Cell Phone Strangeness

[TromboneAl]

My cell phone that went through the wash (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/tracfone-gets-laundered-51533.html) has been working fine until recently.

Now if it take it anywhere, whether in car or on bike, it goes dead and won't start up. When I bring it home, and plug it into the charger for only 10 seconds, then it will start up, work fine, and show a battery full indicator.

If I just have it around the house, even if I put it in my pocket, jostle it, etc, it keeps working for days.

I've done each of these things three times.

I could get a new battery for $11, but I guess it would be smarter to get a new phone for $20.

 

[REWahoo]

I could get a new battery for $11, but I guess it would be smarter to get a new phone for $20.

You need to do a poll.

 

[youbet]

You need to do a poll.

+1

There haven't been enough polls lately. This is a perfect opportunity.

TAl please prep us with some further info. What type of washing machine do you have? What settings were in place at the time? Type of detergent? (Do you make your own or was the phone subjected to a harsh commercial, chemical-laden product?) What recovery steps did you take when the "dampened" phone was discovered?

 

[Moemg]

It may need extra jiggling so I would recommend taping it to your back before bedtime just make sure it is in a plastic bag . I would suggest ziplock as you do not want to take the chances with generic and definitely not any that you bought at a garage sale .

 

[W2R]

I could get a new battery for $11, but I guess it would be smarter to get a new phone for $20.

Get a new phone for $20 and you won't have to wonder if this will keep happening or not.

 

[powerplay]

+1

There haven't been enough polls lately. This is a perfect opportunity.

TAl please prep us with some further info. What type of washing machine do you have? What settings were in place at the time? Type of detergent? (Do you make your own or was the phone subjected to a harsh commercial, chemical-laden product?) What recovery steps did you take when the "dampened" phone was discovered?

We also need to know if a dryer sheet was involved.

 

[Moemg]

We also need to know if a dryer sheet was involved.

I bet it was and Al in his frugalness had reused it which caused the cell phone to go crazy !

 

[easysurfer]

You can just get a new phone and then transfer the minutes to the new phone.

 

[freebird5825]

It may need extra jiggling so I would recommend taping it to your back before bedtime just make sure it is in a plastic bag . I would suggest ziplock as you do not want to take the chances with generic and definitely not any that you bought at a garage sale .

There was a split second delay before I "got this"...good one!

 

[Nords]

Now if it take it anywhere, whether in car or on bike, it goes dead and won't start up. When I bring it home, and plug it into the charger for only 10 seconds, then it will start up, work fine, and show a battery full indicator.
If I just have it around the house, even if I put it in my pocket, jostle it, etc, it keeps working for days.

I wonder if it fires up a certain circuit to switch from one cell tower to another, and that particular circuit is somehow damaged and grounding out. It's probably not the sort of damage that you could fix with denatured alcohol and a cotton swab.

Kinda takes the "mobile" out of "mobile phone"...

 

[TromboneAl]

It may need extra jiggling so I would recommend taping it to your back before bedtime...

The vibrate function still works, so that's given me some ideas.

------------------

I just ordered a new one, which will be very cheap ($19.99 with free 2-day shipping, a $10 restaurant gift card, plus a free accessory kit (which I needed)). I had to go through a bunch of hassles due to tracfone web site problems, but I've got time to deal with that, right? Had to order via phone.

I have to admit that tracfone's telephone customer service is not bad at all.

 

[REWahoo]

Guess we know what old Santa's bringing Lena, eh?

 

[W2R]

I just ordered a new one, which will be very cheap ($19.99 with free 2-day shipping, a $10 restaurant gift card, plus a free accessory kit (which I needed)).

Excellent! That's a great deal and problem solved. With any luck the restaurant is one that you will enjoy, too.

 

[Janet H]

The vibrate function still works, so that's given me some ideas.

Guess we know what old Santa's bringing Lena, eh?

Um..... in this case go for the new battery?

Note to Lena: I'm sorry

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Um..... in this case go for the new battery?

Note to Lena: I'm sorry

Janet, I'm just mortified!

(...and hysterical )

 

[rescueme]

It's probably not the sort of damage that you could fix with denatured alcohol and a cotton swab...

Funny; DW made the same statement on our honeymoon ....

Seriously, it sounds like a problem we had with our Razors - fixed by a new battery (via net, of course!)...

 

[TromboneAl]

Excellent! That's a great deal and problem solved. With any luck the restaurant is one that you will enjoy, too.

Supposedly you can use the card at Burger King, Subway, etc. I couldn't find any real information on it, and my cynical nature says that I'll have to sign up for something or give up my email address to get it. We'll see.

 

[Westernskies]

Supposedly you can use the card at Burger King, Subway, etc. I couldn't find any real information on it, and my cynical nature says that I'll have to sign up for something or give up my email address to get it. We'll see.

I doubt it's going to be redeemable at your local LowCarb Kitchen...

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, but a "buck double" at Burger King without the bun is not bad.

The funny thing is that if you ask for a hamburger without a bun, then give it to you in a big plastic tray with a plastic cover. Better to just order it like normal people, but throw away the bun.

 

[Westernskies]

Yes, but a "buck double" at Burger King without the bun is not bad.

The funny thing is that if you ask for a hamburger without a bun, then give it to you in a big plastic tray with a plastic cover. Better to just order it like normal people, but throw away the bun.

Carl's Jr and In-n-Out both do a great low-carb burger served in a lettuce wrap, but alas, they cost more than a buck.

 

[TromboneAl]

Quick update: got the cell phone. Concerning the gift certificate, the phone comes with a sheet with some codes that you enter on a web site, and you choose a "restaurant" and enter the codes, and they send you a gift card.

I considered putting the battery from the new phone in the old one, but figured that there could still be some damage from the trip through the laundry. I wish I had done that.

It wasn't possible to activate the phone/transfer the number over the web, I just got error messages, so I had to do it over the phone. This is a monumentally tedious process of talking to someone over some poor quality connection, and having him read you four series of 15 numbers each while you enter them into the phone.

Also, although I was told I'd receive a free accessory kit, I did not, and 10 minutes more on the phone with the supervisors didn't help.

If I didn't save a lot of money by using tracfone, I'd certainly choose something else.

 

[W2R]

What a disappointment about the accessories, Al. I'd be ticked off too, since you were promised them. Any chance that you have a car charger and so on kicking around the house from an old cell phone, that would work on this one? I hope you can find a nice restaurant that you like on that list of restaurants.

 

[Nords]

If I didn't save a lot of money by using tracfone, I'd certainly choose something else.

You're motivatin' the heck out of me to get "my first cell phone" and drop our land line...

In other ironies, our local land-line phone company is getting ready to compete with our local cable TV company using IPTV via DSL or possibly even fiber. This should be an interesting way to cut down on utility bills.

 

[TromboneAl]

I have an inverter, so on trips I can charge the phone with the 110 plug via the inverter. Clearly the operator had made a mistake, since with the gift card, I was getting a new phone for only $10.

But it was an annoying way to start the day. I want to find a way to cut down on tech support issues, or customer service calls (push 1 for English).

The support representatives are nice, and I feel for them, but with tracfone, you may as well be dealing with a machine. They are like robots, and they have a script for everything. It takes twice as long, because every other sentence is something like "And I want to thank you again for choosing tracfone, and I apologize for any inconvenience. I am now going to place you on hold for two minutes while I bring up your information. Is that alright?"

I don't want this, but a cell phone is occasionally indispensable.