V180 Motorola Help

Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are
beyond the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the
contract for 2 more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them
$100 and they will give me something that will work. My questions are:

1 - Anyplace that repairs these things (Chicago area)
2 - Any Internet source for buying at a better price and, if so, what do
I need to find out in order for the thing to work.

Thanks all for the help!

John Park

---

› See More: V180 Motorola Help

Nobody will fix your old phones... they are throw away items. Tons of
unlocked V180s are selling on Ebay for around $70 via the Buy It Now
feature. Just transfer the Cingular SIM card from the old phone into the new
one and you're good to go. You might dig deeper into what Cingular is
offering you for $100. Might be better than the V180.

"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are beyond
> the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract for 2
> more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and they
> will give me something that will work.

ditinsta wrote:
> Nobody will fix your old phones... they are throw away items. Tons of
> unlocked V180s are selling on Ebay for around $70 via the Buy It Now
> feature. Just transfer the Cingular SIM card from the old phone into the new
> one and you're good to go. You might dig deeper into what Cingular is
> offering you for $100. Might be better than the V180.
>
> "John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>>Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are beyond
>>the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract for 2
>>more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and they
>>will give me something that will work.
>
>
>
Yeah, She checked and when the looked at the account she found that we
were originally set up as AT&T. Says the Cingular phone (Nokia) won't
work and gave her some 800 number to try.

Call Motorola. It was a known design defect. They changed the design a
little in mid model year to fix it. Perhaps they may go the extra mile and
cover it.

Fred

"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ditinsta wrote:
>> Nobody will fix your old phones... they are throw away items. Tons of
>> unlocked V180s are selling on Ebay for around $70 via the Buy It Now
>> feature. Just transfer the Cingular SIM card from the old phone into the
>> new one and you're good to go. You might dig deeper into what Cingular is
>> offering you for $100. Might be better than the V180.
>>
>> "John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
>>>Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are
>>>beyond the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract
>>>for 2 more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and
>>>they will give me something that will work.
>>
>>
>>
> Yeah, She checked and when the looked at the account she found that we
> were originally set up as AT&T. Says the Cingular phone (Nokia) won't
> work and gave her some 800 number to try.

Fred wrote:
> Call Motorola. It was a known design defect. They changed the design a
> little in mid model year to fix it. Perhaps they may go the extra mile and
> cover it.
>
> Fred
>
> "John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>ditinsta wrote:
>>
>>>Nobody will fix your old phones... they are throw away items. Tons of
>>>unlocked V180s are selling on Ebay for around $70 via the Buy It Now
>>>feature. Just transfer the Cingular SIM card from the old phone into the
>>>new one and you're good to go. You might dig deeper into what Cingular is
>>>offering you for $100. Might be better than the V180.
>>>
>>>"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are
>>>>beyond the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract
>>>>for 2 more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and
>>>>they will give me something that will work.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>Yeah, She checked and when the looked at the account she found that we
>>were originally set up as AT&T. Says the Cingular phone (Nokia) won't
>>work and gave her some 800 number to try.
>
>
>
I'll have my daughter give it a try . . . I also asked her to find out
what the buy out fee would be on the rest of the contract. Might be
cheaper to buy it out than purchase two new phones.

"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are beyond
> the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract for 2
> more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and they
> will give me something that will work. My questions are:
>
> 1 - Anyplace that repairs these things (Chicago area)
> 2 - Any Internet source for buying at a better price and, if so, what do I
> need to find out in order for the thing to work.
>
> Thanks all for the help!
>

When Cingular took over SunCom here in the Virginia Beach area last yesr it
was the beginning of a nightmare for us.
First, we had just two months earlier after being with SunCom for years
decided it was time to get new phones and re-upped to get some high end
phones (4 of them as we were on the family plan) at a discount. 2 months
later, along comes Cingular.....

First, we are told that we would have to exchange our now only two month old
GSM phones for Cingular phones. Why I asked on two of them, you carry the
same model (thought they were not being offered to Suncom transferees on the
list of about 8 we had to choose from). Because they are locked and our SIMs
will not work in them.

So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them have
been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.
Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to replace as
they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are an
accessory". So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
warranty!

I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
products and does not stand behind them.

I know when my contract is up I will be dumping the phones and the carrier
for something new.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <TiWCf.80873$4l5.78670@dukeread05> on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:20 -0500, "PC
Medic" <[email protected]> wrote:

>So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them have
>been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
>weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.

That's extremely unlikely unless they are being abused in some way.

>Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to replace as
>they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are an
>accessory".

So buy a better charger on eBay for a fraction of the price. You aren't being
forced to buy them from Cingular.

>So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
>dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
>the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
>warranty!

That's paying retail, not bundled.

>I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
>products and does not stand behind them.

In fact Motorola makes very good phones and chargers.

>I know when my contract is up I will be dumping the phones and the carrier
>for something new.

