yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Captivate General] uhmump95:
I talked to an AT&T rep last night and I think I am goinh to jack the upgrade on one of my kids' line and get the Inspire 4G. I got it for my wife and it was the bomb.

The rep told me the exception upgrade for the Inspire is 199.
[Captivate General] LiqudDeth:
I originally posted this in the Inspire 4g General forum:

_________________________________________________________________

I bought the Captivate day 1 in June after all the hype only to be disappointed like many users. I called AT&T customer service about an hour ago and was online with a rep within 10 minutes. I very calmly explained my issues with the Captivate (GPS, rebooting randomly) and asked to be given an early upgrade. Without so much as a question the rep told me he would approve it through his supervisor. It took me less than 30 minutes to have a full upgrade ready whenever I want to use it. That will be in about an hour when I go pick up the Inspire.

TL;DR: If you want to upgrade from your Captivate but stay with AT&T, it is trivially easy to get the full upgrade price.

_________________________________________________________________

Also, the OP says that the Inspire has a front-facing camera, but it does not. Just FYI.
[Captivate General] id10terrordfw:
I did it. Love it. Such a better out of the box experience.
[Captivate General] Aquarianperry:
IT doesn't? darn I thought it did, thanks for letting me know that's not a deal breaker though if I do somehow get one as a replacement :D
[Captivate General] Aquarianperry:
Actually, AT&T must have heard my cries and shook in their boots, 2.2 is oficially out LOL!
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
The Inspire doesn't but the Atrix 4G does!
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Has anyone actually been able to download it?
[Captivate General] gunnyman:
Just back from ATT store with my New Inspire.

I have only been a customer for 6 months so I didn't get as good a deal as some, but I did get a 150 dollar credit on my bill.

I called AT&T and calmly and nicely explained that I wasn't happy with the Cappy.

He was very helpful and got me the best thing he could do without me having to escalate to retention
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Wow congrats! I have been a customer for 14 years I wonder if I can do the same? I noticed the Inspire is way cheap on contract, I wonder if I would get a refund? It shows up as a upgrade for my other line for $69!
[Captivate General] Aquarianperry:
Dammit, and then they took the update down, AT&T/Samsung stop playing with our emotions!!!
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Ahhhhh are they going to pay my bill for having to see a shrink!

I hope Samsung isn't like this for TV's! I wanted to get one and was telling a friend too.
[Captivate General] Aquarianperry:
$69? Darn good price!
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Yea that line hasn't been upgraded in years and my account is premier.

Problem is I wouldn't want them to mess with the data plan as I use it for my netbook but the line is from a dumb phone so the data is $15 for unlimited!
[Captivate General] Battlehymn:
AT&T "premier" account holders actually get an upgrade every year ( I may have botched the name they use for the account type).

When you use the upgrade though you are in effect extending your contract by 1 year. So if my contract expired on this date in 2012 and I use an upgrade it would expire on this date in 2013 ... 2 years from the date of the upgrade.

Somehow my account is of this type, don't remember how I did it, I think I initially enrolled through a business account, back when it was still Cingular and the prominance of the iPhone hadn't brought the network to it's knees.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Hmm, my upgrade for my cappy says 12/2011 which is 1.5 years from when i bought it. Not bad though. Custom ROMS will get me to then. Then I can get a Quad-Core phone! They should be out about then. Can't wait! I really want a front-camera.

I got premier by entering my work email address which gets me 20% off my bill. It was back on Cingular though.
[Captivate General] Battlehymn:
They can in fact let you use the upgrade on your line for another phone ... they may give you some BS about corporate seeing the wrong kind of data plan on the line you are using the upgrade from, but it can be done ... I've done it myself.

Also, make sure they don't screw with your data plans, presuming you already have an unlimited data plan on your smartphone line ... keep your phone on, because as changes are made to your account you should be recieving text messages stating what the changes are.

