Sprint has halted shipping new LG LX260 Rumor units to stores. The LG Rumor has a known issue where certain sets of key presses during startup can trigger a complete erasure of the phone’s firmware.
Sprint has isolated the issue to a specific debugging menu, intended for LG engineers to work on the device during development. Unfortunately, the menu is triggered by accessing the main menu, and/or dialing phone numbers. Sprint has not disclosed the specific code, to prevent abuse.
Clarification: The trigger is timed to function only at start up. To work around the issue, we suggest not pressing any buttons on the phone for at least 30 seconds after it has fully powered on.
The phone, once triggered, cannot be restored except at the factory. The debugging code even erases the portions of the firmware that would allow a Sprint Store to recover the device (requiring what is known in the industry as a JTAG restore, which can only be done at the LG factory or in a lab setting).
LG is working to fix the issue, by creating an updated firmware that removes the code from being accessible. Once that firmware is issued and approved, existing customers will be able to download the update over-the-air at no charge. Sprint intends to resume shipments of the LX260 Rumor to stores once devices can ship with the forthcoming update already installed.
This is the second phone in a row to need shipments halted from LG on Sprint. The LG LX160 had hardware-level issues preventing the speakerphone and caller ID display from working properly. Sprint halted shipments of the LX160 to stores until the issue could be resolved, and replaced phones for free, provided the Sprint Store had been properly informed of the silent recall.
LG RUMOR=piece of junk Sprint=Company should be investigated for theft of services
does anyone have half there screen covered in black and part fuzzy. because thats happening to me as we speak… does anyone have the same problem. and i’ve had my phone for 35 monthssssssssss. and it keeps turing on and off. helpp
yea, tht same thing is happenin to me jesse, and i dont know what i should do with it, cuz i took it to a sprint store and they said there was nothing tht they could do about it
CityGirl70 thx for the advice
I purchased my rumor in June and one day it just turned off and when I turned it back on a pop up says file system error, please wait and it will not do anything. Please help. Sprint refuses to help and I have been back and forth with LG trying to get it fixed. Can anyone help or have ay ideas for me?
can anybody tell me how to fix my phoneeeee??????
I’ve had my phone for about 3 months now, and starting a few weeks ago it’s been turning on and off spontaneously.
I HAVE dropped it in water, but I managed to get my phone working again.
So, could this be water damage or the phone acting up?
ok well I got my phone yesterday and I love it. But I have a question about the micro Sd card. I went to radio shack and bought a 2 gb but for some reason it will only let me put 550 Mb worth of songs on it, about 113 songs. It will automatically stop and a message pops up saying that the song cannot be copied or created and but it will let you add pics. to the card.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
ok, I bought this phone for my daughter just on September and a week ago she is getting a url error, no service available. i have phoned our service provider for technical support and it will take them 72 hours or more to fix it.,.. so my question is, if this is one of the problems that this phone has. that i have to return it and just have it exchange or wait and age for them to fix the problem
i just got this phone a couple of weeks ago and i took my phone out today and it went complelty white. at first it showed a red line but it disapeared and now it turns white and gray what should i do is it worth it to call sprint?
I purchased the the Rumor for my daughter in May. We have had to replace the phone 3 times since then for shorts which occur when you open the keyboard. Now the keyboard is out on the third phone and it quit charging. Sprint said the port is damaged and that is our fault so we will have to pay the $50 insurance to get the phone fixed even though it is a known problem with this phone. I feel SPRINT and LG should be held accountable for poor customer service as well as not standing up to their agreements and factory warranties. I purchased a LG Fusic for the MP3 player and SPRINT couldn’t even tell me how to use the player and I consistantly have problems with charging this phone. LG phones are a bad product and need to be pulled off the shelf or fixed.
How many complaints does it take about a product and company to get the Attorney General involved? This is definately a consumer rip off. I just have to laugh at the new Sprint PR commercial about customer service: “just come in to any store, we are here for you and are happy to assist you with your new phone’s setup and operation… blah blah blah !!!!!!” To get my 3rd replacement phone I had to pay $35.00 + $10.00 to mail it to LG for them to tell me it was a bent receptacle where the charger plugs in and it wasn’t covered under the warranty and was told by Sprint I would have to purchase the $7.00/mo insurance to cover it if it happened again. Never will I consider purchasing any LG product in the future because of the way they have handled this problem, even if they would have any other good products. Likewise with Sprint when my contract is over (maybe sooner) I’m done with them. The way I see it LG and Sprint risk losing alot of potential future business if they don’t address this problem and do the right thing for their customers like any respectable company would.
