Virgin Mobile committing fraud with Triumph

Ok I wrote a review on their website and am waiting to see if it gets posted here's my post

Overall 2/5

For what it costs it should have been better. It has a nice big screen and speedy processor but the battery life is horrendous, the touch sensitive buttons below the screen sometimes don't work, and the gps takes more than a minute to lock that's unacceptable. Heavy use of 3G makes the phone really hot. Overall it's a decent phone but it's not a high-end phone and it is still running an outdated version of Android (2.2 Froyo) but so far it is the best phone Virgin Mobile has to offer.


There are reviews for the phone with 1-2 stars so they must not be denying all the bad reviews

I got an intercept not too long after it came out, gave like 200$ for it and man I would easily pay 300$ again for the triumph. The intercept had more problems even after the update then the triumph ever has. So it may not be the best phone but its the best they have. And yeah they don't filter out all bad reviews so I don't see why everyone's so heated. And like everyone said, go to non biased sites for reviews! Of course they will weed out some bad reviews! It makes them look better! Maybe technically defined as fraud but if that's the cases almost every corporation in America is commuting fraud!

I wrote a review on Virgin Mobile in July/August 2011. My review was denied. I was shocked. I didn't write anything for them to deny my review. My assumption at this point was that Virgin Mobile didn't want to accept too many complete negative reviews.

markboton said:

ive never had a problem with this phone. gps works fine for me. seems like you have a lemon. all of the issues you talked about in the video ive never had on my phone. i actually had to get a new phone because the power button broke and guess what i got a free phone even though it was my fault. ive been a virgin mobile customer for almost 10 and i love them and love this phone.

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I TOTALLY agree with you this is the BEST phone I have ever had... all the things that the OP has on his video (bluetooth, GPS, memory) must have been because he got a bad phone. don't assume all phones are a POS because I have a GOOD ONE!!!
I too have been a VM customer for as long as I can remember, heck.. maybe since they first started. So in my opinion GET THIS PHONE, you won't be sorry!!!...

I encourage everyone to write reviews on Amazon.com (or write one version, copy & paste it on multiple review sites), they have more realistic reviews, and has a mainstream audience. Some of us are lucky, but by a lot of the reports, this phone has a high number of defects, and that is a SYSTEMIC problem with Motorola & VM USA.

Let's be honest here. VM is a shell company owned by Cerberus. They don't care about us peons and our honest opinions. We're disposable in their eyes.

Alpha06 said:

Let's be honest here. VM is a shell company owned by Cerberus. They don't care about us peons and our honest opinions. We're disposable in their eyes.

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This Cerberus?

Fwiw, I never had that log problem with mine, and I've very few major issues in general, and I got mine at launch and was on stock for quite a while.

For those expecting an update, wouldn't get my hopes up. Yes, in terms of hardware this is by far their best phone, but from what I've read, it fell way below expected sales projections, and, I have no numbers to go by, just guessing here, but I would imagine the vast majority of VM customers are low income people without smartphones. So from a business standpoint, it probably isn't worth the time/money to develop on a new update, especially if it wasnt eeven manufactured by Motorola as the evidence seems to suggest. Yes, its regrettable that they'd completely abandon it, but they've gotta make business decisions like every other business out there.

Hi!

Site Rules said:

These forums were put together for Android fans to come together and help each other, collaborate and discuss in a positive way – not bash on someone because you don't like their idea, or because they don't share the same views as you. We are big into the free speech idea here. So you're free to say what you think – but do it in a constructive, positive, 'add to the conversation' kinda way – not the condescending 'I don't like what you're saying so you suck' kinda way. We encourage mature debates – discourage childish arguments.

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Please remember, "attack the issue, not the person". Rudeness, personal and ad hominem attacks are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

Thank you.

I apologize Slug. The Monty Python skit was childish, but it was funny and I thought apropos.

I wrote a bad one about another phone and it was declined... then I wrote another and it was accepted .. it just depends on the content in your review. Like mentioned already, their guidelines are very strict. You can't use specific phone names, company names, or anything to identify anyone in relation to the phone. And you can't just go out and bad mouth the phone, thats not a review, its more like venting. They accept real reviews that readers can find useful, that gives them facts, not biased opinions based off anger.

I tried to post negative reviews on VMUSA's website 6 times, about once/month and even though they were all different, not even one was posted. Here's the last one below. You tell me what's wrong with it.

