Samsung Galaxy S Series

[heatherburke]

Guess what????

I received an actual Vodafone PHONE CALL today!!!! Wow.
Did it help...... Nope.
So Paul from network support rang. Nice guy but didn't know anything about the issues us lot have been talking about. Hasn't read this forum. He said its my coverage , my house was in the pink area for high speed on the coverage map but now ive just checked again and mysteriously its changed orange for variable, I get around and have the same issue everywhere. So it can't be that. He then said its my phone software and that ICS might be buggy and would i be happy to downgrade to gingerbread, erm no Paul because the issue was there with gingerbread.
After a lengthy chat of me explaining what has been going on with all of us. I suggested he read this forum (there is a link on my account, so it wouldn't take 2 mins of his time) Then he would be more clued up on the situation.
In the end he informed me he couldn't do anything about my case and that my case would be closed and put down to coverage issues. I asked if I stood next to the mast and had the same issue what then, he said then it must be a problem with the phone. I replied, "you have no idea what the problem is do you", he said "no" and laughed. Haha at least he's honest Haha.
I thought I'll leave it at that. Told him to read the forum speak to the forum guys and try find out who is dealing with this.

It was nice to finally receive a call. Even though it got me nowhere at least it made me chuckle.

Paul was fun, I wish him the best.

Now, where are the special tech team dealing with this who was supposed to be calling us?

[ajpd]

@ Heather Burke - terrible service from Vodafone for you.

I got an email from them and it looks like progress... have pasted it below & my reply

They want me to do  a factory reset which looks like desparation to me - and ive told them no!

Am I right in thinking some of you have done this to no effect?

------

Hi

Im glad we are making progress and you can see the fault.

I reported this over the phone to Voda about 6 months ago. After a lot of work I finally got through to someone in a high tier data connectivity department. Before I could finish explaining the problem she had explained it to me... she said you & Samsung were aware of the problem and were working on a fix. So, are you able to find any trace of this issue within Vodafone & the resolution

It also did it - albeit in a slightly different way- under Gingerbread. Eveyone on the forum had the problem before ICS. It is definately a software issue but not specific to ICS - I think that H+ if it disappears leaves the handset unable to handshake properly to H or 3G - unless you break & re-establish the connection... or get H+ again.

Mine is an unbranded unlocked S2 - I think the last Gingerbread I had on it was 2.4 I think.It was an ota update from 2.3... not sure if 2.3 had the problem. I think the Voda ones went to 2.5. I assume that people on the forum with this problem have Voda branded one so it affects both types of phone.

I have very few apps installed - and when this started even less. Most of my phone is normal google stuff.

Others have re-set their phoes, sent them off to you for a replacement or re-flashing... and it makes no difference. So no - Im I am not wiling to have to go through all the hassle of factory re-set and then setting everything up again, cganging all my settings, homescreens etc.. Anyway, it is affecting too many handsets for it to be a rogue app.

If you want to send me a completely clean S2 then I am happy to give that a try with my SIM. If you are worried that I will do a runner with it, you can charge my credit card a deposit.... I expect you to pay for the postage in both directions.

I have already spent £5 on a 3 sim card to see if it did it on that network.

Can you investigate a goodwill credit to my account for all this work I am doing and in recognition of the data problems.?

DO you want me to continue reporting freezes?

Regards

On 29 May 2012 17:28, Known Issues, Vodafone UK wrote:

Thank you for taking the time to collect some data for me Anthony. I have taken a look through the connections the device is making at the specified times and can see that this is not being caused by the available network connection. The issue would appear to be software related. I wonder if I can ask you to back up your device, remove your SD card and then perform a factory reset of the device and then just monitor the network connectivity on the device before you restore your user data to see if the issue persists. I’m trying to establish if this is being caused by a faulty software load or an application that is incompatible to the ICS MR

BR

Damien

[heatherburke]

At least you've got proof someone is dealing with it. I was starting to think they were having us on.
Yep Ive done the factory reset thing 4 times and sent it off for fixing.
I have also tried my sim in an old Samsung Tocco Ultra, same issue with that also.

