Non T-Mobile® Phones

[djm1834]

I was really surprised by the number of replies to my initial posting in mid September.  What it has shown me is that my problem certainly was not unique.  Six weeks ago I opened a Trouble Ticket with T-Mobile, and although I was called once by an engineer who was working the problem, the problem was never resolved.  Today I switched my service to At&T.  Even though I may have to pay a penalty, it will be worth it to have a phone that works.  I sent a letter to T-Mobile last week telling them that I was going to change and why.  I doubt that I will ever hear from them, but if they do contact me I will enjoy the opportunity to talk with them.

I plan to keep monitoring this thread to see if anyone ever gets an acceptable response from T-Mobile.

David

[MitzyG]

Now that the new rate plans are out and I see that there are no additional "goodies", I decided that I wanted a working phone again.   I tried to go to the TMobile store to get a Touch Pro 2 and got TONS of runaround.  Effectively, the choice was to pay $549 and have the same monthly bill or I could pay $349 and pay $20 more per month.  I felt that neither was a good deal, under the circumstances (oh...I should mention that they said they'd waive the $18.95 upgrade fee...becaused I asked).  I left huffy.    I went home and called 611 and got a very cooperative guy.  I told him the saga...no working phone for 2 mos, really don't want to leave our 12 year relationship but may have to because they messed up the network and my phone doesn't work.   I said "Dude, let's make a deal".    Well...to avoid getting deleted, I won't tell you the deal.   Let's say it was a VERY favorable deal.   So much so that the TMobile store was in shock and the next 611 agent I spoke to was in shock.   It was so low that the store refused to honor it (despite being a corporate owned store, not an authorized dealer).   I renegotiated with the second 611 lady and got free expedited shipping added to the deal, since the first agent said that I could get his FAB deal at the store and could take my phone home immediately.

So...if you don't want to switch, call 611, threaten to move to ATT.  Mention the thread.   You'll get a GREAT deal on a new phone.   My fab phone arrives tomorrow, thanks to expedited shipping.   Just in time to get loaded up with some fancy new games and apps.

As much as I liked Palm for the last 6 years that I've had Palm devices, I'm feeling a bit abandoned.   The phone is only 1.5 years old but is already erased from Palm's memory.   Since they don't support Palm OS anymore, I doubt there will be new apps written for it.  I'm excited about the new apps I can get for my new phone...like being able to watch my TV on DVDs converted to my device!!! 

I just hope TMobile will offer the Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade - don't let me down!!!

[beach1florida]

MitzyG - After a few days with your Touch Pro2, please come back and tell us whether you like it or not.  I have been using mine for about 2 weeks now and I have to say I really don't love it.  It is clunky and heavy.  It makes this weird click when you use the touch screen and when calls are placed; I've had some trouble setting up my outgoing email and haven't taken the time yet to personalize things, like apps and stuff.  The "touch" part of the screen, the sliding with your finger takes some gettting used to - sometimes my contacts will just fly way past the one i need and then when I stop it it opens up one that I don't need.  It is very sensitive and on more than one occasion has made calls that I didn't know about and other people heard me talking - NOT good!  Have to remember to lock the phone after each call.   I will say, it was a smooth sync with Outlook and that was a plus for me having my contacts and calendar together with my phone.  I can't get over how smoothly my PalmTreo 680 handles the same things that the Touch Pro2 needs 4 levels to get to.  Oh, and I will say, on a few calls every few days, someone on the other end will say, "Are you there?  oh, it sounded like you faded out for a minute!!!"  So, there you go.  Not a raving review.  I miss my Treo and still keep it charged just in case someone here reports a miracle and the stars are aligned again!  And, do tell ....what was your deal-too-good-to pass up!!! Inquiring minds here want to know!!!

[dcdcss]

We have had "between my family and a friend" 9 different treo 650, 680 and centros. We have had this problem for the last 8 months with more and more areas as they upgrade their system. Really hate to lose our Palm OS. Have tried a BB Curve and Pearl and hate them, I bought a Treo 750 with windows 6.0 pro and have had no problems with cutting out, just learning new system that I really don't want. We also get the same line when calling tmobile.

[gregorys]

Update:

A new idea occurred to me in the last day or two, but alas it doesn't pan out.

I wanted to disable DTX on the *handset* - which would fix the problem.

Unfortunately in talking with Palm, it would be quite involved, and would neuter the phone on other networks.

Sadly, it seemed like such a great idea. Fix my problem, cause TMo some grief and motivate them to fix it right.

I have one final item outstanding - my contact inside TMo hasn't yet come back with an answer about a revision to the base-station software that would fix the problem - so I'll give that a few final days before I give up completely.

---

On a final note: I *really*, *really* dislike WinMo on the Treo Pro. And the keyboard is quite terrible compared to the 680, IMO. [I'd guess the keyboard on the pixie will be bad too, since it looks identical.]

I'd guess we're not that far away from having some Palm WebOS GSM  device available - I keep hoping I can hold out that long. (Then again, I'm not willing to pay $700 for a imported Pre either, it will have to be reasonable...)

D.a.n.g.

What a mess.

