Are you complaining to Orange about the e200 problems?

[Guest drblow]

Far be it from me to encourage whinging ( :shock: ) but after a recent conversation with a CS supervisor, I was told that Oraneg operate a basic policy that no issue get dealt with until they have a sufficient amount of complaints relating to it. Fair enough really! But that got me wondering, are there e200 owners who do not make Orange aware of the problems they are experiencing? If so, then I urge you to at least phone 156 and report a bug/problem you may have. There will probably not be a solution, but the more noise is made about issues, the more chance we have of getting a fix.

& if everybody IS making complaints, then we can assume that Orange is actually just ignoring us! :twisted:

[Guest drblow]

Maybe after this, we could take a poll on the actual problems people are complaining about, to see what are the most common/major issues?

[Guest Disco Stu]

I have complained and asked them if they pay any attention to this forum but was so unimpressed with the response that I don't make a regular habit of it.

My E200 needs a new keypad but I don't expect to get a decent replacement so I won't send it back.

Given that new phones are coming I don't reckon its worth the hassle and I imagine Orange's attitude is the same :evil:

[Guest M@rkC]

I've spoken to OCS on a couple of occasions about problems with downloading email (their response has been to text me the "correct" GPRS settings :roll: ), but the solution - or lack thereof - has never been up to much. Usually, if you wait 24 hours and try again, it's sorted itself out!

It would be nice if they had some sort of "status page" on the Orange site that gave an overview of what problems they were working on, together with some sort of estimated to to fix or whatever (I have cable broadband with Blueyonder/Telewest - they have a status page on their site which is very useful to "first guess" any problems you might be experiencing). The apparent disinterest from Orange only serves to annoy their customers even more. Surely the monkeys on 150 must get hacked off with answering the same batch of questions about the E200 (and other SmartPhones?) with the same batch of fob-offs.

I use this forum as my holy grail for all things SmartPhone - if "a problem shared is a problem halved", then 99 problems shared here must be a real thorn in Orange's side.......or not :!:

[Guest drblow]

He he - I know how all that feels! :)

I don't think Orange do pay any attention to this site - they certainly don't appear to, and Mr. Orange has left, so I guess we're on our own! :shock:

I'm just wanting to see what the response to this poll is. I have had 8 replacements (count 'em!), and am at the end of the road with Orange. They seem quite happy to keep throwing replacements my way, but the last one was brand new & came with the new ROM. It seems slightly more stable on the storage card problem - not completely of course, I mean it only locks up maybe once or twice a day. Still have the freezing homescreen problem, can't send emails, keys throw random fits & type their own messages, battery life is still abominable. But I'm not letting them replace this one, coz they'll send me a refurb.

I see one person doesn't have any complaints with the e200. Where did you get yours m8? I want one! :? It's beyond me really how anybody could be 100% happy with it. Even if you only used it for calls, the speaker would annoy you!? & surely there are no e200's in the world that actually work? Or if there are, why can't Orange give me one!? :evil:

[Guest drblow]

Weird! As of this morning, 80 people have viewed this post, 10 have voted, and even 2 of them say they have no issues with the e200! :shock:

I really was under the impression that every e200 user must have several problems with the phone. If not, then how can anyone explain the numerous bugs/issues that some of us are getting?

[Guest Toyota-F1.com]

Weird!  As of this morning, 80 people have viewed this post, 10 have voted, and even 2 of them say they have no issues with the e200!  :shock:  

I really was under the impression that every e200 user must have several problems with the phone.  If not, then how can anyone explain the numerous bugs/issues that some of us are getting?

One of them was me.

I remember when you used to help me and answer all my questions in my first thread "Orange SPV E200 Questions"!

No, I really can't say I have any problems e.g. battery life (my thread "Battery Report"has a lot of detailed information about that), I don't really have any problesm whatsoever.

Name one I probably don't have it. So much so in fact, I haven't installed the new ROM.

[Guest zeta101]

dont forget some of those 80 views will be of people who dont have an e200, i have an e100 but still felt like reading the thread:P

[Guest drblow]

Name one I probably don't have it.  So much so in fact, I haven't installed the new ROM.

Ah! See, before the update, the only problem I had was the crazed buzzing speaker. How you managed to get one that doesn't buzz with the old ROM is absolutely beyond my comprehension. I had 5 replacements for buzzing speaker, and they all sucked. So either you are very lucky, or else partially deaf! :) (have you compared the sound quality of your e200 with a previous phone?)

But before the update, my system was fine. Very few lockups or anything, SD card worked no probs. Only thing was battery life, but as I am rarely too far away from a charger thats not my greatest worry. It was applying the update that really screwed my phone.

[Guest Disco Stu]

As with Toyota, so with myself.

My phone's not a buzzer and I reckon the sound quality is better than my old SPV Canary. Hence I haven't upgraded to avoid screwing it up.

However I was a DJ for 10 years so my ears are not as good as they could be :)

[Guest PaFF]

Ditto Toyota & Disco Stu.

I have an unlocked e200 rom 1.1.1.4 & I have none of the buzzing problems, Bluetooth seems OK. My only issue is the battery, but I mitigate this by charging at my desk (Work) or dock @ home.

