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Get your Captivate replaced for free, solve all your problems!
- Thread starter JNKS
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- samsung captivate
How did you find his email cause I am having the same problem?
If I were to have to restore a fresh phone, I'd definitely use the paid version of tibu. Nothing like it.
On another note: if they send a refurbished unit, do they want the "bad" device sent back?
The Shape
Well-Known Member
Yes.
I had to send them the phone first (went out yesterday), but they take care of shipping costs. So, yeah, I'm Jones'n for my phone's'n.
Almost all information is available online. Make Google your friend. If you have a question, Google it. There are specific methods and key words to use when doing searches on Google. You can Google those methods as well,
.I'm not going to share his email address here, because flooding his inbox with complaints will defeat the purpose of him ever offering help in the future. Once you do get his email address (because it is available) you need to format the email and conduct your attitude all in a highly professional manner. After all, you're contacting the CEO and asking for a new phone.
It probably helped a lot that I was on a corporate account, and used my work email address along with some name dropping. I doubt he would offer the same treatment to your average Joe writing him with and email address of smokingpot4life@hotmail.
Cheers.
SuFuCru
Member
Laying in my bed right now (indoors obviously, lol) after using the GPS Aids fix.
If I was comfortable with my abilities, I would try the PlumbBob fix, but hopefully the GPS Aids fix will work for good. I tested it out on a drive home earlier and had a constant lock of 5 meters all the way home.
If I was comfortable with my abilities, I would try the PlumbBob fix, but hopefully the GPS Aids fix will work for good. I tested it out on a drive home earlier and had a constant lock of 5 meters all the way home.
I keep seeing this in the forums. WHY do custom ROMs "fix" the GPS?
I have gotten 2 refurbished phones through the warranty program. First one was as bad as the second one. I decided to try one more time so about 2 weeks ago I went in and exchanged one more time. GPS is nearly flawless on this phone (that was the problem with the first 2). The only problem is when I am at home for a while on wifi, I need to either get out of my wifi range or turn off the wifi to get an initial lock. It consistently locks in under 10 seconds and has a good accuracy (<20 feet). Only problems with the third phone is the battery life is HORRIBLE now. I called ATT last night and they are sending me a new battery and charger to see if that will fix it. I have also had some occasional problems where the music player says it does not support the audio format (I have all mp3's) and last night my video camera wouldn't work. A restart has fixed those problems. Hope this helps!
My first captivate had the shutdown bug and I got it replaced with a brand new phone through Amazon Wireless. 2 months later after the Froyo update my 2nd captivate got the shut down bug so I got a refurb.
The refurb looked as good as new, unfortunately it has a build date 3 months earlier than the phone I sent in, and the GPS is crappy (long time until initial lock, inaccurate position fix and puts me on the wrong street while driving).
I want a different phone, having 3 phones that have issues is pretty pathetic and I have no faith that further refurbs will be satisfactory.
Big Pope Daddy
Newbie
I had my first cappy since October. Loved the phone, no lag issues, GPS was fine (used GPSrestore and it was good after that) and when I went to FROYO, it got even better overall. But, I had the shut down issues all that time as well. Lived with CKA app all the way thru. So, I finally went refurb exchange, and I tell you what, I like what my new cappy does.
GPS is fine, lag is fine, came with FROYO, but I have had no shut downs. Oddly enough, the IMEI number is lower than the one I had, and it was in the "bad" range listed before.
I had received a new battery prior, to attempt to stop the shut downs, so now I have a new battery and a new phone...what a difference.
Before, with moderate use, I would be lucky to make it 12 hours without having to charge. If I used it a lot, 4-6 hours tops. Even if I did not use it, leaving it not plugged in overnight was not optional at all. It would either be dead or die soon after I woke up.
I put in the fully charged, new battery last night (13.5 hours ago) and I have not plugged it in. I am at 73% battery life right now. I have NEVER gotten more than 18 hours without the battery being completely dead.