[James]

Hi Guys,

Damien is part of the team that are investigating this issue for us along side ourselves, our devices teams and our network teams.

Rest assured that the investigations will continue until we can get to the bottom of this.

Unfortunately Damien isn’t in the office today however he will continue to contact people when he has returned.

James

[philip_wong852]

I really appreciate vodafone for finally acknowledging that something is wrong and will do my best to help Damien, however I feel that it's 'too little too late'

I've had my S2 since October, and the issue has been present since then. Yes, my account may not show any contact regarding this problem, but I've posted on this thread previously before. I upgraded and took out a 12 month contract which expires this October - to be honest even if the issue is fixed, i'm still waving goodbye to vodafone and it is quite sad that I cannot wait until then. Been a customer for over ten years. My time is done.

[thespudman]

This issue has gone on for too long, i would like someone from the forum team to contact me, as i wish to discuss options ..available in regards to obtaining a different handset, but not another s2 as I'm totally fed up

[DaveCD]

Hi phillip_wong852

Thank you for your post and any assistance you provide is awesome.

I am sorry you feel this way as the last thing we like to see is for any customer wishing to leave and we hope to have this resolved in the near future and turn this around for you.

Hi thespudman

Thank you for your post.

I understand that this is frustrating for you and has been present for longer than we would like, before we can look at the next step we would need to await the results of the investigation.

As soon as we have any information around the investigation we will post back here.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

[thespudman]

I can recreate this issue without fail in a very strong signal area. The issue is extreamly frustrating and this topic is now nearly 10 pages long. Does that not say something.

[heatherburke]

I've had enough of being messed around. If I don't get a call from the specialised tech team (that was supposed to call me3 weeks ago) with some sort of explanation or possible solution by the end of the week then I'm submitting my form to the ombudsman. Its taken way too long and way too much of my time, money and stress.
The whole issue is beyond ridiculous. I'm sick of the constant fobbing off, lies, false promises and lack of customer care.
I find it incredibly hard to believe that in today's technological society that no one can find a fix for this problem.
This problem is easily replicated by us minions anywhere, anytime. If the Vodafone tech team have magical galaxy s2's that don't seem to have this problem then send them to us, simple.

[thespudman]

Not that it will probably get me anywhere, but I have submitted a complaint form today.

It is soo frustrating when you have a handset with the latest 3G technology, you are in a strong signal area, and nothing will load at all.

I am paying for a service I can not use.

I love everything else about the S2 but at this rate I will be pushing Vodafone for a different handset as there is no way I can face another 11 months of this.

I understand the forum team are limited on their involvement with issues like this, but I expressed my dissatisfaction on a previous post and requested someone to call me, which never happened, and i recieved a stock reply advising the issue is being looked into.

I just hope the office of Stefan Langkamp have some nouse about them.

[marc2988]

Having involved myself in this forum earlier on I deicided to monotior the progress of this alleged "investigation" to the point (as the person above me rightly said) I am sick of nothing having happened.  I too lodged a complaint and was called back by the usual customer services guy who initially claimed to have read the forum and was up to speed on the issue.  He clearly had not, as he began with trying to get me to reset my phone to factory settings and even, get this, told me to downgrade it to 2G/Gprs!  Annoyed, I said "Look mate, I have a 500 pound hand set which I want to use for the internet and all its abilities, I might as well go into my kitchen drawer and pull out my Nokia 3210 if I was to do that!"  He didnt seem to get the point.  The up shot was that I wanted to exchange my hand set (HTC Desire HD) for an Iphone - as my partner has one and it does not suffer the same issues as mine.  He told me that the process would be that I would have to have sent my phone off for repair 3 times (and it still not work) for them to even consider doing an exchange.  He did offer me a new contract, an extra one, on an Iphone.. funny that, I thought!  So... my phone is off to the repair depot and I am back on my old non-smart phone handset.. Lets see if they can fix it. 

[heatherburke]

Just read this.... http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1714413&p=2&#r21 has anyone tried it?

