I currently am using my Nexus One with a T-Mobile prepaid account. I couldn't figure out a way to get data without paying a (to me) exorbitant rate for voice time I will never use. So instead of T-Mobile making around $30 a month off of me for a limited data plan, I now pay them $1.50 on the rare days when I really need it, and then it's unlimited, so I just push as much data as I want.

So, as you may know, I'm out of town on a contract for a week or so. This is the time when having data on my phone is all but needed. So when I left the day before yesterday, I activated the "Day Pass" and my GPS worked the whole drive down, I was able to deal with email, etc., etc. Yesterday evening I went to activate it again. It was clear right as I did it that something weird happened, as it initially acted as if it didn't "take", but then it claimed it was active anyway, but all I got was redirections to their upsell site.

So I called technical support. After a good while of resetting defaults, power cycling, etc., I was told, "Oh, it looks like there's a known issue in your area, and it's been going on for a week." But it worked that morning. I kept trying to argue with him that there was some other problem, but all I got was a refund.

This morning, it still wasn't working. I tried to get the route to my contract into the phone over WiFi, but it didn't work, I got lost, and arrived half an hour late. After lunch, I called and spent an hour on the phone yelling at people. Just remove the data service from my account and let me try again. They can't do that. They claim that it's a widely-known outage, but it's been supposedly going on for a week, with no ETR, it worked fine for me mere hours before, and it takes every tech at least 15 minutes to notice this outage. I escalated the issue four times before I got "accidentally" hung up on during a transfer. I was told that it was a problem with the tower and there was nothing they could do. Of course, all the while, I was able to surf their upsell site and their "buy some ringtones" site. Of course, that, apparently, was all within the tower and didn't mean anything.

The service expired this evening. Shortly before it did, I confirmed that it still wasn't working. Directly after, I renewed my access. And, guess what? It started working immediately. I tried to tell them all along that my account was in some sort of limbo and could you please just try to reset it, or do something or anything to fix the problem. All I got was blown off.

I'm calling back tomorrow and escalating this issue again. These idiots need to know that they're idiots. Anyone have any good ideas about what I should do or say?

Don't? As in, don't bother, because you're wasting your breath -- the person you unload on will be unlikely to affect any changes.

You could certainly call them to demand a refund for the un-provided services, and see what you can get from their customer retention operator.

I have to agree. Bitt, you know these people follow a script. They're probably only marginally trained on/familiar with your particular type of service, and if they've followed that script as far as they can go, it probably leads them to a response like "there's a problem with your tower." You can call back and tell them they're idiots, but it won't even be the same people, and the new person won't know what you're talking about.

I think the best you can hope for is to call back and get to the billing department. At the very least I'm sure they'll refund your $1.50, and that might not be worth your time but you'll at least feel like you've gotten something out of them. That's a buck fifty that won't go towards the tip a T-Mo exec leaves at their lunch with the AT&T execs.

Besides, frequently you'll get more out of it. Verizon gave me way more than I expected when I called to complain about my connection problems.

And just think, T-Mobile is considered to have some of the best customer service when it comes to the cell carriers. Just wait until they're gobbled up.

It's killing me that I can't identify my next phone yet. I love my Nexus One, but I want to sell it while I can still get something for it. I know the changes are a long ways off, but the prices for N1's have been dropping precipitously since the buyout news and T-Mo's lost hundreds of thousands of customers since then as well.

Frankly, it would be hilarious to call someone at the very tip top for $1.50

That article is over two years old now. I wonder how many of those still work...

Happened again.

It seems that the issue is when I lose my signal in the midst of enabling the service.

I finally got someone on the phone to agree with my assessment, and who knew of a similar problem with buying ringtones.

Also, they have no way to expire the service early, either in the technical support, billing, or customer service departments. He did suggest that it could be reset by canceling the account and opening a new one, but that I might lose my phone number. Since I exclusively use my Google Voice number, this wasn't a big deal.

He transferred me to customer service, where I was transferred to a phone that, as it turns out, the rep forgot to log out of when she went to the bathroom. So I waited for five minutes or so for her to get back to her desk.

Once she came back, she tried a couple of things short of canceling the account, none of which worked. Then she canceled the account and asked "Is there anything else I can do for you today?" Uh, yeah: activate my phone. So I gave her the SIM number and IMEI, she put me on hold for a minute, then came back and said there was a problem and that they'd have to call me back in about 30 minutes. It's been about 45 minutes now.

So now, not only do I not have internet service, I also don't have phone service. This is working out really well.

Don't like the Nexus S?

I called back and got another supervisor to activate a "temporary" number on my phone. I don't really care whether it's temporary or not, so I'm approaching okay now. Now I just need to get my prepaid funds into this account.

I do, but when it comes down to it, unfortunately things are in a bit of a transition period right now with Android phones. In the past there have always been new Android phones around the corner, but now the technology is in a lot of transition too. "4G," dual-core chips, better screens, etc.

When it comes down to it, I like the Nexus S, but if I'm going to trade in my Nexus One for a phone that's going to lock me into a 2-year contract, I want brand new tech, not something that's been out for many months with the only addition being a "4G" radio. And if I'm going with someone's "4G," I'd rather it be Verizon's "4G."