I haven't upgraded because of the Bluetooth unpairing problems.

[Guest Toyota-F1.com]

have you compared the sound quality of your e200 with a previous phone?)

One of the first things I did was call 453, but it doesn't really sound buzzy to me.

I asked the forum for people to post what their's sounds like and I'll record mine with a microphone, but nobody did.

[Guest ferret]

The e200 definitely buzzes (I'm a sound engineer and get paid to judge audio quality).

No problems (apart from buzz) pre update.

Post update and my e200 has just decided to format my SD card and replaced it with a system file called "ignore_my_docs" ... anyone care to explain.

It's a downgrade in my opinion.

[Guest drblow]

See, I'm in exactly the same situation as ferret! So many problems post update it's just silly. But I got a brand new replacement in the last few weeks, with the new ROM (or the slightly different new ROM) already on it. And of course, all the bugs still in it! :evil:

What really is going on? How can one model of phone be so varied in the quality of it's build? How is it possible for one product to actually be this random in it's performance? :shock:

[Guest Rusty]

Complained until i was blue in the face to Orange about problems with E200, mostly the same problems as DrBlow, but all i ever got was another phone sent out with exactly the same faults on it as the last one :roll: . On one of the last occassions i rang Orange, i was actually told by the CS op that there was no point in giving me a new phone because of the memory card thing as all their phones would be the same and it wasn't classed as a fault!!!!! My reply was to the effect 'on one hand you tell me i haven't got a fault and on the other hand you're more or less admitting that every single E200 is faulty'.

Needless to say Orange do not seem prepared to stand up and be counted with the faults on this phone and actually do something about them, they won't give you anything other than another E200 (even though i was on my 7th by then) with the same faults that you're sending the previous one back for, hence my tariff has just been dropped to the High Speed Data £10/month jobby and my latest E200 has just been sold for £180 on fleabay to pay my tariff off.

I'm currently a VERY satisfied owner of an O2 XDA2, that whilst made by the same people as the E200, is light years ahead in terms of being useable, not had a single problem to date touch wood :) and have vowed NEVER to return to Orange after being treat so shoddily

[Guest sponge]

The speaker quality on my E200 isn't very good (it buzzes) and the battery life is poor (but I always charge it). However, I haven't complained to Orange as I know, from reading these fora, that all they will do is send me a replacement. And there is a high probability it will be just as bad, if not worse, than the one I have at the moment. So I don't bother. ](*,)

(It's not that I don't like complaining. It's just that there's no point if I am (possibly) going to be worse off for having done so.) :roll:

[Guest drblow]

The speaker quality on my E200 isn't very good (it buzzes) and the battery life is poor (but I always charge it). However, I haven't complained to Orange as I know, from reading these fora, that all they will do is send me a replacement. And there is a high probability it will be just as bad, if not worse, than the one I have at the moment. So I don't bother.  ](*,)  

(It's not that I don't like complaining. It's just that there's no point if I am (possibly) going to be worse off for having done so.)  :roll:

You are quite right about the replacements not helping - I've had 8!

The point is that Orange will not do anything about any of the issues associated with the e200 until they recieve enough complaints to justify dealing with them. If you don't want another replacement you don't have to accept one. But it would be beneficial to all e200 owners if everyone who has even the slightest issue with the handset, would phone Orange at least once and register a complaint about it. Have the issue sent to tech support so it's on their system. Of course they won't be able to fix it, and of course the only thing they can do is offer a replacement, but at least Orange will be made aware of how many issues there are with the phone (as if they didn't know already).

There won't be any more updates to the e200 if Orange feel they can ignore the issues because of a small number of users complaining.

[Guest ferret]

I'm too scared to get the handset replaced incase the new one is worse than the current!

[Guest Disco Stu]

I just think that since the E200 is going to be made obsolete (or at least superceded) by this year's new releases, they won't be too bothered with upgrades or revisions.

At my age I'm very cynical.

Blame Tony Blair in particular :evil:

[Guest Blakey]

Hmmm.

I got my E200 on free upgrade last week. This is my set up:

It has the latest ROM preinstalled.

I am using a 512Mb Sandisk SD card.

Software installed:

Photo Contacts

Power Calendar

Power Tasks

SmartExplorer

Smart Task Mgr

Mapopolis

MobiPocket (eBook reader).

I had a few problems when I was using a 128Mb maxell SD card with lock ups and one partial reset. Since putting in the Sandisk card I've had no problems. My phone call quality is much better than my old T610. My phone signal is much better than my T610. My battery life is comparable with my T610 and I use this phone loads every day to read books, play with routes on Mapaopolis and generally have fun. I've also taken a few snaps when out mountain biking and the quality is pretty crap but it's okay.

Net result: I'm more than happy with my E200! It does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a phone with some extra facilities built in that to my mind work really well.

I think that most people who complain of problems are using (1) dodgy SD cards. (2) unsigned, dodgy software and (3) registry tweaks which have potential for all sorts of problems.

