Ordered a HTC desire,have no signal and battery life is dire! Advise please!

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:21

Hey guys,

On the 26th August I received my HTC Desire from mobiles.co.uk on the Orange Dolphin Plan which is a 2 year contract with 300 minuets, unlimited texts and 500MB of data.

I am having terrible signal problems, people are unable to contact me at work and I have equal difficulties with sending text messages (I am often prompted with 'message unable to send')

I have been in the south of England for 3 days and then Scotland for the other 4 so it's not as the problem lies within my location.

I am wondering what I should do now? Apparently mobiles.co.uk only have a 7 day refund policy and I'm on 8 days (including the weekend).

Another problem I have is that the battery is dead after 7/8 hours. This is with minimal use! I know the desires don't have the best battery life in them but 7/8 hours!?

EDIT- There 7 days returns policy doesn't include working days so I should be fine if I contact them today! Shame they aren't picking up though...

sarge78 · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:26

Sounds like something is faulty, take it in to carphonewarehouse for a replacement.

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:28

I'm on the train back from Scotland so can't get to a carphonewarehouse today.

sorn21 · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:31

Well I'd probably try a custom ROM - to sort out the battery life.
Along with SetCPU which can underclock the processor this really helped me out.

Most custom ROMs have a massive APN list as well which helps with the signal I believe.

muon · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:38

^^^

So lets void the warranty on what could be a faulty device? Great idea!

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:41

lol at this....

Ensure the Sim/Handset/Free gift has not been used (use signifies acceptance of your contract)
Ensure item being returned is in it’s original packaging
Contact us to arrange a return by the 6th day of the first attempted delivery*

How the hell am I meant to test the phone!!!

Maybe I can exchange it for the iphone or the new Samsung?

Gaygle · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:43

ghost101 said:
^^^

So lets void the warranty on what could be a faulty device? Great idea!

Genius idea :rolleyes:

OP - sounds like the handset is faulty. Your phone has a 12 month warranty (or is it 24 month?) so i'd just give mobiles.co.uk a call asap and explain the situation. They'll be able to provide better guidance.

P.s. do NOT mess around with the software or anything as suggested above. Just try and get a replacement phone.

Gaygle · 3 Sep 2010 at 13:45

Gustov said:
lol at this....

Ensure the Sim/Handset/Free gift has not been used (use signifies acceptance of your contract)
Ensure item being returned is in it’s original packaging
Contact us to arrange a return by the 6th day of the first attempted delivery*

How the hell am I meant to test the phone!!!

Maybe I can exchange it for the iphone or the new Samsung?

As i understand it - this is only applicable if you buy your contract then by the time the phone arrives you don't want the phone/contract anymore for whatever reason.

Your phone sounds FAULTY. Ie. it should be replaced.

Don't go for the new iPhone if:

A) you value the contents of your wallet
B) you like having uninterrupted signal

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 14:30

Great mobiles.co.uk aren't picking up and they still haven't replied to my e-mail :\

muon · 3 Sep 2010 at 14:32

Gustov said:
Great mobiles.co.uk aren't picking up and they still haven't replied to my e-mail :\

Tried their sales team?

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 14:35

Yep :\

ck88 · 3 Sep 2010 at 16:08

do you have the insurance that they slap on the package by default? You shouldn't really need it anyway as it virtually brand new.

If you can't get in touch with mobiles.co.uk just take it into a carphone warehouse the next opportunity you get with the little invoice paper you received and they should sort you a replacement.

Johnnytoxic · 3 Sep 2010 at 16:38

A radio update should sort the signal problems out. You can always revert back to the original firmware

sorn21 · 3 Sep 2010 at 16:42

Johnnytoxic said:
A radio update should sort the signal problems out. You can always revert back to the original firmware

OH NO THE WARRANTY!! :rolleyes:

Gustov · 3 Sep 2010 at 17:16

Johnnytoxic said:
A radio update should sort the signal problems out. You can always revert back to the original firmware

Radio update?

Kearney_1988 · 3 Sep 2010 at 17:32

Admittadly Orange do still seem to be suffering from major signal problems nation wide at the moment, probably the lack in signal causing your phone to use up the battery quicker trying to lock on to the signal.

I had this problem in particular the other week when our house had literally the tiniest bit of signal ever.

But i suggest as the others return as faulty just to cover yourself

AMG · 4 Sep 2010 at 16:40

thats a great idea, OPs phone is probely faulty...it could sort the problem out, but is it really worth the risk? No I really mean it, if its sorts the problem out...but what if it still has the fault, bye bye warrenty.

I would take it back :/

Mekrel · 4 Sep 2010 at 16:56

The poor battery will be related to your poor signal, the phone will use more juice trying to get better signal.

Does sound like the handset is faulty.

sorn21 · 4 Sep 2010 at 17:09

AMG said:
thats a great idea, OPs phone is probely faulty...it could sort the problem out, but is it really worth the risk? No I really mean it, if its sorts the problem out...but what if it still has the fault, bye bye warrenty.

You know you can UNroot too, yeah?

int · 4 Sep 2010 at 19:41

Radio problems can be sorted easily with an updated radio.

Desires are notirious for having poor battery life to begin with, you need to do a few full charge/discharge cycles. After that, minimal use will probably last you a couple of days.