Sprint’s Samsung Instinct rife with problems
By Triston McIntyre
It seems like everything isn’t all roses and strawberries with cream for Sprint’s best-selling EV-DO handset, the Samsung Instinct. Though the handset has been toted as a direct competitor of the iPhone, either the Instinct, Sprint, or both together have been causing a lot of grief for Sprint customers, which certainly won’t endear the provider to those lusting after inexpensive touchscreen handsets.
Readers of Engadget Mobile have raised their voices, and the results speak volumes for the service quality (or lack thereof) of Verizon’s littler CDMA sibling, Sprint. Word has it that the Samsung Instinct on the Sprint network has been having issues operating correctly, with things like the Weather application and other data services being on the fritz for users across the U.S.
That might not seem like such a big deal if you don’t take into account that the Samsung Instinct is the hottest selling phone on the Sprint network and is actually garnering more customers for the number two CDMA provider in the U.S. Instincts are hard to come by, with many Sprint retailers simply not having the handset in stock. For those who are interested in the Instinct, it is available (in theory) from Sprint for $199 with a rebate, or from Best Buy for $129 with no rebate.
What makes matters even worse is that Sprint truly had an opportunity this weekend to pick up some unhappy would-be iPhone 3G customers. Critics everywhere are labeling the iPhone 3G, which launched yesterday to activation issues that were country-wide, the iFail. There would be no better time for Sprint to run those Instinct commercials (which have become a bit irritating in their frequency), if there weren’t a ton of issues popping up with the Samsung Instinct’s data connectivity.
Since conspiracy theories surrounding the Apple iPhone 3G are popular this weekend, would it be wrong to suggest that all these supposed “issues” that have coincidentally popped up at the iPhone 3G launch isn’t some Apple ploy to drive potential Instinct customers to the iPhone?
It shouldn’t matter either way, because both AT&T and Sprint should be in the doghouse for not properly handling the quality control of their respective flagship handsets. Bad cellular providers, bad!
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Stumble It!
July 13th, 2008
Sprint overcharged my small (US) company for over $50,000.00. We caught them doing it and now they refuse to refund the over-payments. You can read the full story at http://www.sprint-really-sucks.com
I also wrote an open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.
http://www.sprint-really-sucks.com/open-letter-dan-hesse.aspx
July 13th, 2008
It is clear that Apple’s marketing paid someone to bring negative reviews about ‘The Best’ competitor of iPhone. If Instinct has problem, why did you not report until iPhone came out and it’s negative report on the activation problems were out?
As far as this guy who goes and posts Sprint overcharged him, he is big time Verizon customer. His main job is go post this same thing in all forums.
July 14th, 2008
All that glitters is not iPhone.
July 14th, 2008
I love my Instinct not one problem, i have tried an Iphone i have to say i like Sprint and the instinct alot more.
PS I have been with sprint for 13yrs i love there CS, and phones and coverage…..
Never over charged LOL AllenHarkleroad: does this guy even know what hes talking about its pretty funny to read his site…
Love the Phone great job sprint
July 17th, 2008
I have had no problems with my phone either, activation went smoothly and all applications work well.
July 21st, 2008
Love my instinct and trust me iphone users have way more problems. Try just getting one activated! Try getting help from your store (good luck) Try to get help on the phone (call in sick you will be on there all day). Did I say I LOVE my instinct, being a multiple cell phone provider store, I can say it is the BEST phone I have used. Kudos Sprint!
July 28th, 2008
I have had troubles with my instinct.
7-26-2008 if you made a call to my phone you would get a hang up.
7-25-2008 I was not receiving voice mails.
I am not able to roam within my Sprint service area.
(that means when I dont get the sprint signal I cant use the other carriers on roam.) Even though I pay for roaming.
July 29th, 2008
I’ve had problems and I’ve had my phone less than a week. I’m not able to access the Movies Showing Near Me feature. It gives me a 7000: Internal Server Error, error message and then says no data to display and now the home, back arrow and phone icons on the bottom of the phone, have began becoming unresponsive. Sprint Tech Supp has been working on the movies issue for 4 days and finally admitted that they have to contact the manufacturer and the other problem I have to go to a store and waste 2 hours while they do whatever it is they are going to do.
August 11th, 2008
Had the Instinct since it came out, so far no problems. Not sure what you mean by problems. Had a slight problem with activation when I bought it, but that was die to the fact the guy selling it to me was new, not anything else.
