Many have reported today that Sprint has responded to our reporting, wherein they claim that the LG Rumor was not halted (in sales) due to an issue with the phone. Rather, Sprint argues that the shortage of LG Rumors is due to the phone being “too popular to meet demand.”
PhoneNews.com stands behind its original reporting, and will clarify the matter. In a statement issued to reporters yesterday and today, Sprint did not directly confirm or deny the issue present with the LG Rumor. They simply argued that the phone was “too popular” rather than “bearing a known issue”.
Internal memos, provided to us from sources in Sprint, confirmed to us that Sprint did indeed halt orders due to the issue. Worse, Sprint has yet to correct the issue (by releasing the update to customers as a firmware over-the-air update). These are facts and we will post documents to prove this if they are disputed further.
Following today’s statement, we contacted Sprint and asked them flatly to address the issue regarding the rumor that prompted our previous article. Sprint did indeed (and finally) confirmed the issue. Furthermore, they confirmed that a software update had been approved to fix the issue, however it is unclear when it will be issued, if it is not already imminent.
It is unfortunate that so many in the media got the original story right, but the follow-up wrong. However, we stand by our sources and their documents which clearly confirm to us that the LG Rumor was halted in shipments due to this issue.
SPRINT NEEDS TO OWN UP TO IT’S SCREW UP. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET ONE OF THESE PHONES. I AM BEING TOLD BY SPRINT STORES AND SERICE CENTERS THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE KEYBOARD. THIS IS THE FIRST IN DEPTH REASON THAT I HEARD. I HAVE BEEN A SPRINT CUSTOMER SINCE 1999. IF THEY DON’T GET BETTER WITH THEIR SERVICE AND THE PHONES I AM SERIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT GOING ELSEWHERE. I HAVE TWO “DUD” PHONES NOW. THE MOTO Q CAN’T SEND PICS,DOWNLOAD RINGTONES OR TOO MUCH ELSE.
Added two children to my plan on 12-1-2007. Was told the phones were on backorder and would deliver mid December. Took two basic flip phones with assurance I could turn in when LG Rumor became available. Come mid December I was told mid January for availability, still with assurance that I could turn current phones in for exchange. E-mail today informing me that there are still issues, and offering a choice of two flip phones as options. I plan to advise that I will wait for the LG. Let’s see if they honor the price and trade.
There back in stores today so obviously you were wrong about them pulling them or else they wouldn’t be back so soon.
Tim, you’re wrong to jump to such a conclusion. In so many ways…
First, we never said Sprint halted sales of the device in-store. We said that Sprint decided to not take on further supply until the software issue was fixed. The “pulling” we were referring to was orders in queue to the manufacturer, not units on their way to the store. This is clear if you read our initial reporting on the matter.
The software issue was approved last week, and customers will now be presented with an over-the-air update released 48 hours ago.
There were actually two reasons these phones weren;t avaiable, there was a parts shortage on the LG end and more couldnt be manufactured, and the debugging program was left in the fiormware by mistake which if a certain combo of keys were hit the phone was erased and bricked. Sprint stoped shipment of the device until the updated version of the firmware could be loaded.
I own rumor and as in any new releases there may be a supply and demand issue. To no avail I would have to say that I am please with the profromace of the phone. I wish that it would have orginally can in more colors. I have check with my source and Sprint is to release a green rumor set to hit the market sometime in mid-january. When there is a quality phone release and it has the qualities that we as consumer look for there may be an issue with the supply. Reading the concerns all the blame was place on Sprint do you think that the manufacture of the phone should endure some of the concern also. reading other coments on the site If LG doesn’t have the equipment then Sprint can not sale the equipment. As stated above there are Black phones and there will soon be green ones. Waiting on LG to supply more white ones. You can always contact customer service if the store does not have the phone in stock….
The moto q. in order to be able to send pictures you will need to set it up through your microsoft out look. To down load ringer tones you will need to set the music thru you media option. It is not regular ringtones it has to be from the music store on the phone. If you have problems contact a tech to get the issue resolve or read the manual
My daughter’s Rumor has been plagued with this issue. It stopped working early December just days out of warranty. The first repair person we saw said to go to a different Sprint store. That store had a copy of an email siting the issue with the software and asked us to call customer service. Customer Service was unaware of the issue and spent an hour on the phone with me trying to fix the phone. The service person said to go to the Sprint store and trade in the phone and that we should have no issues or charges. Another trip to the Sprint store confirmed they have no Rumors anywhere in the Twin Cities. My daughter had to go back to her old, barely chargeable Sanyo. They said to call LG.