-Greg

Message Edited by gregorys on 10-30-2009 01:50 PM

[dessa]

It is VERY painful, but we are limping along for now.  As I mentioned before, every conversation has a short explaination about how I can hear, sorry about the loss of sound on your side and it is a problem T-Mobile introduced with their 4G rollout that occurs on only certain phones, of which mine is one.

Three of the four phones in our family plan will out of contract in December (the fourth not until May, sigh).  [And don't get me started on why two of those are on 2-year contracts anyway since we don't even have their phones!]

I am preparing to make the move to WebOS or Android by both:

- lusting after the new phones and playing with some current ones (that's the fun part

- and by getting syncing from Palm Desktop to Goggle working with Intellisync. 

Pretty painless so far, but we're only pushing and not synching yet. 

We need to "synchronize" our Calendar catagories and what goes in each category between us before we start the 2-way sync with cross-family-member-calendar write.

I'm going to talk to them soon to see if I can at least change to one of the new Even More Plus plans to save a few bucks a month, even if I have to keep my contract restrictions in place.

[dcdcss]

Spent and hour on phone with Tmobile last night. She reset our connections to network, so far today no problems, but am doutful this will last. She says that the tickets that we have opened won't even be looked at by tech support til the problem repeats on a Tmobile branded phone, so sounds like they aren't even going to try to help us.Will post how long the "reset" last. (she kicked phone off network and had us pull battery to do the reset)

[MitzyG]

Hey Beach!  I hope you saw my private message - I shared with you the details of the "special" deal I got. 

In any case, you asked for my opinion of the Touch Pro 2.   It became quite long and has a goofy video and photos.  So I put it on my website.  Feel free to visit.  The video is my first so that's why it does seem to have some funny delay, but if you'll be patient, it will work.     

The summary version is that there are things that I don't like and cannot be changed - for example, lack of 3.5mm plug, lack of slider to silence the phone without having to goof around on the screen.   However, some of the "software" issues are actually fixable, I think.   I'll admit that I spent lots of money doing these "fixes" (there are coupons on Handango...never pay full price!).  However, my goal was to be happy with my phone and I think I'm about 85% of the way there.

I wrote on my website how to get rid of that vibration with every press (I think that's what you mentioned not liking).  At first, I thought "what's that???".  But now I sort of enjoy it.   It does that funny thing when I play my new puzzle game too and the puzzle pieces match.     My new PocketClock will lock my phone for me after x many minutes, like my Palm did.  No more remembering.  You know...I just think that I'm in charge and the device is here to service me.  I'm not here to service it!

So...If you're intend on keeping the phone, try a few of my hints, maybe you'll be happier???  Let me know how it goes.   Oh...and so far, when I talk on the phone I can hear folks and they can hear me!!!!!   

One other funny story...the day before my new phone arrived, a salesman called on my Palm.   We talked awhile and I thought "Gee, we're having a nice conversation, even on my 'broken phone'"  All of a sudden, my home phone rings and it's my friend who I haven't spoken to in weeks.   So I tell the guy "Hang on...got to get the other phone".  He keeps talking.   I said "Sorry gotta go".  He keeps talking like I'm not even talking (meanwhile my home phone is ringing LOUDLY).   Suddenly, I realize, he can't hear me!!!   At that point, I figure, I can't tell him that I'm real sorry but I need to talk to my friend.  So I had to hang up.   I realized that my phone was still indeed broken and I was happy that my new phone was on its way. 

PS...had to call 611 to look for my "rebate" since I was told that some of my "discount" was in the form of a mail in Rebate and the website wouldn't work.   This guy read my saga in the notes and said that I got a deal that even he couldn't get.    I'm still proud of my negotiation skills...

[dbzman]

Hello all:

In response to dcdcss's post I just tried the same this morning (11/1)

We have three unlocked Palm phones in our household.  My wife and daughter have unlocked Centros that were both purchased (via ConpUSA) in the last 60 days.  I have an unlocked 680 I purchased from Palm about 4 years ago.

We live in Central Florida (Orlando Area) and are experiencing the problem.  It is worse with the Centros.,The problem with the 680 has been more recent.

This morning I tired the suggestion that dcdcss made. I called T-Mobile and asked them reset the phones registration on the network.  The person in "PDA/Smartphone" tech support unregistered my the 680 (SIM) from the network, then reregistered it.  This was all done while my phone had the battery removed.

This reregistration whent without a hitch, so we tired it on my wife's Centro.  The person called me back on each phone and as I was talking to him, the Centro dropped my voice.  He did not here one of my many responses.  So it seems that did not work with the Centro.

He will call us later today, and see if any progress was made.  He advised me of two things.

1. Get a new SIM card. he did not guarantee this would fix the problem, but said it was with the try.

2. Cycle the phone power daily.  Don't just turn off the radio section but literally pull the battery out.

I am skeptical that any of the two suggestions above will work.

I must thank you all for your information and efforts.  A special thanks to adanzinger and gregorys for the probing questions and extra effort.  I will go through the steps above, and give T-mobile until the end of December to fix this problem.  If there are no results, I will switch to AT&T.