Also, if you do have one of the old unlimited data plans on your smartphone line and they remove it don't let them tell you it can't be put back ... it requires them to make a phonecall and have an AT&T account manager put it back on. This happened to me, and the guy who did it nearly got choked out (and would have if my wife wasn't there) ... he decided to place the call.
[Captivate General] cchant:
I have a premeir account and upgraded to my Captivate in September and the website shows I am eligible for an upgrade now.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Really I lost my data plan when I got the cappy because I had MediaNet unlimited on my HTC Fuze.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Thats not fair! I upgraded on Launch day.
[Captivate General] cchant:
If the inspire had FFC I would be all over it. Since it doesn't I'll wait and see what else is coming
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
I agree, the cappy is the last phone I will buy without a FFC. The HTC Fuze was supposed to have it too. I would go for the Atrix if it doesn't have a locked bootloader and the webtop performance was better.
[Captivate General] cchant:
I've been eyeing the Atrix. If the boot loader can be unlocked then that is what I'll probably get. I wasn't impressed with the web top dock for how much it costs.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Read this first:

http://www.engadget.com/motorola/atrix-4g-review/

The webtop is kinda slow. I think the next revision of a phone like this with a quad core will be the one to get.
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
Im really tempted to call and see if I can trade my cappy in.....I really want the atrix but I have a feeling the bootloader will be locked. I think htc is the way to go for android....the build quality is top notch....sense is by far the best skin. And there the easiest to dev for
[Captivate General] cchant:
I've seen that. I heard rumor of HTC Revolver coming soon. We'll see
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Yeah I liked the HTC Fuze, some cool stuff.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
I will have to look for that, I heard of that yet. Is it the same idea?
[Captivate General] fatttire:
what do you mean, escalate to retention?
[Captivate General] gunnyman:
I mean sometimes if you call a company and threaten to leave them they will do more nice things for you.
[Captivate General] airbillion:
@Gunnyman

I am think of doing this today. Just a few questions for you though. Did they make you extend your contract? Did you call a store and get this done or did you call att wireless and have them contact a store for you to pick it up. Did you pay full retail?
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Yeah I called about being charged overage, when I should of had a bunch of roll over minutes and the guy removed the charge and gave me 3k minutes.
[Captivate General] gunnyman:
My contract was not extended. I started with 611 on my phone. I bought the phone in a retail store and paid retail, but it is my understanding that you can order one over the phone and get a discount off the top. I paid no activation fee either.

I have the $150 credit I received on my account
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
If you call they have more power than the stores. I would call first and then maybe pick up in the store. Either way AT&T ships overnight.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
I'm going to wait for the 'next gen' to come out. Probably upgrade around june or so.

Or just try my luck with a new phone. ATT has pages of notes on my account due to the Captivate. They even credited me back around $180 a month after I bought it and gave me the option if a new phone... I didn't want an iphone though.
[Captivate General] uhmump95:
I have been talking with Customer Service. The exception upgrade price for the Inspire is 199. That does not seem to bad to me ....
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
That it what I paid for the cappy. If waited could of got it for free, you might want to wait a bit.
[Captivate General] uhmump95:
I have to wait until April because I got my refurbed Captivate in October to qualify for exception upgrade. Hopefully the price will go down by then ......
[Captivate General] cchant:
Right now its rumor but its supposedly at&t version of the Pyramid. Hopefully HTC will announce something soon.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Hmm, this would of been the week to hear about it. Since its MWC week.
[Captivate General] cchant:
HTC didn't announce anything besides their "S" side lines and Facebook phones this week.
[Captivate General] Johnnie5000:
I just got off the phone with AT&T. After being placed on hold 5-6 times with retention, they offered me the Inspire for $75 with a new 2 year contract... Told them I would rather pay my ETF and switch to a different phone company...
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Haha, I wish I could switch but it would cost more than I pay now for 3 lines with data.
[Captivate General] shiftylock:
Today I called Microsoft and they swapped my year Zune pass for a 3 month one without any hassle at all.

If I can get M$ to swap products for me, anything is possible.

