Droid OS Causes Misdialed International Calls (Verizon Wireless)

[ram1728]

Can anyone help? I am trying to get a fix for an Android OS bug and it seems Google doesn't care. The BUG (not a feature, not a well thought out design) creates a problem if you put any text for a notation after a phone number in the contact list. The problem is that the Droid dials a 011 in front of the number if their is text after the 10 digit phone number. This 011 does not show on the display; it just does it in the background. (FYI Assisted dialing is turned off, current country is USA, reference country is USA). This Android problem happens even though the number in the contact list shows the area code and local city/state.

For example "(760)555-1212 mikes cel" in Oceanside CA dials Russia. This is a Major design flaw!

I spent a very frustrating hour on the phone yesterday with Verizon Wireless customer service with absolutely no resolution other then to go through over 4000 phone numbers in my database and manually remove text after each one and thus lose the info in my notations. The Verizon Wireless rep told me this is just how the Android OS is designed and it just doesn't do what I expect it to do. And that I should be ok with this.

Well ... Every (and I mean every) other phone including office systems, cell phones, smart phones, home phones do not work this way and never have. With all other phones, if your contact phone number has more then 10 digits the extra digits are just dialed or ignored (typically this is not a problem, the Droid OS converts the text to numbers which I'm fine with). However, I do have a problem with the Android OS changing local calls to misplaced international calls. Maybe when Verizon has to start refunding international charges they will address this problem.

The Verizon Wireless service rep's reasoning is similar to this: if I buy a car and turn the wheel left and the car goes right then this is ok, as long as it was designed that way. NOT OK! Please help. Google does not seem to listen to users, and the only hope of getting this Android bug fixed is if the carriers tell Google this is making it's users "displeased" with the Android OS. Once a bad reputation is out there it is extremely difficult to overcome.

What will it take to get Verizon (or anyone) to convince Google that this is a problem and a bug; and not just spout out lame excuses.

I hope someone can help. This is not an isolated problem because it is easy to find on different Droid forums and easy to replicate. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Why do you need to have "mikes cel" in the phone number? Doesn't naming the contact Mike HuffInPuff and entering his cell number under mobile in the contact information allow you to call his cell?

 

[FranklinWalker]

yeah, no "mikes cel" in the no.

 

[littlerick]

why put the name of the person in with the number? i dont think this is the droid's os fault since you put in extra numbers (or letters). if you leave it just as the number and put the name where the name goes you shouldnt have any problem

 

[ram1728]

This problem that the Android OS misdials to international numbers is a BUG that needs to be addressed. Can anybody actually address the question and not just sidestep it like Verizon and Google?

All of these answers simply try to justify a bad Android OS design. No other phones work this way. That includes residential lines, business lines, Palm devices, Windows Mobile devices, Symbian devices, etc. Why is Android the only OS that surreptitiously in the background adds a 011 and so makes misdialed international calls when trying to dial locally?

By the way, to answer your question, when you have 4000 plus phone numbers there are many times when you want to make a short notation after the number to keep track of which number you may want to use next time you retrieve it. Maybe mike has a work cel and a private cel and and out of state cell. Then a short notation keeps track of this, like work cell, private cel, and out of state cell. It seems ridiculous to justify a bad design by saying "you shouldn't want to do that". Come on, get serious.

 

[littlerick]

so its a bug because you put in extra digits? i'm not following sorry. you can add different numbers to the same name, work, cell, home, etc

 

[mwhartman]

Your post is the first one that I have read regarding this particular issue. I do not think members are trying to "sidestep" this issue. If you truly believe that the OS has a bug my sense is the folks who developed the OS need to address not the members of this forum.

Just my opinion!

Have you tried entering a special character (* - # % etc) between the number and Mike?

 

[ram1728]

Littlerick, no it's a bug because no other phones operate this way and other phones have not in the past. Additionally, it has no benefit to operating this way. This only creates problems for endusers and has no benefit. And seems odd that it doesn't show the 011 when dialing.

 

[ram1728]

mwhartman, Thank you for your help and well considered answer. I agree with you completely that Google needs to address this type of issue, however as long as nobody complains it's not going to get fixed. I don't know of any other way to reach Google except forums like this. The corporate line that is being towed by the earlier responses sure appear to be trying to "bury" this problem. I apologize if I have offended anyone; this was not my intention.

I really would like to see this problem / bug escalated to Google, but I cannot do that by myself. The problem needs to be discussed in forums like this and not hidden by saying "why would you do that". I'm sure if this is discussed others will start replying with the same issue.

Another example for why you might want this bug fixed is discussed in one of the links below. This would be if you need to have digits / pauses in there for calling cards. That's a very reasonable use.

This is only one forum and is the Verizon and Motorola Droid forum only. There is much more out there. For example from a very simple online search I found these descriptions of an added 011 and misdialing international calls right away:

• Weird issue with 011 prefix added to contact created in gmail
• Dialing "011" in front of some contacts? - Android Forums
• [Q] How to stop Dinc from dialing international prefixes? - xda-developers
• Incredible adds "011" to calls made to certain area codes. - DROID INCREDIBLE by HTC (Verizon) - Android Forums - HTC Community
• When calling , i Get the message "I'm sorry, your call can not be completed as dialed - PDAPhoneHome.com

I'm sure with a thorough search you could find much more. I suspect you will be hearing more about this problem.

Again, thank you. I really do appreciate the feedback and forum to put this issue out there.

 

[mwhartman]

I understand your frustration. I agree that reaching the folks at Google is not an easy task. I wish I could offer a better solution to this problem.

Mike

 

[mewshi]

Not trying to be rude, but why the heck do you need letters in a telephone number?

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[ram1728]

That's explained quite clearly in the thread.

Not trying to be rude, but why the heck do you need letters in a telephone number?

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[furbearingmammal]

4000 numbers is a lot. However, I have to ask if you A) call all these numbers, B) have tried a 3rd party contact app, and C) have considered changing the name of the contact rather than putting it all under the same contact.

I'm not denying that in your case the design of the Android OS is causing an issue. What I'm asking is if you are willing to play within the limitations imposed by the OS itself.

 

[ram1728]

To answer your questions:
A) call all these numbers - not on a regular basis, but will over the next couple years, so yes I need them, I am in sales
B) have tried a 3rd party contact app - Yes, using CompanionLink / DejaOffice, but I don't see any connection with this solving the issue, as far as I can see it does not solve the problem
C) have considered changing the name of the contact rather than putting it all under the same contact - Yes, but again that's a massive amount of time and work to change and it makes it difficult to use in the future (multiple entries for one contact with contact notes)

Lastly, yes I see no choice other than "play within the limitations imposed by the OS itself" or return the phone. I really like the Droid X, but this is a major design flaw / bug / problem. I cannot believe how resistant people are to pointing out an Android bug and how eager to make excuses for this bug.

 

[mewshi]

I am completely missing the reasoning behind the letters after the number...

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