The grass won't necessarily be greener.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

PC Medic wrote:

> So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them have
> been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
> weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.
> Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to replace as
> they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are an
> accessory". So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
> dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
> the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
> warranty!
>
> I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
> products and does not stand behind them.

The V180 is especially bad, but not all Motorola products are that bad.

I have a V180 on a prepaid GSM account, that I use for testing Cingular
coverage. It has been a problem phone from the start, it often powers up
with the screen all garbled, and requires removal and replacement of the
battery several times before it gets a good screen. After being on for a
few days, the screen often messes up again, requiring another removal
and replacement of the battery.

John Navas wrote:
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <TiWCf.80873$4l5.78670@dukeread05> on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:20 -0500, "PC
> Medic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them have
>>been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
>>weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.
>
>
> That's extremely unlikely unless they are being abused in some way.
>
>
>>Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to replace as
>>they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are an
>>accessory".
>
>
> So buy a better charger on eBay for a fraction of the price. You aren't being
> forced to buy them from Cingular.
>
>
>>So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
>>dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
>>the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
>>warranty!
>
>
> That's paying retail, not bundled.
>
>
>>I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
>>products and does not stand behind them.
>
>
> In fact Motorola makes very good phones and chargers.
>
>
>>I know when my contract is up I will be dumping the phones and the carrier
>>for something new.
>
>
> The grass won't necessarily be greener.
>
Hi John,

I've lurked on this newsgroup for a while and you seem to have a pretty
good grasp on the technology involved. I'm going to have my daughter
place the calls to Cingular - AT&T - Motorola to see if she can get any
help. Seems Motorola did a revision on the hardware about half year ago
or so to fix this acknowledged problem and we have 4 of the earlier
versions. Anyhow, if we get no help I would like to purchase an
unlocked phone that I can use with Cingular or Verizon or whoever if I
decide to change carriers after my contract is up at the end of this
year. I believe that I am set up with GSM now - not sure of the
channel, but I can call Cingular/AT&T and verify.

What do I need to know to make this possible and do you have any
recommendation to a supplier. I don't want to search for the cheapest
phone, I am willing to pay a little more for some qualified help.

I'm tired of collecting phones that are dedicated to only one supplier.

Thanks in advance for the help,

John Park

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <TiWCf.80873$4l5.78670@dukeread05> on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:20 -0500,
> "PC
> Medic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them
>>have
>>been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
>>weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.
>
> That's extremely unlikely unless they are being abused in some way.
>

I beg to difer with your assumption unless you consider hanging on a belt
clip in an office enviroment 'abuse'.
Not to mention this is a known issue with this model.

>>Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to replace as
>>they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are an
>>accessory".
>
> So buy a better charger on eBay for a fraction of the price. You aren't
> being
> forced to buy them from Cingular.
>

Actually I went out yesterday and got the replacements for half-that from a
local n-telos dealer.

>>So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
>>dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
>>the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
>>warranty!
>
> That's paying retail, not bundled.
>

It is still the same damn adapter and it still says motorola, we are not
talking some 3rd party freebie that is thrown in the box.
I work for a major (one of the worlds largest) computer peripheral
manufactures and if a device we manufacture comes with an AC Adapter and it
fails, it is covered under the same warranty.


>>I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
>>products and does not stand behind them.
>
> In fact Motorola makes very good phones and chargers.
>

That they do, 2 of our previous were Moto's, but the V180 is certainly not
one of them and though they recognize the problem, they do not offer to
replace them (as they should)

>>I know when my contract is up I will be dumping the phones and the carrier
>>for something new.
>
> The grass won't necessarily be greener.
>
> --

Well it certainly was under SunCom

ALL accessories that came in the box with the phone DO have a 1 year
warranty & Cingular will honor it. If someone in the store told you
otherwise he/she was mistaken (or worse).

Fred

"PC Medic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:TiWCf.80873$4l5.78670@dukeread05...
>
> "John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are
>> beyond the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the contract
>> for 2 more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100 and
>> they will give me something that will work. My questions are:
>>
>> 1 - Anyplace that repairs these things (Chicago area)
>> 2 - Any Internet source for buying at a better price and, if so, what do
>> I need to find out in order for the thing to work.
>>
>> Thanks all for the help!
>>
>
> When Cingular took over SunCom here in the Virginia Beach area last yesr
> it was the beginning of a nightmare for us.
> First, we had just two months earlier after being with SunCom for years
> decided it was time to get new phones and re-upped to get some high end
> phones (4 of them as we were on the family plan) at a discount. 2 months
> later, along comes Cingular.....
>
> First, we are told that we would have to exchange our now only two month
> old GSM phones for Cingular phones. Why I asked on two of them, you carry
> the same model (thought they were not being offered to Suncom transferees
> on the list of about 8 we had to choose from). Because they are locked and
> our SIMs will not work in them.
>
> So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them
> have been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just
> this weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to
> share. Got angry and went to local Cingular store which wants $30 to
> replace as they say they are not covered under warranty because "they are
> an accessory". So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions
> and 3 dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these
> chargers for the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes
> with a 3 year warranty!
>
> I say cut you loss and get another phone as obviously Motorola has crap
> products and does not stand behind them.
>
> I know when my contract is up I will be dumping the phones and the carrier
> for something new.
>
>
>

