Nokia Lumia 822 auto powering off--WOULD NEVER BUY AGAIN!!!!!

katiegal

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I found this forum after seeking information about the 822. VERY UNHAPPY!!!!!!

On November 21st we ordered (by phone) 4 phones with the WOS, three of which are Nokia Lumia 822's. We also became Verizon customers for the first time, signing a two-year contract. We paid for 2-day shipping and it took them 6 days to arrive. Two of the 822 phones appear to function fine, the third however, has been a NIGHTMARE!!! Within days of activating, my husband's phone began shutting itself off. At first we thought it was something he was doing (as we'd never owned smartphones before), but finally he decided to call into Verizon about it and they sent him to Tech Support and they had him "soft-reset" the phone by pulling the battery out/back in. About 2 days later the same thing happened and he called again and again, they did the same thing. A couple of days later the phone began shutting off 2-3 times per day. Enough is enough, he called and asked for a new phone and was told it would ship right away. It took 6 days to get the phone and it is NOT new, it is refurbished. What???? We bought a NEW phone, we should get a NEW phone to replace the bad one, right?

We called and waged a war with the rep and she said they would arrange for a new phone to be available to my husband at the Verizon store. We don't have a local store so we agreed to drive the hour and a half this week to pick up a NEW phone. Just to confirm, my husband contacted the store we were going to and they had no record of what we were talking about. Time to call Verizon. We called them and they said they would call the store again and get it taken care of. Put on hold for 20 minutes, "Brian" comes back and says "sorry, but the store won't honor what we offered because you are outside of the 14-day window for returns. Are you kidding me? We called about the problem 3 times and kept being told to reset the phone. They should have said "Oh no, return that phone IMMEDIATELY and we will send you a new one!" They also said it was Nokia's policy NOT to issue us a new phone. We called Nokia and they said this is NOT true, that is Verizon's policy, not Nokia's. Verizon lied!

We called verizon back 3 times today and they said that even though we were sent a bad device, they are not obligated to give us a new one. AND if my husband keeps this refurb they sent on Monday and it starts to display issues, WE will have to pay a restocking fee of $35 to replace ANOTHER bad phone ... with ANOTHER refurb!

I have read up on Verizon's website about this phone and other people are having the same issue with the 822 powering off on its own and "Brandon" with Verizon even confirmed today that they are aware of issues such as this and they are "hoping for a resolution". Hoping? Really?????

from the time we first decided to get smartphones, I was against IOS and Droids. I did my research on WOS phones and was really excited about the Lumia 822 AND about becoming a Verizon customer. I am completely disheartened in the fact that neither Verizon nor Nokia will stand behind this product, even though BOTH companies appear to be well aware of the issue we have with this phone.

I would NEVER buy another Nokia phone and will NEVER sign with Verizon again. Even after 12 crappy years with Sprint, Verizon sucks worse.
 

Daniel Ratcliffe

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Try dealing with Nokia directly and bypassing Verizon. You may have more luck then. if they try to pass you off to Verizon say you've been to Verizon before and they are refusing to help.
 

katiegal

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We called Nokia. They offered for US to pay shipping and send the phone to them for repair, which could take up to 3 weeks. They don't even offer a temp. replacement. My husband has 2 jobs, is military and travels; he can't be without a phone.
 

dogfish54

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Let me recap:

* You bought three Lumia 822's
* Two are fine, one is bad
* You live a long way from the store, so it was really inconvenient, and then even after you went to the store, they would switch it for a new device, so they sent you a replacement, refurbished device.
* It seems you are worried that the replacement device and the others will start developing issues - is that correct?

I can understand how you are frustrated, especially as you live a long way from a store. I didn't realize that anyone lived an hour away from a Verizon store, they seem to be as common as a McDonalds. Now a Microsoft store, those are few and far between.

It is frustrating that they didn't extend the return period after you had called an issue into tech support.

My guess is that if you live an hour away from a Verizon store, that was a risk you took buying a phone from them, this is always possible, with any device. If you live an hour away from ANY carrier store, this is going to be the same issue.

I hope all three phones work great for you from now on and this all becomes a distant memory.

Also - if this does persist, deal directly with Nokia - they'll make it right.
 

spaulagain

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^I find that hard to believe. I went through Nokia's website to replace/repair my 10 month old Lumia 800. It provided me a shipping label (I didn't pay for it). I then sent it out and received a brand new one just a week later.
 

katiegal

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I wish I was kidding about what Nokia said but I'm not. The only positive thing to come from the conversation with Nokia was to hear them say that Verizon was incorrect, it is NOT Nokia's policy to NOT give a new phone after 14 days, that is Verizon's policy. Nokia could only offer for us to ship the phone to them for repairs, nothing else.

There is a small Verizon store locally but mostly for paying bills and signing contracts. They carry iPhones and iPhone stuff and a few other phones, NOTHING for WOS ... not the phones and no accessories. The manager of the store said he was not going to carry any of it because there has not been a demand for those types of phones. Verizon reps called them before calling the store almost 2 hours away and did confirm everything I just posted about the local kiosk-type store.

