six years now and wwitched to Even More Plus unlimited talk/text/data back in February for my wife and I. We're AAA members and I heard there was a 13% discount on the monthly bill, plus waived activation fees etc. The clerk confirmed this, and said that our plan qualified. It didn't appear in the invoice but he assured us it would be on the bill and that the discount was handled by the billing department.

April rolls around and I see my bill is full price. And we've been charged activation fees. And we've been charged insurance on my wife's phone, which we previously refused. Call up Tmobile, it's explained to me that the plan we're on is already discounted, and does not qualify. After an hour on the phone, I am told "We've cancelled the insurance, we've credited you the activation fees, and we've made a special exception to your account and your plan will qualify for that 13% discount now, so you'll see that on your bill going forward"

June rolls around, no discount. Call up Tmobile again, ask what's going on. First level CS rep tells me my plan doesn't qualify. I explain the situation ask them to look at the notes on my account. I ask if "Why was I told that a special exception was made to my account and I would get that discount?" They tell me they sorry for the misunderstanding. I ask them how is it possible to misconstrue "we've made an exception to your account and you WILL get that discount from now on"? Again, no comment and they restate that my plan does not qualify. I ask to get transfered to a supervisor. Supervisor says the same thing and tells me they don't have the power to authorize the discount> I ask to talk to THEIR supervisor. Said supervisor is unavailable "but I promise he will call you within 48 hours"

Finally I email the office of the president, explain my problems with my plan, my phone, and Tmobile's handling of the situation. about a week later I get a call from Executive Customer Service. Here are the cliff notes, for anyone intersted in the BS they spout if you talk to them.

On the matter of the Behold 2:
- Tmobile never claimed that the Behold 2 would get an upgrade. Those TV ads were Samsung's claims.
-Samsung has tried to load 2.X on the phone and it made it archaically slow. The hardware just doesn't permit such a thing, which is why they are sticking with 1.5.
-As for all my other problems with this crappy handset, they are happy to send me a replacement BH2 (never mind the fact that the problems are with the BH2 as a product, not just my phone)

Regarding my bill:
-We're sorry for the misunderstanding
-Your plan already has the maximum discount on it. No greater discount exists
-We will launch an ivestigation and look into why you were told what you were told

If you think about it, EVERYTHING they told me was a lie.

In compensation, they are offering me a one time one month service credit, and the discounted upgrade price on another handset. Unacceptable, really.

They really don't want to keep the business I think.

Sorry with all the trouble you went through with t-mobile, however, I got a similar response back 1-2 or even 3 times about my Behold II. However, I kept persisting with the e-mails and I eventually got a free vibrant. If you give up now, that is EXACTLY what they want you to do. And, if your rep keeps saying he can't do anything but a discounted upgrade (sounds like Ralph) and not getting results, send another e-mail to mr. dotson and professionally state that the rep you got was a jackass and that you want someone else on the case because he did not have the "power" to help you or did not really understand the situation.

darryl zero said:

My situation involves two problems, one of which is the Samsung BH2 and the other is a promised AAA discount that I never received.

Been with Tmoble six years now and wwitched to Even More Plus unlimited talk/text/data back in February for my wife and I. We're AAA members and I heard there was a 13% discount on the monthly bill, plus waived activation fees etc. The clerk confirmed this, and said that our plan qualified. It didn't appear in the invoice but he assured us it would be on the bill and that the discount was handled by the billing department.

April rolls around and I see my bill is full price. And we've been charged activation fees. And we've been charged insurance on my wife's phone, which we previously refused. Call up Tmobile, it's explained to me that the plan we're on is already discounted, and does not qualify. After an hour on the phone, I am told "We've cancelled the insurance, we've credited you the activation fees, and we've made a special exception to your account and your plan will qualify for that 13% discount now, so you'll see that on your bill going forward"

June rolls around, no discount. Call up Tmobile again, ask what's going on. First level CS rep tells me my plan doesn't qualify. I explain the situation ask them to look at the notes on my account. I ask if "Why was I told that a special exception was made to my account and I would get that discount?" They tell me they sorry for the misunderstanding. I ask them how is it possible to misconstrue "we've made an exception to your account and you WILL get that discount from now on"? Again, no comment and they restate that my plan does not qualify. I ask to get transfered to a supervisor. Supervisor says the same thing and tells me they don't have the power to authorize the discount> I ask to talk to THEIR supervisor. Said supervisor is unavailable "but I promise he will call you within 48 hours"

Finally I email the office of the president, explain my problems with my plan, my phone, and Tmobile's handling of the situation. about a week later I get a call from Executive Customer Service. Here are the cliff notes, for anyone intersted in the BS they spout if you talk to them.