This Phone SUCKS! Ive Had 4 Of Them And They Have All Done The Same Thing…. My Advise Get Rid Of It! I Just Got The Samsung Rant And It Is Amazing! And The One Touch Menu Is Sooooo… Much More Convient! I LOVE LOVE LOVE It!
I got the LG Rumor and it works Great!it just depends on where you are at in someplaces they don’t have alot of SPrint Towers and that affects the phone!But the more Power plant the better it will work It I love it!
very cheap phone. I don’t know if it defective of what! Screen cracks on it’s own. you dont have to do anything for this to happen. if the phone is in you pocket, purse, hand or whatever, it is subejct to the screek cracking and bleeding a black line. Want to know what really sucks??? none of thsi is cover under warranty by your carrier or LG (as they say this is physical damage). wow I’va had phones for entire contracts (2 years) and none of them had a screen crack within 3 weeks, what??? 3 weeks!!! Yes, 3 weeks!!! On top of that, the customer service rep told me that several sutomer have complained about the same issue, yet, they weren’t willing to swap that phone out for a different one. I canceled my contract with my carrier (Cellular South) because they wanted me to pay full retail price for a new phone. HELLLL NAAAWWW MANE!!!!!
Is there any way to delet certain messages from certain people like a multiple selected delete thing? if so can you help if not let me know that i am stuck deleting each one on its own…
RUMOR…DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE. It is junk and Sprint completely denies everything and refuses to take ANY RESPONSIBILITY (if you can even get to an English speaking rep)…
I agree that a potential class action is brewing.
Jeremy, when you’re in your inbox, on the right hand side it should say option. Go into that option menu, and then scroll down to “delete all.”
Andrea, how did u get ur phone 2 work after droping it in water? I need 2 know plz. 🙁
Well first thing I did when it fell into water, was take out it’s battery pack.
Then I just put both the battery pack and the phone itself into a bag of rice for three days.
The rice absorbs any water that is still left on the phone.
Works quite nicely.
I have been through two of these phones. the battery will be fully charged and in the middle of a call or checking my mail it will shut down completely. the slides are lose as all get out and the only thing i can get sprint to is send me another one. i really just want a different phone but they want me to pay full prize anyone else wanna scream yet?
My screen recently just cracked too… is there anything that you can do about it? or do i just have to suck it up and pay for a new phone?
I am still fighting with sprint about it. I am also in the process of yelling at those at LG because according to them there is not gliche, we all know better. I really am so upset about it. I was in love with the phone when i got it but had gone to the store for the blackberry peral and now i know i should have stuck to that instead. I loved the features of the rumor and that it was great because it was compact. I should have done research so now i hope that someone will see this and not buy it. Its so true… you say something good and no one says anything but tell something bad to one person and they tell the world.
thanks andrea but i need to delete only certain messages not all at once is there a way to do that like a way to select a bunch of certain messages and delete them
I got my rumor about three months a go it was fine….until one day it went white none of the bottons work on the main key pad i cant make or except calls no txting only reciving them my girlfriend megan has the exact same problem with her phone!
My screen takes forever to show up when I open the phone to text. It’ll take about 10-15 seconds to pop up, sometimes I’ll have to open and close it a few times.
My phone always shuts off. I take perfect care of it, I’ve never dropped it. It’s never been mis-treated. LG is just a piece of crap.
and for everyone who can’t get ringtones.
you can get free ringtones at myxer.com
you can make your own, and find others users have made. they’re free UNLESS YOU DON’T HAVE INTERNET ON YOUR PHONE.
i use this site :D:D
this phone is the worst i have had yet. it turns off randomly all the time and i have already had it replaced once. i have tried calling LG about this already and they are unhelpful. i would not reccommend especially if you rely off your phone for alot of things.