August 15th, 2008
My instinct story (true story – I’m not paid by anyone)…..I purchased the phone through Sprint rep and waited 1 week to get the phone (no problem)…when i got the phone I noticed that it began to get hot and the buttons on the bottom would not toggle between screens. This problem continued the next day so I traded in the “new phone” for another “new instinct”. Everything worked well for appx 2 weeks. Then I noticed that it began to have toggle issues with the buttons again and it was freeze up and turn-off. So I keep taking the battery out and in to temp fix the problem. The last straw…Saturday…I’m on the phone and I’m getting another call but I can’t see who’s call or press any buttons to answer the call.. so the caller had to leave a vm and then the vm notice would not notify me right away…I had to wait a 20 mins or so. Okay very last straw just yesterday (still experiencing the other problems) im in my car and place the phone on the pass seat (in lock position) suddenly my sister’s voice is on the phone she says that I called her and I wasn’t near the phone…Long story short, I love Sprint but the Samsung Instinct was not ready!!! Its horrible. So I traded it in last night and got the new Treo 800w (no problems yet) but it not as trendy looking as the Instinct. The instinct is a nice looking phone but its not a functional phone. I’m into functionality not fashion….but I was promised this phone would deliver both. However, through all of this Sprint was excellent been with them since I moved from Bell Atlantic….
August 27th, 2008
For all those people saying that they have no problems with their Instinct, I say just wait. Mine worked at first, but soon it started to deteriorate. First I’d start getting one or two website that would crash. Now, after two + months, I am probably crashing on 60% of website I try to visit. Even the Navigation has started crashing now. Sprint won’t help because I didn’t pay for the protection plan. I hope that they will fix the phone, but I aint holding my breath.
October 20th, 2008
Hey Instict owner here from canada, Running with Bell. My phone is having the most problems with the web apps , Often crashing, or I get the endless progress bar when loading news, or whether. Now the most annoying that seems to happen about 3 times a week, in the while you were out menu, sometimes the phone will freeze with the screen on but the phone in lock mode!!! The only way to unfreeze it is shuting the phone off and on again.
All these issues are with Bell, If things dont change I will be calling them up and will try to get them to take it back and give me a blackberry as this is bull***.
November 9th, 2008
i was enjoying this phone. until recently i started have toggle issues. after being on screen saver i tried to switch to the menu but it wouldnt budge.the screen kept playing up.it still does every now and then. moving between apps or the bottom toggle buttons dont respond as fast as i would expect or sometimes doesnt at all. i tried to answer a call once and the bar on the screen which has to be slid to answer position wasnt even moving. lucky its wasnt my boss. try having a long convo on the headset. the screen get hot and make it uncomfortable as it rests on your cheek. i like the phone. there should have been more done before all the great claims and release.
December 2nd, 2008
I have had the instinct for 2 months and have had nothing but problems from not getting my calls to the phone freezing up and now sprint will not help me out with these problems and tell me to go back to the store i bought it from i have now been back to the store 8 times and no real help. I am not going to be a Sprint customer much longer
December 22nd, 2008
Sprint : Poor service in Jacksonville Florida
Updated 12/22/08
I just received a call from Sprint. Sprint finally admits the problem with clipping and echo in Jacksonville is widespread based on the volume of complaints they have received locally. They also admit their technicians are unable to locate and fix the problem. They have told me they have no immediate plans to try resolve the issue. They will not credit my account for any loss of quality and they will not let me out of my contract without $400 in termination fees.
So, if you are thinking of signing on with Sprint, do yourself a favor and steer clear. Even with the 30 day trial, you’ll never know what level of service you will end up with. My problems on my 2 Instincts did not appear until a couple of months into the contract.
If you are a Sprint customer, you can help by:
Contacting Sprint Directly (email direct97@yahoo.com and I will send you a phone number)
Post to sites like Twitter
Post on Craigslist and follow the thread
Upload a video to You Tube
Updated 12/08/08
Back in early or mid-October, Sprint began making changes to their system creating havoc for it’s local customers. Most notably users are experiencing clipping (echoing), poor coverage and dropped calls. Some users have even reported connection limitations with data server. Carrying on a complete conversation has been a challenge at best. Our best advice is if you are shopping for cellular phone service in Jacksonville and North Florida avoid Sprint for the time being.
Update: On 12/05/08 Sprint told me they found a broken wire and fixed it on 12/02/08. Yet nearly a week later the echo is as bad as ever.
If you are already a Sprint customer, (don’t waste your time calling 611 or tech support). Email me and I will send you a phone number to a top level representative who will have to respond to you. Not only is Sprint seemingly not sharing knowledge of this problem with their customers, they also seem to be hiding it from their lower level support people.