Phone's log files keep growing until they fill up the available memory. Once that's done, you won't be able to make/receive calls, send or receive texts and emails, take pictures or browse the internet. The only fix is to perform a factory reset. Get used to doing it every 30-60 days. Make sure you back up the SD card before the factory reset because data on it becomes corrupted after the reset. Be prepared to spend a day installing apps and customizing the phone the way it was before the reset. GPS takes 5-10 min to get a lock, that's if it gets a lock at all. This happens even if you have over 12 satellites on sight, all with great signal. Bluetooth disconnects all the time if the phone is not on AC power and volume is extremely low over bluetooth. 3G connection drops to 1x randomly, even with great signal, and it won't go back to 3G unless you toggle data off/on. Sometimes that doesn't work either and you need to pull the battery. Phone gets really hot at times, becomes uncomfortable to hold. Battery drain is 4% per hour, at night, with no use. Expect 20-30% drain per hour when talking, surfing the net, taking pictures, reading emails, playing games. All pictures taken without flash have a green hue blob in the middle of the picture, covering about 30% of the picture. Phone randomly reboots when idle. Sometimes the phone does not come out of sleep, you have to pull the battery to get it back to life.
These are just the some of the software issues. Add to that a host of hardware problems such as blue tint screen, USB port failures, light leaks around the screen, no GPS lock, failure to charge.

nwaves said:

I tried to post negative reviews on VMUSA's website 6 times, about once/month and even though they were all different, not even one was posted. Here's the last one below. You tell me what's wrong with it.

Phone's log files keep growing until they fill up the available memory. Once that's done, you won't be able to make/receive calls, send or receive texts and emails, take pictures or browse the internet. The only fix is to perform a factory reset. Get used to doing it every 30-60 days. Make sure you back up the SD card before the factory reset because data on it becomes corrupted after the reset. Be prepared to spend a day installing apps and customizing the phone the way it was before the reset. GPS takes 5-10 min to get a lock, that's if it gets a lock at all. This happens even if you have over 12 satellites on sight, all with great signal. Bluetooth disconnects all the time if the phone is not on AC power and volume is extremely low over bluetooth. 3G connection drops to 1x randomly, even with great signal, and it won't go back to 3G unless you toggle data off/on. Sometimes that doesn't work either and you need to pull the battery. Phone gets really hot at times, becomes uncomfortable to hold. Battery drain is 4% per hour, at night, with no use. Expect 20-30% drain per hour when talking, surfing the net, taking pictures, reading emails, playing games. All pictures taken without flash have a green hue blob in the middle of the picture, covering about 30% of the picture. Phone randomly reboots when idle. Sometimes the phone does not come out of sleep, you have to pull the battery to get it back to life.
These are just the some of the software issues. Add to that a host of hardware problems such as blue tint screen, USB port failures, light leaks around the screen, no GPS lock, failure to charge.

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I don't know what is wrong with that exactly, but for one thing not all of that is necessarily true. I don't have most of those problems. I only have minor light leakage and slow gps lock out of all of those problems. That could be one problem. Just because you and other people have some of those problems doesn't mean everyone does.

i personally only have trouble with this phone on the stock rom, right outta the box, being super sluggish, since going to cm7-reloaded ive been totally happy with this phone

granted sometimes i get late messages or slow gps but i figure thats a network problem, and probly not hardware or software(altho it could be lol)


The only VM issue i had with this phone is(not really just a VM issue, and idk if im the only one who saw this or not)

but when i originally purchased this phone from VM is was $320 and the website said gingerbread supported and that the phone WAS going to receive an android system update to bring it to gingerbread, then all of that was pulled, i think i remember seeing something about VM/Android/Motorola were having arguments about somethings and that may have been why it got pulled but idk lol i just plain as day remember when i purchased it i was like stock froyo awww, but atleast i can look forward to the gingerbread update lol (then my dreams were crushed lol) till i found these forums

I honestly think VM knows the mistake they made with the triumph. That's why I think most of the rumors we've heard about new VM phones are HTC and why the most recent new phone is HTC. HTC is known for their build quality. I really hope the rumors of an "EVO V" are true.

LOL, I know this is an old thread but I think it's funny that so many people arguing "you didn't expect to find HONEST reviews at Virgin's site, did you?" at the SAME time telling him "but it's NOT fraud!".
If it's not HONEST isn't it FRAUDULENT?
YES Virgin Mobile has a right to control the content posted on its site. However if the guidelines stated are actually a farce and what they really mean is any reviews that make our product look bad, even if presented in intelligent and non slanderous ways won't be posted, that's definitely DISHONEST. You have to have a Virgin Mobile account to post reviews so it's not like competitors or trolls slandering their good name are a big issue.
In the end I agree with the conclusion if you want honest reviews go someplace else, but it doesn't refute the OP's point as much as concede that we expect the reviews to be FRAUDULENT in nature by withholding negative reviews.

Omg! You dont know how glad i am to have found this fourm. I am 100% with the guy in the youtube vido. I totally feel like it is fruad. I have read every single post here and everyone has awesome points. I have had so many problems with this phone i have probably sent it in about seven times to VM. Now mind you not for a new one because they say they cant do that but for a refirbished one. So i thought ok maybe its fixed so what dose it matter if its new plus VM tells me its like new. I got my first one back and after about two weeks the chaging port was not working it just stoped accepting a charge so i tried i different chargers and it still wouldnt work the same things kept happening to all of the fallowing phones they sent me. No lie. i thought maybe the first two was just bad luck but i litterally had six or seven sent to me. Mine too would overheat. Now they wont send me any more because VM's warrentee with it expired. There is good things about this phone the screen is awesomly big and its pretty thin and it cheeper than allot of other phones but is pretty cool. But i still feel like its fraud and would like to do somthing about it. Again to agree with the guy in the video motorolla should be a stand up company especially for being around since they have been around since the first cell phones but they wont help me at all. Honestly now i know im not the only extreemly displeased coustomer i think im gonna try anp post my honest rateing for it and if i get denied on my post im going to take this to a whole new level but im gonna need some help.