Have you added the $1.99 extended warranty to the account. This will
extend the 1 year manufactures warranty and cover such defects.
However I'm not sure if you will be able to do this since you might
have already contacted Cingular about the problem. If you just spoke
to someone locally at a store then you are probably ok but if you
called the 800 customer care it's most likely documented in the account
notes. If you add it it will cost $1.99 per month per phone that you
want to extend but after you get the replacement phone you can remove
the feature. Even if you kept the feature on it would still be cheaper
in the long run instead of renewing a contract or paying up to $100 per
phone. I've seen many of these come back to my store for inside broken
lcd screens and outside broken screens or just won't fire up. It's so
bad that someone has started a site about this issue.

http://www.brokenv180.com/

"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Fred wrote:
> > Call Motorola. It was a known design defect. They changed the design a
> > little in mid model year to fix it. Perhaps they may go the extra mile
and
> > cover it.
> >
> > Fred
> >
> > "John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> >>ditinsta wrote:
> >>
> >>>Nobody will fix your old phones... they are throw away items. Tons of
> >>>unlocked V180s are selling on Ebay for around $70 via the Buy It Now
> >>>feature. Just transfer the Cingular SIM card from the old phone into
the
> >>>new one and you're good to go. You might dig deeper into what Cingular
is
> >>>offering you for $100. Might be better than the V180.
> >>>
> >>>"John Park" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >>>news:[email protected]...
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Both of my daughters V180s have lost the screen function and we are
> >>>>beyond the 12 month warranty period. Cingular says to re-up the
contract
> >>>>for 2 more years for a free replacement (no way!) or give them $100
and
> >>>>they will give me something that will work.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>Yeah, She checked and when the looked at the account she found that we
> >>were originally set up as AT&T. Says the Cingular phone (Nokia) won't
> >>work and gave her some 800 number to try.
> >
> >
> >
> I'll have my daughter give it a try . . . I also asked her to find out
> what the buy out fee would be on the rest of the contract. Might be
> cheaper to buy it out than purchase two new phones.

buy an unlocked phone from ebay.
dont pay to sign a 2 year contract thats stupid.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Sun, 29 Jan 2006 09:01:42
-0600, John Park <[email protected]> wrote:

>... Anyhow, if we get no help I would like to purchase an
>unlocked phone that I can use with Cingular or Verizon or whoever if I
>decide to change carriers after my contract is up at the end of this
>year. I believe that I am set up with GSM now - not sure of the
>channel, but I can call Cingular/AT&T and verify.
>
>What do I need to know to make this possible and do you have any
>recommendation to a supplier. I don't want to search for the cheapest
>phone, I am willing to pay a little more for some qualified help.
>
>I'm tired of collecting phones that are dedicated to only one supplier.

You'll only be able to switch carriers using the same hardware with GSM, which
limits your carrier choices to Cingular and T-Mobile. You'll want *unlocked*
phones with support for both 850 and 1900 bands. There are many good choices,
including phones made by Nokia, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <bu7Df.81004$4l5.11826@dukeread05> on Sun, 29 Jan 2006 13:05:58 -0500, "PC
Medic" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> In <TiWCf.80873$4l5.78670@dukeread05> on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:20 -0500,
>> "PC
>> Medic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>So we foolishly ended up with 4 Moto V180's. In the past year 3 of them
>>>have
>>>been replaced for the screen going black (one of them twice) and just this
>>>weekend our third wall charger gave out leaving us with only one to share.
>>
>> That's extremely unlikely unless they are being abused in some way.
>
>I beg to difer with your assumption unless you consider hanging on a belt
>clip in an office enviroment 'abuse'.
>Not to mention this is a known issue with this model.

I was referring to the three wall chargers, but belt clips can subject phones
to considerable abuse.

>>>So 4 V180's of which we have needed service on 4 occasions and 3
>>>dead AC chargers. Motorola has also refused to replace these chargers for
>>>the same reasons, yet if I buy a new replacement it comes with a 3 year
>>>warranty!
>>
>> That's paying retail, not bundled.
>
>It is still the same damn adapter and it still says motorola, we are not
>talking some 3rd party freebie that is thrown in the box.

It's a Motorola freebie that is thrown in the box. If you want a better
warranty, buy one separately. While you're at it, get a good fast charger
instead of the cheap slow chargers that are thrown in the box.

>I work for a major (one of the worlds largest) computer peripheral
>manufactures and if a device we manufacture comes with an AC Adapter and it
>fails, it is covered under the same warranty.

Different companies have different policies.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>