Be sure to let them know the problems you are experiencing. Echoing, dropped calls, slow or no data. If they seem like this is the first time they’ve received a complaint, tell them the problem is blogged all over the internet, even the store managers know about it. Request a refund for services back to Mid-October. They will not be able to tell you when the problem will be fixed. They’re already behind schedule and have alienated a lot of customers. Even the service centers at the local stores won’t take the time to look at your phone. They know the problem is in the network. Looking for a good excuse to get out of your contract? This may be it.
It may also be worth your time to go to http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm to file a complaint with the FCC.
Finally, we’d be interested in hearing from any of you attorneys out there to see if this might qualify for class action.
Got a Gripe About Your Sprint Service in Jacksonville, go to http://www.jacksonville1.com/sprint.htm
February 4th, 2009
An interesting glitch with the Instinct (which I generally love). The built in calculator comes with a unit converter function, but when it comes to the temperature converter there is no (-) sign…so you can’t convert, for example, -40C into F. It will only convert temps above 0 degrees. A really minor thing, but maybe this was designed by people who live in places where it never goes below 0C or 32F…I thought it was kind of funny.
February 13th, 2009
Well I’ve had my instinct for about 8 months now. The 1st one I had froze a lot in the first couple weeks, so i got a new one. the new one was working for a while, not the past couple of months my account app hasnt been working…everytime i go into my text messages then pic mail, the screen freezes. It moves slow. sometimes the tv doesnt work…Im kinda tired of this. I been meaning to go to the store to get another new one but i been way too busy. I moved to ATL so i wish they try to tell me to go back to the store where I bought it from, cause thats all the way in Pittsburgh. My brother just got a new one cause his touch screen stopped working period. Everyone I know except 1 person is having problems with their instinct. This phone sucks, and i tell everyone not to get it. Too many problems. all the other touch screen phones out there are soooooo much better. I never once heard anyone say their iphone freezes or what ever carrier they have freezes or doesnt work, except the instinct. :(
February 26th, 2009
The phone is nice over all but it has touch screen issues such as freezing, and not responsive to touch. Had it for about four months and this should not be happening. Nice Idea to have an all touch phone if it works when you touch it. (Fix the glitches and you have a winner until then you have a subpar phone )
February 26th, 2009
I ordered my Instinct in June of 08 received it about a two weeks later, being it was backordered. I had no problems with it till about late November. I would be in the middle of a text message, and it would freeze up become unresponsive and turn its self off and then turn back on. It did this all the time. I took it to the nearest Sprint Repair center which is a 45 minute drive from my house. They did an update on it, and said that should help it. Well I went home and within 2 hours it did it again. So I called and was told to go back the next day. So I drove back just so they could order me and new phone. Then when the phone came in I had to drive back out there and pick up the new one which I just got late December. It is now 2 months later, and my new phone is doing the same thing. I went back to the repair center, and asked if they have had any problems with this phone which they responded, “No. Not any problems like what you are having.” I now realize this is a load of bull. The representatives have been nice and I’ve had good customer service. But I suggest staying away from the Instinct.
March 28th, 2009
I’ve had my Instinct for about 6 months, and I’ve nothing but problems.
If I try to delete a message, and after I press delete, it freezes for about 45 seconds. EVERY single time. Very frustrating.
Or like right now, I have a “New Voicemail” that I need to slide up to “Listen”…but it won’t slide!!
Or, my phone will say “unlock phone”…and it won’t unlock!!
Or, I won’t get informed of phone messages for HOURS.
Or, I listen to a message, and try to delete it…and it won’t delete. Not the 46 second pause–it won’t delete!! I almost have to pound the “delete” before it will work.
I HATE this phone.
April 9th, 2009
I have had my Instinct since January and I hate it.
The touch doesn’t always work. Sometimes I miss calls because it won’t go up. I hate the slide feature – just have buttons with my options.
People I call on landlines HATE to talk to me because the echo in their ears when they talk to me drives them crazy.
My web never works, it changes the size of the font instead of going to where I am touching. The menu buttons pop on and off the screen so it is impossible to manuever.
My TV never works. It is all pixelated and stops working to reload every 3 seconds.
Another thing that bothers me is I can turn off the screen and but leave on the power (so I don’t accidently call someone) and then I don’t get my text messages or calls, it acts like I’m “out”, which is stupid.
And when I am on calls I get a loud beep when I get text messages, and it is distracting.
I got the everything plan and all that actually works is the texting.
I hate it.
April 27th, 2009
I hate the Instinct. Nothing but problems. My touch screen doesn’t respond correctly, I press the message button and the navigation pops up. Now it does not respond to any touch, it is just calling everyone in my phone book. I am so fed up.