I’ve gone through two of them. my first one had problems with the screen. it would give me mirror images or turn upside down. then it got worse. the screen would become scratchy like a television set with no available channel. it would flip through these problems every time i opened and closed it. now my new one turns off on its own in the middle of calls, while I’m on the internet. is there something wrong with every rumor? or am i just really unlucky?
To RAWR, To answer your question, “am I just really unlucky?’, have you read any of the other comments?
I got my rumor in… may, I believe. It worked semi fine all summer, mainly because I heard it was fragile and didn’t respond very well to being dropped. Well, I’ve dropped it once. Not from too high, and onto a soft carpet, and now it’s messed up. The text keys on the slide bar are no longer operational (funny, because this is exactly why I got the phone). As well, the volume key on the side of the phone no longer works, and even before I dropped it i had troubles with keys not working and the phone turning off randomly.
It’s a great phone when it works properly, but it rarely ever does. Now I’ll just take it back to a Sasktel service rep, only to have them tell me that it’s “Just not worth” sending my phone away for three months to get fixed, in spite of it being under warrenty still. Screw that.
My Rumor has all these static lines and multi colored pixel dots on it, anything I can do? Or must I drive 40minutes to a technician?
A couple days ago I started getting a scrambled screen look. Very frustrating!!! Once in a while it comes back together and looks properly but that’s happening less and less. Junk all the way! Seems to be getting worse as I speak.
anything we can do?
Got my phone Sept 08 and about two weeks ago it started radomly shutting off–a lot! Shutting off when regardless of battery charge and while I’m using it (like in the middle of a conversation!) and even while I’m NOT using it. Don’t think it has shut off while texting yet, though. Has anyone been able to resolve this issue yet?
I also got this phone back in March and just about a month ago it’s starting to turn on and off when ever it feels like, especially if I am texting. Also now it won’t stay fully charged. This weekend was the worst…then almost at one month my cell wouldn’t turn back on for like an hour. I hate this dang phone and I am going back to Sprint tonight to see what they can do and if they can’t help me then they can take this phone and do what they want with it.
went to myxer.com to get ringtones. The message will not send to me. any suggestions?
The “talk” key has quit working on my phone. I can’t answer incoming call–I have to return the call. Any suggestions. Of course I have no insurance–there’s been no abuse of the equipment here.
Beth 12/14/08
Go to your phone settings and change it to any key answer, so you dont have to use the talk key for answering calls.
I bought two LG Rumours for my daughters in July, one won’t charge, seems the charging port is broken. Went back to the store where it was purchased and paid $25 to send it off. Came back from a repair depot in Quebec unrepaired saying it was not covered under warranty and repairs would be $ 225 flat rate.
Called Headquarters in Ontario and they will have their Techs have a look at it. It cost $20 to send it this time. The representative I was speaking to said sometimes their Techs can find no fault in the phone due to the owner. Sounds like the Repair Depots got a good thing going here, a F—–g Scam. Anyway I haven’t received it back yet and I’m not expecting a good result.
By the way, my daughter plugs her phone in at night before bed when needed, treats her phones good and doesn’t abuse it.It must be a faulty design in the phone.
Hey, It seems like many people are having problems with this phone. I purchased one for my daughter in February, 2008 and today the screen went completely white….it flashes a little bit. I went to the Sprint Store. Surprise, no insurance so there is nothing they can do. I had there crappy insurance once before and it was a complete nightmare when we lost a phone. I was on on the phone with Sprint for 25minutes trying to switch her service to a really old phone and after getting disconnected, they tell me that the old phone that I have had for 4 plus years has been listed as stolen or lost and they cannot reactivate it. I cannot believe these people. They transfer me to the “fraud” department, and then I was disconnected again. So I call back and finally after reciting all the information again for the 4th time, they tell me that the Fraud department closed an hour earlier and there is nothing they can do. Surprise!!!! I am sick of always getting shit on with crappy technology!!!!
Has anybody had any luck at all contacting LG?
Well I wish i would have read all this before i orderd one…..maybe i will get a good one lol….LG GET YOUR **** FIXED!!!