There's one last odd thing keeping me holding on to my beloved Nexus One: the dock. I honestly don't think there's a better docking method** out there on the market right now, and I've never seen it implemented on any of the recent phones. Most of them don't seem to have any docks at all. Doesn't anyone know if any of the newer HTC phones have the same contacts at the bottom?

So yeah, I haven't even gone into full detail on all of this. I have a specific list of things I'm looking for in my next phone, I'm just hoping it comes out soon before my N1 is worth $10 on the market.


**it's the best method IF you don't use a case, but cases mess up most docks anyway.

I have the G2 and I miss using my Nexus One just about every day. The dock is one thing I really miss. I'm contemplating switching back to the N1.

My next phone will have a front-facing camera. No idea what that phone will be, though.

It's odd to me that none of the other phone makers have cloned that part of the iPod/iPhone ecosystem. When the iPhone 3G didn't come with a dock in the box (like the initial iPhone did), I bought the Apple universal dock instead. Whenever I get a new phone, I just buy a cheap little plastic insert for the universal dock. Some iPhone case manufacturers even make dock inserts that match the phone case.

Docks in general seem to be going away. I remember years ago, almost every PDA came with one (including my old Palm III, Palm V and iPaq), and there were docks for almost every mobile phone. Much more rare to see them these days.

Uhhh... let me get this straight. You have a phone that you really like, it does all the things you want it to do, and new phones lack some of the features that you already have with your N1.

So, of course you want to get rid of it and buy something else. Makes sense to me.

tanstaafl.

Maybe it can't run Gingersnap-yoghurt-raisin-crunchberry or whatever the OS is called this week.

Ice Cream Sandwich.

My wife's case came with an insert for the universal dock. Of course, here's where I also complain that Apple's universal dock is WAY too expensive. I think the official one was something like $65.

But the issue is that I don't want my phone to dock like the iPhone docks. With my N1, docking doesn't mean plugging anything in, I just place the phone on the dock and the contacts at the bottom meet. It's like it's just shy of inductive charging. It's nice to be able to just grab my phone off the dock - it's kind of hard to explain. I guess I'd switch to more of a plug-in dock, but as you've observed, docks seem to be going the way of the dodo. Even iPhone docks seem to be disappearing, unless you want something with speakers built in (I do not).


Yeah, you've got it right. And what exactly makes sense about a geek's usual desire for upgraded hardware?

As much as I love my N1, it already shows its age. If you look at the latest phones coming out, they simply crush the N1's speed, in addition to other nice hardware improvements like screen quality/size.

There's also the issue I've already mentioned that when/if the T-Mobile purchase happens, even though my phone will be usable it'll be completely unsellable (well, I'm sure someone would pick it up for $30 or something). I'd rather get out in front of that.


Tsk tsk, you have to admit, Bruno, that was a weak one for you.


Indeed, and no Bruno, I don't know if it would run it. I wouldn't be surprised if it did though.

ps- WOOT! At least Netflix is available on my Nexus One now!

Netflix runs on a total of 5 different handsets. Now that's what I call a "platform!"

Looks like they are $59 now, and include a remote and cable along with assorted inserts (normally $9 for 3). I want to say back when I bought mine, they were $49 (so $5 more then the Nexus One dock), and didn't include the cable. They keep changing the dock packages, so it's hard to keep track.


Yeah, I understand the slight difference, though for the iPhone with the dock is nearly the same effort to slide it in as the Nexus One dock. I'm able to just drop the phone into the phone sized slot, and contact is made. The 30 pin connector in the dock doesn't have the latches on the side like the cables do, so the phone connects and separates pretty easily.

The Palm III and V were slightly different then both the Nexus One and iPhone. There wasn't a full plug, nor contact points on the bottom. Instead contact points were on the back side of the device at the bottom. The III had a piece on the dock that opened the cover over the pins, the Palm V just went with exposed pins.

Dock feature wise, the Palms and iPaq passed through both power and serial/USB for syncing. Looks like the Nexus One just charges in the dock, and will send bluetooth audio to the dock for output off the back audio plug. I guess that explains the $45 price of it, with a bluetooth receiver sitting inside.

The iPhone dock passes the full 30 pin connector through, so it can go to a computer for syncing/tethering, or out to composite/component/VGA/HDMI video. I've made use of the video out several times at hotels, along with the remote (the dock has an IR sensor). The only thing I wish it did was also present a TV interface when docked for selecting other media. I could play/pause/rewind/fast forward, but not change what was playing without getting up to go to the phone. Apple should merge in some of the AppleTV interface pieces now that it also run iOS.

That was another thing. When I bought the dock for my wife, I remember having some sort of issue with finding the right one. I just can't remember what it was at the time, but I seem to recall even going to the Apple store and finding they had the wrong/older product there.

Anyway, I think we're both "pro-dock," but it doesn't seem like most companies are interested in making them. For me it's a requirement, as my phone is my alarm clock on my nightstand.

ps- I just tried the Netflix app, and it works flawlessly, even over 3G. That's going to be awesome. Took Netflix long enough there.