May 9th, 2009
I have had the Instinct for 8 months and have had it replaced 4 times. I am once again having problems with the phone. I’m headed to the store tomorrow for replacement number 5. Sprint refuses to do anything about the problem, other than replace it and I’m so tired of this phone. Once my contract ends, I am leaving Sprint. It is absurd for them to put this dysfunctional phone on the market and allow their customers to deal with the headache while they sit back and enjoy the profits.
May 19th, 2009
My first INstinct completely froze after 8 months – texting started to fail a month beforehand – the writing was on the wall – literally – the phone used to write messages all by itself! Today the replacement phone stated behaving in a very similar way (it has lasted 3 months) I have been a loyal Sprint customer for over 10 years – never had a problem with any of the more basic phones I have had beforehand – I HATE this phone – customer service in my local store was very unhelpful – I have the protection plan but I refused to pay the deductable as their phone was a piece of garbage – and they admit it so I was refunded the $50 on my bill – I am about to go and do battle with them all over again – I wanted an i-phone – guess I should buy the real thing!
May 25th, 2009
My story is not unlike most everyone on here.
My instinct or should I say my 3rd instinctdid the same thing the last two had done.
My screen will not respond to anything I can;t call, text, recieve calls or when I use the voice recognition to call someone well that works but when I am done I can’t end the call. That is my prob with the instinct but other then that I do like the phone.. ( By the way I am currently awaitting my 4th replacement phone for the same problem)
May 27th, 2009
Wow, I have everyone beat. I received a new instinct right out of the package and activated it today. It was activated for about 4 hours and now the screen will not respond. It will not toggle on any of the controls. THE screen is frozen. I am able to turn it on and off, do voice commands, turn the volume up and down and take pictures. 4 hours! DO NOT BUY AN INSTINCT!! for the love of God.
June 11th, 2009
Got the instinct 2 weeks ago and last night the touch screen just quit. I have treated this thing like a bar of gold worth 10 million dollars and this is what I get. After reading all these issues I am highly annoyed because the phone is on loan to me from my ex-husband until he gets my Blackberry curve in (he owns a local sprint store). Now he is making me out to be the bad guy because I probably “sabbotaged”. OMG…I am just thoroughly annoyed. Cannot make, or recieve calls, texts, emails, etc. Grrr!!!
June 17th, 2009
I have had nothing but problems with my instinct.. which is almost a year old.
The biggest is that I lose phone calls. I am constantly being asked why I didn’t answer my phone, or if my voice mail isn’t working, from people who try to call me. They tell me it rings & rings & rings… but it never rings on my end. And the worse is, you won’t know you are having the problem until someone asks why you didn’t answer. The only “fix” I have found is to dial a number right before I hit the “off” button on the top (usually time & temp), making sure i was in some sort of “phone mode” before it goes dark. And even then it doesn’t always work.
Also – lousy on apps.. awful on signal strength if you go inside ANYWHERE.
I’m going Blackberry next month.
June 24th, 2009
i’m having the same issues as everyone else on this site… i am very unhappy with the INSTINCT yea it was cool for 3 months b4 it started messing up… turning on and off… not letting me get messages for hours … and now the f-ing touch screen is becoming non-responsive. very very unhappy with this phone…
July 4th, 2009
i ve had my sprint instinct for 4 months and i love it bt it pisses me off alot… i cant log into youtube(there is this blue button by the address bar its like its lockin the page. PLEASE REPLY I NEED HELP WITH THIS BITCH SO MUCH FOR BEING TRENDY) ..it goes super slow with all the bars…recently me and my cousin traded batteries…he bought his instinct when it first came out so his battery is old but every since that day my phone has been having constant glitches to where the phone would just stop all of what im doing…black out and freakin start over to the contacts screen.. wtf lol
July 11th, 2009
I am now on my third Instinct. The first one just completely froze up, the second one wouldn’t let me answer any of my calls or view my contacts (the screen was jacked) and now with this third phone the gps is not working keeps saying ‘weak signal’ and my web options such as news and entertainment stop working to the point that I have to re-download an app. tech. support sent me months ago just to make it work again.
Now the good thing is I live in IL and there was a bill passed in 2007 which I believe is called the Handset Lemon Law or the Cell Phone Lemon Law. If you’ve had to have 3 or more repairs or replacements for the same handset, by law you can opt out of your contract with no penalties. Or you can request an upgrade and pay the difference even if the replacement is on promotional. I’m headed back up to the store on Monday, wish me luck!
