6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
fdschaeffer
Newbie

So I have been fighting a signal issue with my GS4 for 6 months now with Verizon and Asurion and am at my wits end. This is clearly an issue that other people are having, so I'm not sure why Verizon has not made an attempt to fix it. Some notes about my experience:

1. I have had the phone replaced 3 times and am waiting for the 4th replacement. So far, all of the phones have performed exactly the same.

2. I have replaced the sim card 3 times and am waiting for the 4th. So far, all of the cards have produced the same problem.

3. I have run the phone in safe mode, factory reset, without apps, without the data card, and have experienced the same problem.

4. I have experienced the problem in multiple cities and states.

5. I have another line on my account that is *not* a GS4 and it has no problems at all.

It's very easy to see from this that the problem is specific to the phone and Verizon. But thus far, all Verizon has done is blame it on the device and send me to Asurion. Convenient for them, Asurion blames it on the network and sends me another phone only to waste my time and repeat the process.

I have wasted literally days of my life on the phone/online/in stores trying to get Verizon to provide the service I AM PAYING FOR. I have talked to more people than I can keep track of, documented my issues constantly, and am met with nothing except an attitude of "sorry we sold you a bad phone, the only solution is for you to buy another one!".

My question is this: is there anyone at Verizon who is capable of producing an actual solution to this problem, or do I need to change carriers? 

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Hello fdschaeffer!

I'm so sorry to learn of the issue you have had with your Galaxy s4. You mentioned that you have tried many different SIM cards, and other troubleshooting steps, and I thank you for trying! I know your time is valuable, so I really appreciate that.
Please provide me some details as to what you are experiencing with your device.
When receiving your replacements, did you download all of the same apps as the previous devices? Have you completed master resets on these devices?

I'm sure that we can get to the bottom of this!

Thanks,

ChristinaB_VZW
VZW Support
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
fdschaeffer
Newbie

Please see item #3 on the above list re: apps/safe mode/resets/factory restores.

Forgive me for being pessimistic, but at least 10 people have said "we will solve this issue" over the last 6 months and no one has actually solved it.

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
tbo27
Master - Level 2

sell it 3rd party then buy another phone like the 1 that works on your account already? what is the other 1 basic or something

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader

fdschaeffer wrote:

.... at least 10 people have said "we will solve this issue" over the last 6 months and no one has actually solved it.

What exactly is the "issue"?  You said in your initial post you've been fighting a "signal issue" - is it no signal?  3G instead of 4G?  Intermittent signal?  Low bars?  Is it wifi or cellular signal?  Is there a case or protective cover that may be interfering with a signal?

Check to see that LTE/CDMA is selected as the preferred network  - not GLOBAL or GSM.

Without more information on what the "issue" is, it's hard for users here to give helpful advice. 

Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
B33
Legend

This is what I'd suggest as well I think a phone Does way better using LTE / CDMA than using Global I could see a 1 to 2 bar difference when I changed to this setting on my one m8.. 

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
fdschaeffer
Newbie

The phone drops data signal, either to 3g, 1x, or completely gone. This happens in all areas and randomly, and sometimes reconnect automatically. Other times it requires a restart/airplane mode flipped on and off to reset the signal.

I've been through hours and hours of troubleshooting at this point, with no change in behavior.

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
fdschaeffer
Newbie

I've tried it on both and it hasn't had a noticeable impact for me.

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Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
stef7
Master - Level 2

What happens if you remove the battery for a few minutes? Do you get reliable 4G service for a while after booting back up?

This issue seems to be happening to a range of Samsung devices, almost as if there is some incompatibility between the KK software and some lower level device driver software that interfaces with the radio HW, or slight differences in radio hardware (and I'm not talking antennas, but rather the chips that are used).

I mean, people are also complaining of BT and WiFi stability problems for heavens sake.


What would make devices that had excellent reception / performance all of a sudden exhibit this sort of behavior after the update?

If it were me, I'd be pushing on Samsung for a fix.

I don't discount that some S3, S4, S5 people aren't having problems. If that is the case, one would think, there are low-level HW differences, or perhaps even phones with different low-level software layer differences where there is better compatibility with KK, than for other combos.

What I'm saying is, it's possible, because of where devices are manufactured, and how HW is "lotted", all S3s, as all S4s, as all S5s are not necessarily equivalent at lower levels.

It's just a theory...

Re: 6 months of bad service, no help, and the run around
fdschaeffer
Newbie

I haven't noticed anything when the phone powers up, but I don't power it up very often so I do not have a suitable sample size. Just this morning, however, when I had just finished activating a brand new replacement (phone had been on for maybe 5 minutes), it did drop data down to 1x briefly. It returned to 5 bars of 4g a few seconds later, though.

I would not be surprised at all if this is a Samsung issue, however after contacting them they have blamed it on the Verizon network. Additionally, they want to take my phone and look at it but do not provide a loaner. Verizon has refused requests for a loaner while Samsung looks at the s4 as well.

Considering that I've had 5 in a row perform this way, I feel that Samsung should be able to just pull one off the line and find out if there's an issue.

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