[ajpd]

I have refeerd voda to this forum which seems to be the same problem. Unfortunately it has a variety of solutions none of which seem to work. I am certainly not disabling h+ using service menus to get it to work - not acceptable as a solution

[hrym]

I've discovered that I also have this problem.  I wondered why my phone was switching from 3G to H (and sometiemes taking an age to do it).  I have 2.3.5 and I'm not upgrading to ICS because it just seems to cause too many problems - and also doesn't seem to solve this one. The only thing is, I'm not sure that 3G wasn't working OK earlier on.  I haven't updated my OS at all.

3G worked fine on my much older Nokia N78, so it would seem to be either an S2 hardware-specific issue or something to do with Android.  It's becoming clear that it's pretty widespread, and that enough people have been able to replicated it that it shouldn't be an insurmountable technical matter - if it was intermittent or confined to a few, I can appreciate it would be much more difficult.

I've created a Contract Internet APN and it seems to work OK (doesn't seem to be possible to get these OTA any more?), but I live in an area well away from 3G coverage, so I haven't been able to test it.

Once the phone has made a connection, HSPDA is acceptably quick, so that's not necessarily an issue.  The main irritation is when it hops between that and 3G.

[thespudman]

Just thought i would update everyone on the latest from the complaints team

I was asked to perform a manual roam on my phone as this would deliver a fresh signal to my phone.

I have a new sim card on the way out in the post.

There are no network issues in my area.

If the problem persists I have to send my phone in to be repaired as it may be a problem when the phone was flashed to ICS

I did make it clear that the problem was evident on previous firmware versions but this is the escalation process that needs to be followed.

I'm not holding my breath. I am very reluctant to send my phone off, just for it to be flashed then returned to me with the same problem.

I am quickly losing patience with this, I have put up with this fault for months now and I can't wait for my contract to be up.

[ajpd]

I told them I would not be doing a factory reset as others had done this to no effect and I wasnt prepared for the hassle

as for....

 did make it clear that the problem was evident on previous firmware versions but this is the escalation process that needs to be followed.

- well ###### their process - how pathetic!

Full respect to you for going through this

I told them I was prepared for them to send me a virgin test  SGS2 for me to put my SIM in it and reproduce the problem for me. I even said that I would happuly pay a £500 deposit on my credit card so I didnt do a runner with it!

Funny enough they have not replied to me.

I can only conclude that all their process & escalation route - and the fact that they have not done us the courtesy of reporting progress means that really this is all a big fob off.

I too am utterly fed up. Of course, despite Voda thinking they have got rid of us, they just have a lot of unhappy customers.

I high tier level person in network support in Voda confirmed they were well aware of this months ago before ICS - yet they put us through all these hoops - we are unpaid network testers.

I can only suggest a complaint to BBC watchdog - if enough of us do it, watch them move!!!

Very disppointed in Vodafone and the complete lack of feedback from them as to progress!!!!!!!!!!

[heatherburke]

Complaint to BBC Watchdog - Done
Complaint to Ombudsman - Done

VODAFONE....... HELLO?????...... ANYONE THERE????.........

[ajpd]

Train journey last night from central London out to the suburbs. Worse than ever frozen most of the way. Vodafone have been aware of this issue for months and are treating us like mugs.
If this person has really been working on this for weeks now surely a preliminary update can be given. What a way to treat your customers who have been having problems for months

[heatherburke]

@ajpd

Its the fobbing off that's getting to me more than the issue itself now.
Why ask for our help and not use it.
Why ask for our detailed info and not have the courtesy to call with an update on what they're doing with said info.
Why do some tech folk say they know about the "common problem" yet every tech I speak to have no clue about it.
Why aren't my calls logged on my account so that everytime I call I don't have to repeat what the issue is EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Why should I downgrade my phone because they can't be bothered looking into the problem.
Why should I buy a Galaxy S3, and I quote, " to see if I get the same problem" hmm good sales pitch.

I love my phone but I hate hate hate Vodafone.

I wonder if there is an issue with the S3 also. Might go to a store and try it out.

I'm pretty sure it'll never get fixed. I want my contract cancelled, my phone unlocked and I never want to deal with Vodafone again.

[marc2988]

The link that heatherburke has put on (above) seems to me to be the exact explaination which is causing this problem..  Can the tech team have a read of it and give us a UK version of a solution, or their comments on it please??