yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Captivate General] Mac11700:
Actually...the people at the warranty distribution center already knew all about the shut down issue...cause I printed off on what was here and took it to the corporate store.The store rep read them the IMEI numbers and exactly what was printed...He checked his stock for one of the good ones...they were completely out...The store manager was completely aware of it...and when he ok'd the store rep to call AT&T he said he was well aware of it... I was given the ok to drive over to the regional repair center and pick up my replacement by AT&T warranty replacement division....or could have it shipped..I choose to drive and was rewarded with the 1010 build that is still in the same IMEI number..They knew there about the bulletin..but had no 1011 builds or 1012 builds to give me...I got it home and found this one still had the drives reversed and also was in the range of replacement So..I took it back to the corporate office and explained my issues...They understood and called the warranty repair/replacement division and filled them in. I left the store and called them when I got home..explained everything again on what happened and what the issues on this replacement phone had..and was issued a new phone, and a follow up teleconference call for next week...I should have the phone Wednesday-Thursday..but with the holidays...?

Now...do I really give a rats behind if AT&T has it posted on their site...or if Samsung has it posted...just so a few individuals can rationalize that this issue is being addressed and is well know...and what is posted here is for real...nope... Am I a little ticked off about how it is getting straightened out...Yup... It seems to me that unless something is leaked unofficially for the repair of these phones it doesn't happen like it should..but I am not going to argue about it.Others here have gotten their phones replaced..just as I did...so guess what...to me that makes it official...back door...certainly... but never the less still official...since they all said to me they knew about it already.

Mac
[Captivate General] ischaffer:
Who are "they"?

Who said? Some guy with a post that looks official? Let's see the bulletin?
[Captivate General] mikegy2002:
Picking up replacement tomorrow at Coon Rapids service center. Refurbished or not those phones look fine to me. Explained random shut downs. Asked when phone purchased, what imei no. Was told come in and we will exchange.Told exchange should be later build.
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
If this is an internal bulletin, I don't expect an AT&T or Samsung employee to print the bulletin, scan it, and upload it anywhere. If you don't want to believe it, then don't believe it.
[Captivate General] Brad2021hk:
When I was at the repair center, I heard one of the techs reading part of the bulletin to another tech. The excerpt I heard them read was word-for-word the same as what was posted here.
[Captivate General] Sqdnguns:
Someday this will be on the History Channel's "History's Mysteries"........ :p
[Captivate General] ardyer:
Yea, and when I was on the phone with the warranty support, the lady basically read it word-for-word to me. I'd wager this is an internal memo, not intended for us to see...especially since they were very interested in what website I found out about this on.
[Captivate General] cleanshot:
Well this is my first post and I fiugred I would chime in on this. I had been having the shut down problem for about 3 months now on my Cappy. At first it was just every once in a while but this weekend it started happening about every 3-4 hours. I went back to the AT&T store that I got it from and they basically told me that they wouldn't do anything about it and a replacement was going to cost me $150 to do an insurance claim. After that I went to another bigger AT&T store and told them the problem and what the other store had told me and thhe way they treated me. I was told that even if it says AT&T on the front of the store they are not all what they told me are corperate stores. Some are owned by individuals and put the AT&T name on the front of the store. Well after all that nice bit of information they started looking into when I bought the phone and what needed to be done to fix my problem. I had 2 options. Option #1 was a warranty replacement and wait 2-3 days for a replacment. Option #2 was drive 10 miles to the warranty center in my area and get a replacement. I opted for #2. I was in and out in about 15 minutes with no questions asked.

Now here is the part that gets interesting. While I was waiting I decided to ask some questions about this shut down issue on the Captivate. The tech told me that they have replaced close to 100 phones in the past 2 weeks because of this issue. He was also nice enough to show me the "phantom" internal memo that some are calling "B.S." on. They issued it because there was a known hardware programing issue causing the phone to shut off for no reason what so ever.
[Captivate General] gfanikf:
I've been having this problem with random shut downs myself, but I'm outside the range. An Imei ending in above 8000 and the Baseband version being CJH7.