For the record, If I was a decision maker at T-mobile, and I was not getting the new Pre from PALM, this is what I would do:

I would rather offer deep discounts on new phones and have them sign up for new contracts to people with these problems.  In this economy revenue generation is everything and the few of us they loose may not make a dent in the bottom line. 

On the other hand, who is to say that if I switch to AT&T, the problem will go away.  If AT&T upgrades the system, can't this issue return? It may help that AT&T still has some relationship with PALM.

Good luck to all of you with this. 

Regards,

dbzman

[dcdcss]

The reset that tmobile did on our centros lasted less that a full day, hope they fix this soon.

[dbzman]

Hi dcdcss.. I hope they fix it soon too. But the fact that it worked for even part of a day, may mean something. I'm now thinking that a new SIM, and a reset may be worth the try. I wil deal with that tomorrow. Thanks!

[dbzman]

Hello again all. 

Just tried the new SIM and and network re-registration.  Did not work!

We need to think about our options.  How frustrating, I just bought the two Centros too. 

Can you say AT&T.

Thanks,

[dcdcss]

Starting to think it maybe worth a little more money a month to switch to AT&T and keep our Treo and Centros.

[djkieras]

This thread is getting long enough that you guys are trying things that were tried already.

I can't really blame T-Mobile, although I'd like to.  Palm basically sold these phones new until a month or so ago, and then suddenly announced they had no plans to provide updates because the phones were End Of Life.  This could happen to AT&T tomorrow for all we know.

Since these phones are not gonna last forever, and their numbers are diminishing, and no longer are supported by the manufacturer, it makes financial sense for T-Mobile to request that you upgrade.  (If you complain they'll give you upgrade pricing.)

So my beef is with Palm on this issue.  They went to Sprint and abandoned their existing hard-core GSM customers (some of whom are represented on this thread).

[dbzman]

Hi djkieras

Your point is well taken.  There is enough blame to go around.

However, the Centro and other "recently discontinued" devices are sold in Europe and other markets directly by Palm.  In some cases I found 680s.  My guess is, until they have a GSM Pixie and intro  it to these markets, it will be current product there.

With as large as GSM is some other network somewhere will have this problem pop up.

Thanks!

dbzman

[dbzman]

Hello all:

How was you service today? 

All three phones (our two Centros and 680) worked without any major drop outs.  The one crop out we had on my wife's may not have been attributed to the problem we have been discussing.  If you look a few post above we only updated the SIM ion her phone.

Now (about 9pm eastern, here in Central Florida) we are experiencing service issues that are voice and data related..Funny wonder if they are working on something specific.  Does anybody know anything?  Is it the same issues in other parts of the country?

Well, we will see how things are tomorrow.

dbzman

[gregorys]

Portland OR market.

Drops still happening here, though by chance, I think, they were not too bad today.

Still no word on the TMo front. I'll give it one more day, then I'm going to start agitating - I'd love to see me some class action legal action, given everything.

[I'm moving from the "I just wish they'd fix it." mode to "I want some b*astard to pay for being such a 'tard!" mode.]

-Greg

[dessa]

Earlier in the day (yesterday) I talked with my mohter for 45 minutes and she didn't say "Hello, Hello..." once

Of course, then there was the 4 hour or so loss of phone and data.....

I hope it was because they were trying to fix thing for us

[djkieras]

Earlier pages of this thread detail SIM replacement and the fact that it is a red herring.  So are daily resets.  I have documented the former in this thread; the latter I have been doing for months now (to no avail).  As documented previously, there is NO solution to get your Palm working properly on T-Mobile.  What was suggested to you by support is the same thing suggested to me (and others) over a month ago.

I hope this saves you some time.  I myself am just waiting for the clock to finish ticking on my contract and to see what the Christmas season brings for new phones.
 

While I do hate that T-Mobile seems to be promoting upgrades to fix this issue, it is far cheaper for them than fixing a network to work for phones with limited longevity...consider that even Palm has dropped support.  My main beef is with Palm for determining end-of-life on a product that a month prior they were selling new.  No doubt that AT&T or any other carrier would have the same problems since Palm reportedly refuses to upgrade existing phones to work with emerging technologies...even those phones that are considered "supported."

If you complain enough about poor signal, etc. etc., T-Mobile may offer to give you upgrade pricing even if you are not due for that.  Assuming, of course, that you want to stay with them.

[gregorys]

I finally got an answer today, and it's pretty good news, though we may not see results for a while.

Nokia/Seimens IS aware of the problem, and has developed code to fix it. Evidently, my source spoke directly with someone at N/S and was told this. The new software for the base stations should be released any time now.

However, after release by N/S, it needs testing and such by TMo, before getting rolled out to the base-stations.

Obviously it may not get rolled to every applicable place immediately upon testing/QA approval.

So, a fix IS coming but it could, I suspect, be some time before we actually see it in the field.

I hope that's helpful. I may have one other piece of more immediate help, but that's pending some additional queries.

In the mean time, I think I'll stay on the 680 and try to live with it.

I'll keep everyone apprised of the status as I know it, but I may not know as much as anyone would like.

At least we have some encouraging news.

-Greg