So, if you are considering exchanging it for a refurb, my experience has been good. ATT was quick on getting me the battery, and since that did not work, they overnighted the phone to me. Did not expect that at all.
Does not mean everyone will get the same outcome, but I am happy I stuck it out with this phone...great phone when it is working right. And I appear to have one that works at this point.
GPS is fine, lag is fine, came with FROYO, but I have had no shut downs. Oddly enough, the IMEI number is lower than the one I had, and it was in the "bad" range listed before.
I had received a new battery prior, to attempt to stop the shut downs, so now I have a new battery and a new phone...what a difference.
Before, with moderate use, I would be lucky to make it 12 hours without having to charge. If I used it a lot, 4-6 hours tops. Even if I did not use it, leaving it not plugged in overnight was not optional at all. It would either be dead or die soon after I woke up.
I put in the fully charged, new battery last night (13.5 hours ago) and I have not plugged it in. I am at 73% battery life right now. I have NEVER gotten more than 18 hours without the battery being completely dead.
So, if you are considering exchanging it for a refurb, my experience has been good. ATT was quick on getting me the battery, and since that did not work, they overnighted the phone to me. Did not expect that at all.
Does not mean everyone will get the same outcome, but I am happy I stuck it out with this phone...great phone when it is working right. And I appear to have one that works at this point.
gcobb
Android Enthusiast
I'm happy for you. I put my Captivate next to the new Inspire and there was nothing the HTC did any faster than what I have, including getting a GPS lock. Good luck with it.
gcobb
Android Enthusiast
If I sleep 8 hours my phone will use less than 20% battery power. On the average day with GPS and BT off I can have 40% or so left at bed time. It's all in how you have your phone set to function.
One thing I did was buy tasker. I have background sync set to turn on once an hour for 4 minutes then turn off. That helped a lot. Most things I see with battery usage is relative to how the end user uses their phone.
I purchased my Captivate on August 10th. It was an early build with the infrequent power-off problem. After 6+ months of use it also had a screen with the "Battery Fully Charged" message burned-in and a GPS that was very poor - only able to get a lock on very clear days. 
So I went into my local AT&T Premier store where I have purchased several phones and contracts, showed them the AT&T memo about the power-down problem, and the store associate called AT&T service. They QUICKLY offered a re-furb replacement. I was concerned about getting someone elses problem phone, but, I agreed to the re-furb. I figured if it was garbage I'd just send it back to them, I had nothing to lose.
A week later the re-furb arrives. Cosmetically perfect. Recent build date. Froyo already installed. GPS locks instantly and is spot-on while driving, with great accuracy. Phone has no lag whatsoever. Took about 5 hours to re-install all my apps (free apps aren't saved in the "my apps" section in the marketplace), wallpapers, widgets, etc.
Bottom line - I FINALLY got the phone I expected to get at time of purchase. The Captivate is a great phone WHEN it's working properly. AT&T Service didn't hassle me about a replacement - very courteous and called me this morning to make sure the replacement was OK and that I had no problems.
At the moment I'm a happy camper . . . if the replacement continues to work properly I'll remain happy.
So I went into my local AT&T Premier store where I have purchased several phones and contracts, showed them the AT&T memo about the power-down problem, and the store associate called AT&T service. They QUICKLY offered a re-furb replacement. I was concerned about getting someone elses problem phone, but, I agreed to the re-furb. I figured if it was garbage I'd just send it back to them, I had nothing to lose.
A week later the re-furb arrives. Cosmetically perfect. Recent build date. Froyo already installed. GPS locks instantly and is spot-on while driving, with great accuracy. Phone has no lag whatsoever. Took about 5 hours to re-install all my apps (free apps aren't saved in the "my apps" section in the marketplace), wallpapers, widgets, etc.
Bottom line - I FINALLY got the phone I expected to get at time of purchase. The Captivate is a great phone WHEN it's working properly. AT&T Service didn't hassle me about a replacement - very courteous and called me this morning to make sure the replacement was OK and that I had no problems.