Any idea what is wrong and what can I do? I got the phone via Amazon Wireless and it's past the initital 30 days.
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
It doesn't really matter - just call AT&T, tell them what's going on, and you'll probably have a replacement on your doorstep in 2 days.
[Captivate General] gfanikf:
I have to unroot my phone first. I assume it wouldn't be a good idea to end in a phone that is rooted. When I installed drives for the rooting process (Samsung's own drives) I wonder if I installed an upgrade and the previous version was within the range.

What number should I call and what do I actually tell them?

EDIT: I unrooted my phone, but it still has the superuser icon on it. Does this effect my ability to get it switched?
[Captivate General] ironmountain:
'tis legit.

I spoke with 6 people today at att because they kept shuffling me around and finally got to a woman who was speaking to her supervisor who then called his supervisor to discuss it and said they'd call back at 4. 4 came and went and no phone call.

I called ATT and spoke with their Android dept. and spoke with Mr. Larson who was not aware of the memo. He then asked his supervisor and came back and confirmed that it was a memo and bam insta-phone swap.
[Captivate General] kreegaa:
hey all..

i have the random shutdown issue as well. but am not with att anymore! so what do i do to get a replacement? any ideas?
[Captivate General] xeni:
So i called ATT last night regarding the random shutdown issues with my captivate and as soon as I read the IMEI and my SKU # to the tech he told me that there is a bad batch of captivates and that mine qualifies for a replacement. I didn't even have to mention this memo and he gave me 2 options just like others have gotten. Pick up at local repair shop or have it shipped. I chose the latter since it's 35 minutes away and the northeast just got snowed in.
[Captivate General] kdwolf85:
I just got off the phone with the warranty center. I will have a new (to me) Captivate in about 2 business days. When I do get it I'll take pictures of both my old and new Captivates for comparison as to what the differences are. I will not attempt a tear down as I'm sure some would like to see if there are new/updated innards.
[Captivate General] iamamp3pimp:
no

warranties are not Transferrable.
[Captivate General] NinjaCoder:
I bought my phone from Amazon Wireless. The people at AT&T didn't seem to care where I got my phone just that It was less than 1 year old (samsung warranty) and that I pay AT&T for service.

I went to 1 AT&T center and they gave me a referral form to go to the other AT&T store with 2 guys that fix hardware and they gave us a new one...

They seemed to be pretty familiar with blogs/forums (almost annoyed by them) but it was extremely easy to get a new phone there by just stating the symptoms of it shutting off several times a day in my pocket.

I would encourage you to backup your contacts/calendar/photos/videos before going there. They have some little tool that migrates that data (not apps or saved games) across but it takes forever to run so do it yourself.
[Captivate General] chasesavestheday:
i also bought my phone used on craigslist. called the 1-800 warranty number and got it replaced. they never once asked if i was the original purchaser. they confirmed that my 1 year warranty was good through sept 11. i was pumped.
[Captivate General] LBCaptivate:
I went into an AT&T store yesterday and told them I had tried a reset of the phone, new battery under warranty and that I went to a service center that said they were aware of the problem but that a refurbished phone may not fix the problem. I had even call Samsung and was told to send my phone in and get a loaner from AT&T. I told the AT&T rep at the store that I did not want a refurbished phone. He then went into the back of the store for about 10 minutes. He then came out with a brand new phone still in the sealed box. I was told that they usually do not do this. I opened the phone and it has a build date of 1012. Now it is a wait and see if they fixed the shut down issue. On my first phone it did not start until about 3 months after I got it.

