27 February 2012

Re. Phone Hospital



Last week I posted about my new phone, Samsung Galaxy SII, having gone in to the phone hospital for repair.  People were hearing loud echo-ing each time I called them and used the microphone, but things were ok on speakerphone.  This only affected my outbound calls.  Incoming calls were fine.  It was very strange indeed.  So the phone went into S3 Interactive last Monday and I got it back Friday afternoon, around 4pm just as I was on my way to take mum for a carvery dinner.  I was so happy to get the call from Chris who worked there informing me it was back from Dundee.  I plugged in my sim card as soon as I got the phone and called my mum.  Mum was waiting in the car and said everything sounded fine.  Excellent!  Off I went back out and went to carvery and grocery shopping full with joy cos my phone is back with me AND is working!  I spent rest of the evening setting my phone back up logging into my Google accounts and other customised settings etc.  It was so cool to get back my Whatsapp, my Words with Friends and of course my Facebook.  Most importantly, I could view/ plan my lessons with my Google Calendar and my Gmail accounts.  =D

Saturday morning I called Kwik-Fit to check availability of a new tyre.  As soon as the guy picked up I spoke and the guy at the other end said he could not hear me.  Uh-oh!  No, please no!!!  Yup... the problem came back!  I had to complete the rest of the call using speaker.  I felt like a bombshell dropped.  No way!!  I did further testing calling mum on her mobile and our landline.  Same... Wth, do I really have to go back to S3 Interactive on Monday?!  =((

The bittersweet feeling of having my phone back stayed with me throughout yesterday and today.  And I was complaining to everyone about my phone having to go back for repair.  People suggested I get a new handset, which I wish I could but cos I passed the 'seven days after purchase timeframe' all faults are dealt with by manufacturers guarantee which means it gets repaired. I called a few people in church and they also heard themselves echo back and they could not hear me either.  How terrible.

Then tonight, just before going to bed, I was on the phone for a little while.  I was using the speakerphone and had the handset on my table.  Randomly I clicked on my Options and it brought up a few things including one saying "Noise Reduction - On".  I clicked that and it said, "Unable to turn on Noise Reduction when speaker is on".  So I then turned the speaker off and noticed a zig-zag looking icon with a line through it appear on the screen.  I brought up the Options and turned the "Noise Reduction - Off".  Voila!  Instantly the caller said they could hear me clearly and properly.  I asked whether they could hear any echo-ing.  No more!  That's fantastic!!  It seemed that the "problem" was so simple to "fix" in the first place, but I didn't think to push so many buttons, test so many options etc (guess in fear of making it worse).  But the worrying thing is, why did S3 Interactive not advise that such noise reduction could cause this interference?  On Friday they advised they "fixed the microphone support and performed software update" but had no mention anything was wrong or right with it.

I was sooo happy after that call that I called TWO more people and told them the same thing, about the Noise Reduction.  One person is actually an owner of the same phone.  They tried the Noise Reduction and it didn't cause any problems.  But then again it was I who called and not the other way round.  Nevertheless, I am right now delighted I will NOT have to take another trip to S3 Interactive in Clydebank.  It is not the most convenient of places to go to and definitely not a good use of time!  Whoo-hoo!!  I am so happy and I thank God for sudden urge to play around with the options, the itchy fingers and curiosity to try things out.  =D

Lesson of the Day:  There is no need to go straight for repair if you have a fault.  Try to find ways to fix it yourself first.  The problem may be easily rectified without wasting more precious time =)

20 February 2012

Phone hospital


My phone is away for repair.  I put it into S3 Interactive in Clydebank Business park this afternoon.  What's wrong with it?  It took me long enough to find out, cos it wasn't that obvious.  Basically everytime I make an ordinary outbound call and talk into the microphone, the person on the other line can hardly hear me.  I've had a few people comment that I sound "far away/ distant and very quiet".  I had no idea why, and thought it was reception issue so moved around the house in hope of 'improving signal' but to no avail.  Once I made a call in the car and had full reception, yet the person said they could not hear me at all.  Another thing was, when I did some testing at home and I called mum, she said each time she spoke she would hear her voice bounce back.  I checked it and it was true.  Weird.  However, whenever I received an incoming call, we could hear each other no problem.  Whenever I made or received calls using speakerphone, again, no problems.  I don't make that many outbound calls, or at least not often enough, so could not catch this problem until over 7 days after I initially bought the phone, so cannot return to seller and have to deal with Samsung.  Therefore I located this Samsung approved repair specialist.  In fact, I have been here before once, with my Samsung laptop.  the left speaker gave off a crackily sound in higher volumes and this annoyed me.  It went in twice, but came out none the better.  So... I guess Samsung and I don't really mix well eh!  =(

Now I'm feeling a little incomplete without my phone because I am so used to having the important features like Google Calendar, GMail along with Whatsapp and Words with Friends.  Not to forget my 8MP camera and Facebook.  But the last two items are just extras.  Not essential.  My schedule is much more important.  Even important emails have to be read after work when I get home now.  So hopefully nobody will try to contact me in these few days.  Estimated time of getting phone back: Friday.  What the heck!!  "Really busy, with long queue of repairs" I was told.

