I congratulate you on your restraint.
I recently had to rather heroically (if I may say so myself) resist the urge to send an after-the-fact email to a consultant with a link to the documentation that says exactly the opposite of what he claimed it said when he was on site.
Itās not that he was wrong (we all make mistakes, especially me), itās that he was such a smug asshole about it. 
Well.
Iāve FINALLY joined the 21st century and have a smartphone! But Iām having problems activating it. That dost grindeth mine gears most grievously.
(look for a post in the āVictory! Iām a Rockstar!ā thread when I finally DO get it activated)
My first smartphone, they accidentally activated everything EXCEPT voice calls. That took a while to explain.
That would have taken me weeks to notice. I find I carry a pocket computer that incidentally can receive phone calls. Which I let go to voice mail.
Voicemail think Iāve heard the legends.
Netzero. 
I used to use their 3G stick to get my laptop online. But given I use my phone more often, and my dad and I both have Kindles, it seemed like a good time to upgrade to a WiFi hotspot.
And thatās where the troubles startedā¦
The first hotspot I was sent (two weeks ago!) refused to activate on their network (and threw up a Sprint customer support phone number every time it failed.) It took multiple calls to Netzeroās Customer So-Called-Support for them to recognize the device as defective. Getting informations and directions out of them was difficult; one gentleman I spoke to seemed to be trying to rush through our interaction as quickly as possible to get to the next caller. After multiple attempts to access the network with both laptop and phone, via multiple browsers, in multiple locations (I had to haul the whole kit and caboodle to my local park, since they insisted I needed to try to connect in a wide, open area!) they finally acknowledged I got a bad device and decided to send a new hotspot.
It came in todayās mail. I gleefully set it up, it completed the activationā¦ only to land me at a Boost Mobile setup page.
What? Iām a Netzero customer. I call againā¦
ā¦āOur offices are closed. Please call again during business hoursā¦ā
I search for a live chat option. Canāt find one.
In desperation, I find a Boost Mobile number and call them. The device isnāt on their network, but theyād be glad to set up an account with meā¦ for more money.
At this point, theyāre probably lucky nobodyās on the line at Netzero, because Iām boiling mad and about five seconds from cancelling my account. It must be really nice to take peopleās money all month long, yet only offer support during business hours. Nice way to value their customers, huh? Especially when the nice Boost Mobile operator tells me theyāre willing to give me 10 GB a month for $50, when Iām paying more at Netzero for only 4 GBā¦
Mondayās phone call should be very interesting.
Seems legit.
True, and I understand why they asked. There was a chance something nearby was interfering with the deviceās ability to connect. Going to the park proved that wasnāt the case.
Itās just been a long and frustrating process. And now that I know another provider might be able to give me a better deal, Iām really tempted to switch.
We get redlines to work instructions. So many things overriding the drawings, formfitfunction. I call them Dude-fallacies, because thatās like, just, yāknow, your opinion, man. Rejected.
Tobacco smoke coming through the ventilation, shutting down my throat.
Mice in the ceiling. I hear you racing.
Poison in the ventilation system, getting worse. Trouble breathing. Open window to dilute poison, then go outside to get fresh air. Poison blasted at me from behind a corner. Get away. Poison again. Throat burning. Stay alert, watch for poison, keep my distance, keep my mask handyā¦
Iām so sorry, I should have included the /sarcasm tag in my post. I was using the ironic/sarcastic meaning of the phrase, where āseems legitā = āthis is an obvious con and/or BSā.
I just meant that it sounded like they were giving you the run-around to keep from sending you a new device, and that the ātry it in the parkā bit sounded especially egregious. I feel like if it doesnāt work at your house, it kind of doesnāt matter if it works at the park (unless thatās where you plan to use it most of the time 
).
Best of luck getting it resolved.
Oh, that definitely ran through my head at the time! (I thought I was being overly grouchy.) Butā¦ I know just enough of computers to consider that just might have been an issue. And testing it in the park meant I could say, āI did everything you told me to and it still doesnāt work, now you fix it,ā and make it stick.
Though itās getting ābetterāā¦ I fired off a grouchy-but-still-polite email Saturday night about the connection issue and the lack of help. Today I got a reply asking me for device and SIM card ID numbers. I sent them (without any further comment.) The answering email was full of stock-phrased sympathy for my frustration and all kinds of promises that theyād have it fixed soon. Theyāre putting one of their senior technicians on it, donātcha know. But since senior technicians collaborate to solve problems, it could still take another one to two days to find the solutionā¦ 
I have my suspicions. I believe theyāre sending out used, reconditioned equipment. Which is fine-- if it worked. It would explain why the first unit gave the Sprint # when it failed (due to a botched repair), and the second unit attempts to connect me to Boost Mobile. Iām still highly tempted to drop Netzero and sign up with Boostā¦ but Iām wondering just how far this ātechnical supportā is going to go. 
The T-Mobile signal at my house is terrible. The signal IN MY ROOM is particularly terrible, forcing me to wander around the house when somebody calls me on the phone.
Online resources for mapping cell towers and carriers seem to have improved a lot. AntennaSearch.com says the tower thatās both closest (about 1600 feet) and most elevated above the horizon (by 2.7 degrees) is operated by Sprint (dba āSTC Fiveā), so I guess I should be looking at Sprint, Boost, or Virgin.
>sigh< Finally managed to resolve the WiFi sitch (NetZero managed to activate the hotspot, and Iām still with them for now, since Iām still wavering between signing up with Boost or Calyx.) Which I guess is good, since my cell phone just died today. 
My poor olā Samsung Galaxy s4 was only four years oldā¦ I suspect the charging port (and/or battery) went bad. It might be fixable, if I can find a place to do that (the ones I can walk to are closed today or donāt repair that model.) Iāve got a line on two shops to talk to tomorrow. As much as Iād like something new, the prices are too much for my budget at the moment. So Iām hoping for a fixā¦ and glad Iāve still got net access, and phone via the houseās landline. So Iām not completely cut off from the world. 
Have you tried just sticking a new battery in. You can pop the back off and replace them with no trouble.
I thought I might have another battery, but I donāt have it handy. I should be able to get one off Amazon pretty easily. But, looking at the ātongueā part of the micro-USB portā¦ it looks misaligned, as if one end has bent inward just a little. It will probably take a couple of days to get it checked out, and I can manage without it. Itās justā¦ annoying to realize how much we come to depend on the silly little things!
edit for minor spelling error: come, not cone
If you try getting a replacement battery, try and get a set of two with their own recharger. That way you could recharge the batteries outside of the phone with the recharger, no matter the state of the USB port. (At least, thatās what I did.)
You can buy cards that you slip between the case and the battery that add wireless charging to the s4:
Iāve not tried one personally so I canāt vouch for how effective they are but the installation seems very straightforward and itās probably cheaper than a repairā¦