Story in a nutshell... I have an Alltel phone activated on Verizon. Old firmware - been meaning to get it upgraded, but the phone seemed to be working just fine. Tried to have Verizon upgrade it this weekend, but they refused - said it would likely 'fry' my phone.
Yesterday I got my bill, and my mobile to mobile calls are not being recognized. Verizon support had me switch my Roam Option from 'automatic' to 'no roaming'. I did that, and my phone went into 'searching' mode. Never did connect. I switched it back to automatic, and it still won't connect. Grrrrr...
Verizon tells me that if I can't get any service at all, it is an issue for Kyocera. Spent about 30 minutes on the phone with a super Kyocera tech support guy, who had me do various resets, etc, and finally told me to take the phone to Verizon and have them upgrade the firmware. He also confirmed what I've heard here - that there is no 'Verizon' or 'Alltel' firmware - and no risk having Verizon upgrade an Alltel phone. He suggested that any problems are due to tech incompetence .
Well, I can't find a single Verizon store willing to upgrade the phone. I know there are other options, but since I'm dealing directly with Kyocera now I'm putting it in their hands.
So now I'm waiting for the level 3 techie to call me back . In the meantime I'm without my 7135, all my software and data has been erased and the Kyo tech asked me to refrain from restoring it for the time being, and my husband refuses to give me my 6035 back.
Sorry - I'm in Phoenix, AZ. The impression I got from the manager at the last Verizon store I stopped at is that it is a Verizon policy not to upgrade non-Verizon phones.
I'm hoping Kyocera will simply swap out the phone...
I'm in the Cleveland Market. If you're willing to ship the phone to our center, I'll flash it. I did the same thing. Bought an Alltel 7135 because we hadn't released it when I wanted it and I've done the updates with no issues.
Let me know. I'll send you the VZW service center address.
I had an altell phone that I tried to have flashed...it never worked right and verizon replaced it for free. Altell had crippled the data services and the flash never overcame that.
Matt,
keep in mind that Alltel is merely a wireless provider...not a manufacturer. If the phone crashed during a firmware or software update, it would be good to ask yourself where the initial software came from. The wireless carriers are not responsible for software provided by the manufacturers. We simply do our best with what we have to work with. The blame here should go back to Kyocera.
That's a fair point. My argument was that there can be issues between Altell and Verizon with this phone, not that either is at fault...neither advertises cross-compatibility. It was surprisingly generous of Verizon to replace the Altell phone with one of their for no charge.
So, Alltel, which is it? It works fine, or it's not your fault when it doesn't? Why should someone switch to a company with that attitude? I've had Verizon for 10 years, and I'm the first to admit that they STILL "can't hear me, now." But you did a 180 awfully fast there...
DRC_P,
maybe you misunderstood....
I am not trying to convey an attitude with regards to this. My wife as a matter of fact works for Kyocera. I am simply stating that the manufacturers of handsets need to be more responsible when it comes to quality assurance. I feel as an experienced wireless executive that the a good portion of issues in today's wireless industry are placed on the wireless carriers and not the manufacturers. Why is it Alltel's or Verizon's fault that the manufactuers continue to mass produce phones with "snub" antennas which inherently produce a lower signal strength. When you drop a call, do you call Motorola or Kycoera and complain? No....you call the carrier and assume it is there network and not the phone.
When you drop a call, do you call Motorola or Kycoera and complain? No....you call the carrier and assume it is there network and not the phone.
i would have to disagree. i've lived in the same area for a while and understand where i have and don't have signal. most phones i've had were acceptable with their calls. until i bought the motorola t720. i had the first one released. that thing couldn't hold a call for more than 5 minutes without hanging up. in this case i knew for a fact it wasn't verizon's service disrupting my conversations. therefore, no assumptions should be made as to whether it's the carrier or the manufacturer responsible for lost signal. cellular phone companies HAVE been known to release an extremely buggy piece of equipment in order to get it out to the public when promised.
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If it ain't broke... throw it on the ground again.
Cisco,
I agree with you to an extent. Keep in mind, the manufacturers push the carriers to sell their product and the consumers demand the product through the carriers. No carrier wants to inherit a problem...especially when it is their means of existence. However, initially that gets back to my point. The manufactures in my opinion use the wireless carriers and their users as a test group to fix problems after the phones are released. This is the reason why you typically several firware or software upgrades generally after a phone is introduced. The manufacturers see this as an opportunity to fix a problem once it is diagnosed. What better than to use the "average joe" as a test group rather than spending more money in research and development.
[quote]Originally posted by mjwalker72 The manufactures in my opinion use the wireless carriers and their users as a test group to fix problems after the phones are released.
Err, "test group"? The wireless carrier users *are* the group. There is no general market after this group. So what you are saying is that the manufacturers expect to work out bugs in the field.
Why is it Alltel's or Verizon's fault that the manufactuers continue to mass produce phones with "snub" antennas which inherently produce a lower signal strength. When you drop a call, do you call Motorola or Kycoera and complain? No....you call the carrier and assume it is there network and not the phone.
The wireless carriers are not victims. They choose their suppliers and should accept responsibility for the product they are re-selling. A customer walks into a store that says VZW all over it and everything in it. They speak with a salesman that works for VZW who sells them a contract for service and a phone (that says VZW on it) to use the service. If the customer then walks out the door and can't make a call they should/will blame VZW.
VZW knows this. Sure they could sell only service and tell customers to go elsewhere to buy equipment but they wouldn't be as successful. So they test/qualify equipment/software from the manufacturers. *Their* business depends on it. The manufacturer's incentive is to keep the carrier selling their phones. The carriers are their customers. Nobody (to speak of) buys a phone directly from Motorola.
So if the manufacturer releases too much junk the carriers will quit dealing with them. If the carriers release too much junk they lose business. In your example above, the manufacturers continue to produce "snub" antennas because the carriers want them to do so. The carriers want the "snub" antennas because thats what the customers want and that enables them to sell more service than what they lose due to the poorer signal.
I would guess that the manufacturers sell more than 99% of their product to/through the carriers.
Aarghhh... Verizon customer svc.
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