I forgot to mention I also gave him a copy of the shut down press release, which he took to the back. WHen he came out he said the release was B.S, yet they gave me a new phone.
[Captivate General] Unknownman:
I would have to say that I am very pleased at the service I received from AT&T on this matter. Glad to see they appreciate their customers.
[Captivate General] skullvet:
The memo is not BS, if they say that they are lying. I just got off the phone with Enterprise Advanced support and it is a known issue. The IMEI range is real. She said that she had to include the issue number in my case to ensure that I do not get a phone that falls into the known IMEI range as a replacement.

If your phone is doing this, call warranty exchange and demand that they research whether this is a known issue. If they do not add it to your case, then you are likely to get a phone that could potentially have the issue as your replacement.

This makes it pretty obvious that it is a hardware issue and not a software issue. I wish Engadget or Gizmodo would pick up on this. The manager at an ATT store that I spoke with said that ATT doesn't admit these things or make a big deal about it till the media picks up on it. He said that Engadget or Gizmodo running a story on it would bring attention.
[Captivate General] samven582:
I went into an AT$T warranty center located in Islandia, New York. I told them that my Samsung Captivate was randomly shutting itself off and I want it replaced. Unfortunately they only offered me was a replacement battery which I kindly refuse. I explain to them that the battery has nothing to do with this problem but they refuse to believe me. Right there and then I called AT&T warranty support explain, my problem and they are sending me a replacement phone. They sad part of this story is AT$T has not acknowledge this problem. As soon I get my replacement phone its going on ebay and I am switching to T mobile for the G2. Enough is enough, I am done with of this Phone and AT$T.
[Captivate General] agentfusion:
I was just browsing around to see if this was a phone problem or a rom problem.... my IMEI is in the range. I guess its off to the replacement center for me after I unroot

°Sent from my Samsung Captivate° •roDroid ROM•
[Captivate General] ironmountain:
Also, since mine was a refurb unit, it only has 90 day warranty. The woman who was supposed to call me back, called me back this morning. She said that now that it's taken care of, my account is flagged as having had this issue and if I have this issue at a further time, even out of warranty, they'll be able to see the flag on my account and take care of it for me...

Had to make sure I got her name etc...don't want to end up in a sinkhole if it ever comes to that.
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
If you are an AT&T customer, your warranty period is until the day you originally purchased the phone. This will be my third replacement, and my warranty is until August 2011. If your original warranty has less than 90 days left on it, then you have a 90 day warranty.
[Captivate General] buddy17:
subbing....thanks
[Captivate General] the1star4u:
per at&t senoir supervisor...

well new to xda receiving my captivate tomorrow (thanx fedex) have had htc aria, xperia x10 and now onto captivate... had reserves about ordering this phone from reading various posts on here so I ordered aria, good little phone but it was little had it 3 weeks and exchanged for x10, had x10 for 3 hours and reboxed it mailing tomorrow (terrible phone) so I inquired about the captivates issues that I had read about and finally got a verified answer and I quote " At&t and Samsung are away of the problem and will exchange the captivate for a new one at any corporate store or thru cust. service." the rep informed also informed me to NOT go thru Warranty Dept. because all they issue is Refurbs. go thru cust. service or corp. store. Hope this was helpful for a first post. thought I would share the info, btw this at&t policy was issued as of dec. 20th. cant wait for my captivate! :)
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
I talked to the warranty department today and was told that the affected phones have been removed from circulation and won't be issued as a replacement. So you can go through the warranty department and not worry about getting a bad phone. I'll have mine in a few days so I guess I'll know for sure.

Also, customer service can't issue a replacement after 30 days - they'll transfer you to the warranty department anyway.
[Captivate General] Ethere:
I just got off the phone with AT&T, explained the difficulties with the random shutdowns, and I'll be heading to the AT&T store in Harrisburg PA to get my replacement phone. Easy peasy. They did say they hadn't heard of this press release, but regardless, they are going to replace my phone.
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
Amazing how some of the AT&T customer reps have the bulletin and others don't. The guy I talked to this afternoon read parts of the bulletin to me, verbatim from the OP. The first warranty rep I talked to had no clue, but when I called back later that one was briefed about the issue. Gotta love the "training" and "roll-calls" done at AT&T!
[Captivate General] delugeofspam:
Ah, sweet, goodbye microscopic scratch on right side of screen, hello replacement phone.
[Captivate General] didadi:
- Same here,I need the 1800 - number please..Can u pls send me the number?