Today I finally got up the energy to call LG. They told me a new firmware update “V6” was just made available 2 days ago. They tried the steps to update the firmware but we got the message “Sprint PCS Vision service not available”. LG told me to call Sprint Customer Service.
Sprint Customer Service has not heard about an update and can’t find anything in their files. Try reactivating the phone, can’t due to LG software issue causing no service.
So now I’m in a Catch 22 situation. Phone can’t get service because of software issue; can’t fix software issue because phone can’t get service.
I had time to write this because I have been on the phone with Sprint Customer Service for 50 minutes and counting.
T, the fix is the same for what I said to a previous poster, call your Local Sprint Store. Customer service will probably not be aware of the update, only the local stores.
Your local Sprint Store can tell you if they have the update in-store, to do an “over-the-wire” update. The update will be installed using their software terminal, rather than downloaded over the network.
Specifically ask the store if they have the V06 update for the Rumor, before trekking down to the store to get the update.
We have had 2 of these phones replaced. My daughter and I got one on the first day of internet release. Hers just quit 2 weeks into ownership and was replaced by Sprint. My phone was 45 days following receiving and had to be mailed to LG. ( they did replace free after waiting 2 weeks and aknowledged that the phone became locked due to keypad problem ) This has only been several weeks ago but I am now wondering if my 2 replaced phones are equiped with the firmware? needed to absolve the problem. I am also having a problem and am unable to receive calltones or music through the bluetooth. I am not really sure how it works but my teenage daughter who is savy states hers also doesnt recieve data from other bluetooth devices. Any ideas?
Thanks
So I have had mine since before they were available in the stores. I hadn’t had much trouble with it until… vacation. I turned it off when I boarded my plane and when I got to my destination and turned it back on I got a “Service Required” message on the screen and it was cleared of all data. It wouldn’t pick up service or anything. I used my Sprint Aircard in my computer to contact customer service and they said they thought it was becuase I put it through the x-ray machine. I call BS on that since 100’s of them go through those machines everyday and I am sure this would have not happened becasue of that. Besides… it still worked at the gate area after the x-ray machine. It was only after I turned it off during flight that it messed up. Sprint is wanting me to call the ‘insurance’ provider and have them replace it for $50 deductable. I think I am going to have to go into my local store when I get back and raise some you know what because I am not paying for a replacement phone due to a ‘known issue’, if indeed that is what is going on with my device.
All very strange. I used to swear by Sanyo phones and never purchased anything other than that brand. Now with this LG I am wondering why I ever strayed 🙁
Sabi, the best thing I can suggest is to print this article out and speak to an associate manager.
The eTicket Known Issues clearly say that ESRP (replacement) fees are supposed to be waived, make sure they check that when you go back to the store.
I did not know about this issue at all until I read this article. Thank God my phone is still working but I did notice some things it likes to do when it gets stupid. It will recognize all Bluetooth devices but as far as being able to send or receive files, it only does it with other LG phones. And I had had some times when i b chilling and the phone turns off and then back on by itself.
I just updated my firmware to V06. No one was broguth up the inability to get new games or ringers thru the my content folder. everytime i try , I get a message asking me for a handler. If i hit #1 I get an error url screen.. if I hit #2 my phone reboots – or freezes (then i have to remove the battery) .. anyone else have this issue? *** and I too swore by Sanyo — why oh why did i stray—
I work for sprint technical support, currently the latest firmware has come out, and you can get it manually going through the settings on the phone and requesting the update, it will take 5 minutes. or taking it to a store to have it uploaded. there is a push scheduled to be done on the phones but no date has been scheduled. this was probably the only major glitch the phone had, other than that, its a great phone
i am still having issues after update. phone restarts and screen problems. cant access content manager. very dissapointed
How do I set up my ringtones from my media player? Also how do I set up my pictures from my chip as screensavers? Can anyone help?
i just want to thank the people who have posted because i had no clue what was going wrong with my phone and about to give up untill i read all of the problems and the update thanks again
I’ve seen this addressed on various boards but never answered. While you can easily add MP3s to the Rumor’s “Music” folder, you can’t slice and dice by album (e.g., folders). So even if you copy in albums in separate folders, you get one flat structure to the whole thing. E.g., 10 albums x 10 songs each = 100 songs, alphabetized. A real problem if you copy in 30 albums.