Pending...

So that's a new thing on my Pending list.  The first thing that was pending from before was the plumbing.  Our toilet has had intermittent leaks/ flooding for the past few months.  By intermittent it was like once every 3-4 weeks where we flush and some water would leak out of the out pipe, seeming like a blockage was there or something.  Some "advice" we recieved said it could be the main street pipe was clogged up and that backed up the water.  Plumber One came up and helped up seal the "gap" where the water was flowing back out and said hope it helped.  It worked for a few days then the flooding got a bit worse and pushed out of the silicone gel thing he used.  Clearly that was not good enough.  He came up to inspect again and there was a leak as well now.  Mum thinks was due to the out pipe being moved when the silicone was applied the first time.  Plumber One denied it and then gave the number to Plumber Two who was the original guy who installed our bathroom for us.  Plumber Two came, witnesses the backflow of water and regurgitation through the bathtub plughole.  But it only happened once.  Then after further inspection and flushing lots of loo roll down the toilet the blockage seemed to have cleared.  There was no more back flow and no more sound.  Phew!  That was relief.  However, the small leak was still there, though very small now, but still there.  He said it will stop once the blockage is gone.  Mum was adament it was still there and wanted further attention to it.  However, Plumber Two said the pipe is not wet anymore and what mum saw/ felt on the pipe must have been the condensation from the water tank.  And not to worry.  We did not argue with him anymore as we were both mixed with relief that it would not leak anymore but also disbelief.

After Plumber Two left, we found the leaking continued.  Mum was fuming.  She really questioned Plumber Two's professionalism and vowed never to use him again.  We had numbers for two other plumbers we used from long time ago.  I called one: took my number said he'd get back to me in twenty mins, but never did.  The other plumber's numbers were both disconnected.  Guess he must have retired.  So... what now?  Leave the water to drip slowly and hope it ceases itself?  Mum was already very anxious and had lost hours of sleep over this.  I had lost sleep and had to reshuffle lessons to meet the mentioned Plumbers, but all to no success.  Mum spoke on the phone to church aunties and one suggested getting the number to another friend's plumber.  (You can see how things were getting a bit complicated here.)  In the end I decided not to call so many people.  I thought of asking a church brother's advice, see if he knew of any reliable plumbers who can do the job properly for us.  He gave me a number to call but advised against calling him out weekends due to weekend premium.  I advised I would arrange for Monday visit (today).  Called about six times over three days, left three voicemails and a text message.  Nothing.

When I was about to give up I got a call after leaving S3Interative (thankfully I plugged my sim into the K810i - very old phone but very RELIABLE!).  Plumber Three called back and said he was away for the weekend and left his phone at home.  He said he saw my messages and called me back straight away.  Sounded quite friendly and said he'd call me after 6PM this evening to arrange to have a look at the toilet.  I was really happy.  Was all ready for him then got a text message about 5:50PM saying it'll have to be tomorrow as something has just come up.  I asked him what time, asked if it were ok to be after 4PM, or else I can make sure I am home between 12-1:30PM (meaning I reschedule another lesson at last minute!!).  He said it's hard to say, but he'll contact me through the day tomorrow.  WHAT THE HECK!!  Plumbers are usually self-employed people.  At least these ones are.  I am a self-employed person, I would never do that to my pupil or potential pupils - arrange something, promise something then postpone like that.  Even if so, at least give a call to explain through the phone, not hide behind a text.  Arghhhh!!!!!!

So, the toilet case is dragging on for at least another night.  I really really really hope that Plumber Three can make it up to check the toilet between 12-1:30PM cos I'll be home for him and if he is not I'll be very very disappointed.  If this goes on like this I might just go crazy and call up a very expensive plumber coming like JH Horn Plumbers and I'm pretty sure they'll get the job done very professionally with invoices, possibly guarantees etc and at a time/ day that it suitable for both parties.  Sake man!!  Money I have, but time I don't have any to waste.  I have a life to live here guys.  I don't want to think about toilets all day.

I always remember Rene Descartes' philosophical quote: "I think therefore I am."  Oh dear...