August 8th, 2009
Sprint Instinct S30 – Aug 2009 -
Use EVERY single feature (to the hilt) on my Instinct. Have every single option. Works flawlessly. Instinct has a collection of features not avaliable on ANY other phone. Lots of cool downloaded Apps. GREAT PHONE
Tom
August 8th, 2009
I read carefully the items above. It is clear that most of the complaints are from folks that don’t know how to use the phone. Most people should stick with simple phones. If you have a lot of features, and options, then you will have lot options to screw up.- Thats physics.
Tom
August 31st, 2009
we upgraded our phones, went through several, and finally tried the instinct. oh wow, it was cool at first – looks trendy, all touch screen. i’ve got a pink one, my hubby’s is black. well…that’s the ONLY good thing about it, lol…
we’ve had the phones since the end of january – and they are NOTHING but a HASSLE! do NOT buy this piece of crap! they have NO battery life – that’s why you get two apparently! they have awful service! (my parents have had sprint for 8 years…cancelled it this week actually – and they have perfect service in our home area with their simple phones, ours is lucky to have 1 bar!)…the touch screen SUCKS! i can NOT text without making MULTIPLE mistakes – and calibrate my screen daily. the auto-correct feature locks my phone up completely. we do NOT have EVDO service in our area, which sucks…but when we enter evdo service, the phones lock up and need to be turned off, then back on in order to work. the built-in browser is a joke, honestly. dial-up is faster than it is! i personally use opera mini, and half the time i get network errors. i have to power-cycle the phone several times a day due to the fact that it will NOT connect to the internet after being on a few hours. the call quality SUCKS! echoing doesn’t even begin to describe what you hear! everyone that i talk to while on this phone can’t hear me.
so, unless you want a pretty paperweight, don’t get this phone…i can’t WAIT ’til my contract’s up…
September 4th, 2009
Well I might as well add to the rest of the people here. I am taking my instinct back to the store to have it replaced for a second time. The first time the touch screen went zonkers and they immediately mailed me a replacement. Everything was fine until the other day when I noticed a spot develop under the screen getting bigger and bigger. Then all of a sudden everything stopped working. The phone cuts on but no other functions are available. I’m waiting for the sprint store to call me so that I can exchange this for for another one. This will be the last time. Three strikes and I’m out!!!
September 8th, 2009
just like most of you, i’m very unhappy with my instinct. i got it in january and it was ok until about a month ago. the slide up to answer calls doesn’t work. i can barely access my music because when i touch that key, i get the battery life screen. this happens all the time. i can’t text, or go on facebook (the web is too slow and I lack the patience to wait for it). I can’t slide to hang up on someone if I want to. i’m fed up. i don’t think I want another one. i’m terminatingmy contract and getting an iphone (which is what I should have done in the first place). for those of you reading this trying to get a feel for the phone before you buy it….DON’T DO IT!!!
September 14th, 2009
I thought I was insane until I came across this forum. I have had my instinct for about three months and the problems are mounting. My son played a game on my phone and now I cant access the add games/apps feature. When I try it looks like its loading, and then I get an error message. I was able to access my facebook, but all of a sudden when I try from my phone, it tells me that it doesnt recognize the location and then doesnt allow me to put in my security info. If I try to use the phone while its charging, it gets super hot. This sometimes happens if I am just talking for a while. I get notifications late, sometimes almost 24 hrs later! I delete things from my email and see them again. It freezes time and again. I have difficulty toggling. I am so miserable. I am due for an upgrade now and Im going with a Blackberry. I want apps that work. I want games. I want functionality. I hate the Instinct SO MUCH(can you tell?).
October 11th, 2009
um im sorry to say u all must be having some serious user errors.. ive had my instinct for roughly 5 months now, not a single problem, no freezing no turning itself off no unresponsive screen, absolutely NOTHING. Perfect phone by far the best ive had. i love the phone and every1 i know who has it hasnt had a single problem with theirs.. u all must be equally retarded. be patient and stay calm everything works out eventually, if u dont like the phone get an effing new one and stop complaining :D
October 16th, 2009
just like every one else, my instinc is a piece of crap. i got mine when it first came out. bought it from best buy. i’ve had every problem listed above , and then some. i’m going back to best buy todayto try and get it replaced for the fourth time. the worst thing is that i bought phone insurance from best buy. i told them after the second replacement that i didnt want another instinct, but they said i have to replace it with the same phone. i think we should start a class action suit against sprint and samsung. oh yaeh, when the first phone went bad it lost all my contacts that were supposed to be backed up on mobilsync. what a piece of crap! funny thing is my wife got hers at the same time i did and hers works perfect from the begining! i guess its one good apple in the bunch of rotten ones.
November 6th, 2009
i have a instinct and in one day it froze up and i cant use it.