On the matter of the Behold 2:
- Tmobile never claimed that the Behold 2 would get an upgrade. Those TV ads were Samsung's claims.
-Samsung has tried to load 2.X on the phone and it made it archaically slow. The hardware just doesn't permit such a thing, which is why they are sticking with 1.5.
-As for all my other problems with this crappy handset, they are happy to send me a replacement BH2 (never mind the fact that the problems are with the BH2 as a product, not just my phone)

Regarding my bill:
-We're sorry for the misunderstanding
-Your plan already has the maximum discount on it. No greater discount exists
-We will launch an ivestigation and look into why you were told what you were told

If you think about it, EVERYTHING they told me was a lie.

In compensation, they are offering me a one time one month service credit, and the discounted upgrade price on another handset. Unacceptable, really.

They really don't want to keep the business I think.

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So, my gf's behold 1 just crapped out. We called in for a warranty replacement and she was offered a behold 2 as a "comparable" device.

What are the chances of getting that one bumped up to a Vibrant after a few weeks to settle in with that phone followed by some complaints?

I was just going to ask the same thing. My speaker stopped working and they told me last night they would send me a behold 2 but seeing as it wont be seeing the newer android updates I'm regretting getting it :/

I mean... it seems like the behold 2 is definitely better than the behold 1... and for her, it's plenty enough phone. I would love to see her get a phone she could enjoy (and I could bear helping her use) and sell for a decent amount when she moves onto the next phone though.

I just emailed them, told them they shouldn't replace phones under warranty with a phone thats about to be abandoned... it cant hurt to try

Guys, if your being offered a Behold I to be bumped to a Behold II, I don't see why you can't try to get the Vibrant. You know what they say, "You have to start from somewhere" lol. As long as you keep trying . Its just at least a bit more convenient to have a Behold II already.

007shinobi said:

Guys, if your being offered a Behold I to be bumped to a Behold II, I don't see why you can't try to get the Vibrant. You know what they say, "You have to start from somewhere" lol. As long as you keep trying . Its just at least a bit more convenient to have a Behold II already.

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I tried to make clear that the BH2 was just as much a POS as the BH1. However.. been three days and no answer.

I finally broke down and decided to try my luck with the email method.

Very simply, I pointed out the issues I've had with the phone (Lack of 2.0, and in my case, lack of 1.6 OTA, meaning no Maps, and as I travel, kinda need that), as well as the SD card unmounting issue (only happened to me once)

Sent the email on Thursday night

Got a call on Friday around noon from a nice young lady who's apparently heard all of this before, and before I could even ASK about a replacement, she told me they'd be sending me a Vibrant (It arrives tomorow)

One little side note, though:

T-Mobile WILL bill you full price for the Vibrant, and then credit your account the full amount when you return the Behold II..... However, in my case (since I'm auto-pay) this put me over the spending limit, and suspended my account. One call to T-Mobile, and a power-cycle later, though, and I'm back up and running.

I mentioned getting the Vibrant in the email that I sent... do you think that's why I didn't get a response? :/

Not sure, maybe you should send another e-mail. And @psz, yeah, apparently that is how everybody is getting the vibrant with being charged with the amount for vibrant then being fully credited for it.

I emailed last wednesday and still no response.

Should I just resend the email saying "Please see below and respond!"?

I guess you could, but maybe you should try to e-mail the other robert dotson email? Btw, I got my Vibrant a few hours ago and I have to say its AMAZING.

Got my call back and had a little chat with T-Mobile Corporate. Apparently there's no way out of the data plan, which is truly absurd, so to those of you who are trying to settle your past months' problems by getting a Vibrant without the data plan, it's a no-go. I'm pretty disappointed in this, and just had to waive the offer of full discounted upgrade they gave me. Unfortunately, I guess I'm just going to have to call it quits with T-Mobile when my contract is up.

I'm thinking about emailing them back and requesting a different CS representative. When pointing out a data plan was not required to use the phone she just repeated her flaw-filled statement again. Largely disappointing. Do you think emailing back corporate with the specific request of a different rep would make a difference? Paying $200 + $500 for the data plan is $700; the retail price phone costs $500 and my Behold cost me $150 when I purchased it. I could point out that if corp. could replace the Behold I have for a Vibrant (a $50 difference; nothing to them) for free and then also pay for the data plan, I would gladly accept the offer. But I still do NOT want the required Android plan that's just a marketing scam. I could also point out that the Behold $150 plus however much I have paid to keep that line alive over the year was a complete waste of money and disappointment because what I was told by T-Mobile was never actually put into action. T-Mobile has been a complete disappointment thus far.

I need some suggestions and advice. What do you guys think?

I never mentioned the Vibrant at all in my email, nor did I comment about data plans.

Strangely enough (in hindsight), they never said anything about the fact that I'm still on the $6 web service..... (I fully expect to have to upgrade, and in fact WOULD have for the B2 until I realised I had full 3G in the store without it )

Can someone tell me about the $500 they charged you initially? Do you have to pay it and wait for the credit later? I think I have a chance to get two vibrants but I dont know if I have $1000 to put up front. Do you think I can pay my bill minus the $500 and wait for the credit to go through?

Emailed them last night, this morning they replied asking me for my account number and/or phone number. Fingers crossed I will have some good news tomorrow