At the moment I'm a happy camper . . . if the replacement continues to work properly I'll remain happy.
barbj
Newbie
well i got my cap nov 2010
went to upgrade to froyo
phone bricked //black screen etc
brought it to att guy knew nothing
sent me to att recovery ctr ..got a refurb but they
did in inform me it was a refurb..
anyway phone is terrible
wont save my group contacts
constantly freezes...so another 2 days of
talking to att drones....they said another refurb...
i am going to fight for a new phone..have been with att 17 yrs..not that that matters
any tips to getting a new phone again..this rubs my last nerve...too much time spent hassling over a phone....thanks
went to upgrade to froyo
phone bricked //black screen etc
brought it to att guy knew nothing
sent me to att recovery ctr ..got a refurb but they
did in inform me it was a refurb..
anyway phone is terrible
wont save my group contacts
constantly freezes...so another 2 days of
talking to att drones....they said another refurb...
i am going to fight for a new phone..have been with att 17 yrs..not that that matters
any tips to getting a new phone again..this rubs my last nerve...too much time spent hassling over a phone....thanks
I think what you get as a replacement phone is based on what stock AT&T has of actual refurbished phones at any given time. I was told the phone I was going to get was refurbished, but I believe it was actually a new phone. It has the same build code as new phones currently being sold at my AT&T store. I examined the phone very carefully inside and out - for instance, the battery contacts had no scuff marks at all, so I don't think it had ever seen a battery before. Froyo was installed. Interior screw heads were unmarked.
Economically, it is probably cheaper for AT&T to ship a new phone than it is to have a technician replace the display (a must to eliminate even minute scratches), install froyo, repair or replace the components that cause the random shutdown problem, clean the interior of dust (especially the speaker area), re-apply the dissasembly detection sticker(s) etc.
I worked for a major (a VERY major) digital camera manufacturer and returned cameras were automatically tossed into large dumpsters and sent to be crushed without ever being examined, including the $500+ higher end models. Only the batteries were removed for special recycling. It was cheaper to provide a new camera than attempt repair of the returned one. A major cost of production of these types of products is the "pack-out" process, which is the final assembly (install battery, battery door) and placing components like earphones, paperwork, etc. in the pretty retail packaging (box). Pack-out is normally done in the United States near the corporate distribution centers for US phones, not at the manufacturing location which is why it is an expensive part of the overall product cost.
When AT&T ships what they are calling refurbed units the pack-out is not necessary. The bare phone (no battery or battery cover) just as it arrives from manufacture in Korea by the hundreds in plastic trays is sent to the customer without any retail packaging.
Some replacement phones are probably true refurbs - store demo units, units used in associate training, promotional & press units and things like that. But I'd suggest that MOST of the so called refurbs are actually new phones, bare, as received directly from production in Korea.
Aatos.1
Android Enthusiast
You may have something personal against AT&T but spreading lies lowers _your_ credibility.
If you go to the Samsung Site and "Register Your Product" (small type near bottom of page), when you fill in the IMEI number (which is located on the white label under your battery), the date of manufacture pops up underneath the IMEI number you inputted.
The 4 digit number located under the serial number is "block build" (Samsung may actually call it something different), which is an identifier for determining a range of production, the characteristics of a build, product revisions, production dates and stuff like that.
The first block builds were 1007. The phone I was just sent is 1102, and it was manufactured on March 2, 2011.
Hope this helps.
barbj
Newbie
thanks i registered the first cap...but the refurb i never registered
no box..
i am more then likely returning this refurb keeps deleting my groups..
but when i get my next one i willl have the att guy write the imei # so will reregister ..i hope my next one is better ..i'm alittle worn out from all this
You don't need the retail box for the imei # - it's shown under the battery, although the type is very small.
Big Pope Daddy
Newbie
You can also dial *#06# and get it too.