I have the LG Rumor – White. I contacted LG Customer Support regarding my phone rebooting when in the Content Manager. They told me I would have to send my phone in and be without it for 2-3 weeks while their technician looks at it. They also told me that this is not a known issue. We also have the black Rumor and do not have this problem.
I purchased two LG Rumor one white/one black for my kids…All I have had is problems. It started just 3 months after the purchase. The black turned itself off regularly then the white one did the same. This was within a week of each other. Then the white one went completely skizo! The screen spazzed and off it went. The phone worked you just could see anything. Called LG and they sent me a new/I’m guessing refurbished one but within the first week back it is turning off at will. The black one has now become a regular turn off on its own. It is on its way back to LG for fixing. Although LG has been great I would not recommend the purchase of this phone. White Black or even the Green. If you do be sure to keep your old phone close so that you can switch them out between each visit to LG. Also, you pay shipping back and LG recommends it be sent registered. Cost from TX was $11.00.
I am having the same problem as Sabi … I have had the Rumor for almost 5 months and have never had problems. I was walking home from class tonight and my battery died. When I got home I plugged it in and turned it on and it gave me the “service required” message … all my info was gone! I did just recently get back from vacation where my phone went through the xray machine .. but millions do every day! Does anyone know what I should do? Thanks
I just returned from Sprint with my Rumor phone with this problem. After being on the phone with Tech Support they told me they couldn’t help me. The sprint store said I need to send it for service, they never saw a phone do that, but OOPS I didn’t carry a replacement contract. So you now can pay $ 280 for a new rumor phone. I have 20 months left on this contract! And the phone is locked with the Service required Message.
I got my black rumor two days ago and when i got to content manager it shut off and i called sprint and they had no clue what i was tlking about
I CANT EVEN HEAR MY RINGER AND MY VOLUME IS ALL THE WAY UP?!?!?!
About a month ago, i got the Rumor in green. i love it except the screen keeps going funky. blah. someone help me?!?!?!
Just to shine a little light on things.
The demand for the phone was very high which put a strain on inventory manufacturer issue with software was found (if you hit a certain sequence of keys on power up the entire memory was erased including the serial number) which could render the phone unrecoverable. Sales did not necessarily halt (It depended on where you were geographically) some markets that still had them in inventory sold them however LG was not shipping any more to depots. The issue was corrected and all “remaining” inventory was to be corrected by doing the Over the air update or using icss future dial to correct the software. And at this point in time (June 08) there is batch of rumors out with defective ribbon cables that is causing the screens to blank out, turn white, or just go nutty, as well as another software error that causes the phone to randomly power off when accessing the internet or some memory sharing functions (if you have a memory card you will be less likely to experience this issue).
Hope that was helpfull
Also if you have a Rumor with the “Service Required” issue regardless of whether or not you have a replacement plan they are required to swap the phone, if they don’t then you need to try a store obviously they aren’t in the know of things, find a repair center.
If you have issues with ribbon cable also go to a repair center if you have insurance and it should be fixed or replaced free. If you don’t call LG and schedule an RMA and find you a loaner phone or an old phone.
Manufacturer repairs take an ungodly amount of time, it may be more to your liking to pay for a repair at a repair center.
I purchased a Rumor for my daughter in December and since that time we have had to have it replaced 5 times and I am on my way there again today and have demanded a brand new phone…not a rumor. The 1st replacement, the screen would just go blank at odd moments. The 2nd it would not charge, the 3rd was for rapid cycling of turning on and off. The 4th was that the display went blank again, and when they got us a new phone, we turned it on in the store, the tech tried to do a software downgrade as hje said the new upgrade had a bug in it and locked the phoneup. The 5th time, was again for the display screen freaking out. Right now if it is slid open it works fine and you can see the screen, if you slide it shut the screen is dostorted. I am so sick and tired of this!I have been with sprint for more than 5 years, I have a total of 4 phones, if this continues it is more than worth it to me to cancel and pay the money to have them release me from my contract.