LET'S BUILD OUR OWN FROYO. >:D
[Captivate General] Evilspawn:
Hey guys,

Some know I work for at&t....and yes you are able to swap your phone after your 3rd Refurb, but only for another Refurb. So at moment the inspire won't be an option.(for now) by the time the attrix is out possibly in march, thats a different story. Or when they have Refurbs. Either or.
[Captivate General] Joey1.0:
Who came up with that marketing idea for verizon. It created a bunch people who call ever android device a "DROID" ffs.
[Captivate General] mesasone:
Meh, personally I'm waiting for the right (nice tegra 2) phone to show up on Verizon and jumping ship. HTC and Verizon separately have the best track records for providing updates to Android devices, so presumably an HTC phone on Verizon will be my best bet to buy a phone that's not abandoned after a few months.

To be fair, I can also just get added to my parent's family plan so my monthly bill would be about half of what it is now on AT&T since I'm primarily a data and light text user and don't need many minutes.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
I wish I could switch, but Verizon is pricey! I am going to wait for the Quad-Cores at the end of the year when I can upgrade.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
It drives be crazy when someone calls my phone a DROID. alskdjfalsdfjladsf Its not a DROID!!!!! I always correct them!
[Captivate General] Neathawk49:
Does anyone have any information about if I got my Captivate at best buy and have have their protection plan? I was actually planning on taking it in tomorrow due to a couple of issues. What are the odds of them switching to an Inspire?
[Captivate General] Battlehymn:
Probably nill ... they don't care which carrier you use, so they have no interest in seeing you continue service with AT&T (thus, the retention gambit won't sway them). You would probably be better served by dealing with AT&T directly.

If, however, your "protection plan" says that they will replace the phone with one of equal value then you may have have a leg to stand on ... won't hurt to try. Just be prepared to call AT&T if they won't do it.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
That's what I was thinking too. I haven't called ATT since Oct but this is my fourth phone. The only one that worked great was my first one, the one the JH7 OTA killed...

Last time I called they offered to ship me any new phone but there was nothing on par besides for the iphone...

I have pages of notes on my account, from no gps, shutdowns, jh7 bricking my phone... They said at the time if the phone acts up again just call back. I still have the manager's number of the phone replacement (?) Dept.

Question though Evil. Should I start to call now to voice my concerns so they have more documentation on the account or wait for refurb Inspires or Atrix to be in stock?
[Captivate General] Evilspawn:
You could do that....the first thing the techs do when they pull your account is check the notes on the account...so if theres alot of activity and prior history of issues, then you have a better chance.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
Thanks. I had quite a bit of issues with both the phone and some reps. I haven't called since october since I didn't want an iphone but the lack of support and answers with regard to this phone is ridiculous.

With options on ATT that actually work, I would never buy this phone over an Atrix or Inspire. Sadly, most of us had this as the only real Android option.

Edit: I must say though, after lurking in the Inspire section, rooting seems like a huge PITA... And I suspect the Atrix will be as well. At least samsung got one thing right, being easy to customize the phone...
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
Rooting the inspire isn't any different than any other htc phone....you have to make a gold card with an ext sd......its a process to learn just like anything we did on our cappys.....there are members on here that just don't get it still and rooting and flashing are about as easy as it gets with the galaxy s
[Captivate General] Superguy:
If you check thru Premier, 1 year contracts are still offered. It's web only though.

Aside from my last 2 which I bought outright, I've never signed a 2 year contract with AT&T/Cingular.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
That's true. Also it's so soon since release.

Just spoke with ATT. She claimed nothing can be done besides for purchasing another phone. Even though i'm not looking to swap phones now I wanted my complaint to be documented.