Dogfish, yes, so far the other 2 Lumias appear to be fine, but the problem with my husband's phone and the lack of anyone trying to take care of the problem, leads me to be concerned with the remaining two phones should a problem arise. Verizon admitted to KNOWING there is an issue like this. "Brandon", a Verizon rep even said they are seeing this with approx. 1 out of every 5 Lumia phones that have sold. So why are they still selling them? And why aren't they replacing them with new phones? We paid for a NEW phone!!!!!

I am VERY concerned about this refurb being bad now and if it is, we have to pay a $35 restocking fee. That's not fair.
 

ivirsnezbit

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Not that its true or helpful, but the refurbished phone is probably new. These phones have only been out a little under two months, when a new phone is released the carriers receive unboxed new phones without accessories, batteries, etc to give as replacements. They are marked as refurb, but are not.

Also I have had a **** of a time with Verizon...my 822 had the same problem, they sent me out another and its been great...no problems and I've had it for a week now.

I was however pissed at first, because I bought a new phone and a month later started having quality issues...this was an 8x, after 2 replacements, Verizon offered to switch me to a comparable 822. It came in and within an hour of using it, it shut itself off. This happened 2 more times and each time required me to pull the battery. Called Verizon, they sent me another overnight, received it the next day and a week later have had no problem. In fact I love the phone and consider it better than the HTC 8x.
 

Lee B

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Not that its true or helpful, but the refurbished phone is probably new. These phones have only been out a little under two months, when a new phone is released the carriers receive unboxed new phones without accessories, batteries, etc to give as replacements. They are marked as refurb, but are not.

I agree with ivirsnezbit that any 822 Verizon gives you right now has to be new or close to it, since the phone has been on the market less than two months. I don't know if it's 1 in 5, but it's clear from posts on this forum that a percentage of WP8 phones have the problem of random reboots -- it doesn't seem as if the 822 is worse in this regard. There's hope that the next edition of WP8 will cure the problem, but meanwhile, if a phone has the problem when you get it, it will probably stay that way. If it doesn't, it will probably keep working. I've had my 822 since launch, and I've never seen a reboot or unexpected shutdown.

I agree with you that Verizon should be more helpful. The cell phone companies used to give a longer trial period (a month instead of two weeks). At two-week window is hostile to customers like your husband -- too short for someone to understand what's going on with a complicated device that they haven't had any experience with. From being on these boards since November, I know that when one of these phones starts acting like your husband's, exchange it immediately. But Verizon reps apparently didn't offer that advice when you first started having problems. Given the money they charge, the level of customer service that cellphone companies offer is pretty close to criminal. Verizon isn't the best, but it's not the worst either.
 

xFalk

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These phones are new. The WP8 operating system is new. There are bound to be bugs. It should go without saying to anyone who is an early adopter. Does it suck? Yes, but it should be expected for a percentage of devices. My 822 has the same issue. It'll turn itself off about every other day. A battery pull is obnoxious so all I do now is the recommended holding of the on/off button and the volume-down button at the same time until the phone restarts. It still sucks but that's less painful than a battery pull. There is an update, which may fix the issue but Verizon has not released it yet. Hopefully, soon. Otherwise I love my 822 and will grudgingly deal with this flaw until a fix is published.

P.S. WHy not just send the problem phone to Nokia and let him use one of the others until it get fixed? Probably means someone has to give up a phone for a bit but it's the same whenever someone in my family has to take their car to the shop for some issue.
 

spaulagain

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You know what your real problem is? You're using Verizon! ;)

Seriously, Versions' customer service sucks. A store rep actually got in a fight with my parents were trying to exchange their faulty 8X for a new one. Luckily the reps manager finally stepped.

IMO, WP8 and Nokia really having nothing to do with your issues. These kind of things happen even with band new iPhones. Its Verizon's horrible policies.

I was with Verizon for 8 years. Switched to ATT and never looked back.
 

stephen_az

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If you contacted VZW about the issue within their standard exchange period, escalate it up to a manager. They should have simply exchanged the phone upon request. VZW though will do anything to avoid their own replacement policy. I do have a VZW store nearby and getting a defective 822 replaced represents the only time I have ever raised my voice in business establishment. They insisted they needed to "troubleshoot" the phone first, after I brought it in pointing out it would no longer connect via Bluetooth to my car or any other devices I owned and had already done the obligatory troubleshooting. The rep and manager took the phone and moved a distance away and started playing with it talking about what they were going to do (I wasn't supposed to hear that part). I walked over and told them they were going to exchange it as per their written policy and had to repeat the same line again and again as they tried to insert "but this" and "but that" in the discussion. Eventually the manager just shrugged, acknowledged that I could exchange as per their policy, and told the rep to get a new phone. He continued to act (and talk) as if he was doing me a favor though, so I ended up raising my voice to a level that every customer could hear, stating that I could return the phone for an exchange for any reason within the period and that I expected that they would do so - nothing more/nothing less - and to get me the phone so I could get out of there. The moral of the story being that even in a VZW owned store, they made the process more involved than need be. As far as getting a refurbished phone, in my experience they will continue to send refurbished ones unless you force the issue. It should have been exchanged up front and that may have some traction. If they replace as a warranty replacement, they will always send refurbished phones.
 

katiegal

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Yes, faulty phones come in all brands, shapes and sizes. I get that. It's the TIMELINE of the whole fiasco that is infuriating.