I got my Rumor mid december and have just replaced it for the third time..the screen would go blank and turn blank or white randomly and the only way to fix it was to take off the battery and put it back on. Then on the second one it would turn off whenever it felt like it…especially if I was inthe middle of writing a text and got a phone call…ugh third tries a charm hopefully!
well iv had the rumor for about a week and everything that u guyssaid u had problems with im having then my screen keeps going white then when i go to get a new aplication it says a handler is needed i dont even know what that is im like totaly confused please help
I’ve had my phone now for about 3 days and everything was perfectly fine until today. I always had service in my house regardless of where I was inside. But now anywhere I am i have no service whatsoever and when i do have service its only for a few seconds to a minute. I don’t know if this is the onset of these problems but I do know that I am going to trade my phone in before the end of the month.
This phone is awful but sometimes products don’t work. Sprint, however, has caused such misery with their inability to stand by the fact that they sold junk.
Worst phone I have ever owned. From day one I have had problems. After 6 months I have a broken charger, no speaker phone/ringer, phone randomly shuts itself off and back on, a broken battery clip, and now a white screen. I use this phone for business purposes and cannot be without. Since I don’t have the insurance Sprint’s only solution for me is to buy a new phone. All this after being a Sprint customer for 10 years.
Recently got the LG RUMOR (black) as a replacement phone. Noticed phone turns off for no reason…
yeah they do that and they suck
this phone sucks!
this is my second one and it randomly turns off all the time,im thinking about changing phones
):
hey i hav the black rumor how can i go on internet i mean im paying for it but it keeps saying internet time out please try again
i have the green rumor and ill be scrolling through internet and the phone shuts off what should i do? it also used to shut off whenever i went to “my albums” but it stopped that thank god
This phone does suck. Shuts off all the time and its really slow and the texting is never right. IT JUST SHUTS OFF WHENEVER IT WANTS TO!!!!!!!!!! I AM GOING TO GET A NEW PHONE THIS MONTH. Ridiculous!
Hey(: I’ve recently decided that I truly hate my phone. I say this with an effing passion. Sprint needs to get their act together and make a better phone. I haven’t replaced my phone yet, but I have had numerous problems with it, and i have barely had it for 5 months. my charger needs to be put at a certain angle to charge and im getting sick of it. i had it fixed, but it barely helped. here are the problems that i have had;
-screen turns on and off whenever it wants
-IT WONT CHARGE.
-screen dims.
-space bar wont work.
-“e” and “a” wont press.
-volume doesnt work.
Tell me that i am not the only one to experience this. Ugh, (: SEND ME AN EMAIL! what problems have you been having?! i mightve had them too, but just ignored it.
kaythanks. (:
For some reason, I can’t send pictures to anyone. It goes into the pending messages folder and never sends! Can anyone help me out?
I have had my black LG rumor not quite 11 months now, and had to sign a 2 yr contract agreement. I’m someone who takes care of my phone and doesn’t get it wet or drops it all the time, or beats it up and scratches it all up. I try to take the best care of it so it lasts, especially since it wasn’t a cheap phone. I personally really like the phone, its design, and a lot about it.
It periodically would shut itself off randomly once or twice a week, but that wasn’t a huge big deal to me. Sometimes the charger is kinda picky and you have to make sure that its plugged in absolutely at a perfect angle or it would not go in at all to charge, (can be annoying sometimes) I have the online service and the “Handler” problem arose when i went to view a webpage such as a youtube video. I called sprint and they said the handler means your phone is not capable of viewing what you tried to view, and they did not have the software to make it capable of viewing. So it wasn’t upgradable to even be able to view. Which when i ordered the phone the people told me that it was capable to watch videos and other online things of that sort including some tv. obviously they didnt know much about their product they were selling me. So i was under the impression that it could do all of that until i found out that it did not.