But after 4 captivates, offering to 'upgrade' me to a Blackjack..? And having to pay for it too?
[Captivate General] sarcasmo:
Anyone thinking about buying a Captivate (or any Samsung phone for that matter) should be pointed to this thread.
[Captivate General] Ethere:
My first Captivate also had the random shut down issues. I swapped it for a refurb, and really haven't had an issue with it at all since then. With custom roms, it feels almost like a new phone every time I flash one. The Inspire does look tempting though. My upgrade is in May of this year. I'm also a previous iPhone 4 user. I may wait to see what the iPhone 5 brings to the table this summer, then decide on what phone to use for my upgrade.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
Just spoke to the original Rep that helped me back in October about possibilty of swapping phones. She said to see if Froyo (apparently, will be released soon... sure :rolleyes:) fixes any issues (which it won't) but if not I would request an exchange to an Inspire or Atrix - although I highly doubt they will

She said she will follow-up in two weeks with me or I can contact her and see what 'my decision' is and we'll go from there.

We'll see what happens. I'm hoping this Froyo does fix the issues since I do like this phone, but the problems are just getting ridiculous. GPS can't track me at all - it just stays in the same place it locked on. The lag - even with Voodoo is getting very annoying. And it's always fun to set your alarm for work to realize your phone shutoff in the middle of the night with 85% battery remaining.
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
If your phone is shutting down its your fault for not exchanging it
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
Some of us have been through 4+ phones. Exchange for what? Another phone that shuts off (although mine doesn't have that issue so often - atleast now).

Some of these problems started a month or two after purchase. And there wasn't so many documented issues in July.
[Captivate General] Scott_S:
Now that's brilliant. What if it started shutting down after the initial 30 days passed?

What's the point of swapping it out for a refurbished phone, post-initial-30-days, that runs a fair chance of doing the same thing, quite possibly to a worse degree?

If the refurbs were CERTIFIED to be free of the known defects, it would be a different story. As it stands, the uncertainty gets compounded merely trying to get a working phone.

I'll put the blame on Samsung for allowing this issue to occur in the first place, not a customer who was under the impression s/he was getting a phone that functioned properly and as advertised.
[Captivate General] xiaoali:
I was just about to call in today to exchange my phone for random shutdowns...

Then like a idiot, I dropped my phone and cracked the glass. Am I pretty much stuck now?
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
Yes return your phone for another one.....that's what I did....I got lucky after my third try. I finally have a cappy that does what its supposed to minus the gps....well the gps always locks just doesn't always track. But no more random shutdowns. So I would say it was brilliant....glad u agree. I was well out of my thirty days when I returned it....my refurbished phone is way better then the new one I bought on launch.
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
Not all of us want to go through countless returns for refurb phones. Usually when I spend money on a product, it should work. I could understand one lemon every now and then, but not 4 in a row. Add to that, 5 from another another member, 3 from another and so on.

This isn't the case of a lemon in the batch. This is the case of a batch of lemons.
[Captivate General] Johnnie5000:
Yeah. Didn't say I was going to pay the etf anytime soon. Maybe in the summer or fall. I'll hold out with the pos and all the custom roms I can find until I can't stand it anymore.
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
I agree it should work....but to spend 30 min on the phone to have a chance of getting a working unit is worth it in my book.....its more stressful to have one that doesn't work....am I right....
[Captivate General] Bust it:
Ok so the bottom buttons on my captivate suck next to the evo's bottom buttons however I don't get the random shut downs, so I guess I have to suck it up and live with button issue rather than get stuck with one that shuts down randomly. The Captivate works great except for the stinking bottom buttons. I really like the evo's that I have played with but sprint service sucks out here.
[Captivate General] Neathawk49:
I took my Cappy in today to BB for a number of issues and they shipped it off to fix it... somehow? I'm assuming since the GPS hardly works that they will "put a new gps chip in it" (haha yeah right) and also magically fix the random shut downs and what not. But what upset me the most is that they gave a a loaner phone for the 2 weeks that my phone will be getting fixed for.. Its some crappy Pantech laser...? That's like taking a Mercedes into the shop and them giving you a Kia in return for two weeks. Looks like I'll be using my iPhone for 2 weeks now

Missing Swype already :(
[Captivate General] krazyphire:
The new inspire 4G is a rebadged DesireHD which is basically a smaller evo. You could always consider that
[Captivate General] Smallsmx3:
Inspire= 4.3 in screen

Evo 4g= 4.3 in screen

roughly the same size phone
[Captivate General] freekquency:
wow-

So this must be why the captivate is now $50 dollars at Target with a 2y.a..