F*** THIS PHONE.
im on my 2nd one
i’ve been having trouble charing the damn thing. i stick the cord in, and it won’t work. now its completely dead. it turns off when it wants to.
don’t buy this piece of s*!t!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a problem where my screen had lines running across it and I couln’t see anything! But I fixed it by simply taking it to sprint and they fixed for FREE!! bcuz the rumors have been having problems they said it would be free! And it was!!!! So you might try taking to your local Sprint store:D
My nephew’s phone recently went out completely! He’s only had his Rumor for about 6 months. We took it in to a corporate Sprint store and called Sprint customer service while we were there to try to get the issue resolved. Interestingly enough, the representatives we were working with said they were unaware of any problems with the phone. After a series of calls, we were referred to LG Customer Service. Their number is 800-793-8896 and their website is us.lge.com. We’re still in the process of trying to get everything resolved!
(follow-up to posting on 12-26-08 @ 4:48)
LG Customer Service’s solution of mailing the phone to them for evaluation was not a practical resolution because of the amount of time my nephew would be without phone service. So, I called Sprint Customer Service again. This time, the Sprint Customer Service representative contacted LG Customer Service on my behalf. She was able to negotiate an exchange for a nominal fee. I’m happy with the resolution and appreciative of the extra steps the Sprint Customer Service representative took to resolve my concern to my satisfaction.
Gracie
Sprint customer since ’97
Hey, so story continued…..LG says they will fix the phone, but I had to pay for shipping and it could take 12-14 business days. I mailed it in. In the meantime, my daughter is using my phone, and I am using a spare. My contract is up and I will be finding another cell phone company. As soon as each of the other 3 members of my family’s contract is up, I will be pulling them as well. Yes Sprint, I will be pulling my whole family. I have wasted 2Plus hours of my life on something that should have been taken care of when I drove out to the store the night before. TRAIN YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE!!!!!!! Sprint Customer service is terrible… After my initial hour and a half on hold and dealing with sprint, they had the audacity to use robocalls to see how my experience was. I finally got a call from a real live person and told him it was terrible, and to not have robocallers ever call me again. We will see if LG can actually fix the phone or if they will give us a new one. They wanted to make sure it wasn’t something we did to it.
To Sonia I feel your pain, however don’t hold your breath. I will be totally surprised if Lg fixes your phone for free. More thatn likely they will say the problem is a broken receptacle (where the charger plugs in ) and this is not covered under the warranty, there will be $35.00 charge. We are on our 3rd phone and we are having problems with it charging unless the cord is just right. The first 2 times the screen went white and scrambled and we were told it was a broken recpt. The first time it broke my daughter had owned it only 2 weeks the 2nd time less than 2 months. What a racket!
I just got this phone three weeks ago and I took my phone out today and it went complelty white and at the bottom corner it had a image of dark lips…I took it to the Sprint store and was told I would have to pay to have it repaired because I had no insurance…did a check on google and found this site with all the basic same issues.. I call sprint and told them I found on the internet a list of problems with this phone ,, now at no charge Sprint will send me a new phone but I didn’t want another Rumor I will get the M320 Samsung but the catch was I had to buy $7.00/ mo insurance to make this deal…. if not I would have lost out and I’m not paying any shipping or activation fees…Never will I consider purchasing any LG product in the future ..If you have a problem with you LG product call sprint and do what I did.. I’m appreciative of the extra steps the Sprint Customer Service representative took to resolve my issues,,this is a known problem and Sprint knows this….
i got this phone about 9 months ago sometime later last winter cause i lost my old one snowboarding. the phone was good for a while but over the last 2 months my phones been dieing randomly, and i would have to tilt the phone at a wierd angle for it charge. today i turned off my cellphone and left it in my jacket while i was working. I came back and it was magically on and with all these numbers pressed in it. it said “service required” mean the phone had no service. It complete shit the bed and won’t do anything, all my contacts, pics and other stuff were erased and the phone has no functions. can scroll the menus but nothing works. FUCK SPRINT and THE LG RUMOR
I hate this phone with a passion. I bought it last year in may I believe and have had a loner phone more often than the phone itself. I have gone through THREE of these things! I HATE THEM! I’m about to go on to my fourth and I JUST got it three days ago. I am sick and tired of the damned thing!