Just recently as of about 4-5 days ago the screens colors started to be all out of wack and part of it was slightly fuzzy and muffled. When i opened it, it sometimes corrects itself temporarily and then starts to blur out again and become fuzzy and distorted. The screen keeps flashing trying to correct itself but it seems to be progressively getting worse as of this past few days that it started out of nowhere. So i looked online and talked to a sprint rep and they suggested go into a sprint store before contacting LG. So i went to a sprint store and the lady looked at it an said i need a new ribbon cable, and that it was a common problem with this type of phone as well as other slider phones. Since i did not have the insurance on my plan ($7 a month) they told me it could be fixed there in about a couple hours for $35, or i could contact LG and see if the factory warranty would cover it. Which should be 1 yr warranty i believe. So i contacted LG yesterday and they said i can send it in and i asked what fees would be involved other then shipping it to Alabama. The only thing i was able to be told is that i would have to pay shipping, they would look at it to see if it had water damage or was broke due to my neglect or dropping an that for me to contact them in the first week with my tracking number to see the status of it. In the convo LG suggested that if it can be fixed they will fix it or give me a refurbished model in its place upon their discretion, or of it needed more repair not covered under their warranty id be charged accordingly. I had asked LG if it was a common problem and they said no its not, and they haven’t heard much about this particular problem occurring- Opposite of what the sprint store said that it was the ribbon cable and a common problem on this phone. So i go and research it online to see that others definitely have had the same problems and its more common than i thought. I guess i did good compared to some of you who had immediate problems, mine waited 11 months before major problems. I researched online how much a new ribbon cable is, and it runs abut $10. So now i have to decide on what to do. fix it myself? send it to LG and probably get a refub back in its place that’s worth about 1 third of what i paid for a new cell, or take it back to sprint and just pay to have it fixed an back in a few hours… but in short the sprint store said that it will only get worse and will eventually get to the point where the screen will completely go out and you wont be able to see anything on it. She said the ribbon cables are known to have minor tears in them after sliding the phone open an closed so many times, and it will just progressively get worse. You’d think the company would know this part wasn’t made strong enough its if a slider phone, knowing it will be slid often. Like dur. They need to make higher quality parts instead of selling their phones for $300 or more a pop and using cheap chinese parts that dont hold up while they are making a killing profit, then giving customers a run around when a problem occurs. Sounds like it could be a class action lawsuit if there’s so many of us with these problems…
I even updated the firmware when the problems started to occur, hoping it was just a glitch or a freak incident. But i found out that I’m not alone in this..
okay so I want to send a picture on my phone right… Well sprint people I CAN’T. I went to this one website and they all had the same problem.
Heres the prob. WHen I try to send a pic it says that it’s been queved so I should try to remove the pics from my pending folder. Where and the heck is the pending folder!!! PLease help…
Soo I got the blue Rumor last November, and I loved it, and it was amazing, even when I beat it up. But then one day out of the blue it stopped charging without assistance. As in, I had to hold the charger in with a rubberband for it to charge. And then that stopped working too, so I lost all 230 something of my contacts and my pictures and my videos and my memos. So we went to a Sprint store in the mall, and they sent us to the bigcheese Sprint store or something (which by the way is about 45 minutes from my house) and I had to go over about 100 things before they would say “fine, we’ll order you a new phone”. Well….these people that had my phone in their possesion so they could send it in and get a new one said “we’ll call you when your new phone comes in”….THEY CALLED MY MOBILE NUMBER. As in the mobile they had sent in so they could get the new one…this delayed me getting my new phone even longer. And so then I got the black one, and it’s been a grand total of, what, 2 or 3 weeks? Same problem. First I had to hold the charger in with a rubberband and now it won’t charge at all. I’m a busy person, and I need my cellphone for scheduling, and contacting people. Needless to say, I can’t do any of that if my phone won’t charge AT ALL. UGHH.
I had written about my LG “Romor” and how I cannot receive sound or video any longer watch or hear online news or any video broadcat. i too have to charge my phone more often. i cannot remove “Sprintweb” from my pages. what is going on? I cannot download Adobe or Microsoft apps to help.
ok so i have the LG rumor 2 . my screen goes black for no reason. this is the second times its happened. i can’t believe its “So Popular” i don’t like this phone at all. its not on the sprint store online anymore. phones w| keyboards aren’t always so good.
hi
all my friends who have this rumor touch phone are extremely aggravated with it, it just does not work properly
now how does a class action work?
when & how did a class action in the past work on companies selling you garbage phones?
please help us, we r stuck with the sprint monster