I bet most people who use their phone with quality SD cards and who don't tweak it too much don't have much in the way of complaint.

Just my tuppence!! :-)

Blakey

[Guest sparkisgti]

i learnt about crap software with my original SPV which only locked up when i installed stuff like pocket candy..

now with my e200 i keep to stuff i actually use and no problems at all.. and dont have loads of registry hacks to fiddle with it

[Guest drblow]

I think that most people who complain of problems are using (1) dodgy SD cards. (2) unsigned, dodgy software and (3) registry http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=7695>Tweaks which have potential for all sorts of problems.

I bet most people who use their phone with quality SD cards and who don't http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=7695>tweak it too much don't have much in the way of complaint.

I can understand that you don't have any problems with your phone & thats good. But I think the above statement is wrong.

The e200 came with reduced security for installing applications, so there should be no problems with installing software of any kind. I am unaware of any 'dodgy' software, as you put it (got any examples?). There have been examples of some beta apps crashing phones etc - but that has never resulted in permanent system bugs AFAIK. In any case, the vast majority of software (certainly that is available through this forum) is far from being 'dodgy'.

The problems that many people like myself are having are nothing to do with installed programs, but inherent system bugs - unreliable email, battery life, speaker volume/quality, activesync dropping connection, homescreens disappearing, constant lock-ups/crashing ... the list is endless! & every one is a problem with the phone straight out of the box, not as a result of doing anything to it. I have had 8 replacement e200's. Some of which I have waited for a few days before installing anything at all on it - and still suffer from activesync problmes, email problems, battery life, lockups & crashes etc. So I can 100% guarantee that these problems are not as a result of installing anything, or changing registry.

Perhaps there is some truth in the fact that it does seem to be heavy users (like myself) who suffer the lions share of the bugs. But the e200 is meant to be aimed at business customers aswell as personal & as such, should be able to cope with heavy useage. If there were any limitations on the capabilities of the e200, then it should be Orange who inform customers of those limitations (and they would do that in order to cover themselves legally in the event of returned product). The same goes for SD cards. If someone goes out to the shops & buys an SD card for £60 or £70, it is perfectly reasonable to expect that card to work in your phone. If there are issues with certain manufactureres of cards or whatever, then again, it is up to Orange to identify this and inform its customers.

No harm to you m8 - if you are happy with your phone, thats great & I'm happy for ya! :wink: But just because you are happy, doesn't mean that everybody else is just complaining for the sake of it, and that the bugs are just in our imagination, or being caused by the user & not the product itself.

It constantly amazes me the amount of people who seem to be looking for ways to blame the e200 bugs on anything/anybody except Orange ... :shock:

EDIT - Oh yeah - just to add a little more fact into the situation ... I have been using the Toshiba 32MB SD card that was sent to me WITH my last replacement e200 & the phone still fails to recognise software installed on it. So again, just to emphasise, the problem with the SD card is clearly NOT related to 'dodgy' cards or whatever.

[Guest Killroy]

Well said drblow.

The e200 does have a number of issues and it's not just dodgy sd cards, software etc. The out of the box e200 has a lot of issues. The update didn't resolve these issues and in fact created others. I have a sd card (scan disk) bought from an orange shop. So quit the dodgy sd cards thing.

It's not just the UK but Swtzerland, Germany, Denmark, NL etc as well. The e200 has issues and the people are right to complain. I don't believe that only 'heavy users' are affected. The battery, sound quality, sd cards, bluetooth, O services, faulty joy stick, buzzing speaker, the list goes on... are all faulty out of the box features.

All in all, its my opinion that Orange are just waiting for this one to blow over. Let the phone fade into the past! They have also added bad PR to their credit as well (and I'm not pointing the finger at CS) but come on! how many people posted their feelings here about and left for another provider. Open your eyes!

I don't blame people for complaining, they're dead right after waiting so long for the update (call it loyalty) and then to be let down by a bad update (here comes the best bit), to the told by Orange/others that you shouldn't install other software or the sd card is faulty. Get a grip. As drblow put it...

" It constantly amazes me the amount of people who seem to be looking for ways to blame the e200 bugs on anything/anybody except Orange ... "

Me too!

[Guest sparkisgti]

The out of the box e200 has a lot of issues. The update didn't resolve these issues and in fact created others.

wish i could agree.. im a heavy user and dont have any issue with mine outta the box as yet.. maybe some of us are just lucky

[Guest drblow]

It is totally weird that some people do not seem to have any problems with the e200! The occurance of issues appears to be totally random - but it is very difficult to understand how one product can have such a varied performance. Go figure!? :?

I have said before on the forum that I don't have any problems with OCS really. Ok you get the odd muppet, but you get that everywhere - and to be fair to CS, they have given me numerous replacements (OK, I have Orange Care), and they have made efforts to sort out the problems on my behalf. Its not a CS issue - it's clearly fundamental flaws in the hardware/software of the phone. Thats not something CS have the power to either control or fix. All they are there to do is help users with basic useage problems (like how to send an MMS message) and to register other issues with tech support. If any Orange dept is responsible for the continuing problems with the e200 it must be them.