Speeding Wheels
Senior Member
If you dont like long posts stop reading now. This will be a loooong one.
I got my DroidX back in February at Costco. My account wasnt due for an upgrade until August, but 2 weeks before the iPhone got released on VZW my account mysteriously showed an early upgrade so I took advantage of it. I wanted the larger screen, more RAM and overall better device.
From that day forward I was extremely happy with the device. It did everything I needed and wanted and I was just running it stock. I didnt find a need to root it like I did my D1 because it just ran very well as it was.
Fast forward to June 1st. The Gingerbread update comes out for DX and we're all VERY excited. I did a manual check right around midnight and found it was available for download and I ran the update. Almost immediately I found myself in a cycle of random reboots and losing ALL connectivity (data and voice). The 3G icon would disappear without any notification and the device was basically non-functional.
This went on for a week before I called *611 and did some troubleshooting steps including a Master Reset and still, the device just wasnt responding well at all to the software update so VZW sent me out my first CLNR DX.
Shortly after receiving the first DX refurb it started to go through the exact same cycling.. random reboots, loss of connectivity etc. So VZW sent out CLNR #2... this one also rebooted randomly and lost connectivity but had the added bonus of a misaligned screen. Onto CLNR #3....
Now I thought I had a winner. #3 went about a week with ZERO issues at all. Everything was awesome with this phone.... that is until I went to use a torch app (TeslaLED) and the flash wouldnt stay on solid.. it strobed. UGH!!!
I tested the flash with the stock camera app, MotoTorch etc and they all came with the same result.. bad flash. *sighs*
VZW then sent me out CLNR #4 (my current phone). Also pristine looking. Calls are fine and the device doesent reboot but this one has a broken GPS radio. No matter where I am the GPS thinks I'm roughly 1/4 mile away and wont track me.. if I go into navigation the message "Searching for GPS Satellite" stays on constantly and the map might show me in a lake or in the middle of an apartment building. No good!!!
By this time I'm extremely frustrated so I call VZW again only to be told they can send me out another refurb to which I say "how many non 'like new' devices do I have to go through before I escape this nightmare of refurbs?" After being transferred to a manager and rehashing all of the issues again he finally agrees to authorize an "upgrade exception". I can get any device I want, but I have to pay for it and extend the contract 2 years. Knowing the Bionic is only 2 weeks down the road I happily accepted his offer but with the caveat that I need time to look at what phones are available and will call back when I've made my decision. - no problem.
After all this I was certain that when I finally was going to be able to place an order something would go wrong. I was convinced that either the manager didnt put proper notes on my account or that somehow VZW would say no to the Bionic since it's brand new...
Now we get to yesterday. I called VZW early in the morning to see if I could get an early order in but no luck. The rep I spoke with that time either wasnt interested or he was new and not familiar with policies. I hung up with him accepting what he said at face value, but it left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
Later in the day I decided to call a local corp store and got a really nice gentleman on the line who looked at my acct and told me that even though he could see the notes of the exception, unless CS changed the date there was no way I could walk out of the store with the phone. UGH!!! I *knew* something would go wrong!!!
Another call to *611... this time though I get a really sharp sounding rep. She seemed like she knew about everything I was talking about right off the bat. No "let me put you on hold and look into this" or anything of that nature. I told her what was up, she read the notes and we moved forward very fast. Only problem was there was no way for her to place the order yesterday. She did however promise to call me first thing this morning when she got into the office.
And guess what, she did!!
10 minutes later my Bionic is ordered and will hopefully be delivered tomorrow by 3pm.
Now somebody asked me a week ago or so "why would you buy another Motorola after all this?"
The answer is quite simple really. I'm a Moto fan and although all the CLNR DX's I got were duds, I have a ton of faith in their devices in general. Especially when it comes to Android. I dont think Motorola is at fault for VZW signing off on a software upgrade that caused issues. Plus, once again Motorola releases a device which right now is the best device on ANY carrier.
Just thought I'd share my little story. Sometimes perseverance pays off.