I agree and think we pretty much got screwed on a product that was defective on many levels, wasn't supported, and customers weren't taken care of when they had problems.
That said the world moves on, and all the screaming in the world isn't going to get us a cookie or one thin dime.
These companies don't give a damn, and the one thing we can do, avoid them and tell all our friends to do the same... well you'll usually find their competitors will do the same or worse to you.

Reminds me of my early experiences with Fry's Electronics. I remember screeching my tires, leaving their parking lot in rage at some of the things they did to waste my time and rip me off... seeing the stories of others online with similar anger... I vowed never would I go back there.

Only to return, sheepishly, a few weeks later after trying to find similar selections or prices anywhere else, or find that a little better service did not make up for the lack of those.

It didn't and Fry's is still the first place I go. Some of their worst practices have been improved. Some, like repackaging returned products they must know don't work, continue. Making sure there is a line for returns, and having you see this as you enter, to intimidate you to make a careful selection, that's good business but it seems rude.

More relevant, I recently looked at other prepaid carriers' phone selections. GoPhone, or ATT, had a lineup of lesser Android devices almost all running Froyo or Gingerbread. A couple on Ice Cream Sandwich.

Straight Talk, offered at Walmart, has the Samsung Galaxy SII VM offers... for $349. Their plans start at $45, not $35.

So do I leave VM out of spite, just to pick a worse situation ? Nope. I'll avoid Motorola for a while, sure.

My experience with the Triumph? I bought one on launch date, 10% off at Best Buy. Still have the same phone. Took exceptional care of it including making my own vinyl full case the first day. Have had to do some tweaking on it, like fixing the back cover, rooting it to purge the .alog files, and I've had charge port issues for a year now and the port doesn't work at all now. Most people would have trashed it, I ordered 2 batteries from ebay. I'll deal with it.

As a phone it sucks, in speakerphone mode it's useless, the touch screen is wonky as hell, GPS barely works at all, battery life is a joke. But nobody and I mean nobody on planet earth that I am aware of gets full android with unlimited data and texting for $25 a month.

That's what mattered to me and it's still being delivered, so things aren't all bad.

The Triumph can be a decent phone if you are one of the select few to get one with good hardware. Unfortunately, to get decent use, you MUST install an aftermarket ROM. This is the easiest phone I have ever flashed. Like you, I went through 7 of them (wife had 9) in one year. We finally succumbed to the draw of the Note 2

DenverNugs said:

Given the pro's and the con's, I'm happy with Virgin's replacement policy and the Motorola Triumph.

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I think that VM's insanely good replacement policy is one of the main reasons that users have been willing to deal with the hardware train wreck that is the MT. Without the policy, I think a bunch of MT owners would have filed a class action suit against them by now lol...

rcsrich said:

I think that VM's insanely good replacement policy is one of the main reasons that users have been willing to deal with the hardware train wreck that is the MT. Without the policy, I think a bunch of MT owners would have filed a class action suit against them by now lol...

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Yes, I remember when I had my Triumph.. seeing in the forums almost every other day that they had sent their phone back to VM for a replacement phone. One guy boasted that he had received a replacement phone five times! Of course, the phone did have some issues and the fact that it needed to be returned five times raised some questions on the quality of the Triumph... but I must say that the Triumph has probably been the most fun out of any phone I have ever owned. The development was insanely good! Fantastic roms, mods, etc from brilliant people here in the forums made that phone a "journey" I think I'll always look back on the Triumph fondly because of that. The wonderful people here made me happy to have ever owned one. It was also a learning experience. The Triumph was ridiculously hard to brick, and I don't think I ever have or ever will have modded out a phone so much in my life!

So yeah.. call me crazy, but I loved that phone and every now and then I wish I still had one

TheBritton said:

Yes, I remember when I had my Triumph.. seeing in the forums almost every other day that they had sent their phone back to VM for a replacement phone. One guy boasted that he had received a replacement phone five times! Of course, the phone did have some issues and the fact that it needed to be returned five times raised some questions on the quality of the Triumph... but I must say that the Triumph has probably been the most fun out of any phone I have ever owned. The development was insanely good! Fantastic roms, mods, etc from brilliant people here in the forums made that phone a "journey" I think I'll always look back on the Triumph fondly because of that. The wonderful people here made me happy to have ever owned one. It was also a learning experience. The Triumph was ridiculously hard to brick, and I don't think I ever have or ever will have modded out a phone so much in my life!

So yeah.. call me crazy, but I loved that phone and every now and then I wish I still had one

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I definitely wouldn't know as much about rooting/ROMing as I do now if it hadn't been for the MT- and I certainly liked my phone bill more.

I'm glad to have owned mine.