All fixed- this case is closed.

So I thought the freezing was getting better. I almost cancelled the replacement. In fact,  for the three days before the replacement there were zero freezes.

I decided to go for it on the grounds that I didn’t believe any phone had a self-healing ability, there must have been some damage somewhere.

When I went to the o2 shop and swapped over the phones I suddenly remember my previously freezing phone had all my accounts syncing and asked for it back to do a soft reset.

The device wouldn’t switch on at all. Not at all! No charging indicator, tried different batteries, gone, dead.

Best timing ever. So now I have a working handset, at least for now!

Still no working phone

A quick update.

I still don’t have a working phone.

I did make the mistake I predicted and took my phone back to the o2 store.

They requested a replacement. This was on Feb 14th.

I still don’t have a replacement a week later.

This saga goes on.

I actually do have my phone in my possession. Whatever repair they did last week has also knocked out my ability to make calls to add insult to injury.

Links to threads discussing current Samsung Galaxy s3 issue

I will try and keep this updated with threads covering what I consider to be a live service issue with the Galaxy s3.

Live view of issues reported via Twitter

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2133401

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Android-Devices-Samsung-HTC-Sony/Anyone-with-a-SGSIII-on-4-1-2-experiencing-constant-freezing/td-p/405962

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-siii-i9300/241683-help-galaxy-s3-freezing-every-few-minutes-unresponsive.html

Got my phone back….STILL BROKEN

Enough is enough.

For the second time I have collected my ‘repaired’ phoned only to find it exhibits the same fault within 2 minutes of collection.

The same, useless letter accompanied my phone. This time made worse by telling me they’d updated my phone to the latest software. In actual fact it’s an older version they’ve put on. And it still freezes!

The robots at the o2 shop can’t even feign sympathy, just that they are only an intermediary and can’t help beyond sending it back again.

I actually phoned Anovo to see what they had done to the handset, and wow..

They’ve changed the following componenents…

A number of parts of the mainboard

…..something next to the battery…

….something to do with the usb connector

….the keypad…

Hang on I say…this thing hasn’t got a keypad…

Oh well…it’s all in engineer talk, I can’t really understand it replies the operative.

What next

I can now either continue via the o2 process and get a refurbished handset. Alternatively I      can go through Samsung and hope they fix it first time or take into account process with o2 and go straight to a brand new replacement.

This is the worst experience I’ve had with a mobile since first getting on the bandwagon in 1996.

I’ve had smartphones since about 2003 and again, never had such an issue with a handset.

I think I’m going to go with Samsung on this one.

If anybody gets my phone as a refurb, god help them. It’s my fear of their repair process that puts me off a refurb.

Anyway, when I’m in town tomorrow, and the o2 shop is just there, and I’ll probably end up doing the wrong thing.

Still Waiting…

Still waiting for something for a fix from o2.

Phoned them today and gave them some more info.

Status page says ‘returning to engineer’.

One thing that has surprised me is just how much I depend on that big screen now. I have a Galaxy S Advance through work…4 inch screen – too small.

Will chase ’em tomorrow.

Not happy. No fault found.

So today I logged on to see what was going on.

First the self-service portal said ‘Bounce Analysis’.

Ok that sounds good. They’ll be analysing why the fault wasn’t fixed first time and sort it out.

About 5 o clock I checked again.

‘No fault found – contacting customer with options’

I’m looking forward to finding out what these options are.

So far, almost a week in, I am no closer to having this resolved.

I phoned o2 and they say if it has an attempted repair 3 times they will replace the device.  This will be a refurbished device which I’m not adverse to but I want one in the pristine condition I have kept mine.

Incidentally the o2 ‘guru’ said that a refurbished device is allowed one defect!

Thursday February 7th – collecting my phone

I went to collect my phone from the o2 store on Thursday February 7th. Very impressed at the quick turn around. I left the store and popped in the SIM card as I walked away and went to grab a coffee. As my phone booted up, it asked for the google account details which I entered. A moment later my phone froze – and then I froze.

Back to the o2 shop I berated the fact that it appeared no repair had taken place beyond what I had done, a factory reset.

They were apologetic and said they would send the phone off for repair and this time ask for a replacement.

I got another receipt. When I went back to the office I noticed they had stated it was white. Mine was actually blue.

I went back and asked them to reissue the ticket with the correct colour to avoid any confusion later.

They did this but replaced the note requesting a replacement with one simply saying I was not satisfied with the repair as it had frozen again.

OK, I thought. So what. Leave it at that.

To be honest at this point I’m wondering whether I should have gone through Samsung’s service.

But anyway I left it and looked forward to a repair the next day

Galaxy S3 goes back to the o2 shop!

On Tuesday February 5th I took my phone back to the o2 store.

Service was great and they said my phone would be away a maximum of 4 days. Wow.

It was sent to Anovo. A quick search on the web started to fill me with a bit of fear but the service seemed to be great.

The tracking system was brilliant. The next day I saw my phone allocated to an engineer. Go through various stages and then finally, repair complete, sending back to customer.

Fantastic. It would be available the very next day.

Freezing Galaxy S3 – The start of a nightmare or a top class customer experience

After having my Samsung Galaxy s3 for 6 months it started misbehaving. It started with the odd freeze here and there. Then the freezing began to get worse and worse.

I’m a bit techy but decided against rooting this thing or installing any custom roms. I wasn’t bored enough with it yet to do that.

So as this was getting worse I was hoping for an o2 update that might fix it.

Pretty much the next day, lo and behold, there was an update.

So I applied the update via Kies and the freezing was even worse.

No bother. Factory reset. I did this. I restored all my apps. Freezing again.

OK, factory reset again, restore no apps, plain factory install, no updates.

Thought all was well but after a couple of hours more freezing.

So it was off to the o2 shop for repair.