We paid for 2 day shipping. It took 6 days for the phones to arrive. It was another 3 days until we activated them because by the time the phones actually showed up, my oldest son had gone back to college and we had to 2-day express his phone to him at school and THEN we were all finally able to activate. By then we were already 10 days into the 14-day window---ACCORDING TO THE VERIZON REP. However, the guy who sold us the phones told us we had 14 days FROM ACTIVATION to return them if we were unhappy. Two totally different stories.

Then (thinking we were still inside the 14-day window), the issue started with my husband's phone. Three days after it happened the first time, it happened again and he called. They never said we were outside of the window and it never occurred to us to ask. They just told him how to reset the phone and it worked. Two or three days later, same thing, same resolution. After it started happening every day he finally called and they said "we're sending a new phone ASAP". The refurb arrived SIX days later! And you already know the rest of the story.

Two of the reps we spoke with today said they changed their return policy on 11/22 to allow a larger return window for those making purchases from 11/22-12/25. Those people have until 1/15 to return. You can go read it yourself here: Return Policy & Termination Fee | Verizon Wireless

We ordered on the NIGHT of 11/21 and they won't make an exception even though THEY ate into OUR return days to start with????? That's ******ed!
 

erzhik

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Yes, its all screwed up and annoying. But stop talking to plain reps. Call and ask for a supervisor. If they ask why, just say that previous reps couldn't help you in any way. Talking to a manager is the only way you will have this fixed. And I wouldn't blame Nokia for anything other than faulty phone. Customer service is verizon's part.
 

spaulagain

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Ya, from what you are describing, this is pure Verizon for being pain in the asses. Their complete lack of care for their customers is the reason I left. I've had huge billing issues with them in the past that took them months to resolve. My parents got in a fight with them, and friends constantly have issues dealing with them.

You need to just go irate with Verizon and give them the earful they deserve instead of complaining here. We can't do anything for you as it has nothing to do with WP itself.
 

Anonymous7532479

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I've found that with VZW, you have to keep going over heads and climbing the ladder until you find a higher-up that is knowledgable and who cares somewhat. If they customer service reps are being useless, ask for their supervisor. And if their supervisor isn't any help, ask for the supervisor's supervisor. Eventually, you should reach someone who understand that 'losing a tiny drop of money now to keep the customer happy pays off long term.'

Honestly, it sounds like Verizon is treating you like s*** and I know you're not the only one. Perhaps some of these issues need to be brought to the Better Business Bureau? Do they look at this type of stuff?
 

o4liberty

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I have been with verizon for over 15 years and never had bad service from them. As rough as I am on my devices I get at least 8 replacements a year with no hassle at all.
As others have said the replacement is very close to new and as long as it works who cares!
I am a firm believer in a lemon law for electronics just like automobiles have. The consumer gets stuck with a device that doesn't always work correctly.
With your device power cycling there are several factors that can contribute one of the biggest can be cell coverage in your area. I've had the 822 since launch and yes it has powered cycled a few times but so has my blackberry bold and numerous android devices I have owned.
Its a great device don't let the thought of not having a brand new device get you down!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk
 

Andrzej Janus

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Seems like you're most likely not going to buy any phone if you're so discouraged after one faulty model... try getting an iPhone like me ( previously ) with terrible reception issues. At least Nokia offered to repair it and pay for shipping. Apple just told me to hold my phone differently...

But seriously, there is not a single brand that sells 100% fault-free devices. Postpone your rage and try solving this issue with Nokia - Verizon on the other hand might not be very helpful.
 

katiegal

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*sigh*

We have called Nokia. We have tried going over heads with Verizon. The highest level we could get is someone called an "Escalation Specialist". WTH is that?? If someone knows of a "backdoor" number we can call to bypass all of the call center idiots, I'm more than happy to try.

We bought and paid for a NEW product but got a bad product. And the bottom line (after 5 hours of runaround yesterday), is my husband is stuck with a refurb. And if the refurb is "bad", WE have to pay a $35 restocking fee. Total BS! And yes, I blame Nokia, too. Both companies are aware of this issue.
 

MorbidFun

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Hi Katiegal :

I received a new 822 about two weeks ago myself and experienced the random power offs. There is a 'solution', sort of, in a few thread on this board that you can reference. It involves the volume key and power key. I did this three times in a two day span and the phone has not shut down (knock on wood) for the past six days. There will be a software update to address this, but no one knows when the update will arrive. In addition, the 'solution' mentioned his a hit or miss solution for 822 users, but I think it is worth a try.
I hope this information helps. Most of the other responders already addressed the Verizon customer service and shipping issues. While I am not a fan of Verizon, I personally have had a good experience with their customer service during my limited time with them so far. I hope that part improves for you and your husband.
To end, I appreciate his service. Thanks.
 

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