I mentioned this in another post but this is more on topic. After 6 years with ATT (formerly cingular client) and having a buisness account w/ 18% off service blah, blah... I almost fell over after paying $150 for my cap. only to walk into to target and see it for $50.

I had to call to change my phone numbers for the 3x (2 lines = 5 number changes in total) - hours after turning on these numbers too many text spams, and bill collector calls from the last bafoons that had the numbers) ...

I mention this because when dealing with ATT in the past i have learned its all about multiple phonecalls, making sure they make lots of notes on y our account so the next moe-ron can help you better, and LEVERAGE.

They credited my account promptly with the $100 difference, and let me know that this special is available but you must CALL in to get it if you are on the website and its not showing. (if that helps anyone)

Sad to see all the bad phones that got shipped, im so far real happy with the phone, and have another one ordered for the wifey.

I havent read up totally on everything for the cap yet mine is just shipped 2 weeks ago this is what is says on info.

firmware 2.1-update1

kernal 2.6.79 (jetaek.lee@sep-11#2)

build eclair.ucjh7

Maybe they patched some stuff due to some of the issues mentioned here? (i know keep dreamin')
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
^

That was the jh7 update in september - that OTA update (that bricked my first Captivate).
[Captivate General] gunnyman:
The evo is thicker and heavier but screen size is the same.
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
You could add insurance and they might do a test call. If that works, then just wait a bit and make a claim.
[Captivate General] xiaoali:
I had already called in and said i had dropped the phone. So i think they have it on record. Looks like Im stuck with this... The first phone I've ever had so many problems to even begin with.

Loved android though..
[Captivate General] wgarrido:
Might be worth a try though. Might be surprised.
[Captivate General] rileyh1278:
Amazes me how every Captivate message board you go to has a very active board pertaining to issues with the Captivate. GPS, shutdowns, bricks, etc. Yet when I call into AT&T tech support, even with the Android specialist today, he'd only heard of any issues with the Captivate "once or twice other than this".

Called Samsung and they treated me like this was the first time they'd ever heard of any problems with the Captivate.

Maybe I'm just unlucky and the refurb unit I'm getting will be a better experience, but for those of you who are lucky enough to trade up/upgrade into another phone, maybe you can tell us still fighting which dept/people you talked to, how you went about it/what you said to get them to agree to letting you out of the Captivate.

At this point, I'm on the warranty exchange train, but I want to be able to take advantage of any opportunity to switch this one out for something else as soon as I can.

Thx!
[Captivate General] Pierce533:
You could try sending a complaint To Ralph de la Vega (CEO of AT&T mobile services) Ralph.delaVega@att.com and go from there. He will not see the email, but his assistant will happily forward it off to the appropriate people. You will need to send a respectful, but firm email stating the facts of your issue and how dissatisfied you are that after x number of phones your issue still hasn't been resolved.

You will also need to include your account number and contact information in the email.

I sent an email with a complaint that our Cappys don't have the 2.2 and within a matter of two hours I was getting a phone call from an AT&T exec. She offered me a new phone at their cost. I thanked her for the offer and left it at that. I am sure if I had pressed really hard I would have gotten a replacement for free, but I like my phone and don't want to swap it out at this time. In a 17 months I am going to get a new 4G phone with a new carrier. AT&T can bite their own weenie off as far as I am concerned.
[Captivate General] rileyh1278:
Ouch... :)

Up until recently I've been dealing with some of the issues thinking they were just idiosyncrasies and minor glitches on the phone. Phone turned off a few times, so I just turned it back on. Didn't happen often enough to make it a big issue for me. GPS has always been an issue, but I finally got sick of it enough to complain today. So, my account isn't exactly chock full of notes/complaints, but despite the lack of account notation, the phone still sucks.

When you wrote that email, did you have the notes on acct to prod them into offering you the replacement? Or was it simply because you emailed that they offered it?

Thx!