PM me if possible thank you
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
The Samsung customer care department (warranty) is 1-888-987-HELP (4357). The AT&T warranty department number is 1-800-801-1101.
[Captivate General] psloan:
so i went the att warranty dept phone call method. replacement phone arrived today. the replacement referb is older then my original phone. Just finished loading all the essentials and charging it up to test for shutdowns. So ATT is still sending out old phones as referbs.

orig 351863045xxxx13 10/04/2010

referb 351863044xxxx16 09/21/2010
[Captivate General] Ethere:
This is one reason I chose to actually go into the store. I'll be making sure that the IMEI number is higher before I walk out that door.
[Captivate General] crupp:
First call, no luck with CSR, sent me to warranty and warranty wanted to issue a refurb. said no.

Called back, CSR guy said HE SAW the memo dated 12/20, contacted my local store...Brand spanking new captivate...Now to root right away or see if we get the 2.2 update soon.

**EDIT- refurb just showed up at my house*** sending straight back, older than brand new from store.
[Captivate General] wallrat:
Free battery...

I called the warranty center and they stated it was probably a power issue. They're sending me a new battery, "to go through all options first". It's a new battery with no shipping. I don't have to send my old one back. If it still doesn't fix the issue they'll issue a new phone. I guess I get a new battery out of it at least. :)
[Captivate General] smeltn:
So I just called AT&T Customer Service, told the lady what was going on, told her about the press release, she looked it up and said, no problem whats your IMEI #? Gave it to her she said no problem, I will send you a replacement out today.

I asked her if it was a refurb and she said "Yes sir, all we have here at the Warranty department is reconditioned phones" so I asked her if I could pick one up locally and she told me if I had a service center near me that sure I could go there and pick one up, which come to find out I do not.. So I told her no thanks.

I don't want a 2nd hand phone, when I bought this one brand new. I want another new phone, especially since its Samsungs fault.

I may swing by my local AT&T store today to see if they can swap it out with a new one.
[Captivate General] samven582:
I just got my refurb from att today and the ime address is lower than 5394. What do you guys think I should do? Should I call for another replacement?
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
Call customer support, tell them you got another phone in the bad IMEI range, and tell them you are returning it and want them to call your local store and arrange for a new phone. That's what I'm going to do if my replacement is bad.
[Captivate General] samven582:
Thanks. Should I print out a copy of the shut down press release posted by the op?
[Captivate General] kegobeer:
If it helps you while you're making the call. Otherwise there's no need.
[Captivate General] Richy_T:
Called the Warranty line...

New/refurbished phone is on the way.

She said that it was a known issue but said more than once that it was a software issue (I'm not convinced. If it were, surely it would be easier to send out updates than replacement phones).

WRT The warranty, she said that it was 90 days or a year from the original date of purchase, whichever was the longer so no need to be worrying there.

Whole process was very easy other than having to answer some somewhat irrelevant questions about chargers and batteries.
[Captivate General] alphadog00:
What is the first 4 of the IMEI....
[Captivate General] JohnnyDanger:
I got the same reply that wallrat did. I was told they need try a new battery first. Fine with me since I will just get a free battery out of it.
[Captivate General] Sqdnguns:
Probably a refurb as well...........
[Captivate General] epoplive:
I think you need to learn to read.:D
[Captivate General] samven582:
the last four of my ime # is 3158
[Captivate General] mark_20:
Well today I received an empty box from AT&T Warranty Repair, I guess they forgot to put the phone in......

