Lumia 950 Woes...

[theemaddeness]

I'm not one to complain, but I feel like I need to share my recent negative experience with the Lumia 950. First things first, I have been a windows phone user since 2012...back to the Nokia Lumia 920 days. For the most part, I absolutely love the windows phone OS and the unique offerings that set it apart from the iPhone and other Android devices. Like most of you, I had been patiently waiting (same goes for the friends and family I convinced to jump to WP) for a "premium" device that took the place of my 920. After the less than enthusiastic unveiling of the 950 and 950XL, I still decided upgrade my wife and I to the 950 since it didn't look like anything else would be on the horizon for quite some time. Honestly, I was pretty happy with the 950, it wasn't as beautiful as hoped, but it got the job done and it was an upgrade from the 920. However, a month ago, things took a drastic turn. My wife's 950 would have a full charge and randomnly reboot and her battery would drop to less than 15%. She spent most of the time next to the charger as it wouldn't ever last her more than an hour. It would make an awful screaming noise that wouldn't go away until a soft-reset was done. After almost 2 weeks dealing with Microsoft, I finally received a shipping label to send her phone in and she is resorting to her 920 in the meantime. It gets worse. My phone last week started to randomnly reboot, maybe 5 times a day, but no loss in battery life. Then it continued to get worse, it would restart once every few minutes. Now my phone is COMPLETELY unusable. It restarts and can't even complete the start-up process without rebooting again. It will retry for hours. If it does finally succeed, the phone is locked and must be plugged in for 2 hours before I can gain access (security mechanism). Alternatively, if it does boot up, it only takes a few minutes before the screen turns a blurry yellow and a loud screaming noise ensues.

I have tried everything and have had no luck. For the record, I haven't dropped my phone or gotten it wet. I'm on the latest firmware and OS updates. I've reset my phone and restrained from downloading any 3rd party apps.

Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed. I just submitted a repair form for my phone and will likely do the same dance with Microsoft which will take over a week to get the green light to send it in.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

the sending for repair is the best thing you can do right now: by the way, which country are you in?

 

[theemaddeness]

Thanks I hope so...I'm in the US.

 

[daimv]

Wow what the hell lol. Your phones are having some really, really weird issues man. Do you work in a nuclear plant and have accidentally let your phones be exposed to radiation that could destroy them internally or something like that?
Haha.
But in all seriousness, that is some messed up stuff. Mine is working fine. So I hope the repair fixes it.

 

[theemaddeness]

Haha thanks! Sooooooo...I think I've figured it out. I took off the back cover and noticed that the battery was able to move pretty freely. I flipped it upside down and sure enough, the battery comes right out. I folded up a piece of foil to stick between the battery and the backing and it seems to be keeping it in place. Been a few hours and everything is working fine.

 

[Jakoh]

I can say, no such thing here on x.x.x.14388

 

[sinime]

Haha thanks! Sooooooo...I think I've figured it out. I took off the back cover and noticed that the battery was able to move pretty freely. I flipped it upside down and sure enough, the battery comes right out. I folded up a piece of foil to stick between the battery and the backing and it seems to be keeping it in place. Been a few hours and everything is working fine.

I might suggest switching from foil to paper, tape, or something that isn't a conductor, just in case something shifts at some point and makes contact with something it shouldn't. Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after me.

 

[anon(50597)]

Glad it was such a simple solution.

 

[pankaj981]

Haha thanks! Sooooooo...I think I've figured it out. I took off the back cover and noticed that the battery was able to move pretty freely. I flipped it upside down and sure enough, the battery comes right out. I folded up a piece of foil to stick between the battery and the backing and it seems to be keeping it in place. Been a few hours and everything is working fine.

That's still not an excuse to keep the phone. IMO it's still defective as the battery cannot stick to its intended position without a workaround. You need to send it to Microsoft for repair or take it to a Microsoft Store and have them replace it.

 

[Thazal]

When my 950xl was restarting like you described I talked to MS cs, the chat took under 30 minutes to get everything submitted and the UPS package print out and I sent it out the next day. Sending it in did fix the problem, it did take a couple weeks to get it through repair. Take care to check your email if the repair center requires your attention for any reason once they receive the device.

 

[simmerance]

You are not alone. I was experiencing these exact same problems. I ended up taking the phone over to a Microsoft Store, and they replaced the phone for free. I would suggest trying the same thing if you have a store nearby.

 

[jeffgeno]

Originally posted by simmerance
You are not alone. I was experiencing these exact same problems. I ended up taking the phone over to a Microsoft Store, and they replaced the phone for free. I would suggest trying the same thing if you have a store nearby.

I'll second that. I had a problem with a Surface Pro charger and I brought it into the store. They swapped it out immediately and sent me on my way.

These stores are probably looked at as advertising for Microsoft, so they bend over backwards to give you good service there.

 

[Michael Bromley]

Switch out batteries and you will be fine. I wasted time on two replacement phones for exact same issues when all I needed was a new battery. Now I have a return phone when my original devise was bought new.

 

[kltye]

Can I ask, where did you get your hands on a new battery? I'm having similar issues with the OP (phone completely dead now), and the Microsoft popup store in Chicago says they don't stock batteries, and they're kinda difficult to come by. It's annoying, because I have to sync up everything again. My phone is pretty beat up, but I don't even care about that - I just want to be able to get going again.

 

[theemaddeness]

Alright...this mess for me is finally over. Hopefully this disaster saves someone else some time if they ever find themselves in a similar situation.
So, initially I reached out to Microsoft support so I could send both devices in to be repaired/replaced. After 4 different chat sessions and almost 20 days, I still only received one shipping label via email. I was told that I could visit a local Microsoft store instead of sending the phones in. Yesterday, I went a mall nearby that had a Microsoft store and explained my issues. They were very helpful and were about to give me 2 brand new phones. However, since I had purchased the phones through AT&T netx plan, I was told that since I do not officially own the phones, AT&T was responsible for swapping them out and sending the defected phones to Microsoft. I asked for a manager and he said the same thing. He said the main problem was that if they gave me 2 new phones, the serial numbers would be different and if I ever turned the phones back into AT&T, there would definitely be a problem. Luckily, the manager told me there was an AT&T store right downstairs. I headed down there and told the AT&T representative the situation and he basically laughed it off and told me the opposite. My options were to file an insurance claim, $150 deductible per phone OR go back to Microsoft and file a warranty claim with them. At this point, I'm fuming. I'm the consumer stuck in the middle of 2 giants that aren't taking responsibility. I went back up to Microsoft and told them I'm not getting anywhere with AT&T. He looked pretty frustrated and pulled up the official documentation to verify that Microsoft is not the responsible party in this case. He made a few additional phone calls and then told me that even though it's against the plan rules, they are more concerned with me being satisfied with the device that I'm holding everyday. They replaced both phones with one single condition. He wrote up a long report and I would assume all risk with the mismatched serial numbers in the case that I return my phone to AT&T (which I'll never do, I'll pay it off and keep it). I walked out relieved and marched down to AT&T and told the rep to update my device serial numbers, which he did.

Needless to say, I'm extremely happy in the level of service that Microsoft provided. From the moment I walked into that store, they wanted to make sure I left with my problem solved.

 

[xzb6np]

My 950 started acting crazy a few months back. AT&T sent me a new battery it fixed it.