Now lets see how many TL DR's this thread will rack up
I got my DroidX back in February at Costco. My account wasnt due for an upgrade until August, but 2 weeks before the iPhone got released on VZW my account mysteriously showed an early upgrade so I took advantage of it. I wanted the larger screen, more RAM and overall better device.
From that day forward I was extremely happy with the device. It did everything I needed and wanted and I was just running it stock. I didnt find a need to root it like I did my D1 because it just ran very well as it was.
Fast forward to June 1st. The Gingerbread update comes out for DX and we're all VERY excited. I did a manual check right around midnight and found it was available for download and I ran the update. Almost immediately I found myself in a cycle of random reboots and losing ALL connectivity (data and voice). The 3G icon would disappear without any notification and the device was basically non-functional.
This went on for a week before I called *611 and did some troubleshooting steps including a Master Reset and still, the device just wasnt responding well at all to the software update so VZW sent me out my first CLNR DX.
Shortly after receiving the first DX refurb it started to go through the exact same cycling.. random reboots, loss of connectivity etc. So VZW sent out CLNR #2... this one also rebooted randomly and lost connectivity but had the added bonus of a misaligned screen. Onto CLNR #3....
Now I thought I had a winner. #3 went about a week with ZERO issues at all. Everything was awesome with this phone.... that is until I went to use a torch app (TeslaLED) and the flash wouldnt stay on solid.. it strobed. UGH!!!
I tested the flash with the stock camera app, MotoTorch etc and they all came with the same result.. bad flash. *sighs*
VZW then sent me out CLNR #4 (my current phone). Also pristine looking. Calls are fine and the device doesent reboot but this one has a broken GPS radio. No matter where I am the GPS thinks I'm roughly 1/4 mile away and wont track me.. if I go into navigation the message "Searching for GPS Satellite" stays on constantly and the map might show me in a lake or in the middle of an apartment building. No good!!!
By this time I'm extremely frustrated so I call VZW again only to be told they can send me out another refurb to which I say "how many non 'like new' devices do I have to go through before I escape this nightmare of refurbs?" After being transferred to a manager and rehashing all of the issues again he finally agrees to authorize an "upgrade exception". I can get any device I want, but I have to pay for it and extend the contract 2 years. Knowing the Bionic is only 2 weeks down the road I happily accepted his offer but with the caveat that I need time to look at what phones are available and will call back when I've made my decision. - no problem.
After all this I was certain that when I finally was going to be able to place an order something would go wrong. I was convinced that either the manager didnt put proper notes on my account or that somehow VZW would say no to the Bionic since it's brand new...
Now we get to yesterday. I called VZW early in the morning to see if I could get an early order in but no luck. The rep I spoke with that time either wasnt interested or he was new and not familiar with policies. I hung up with him accepting what he said at face value, but it left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
Later in the day I decided to call a local corp store and got a really nice gentleman on the line who looked at my acct and told me that even though he could see the notes of the exception, unless CS changed the date there was no way I could walk out of the store with the phone. UGH!!! I *knew* something would go wrong!!!
Another call to *611... this time though I get a really sharp sounding rep. She seemed like she knew about everything I was talking about right off the bat. No "let me put you on hold and look into this" or anything of that nature. I told her what was up, she read the notes and we moved forward very fast. Only problem was there was no way for her to place the order yesterday. She did however promise to call me first thing this morning when she got into the office.
And guess what, she did!!
10 minutes later my Bionic is ordered and will hopefully be delivered tomorrow by 3pm.
Now somebody asked me a week ago or so "why would you buy another Motorola after all this?"
The answer is quite simple really. I'm a Moto fan and although all the CLNR DX's I got were duds, I have a ton of faith in their devices in general. Especially when it comes to Android. I dont think Motorola is at fault for VZW signing off on a software upgrade that caused issues. Plus, once again Motorola releases a device which right now is the best device on ANY carrier.
Just thought I'd share my little story. Sometimes perseverance pays off.
Now lets see how many TL DR's this thread will rack up