Actually, it looks like the tape is damaged at one end. So it was either stolen or accidentally opened during shipping. They are overnighting another phone to me.
[Captivate General] Dynablue:
ATT warranty does not have new phones to replace with nor have the affected phones been removed from service. It also pays to have a copy of the memo or at least strongly nudge them towards looking it up. At first they refused to believe that such a memo existed ("if there was such a memo we'd know about it first, sir") but the floor supervisor did a little checking on their computer, called over the associate working with me, had him read something and all of a sudden things went much smoother.

I went to replace our two captivates today (Both build 1009, mine was already a refurb replacement due to shutdowns..) and was given two 1008s for replacement. I challenged the logic of replacing a known bad batch of phones with another known bad batch of phones and was told that warranty centers (or device support centers) don't control what phones they have, Samsung does. They also told me that I would have to contact Samsung if I wanted a brand new replacement handset. Within 3 hours I was back at the service center because my replacement phone had a problem holding service connections (no bars, just a null icon) and then it shut down.

Warranty center called another one about 15 miles away and they at least had a 1009 phone so we drove up there. The manager was very polite and listened to my tale of woe about being on my fourth captivate but her story was lockstep with the prior center: they don't have any newer phones to give out. Since the warranty center was attached to a retail store I asked her if she could please talk to the retail managers and explain my problem and she did agree to that. Against all my expectations they came back, apologized profusely for the phone performance and retail side issued me a brand new outta the box 1012 build phone. Wow!

And just as I was finishing up with my phone..poof, my wife's phone had shutdown in her pocket. Went right back next door and she got the 1009 phone. We'll see how that goes. Good thing that the random shutdown problem is isolated to just a small group of people...only Captivate owners!
[Captivate General] raruhs:
Hi all,

I called Samsung 2 days ago telling then that I have the shutdown issue and they want me to send the phone to them. They told me that want to check phone and i have to send also charger, battery without batt cover. They also told me that they will send me the shipping sticker to print via email. So far I have not receive anything.

After reading the posting here seems now I am going to try at&t to see what happens.

I feel really frustrated that all of them ( Samsung & at&t) do not take resposability for selling a defective device. We have to find the way to make this hapens. We have to make more "noise" to catch the attention.

Thanks to all of you that have reported issues. By doing these we are creating the needed push.
[Captivate General] samven582:
what kind of memo does AT&T have?
[Captivate General] BFMoon:
This is not a press release, it is an internal notice that all reps may not have read if they have not received a call about this issue. The bolded section is the article id, especially the numbers. These are not sent out to every rep, but they are available for reps to read. This is official, I used to work in at&t customer service so I know what I am reading is real. Tell them to look in the Dilog (aka device issue log). Also give them the article id, and they can look it up that way.
[Captivate General] accinfo:
Does att store actually check where you've made the purhcase to verify if you've purchase from the exact same store where you're going to return the phone?
[Captivate General] LBCaptivate:
I went into an AT&T store 2 days ago and told them I had tried a reset of the phone, new battery under warranty and that I went to a service center that said they were aware of the problem but that a refurbished phone may not fix the problem. I had even call Samsung and was told to send my phone in and get a loaner from AT&T. I told the AT&T rep at the store that I did not want a refurbished phone. He then went into the back of the store for about 10 minutes. He then came out with a brand new phone still in the sealed box. I was told that they usually do not do this. I opened the phone and it has a build date of 1012. Now it is a wait and see if they fixed the shut down issue. On my first phone it did not start until about 3 months after I got it.

I forgot to mention I also gave him a copy of the shut down press release, which he took to the back. When he came out he said the release was B.S, yet they gave me a new phone.

Up time 49 hours.
[Captivate General] leo5111:
im confused is it only the last 4 of the imei that matter? they list this imei 352982040855394 but say only last 4 matter but my first 4 are 3518 my last 4 are 8856 so is my imei safe? thanks