Nokia Lumia 900 connection fix – Nokia gives $100 good will gesture, update-fix in 5 days or swap now with updated Lumia.
Some Nokia Lumia 900 and Titan II users have reported problems connecting to AT&T LTE. I wasn’t sure if that was an AT&T issue or something specific to Nokia as was the recent reports.
Anyway, not to shy away, Nokia are immediately addressing their customers concerns (as opposed to fobbing them off and telling them something like they’re holding it wrong). Nokia are being pro-active to help those affected and more so.
http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/04/11/putting-people-first/
As a good will gesture, current Nokia Lumia 900 owners will get $100 towards their AT&T bill (I wonder if AT&T’s helping out there – who is the issue with?). You’ll also get this if you get a Nokia Lumia 900 up until 21st April. That’s whether your handset is affected or not, you will still get Nokia’s good will gesture.
To address the possible connectivity issue you have two options:
An update will be available on or around April 16th (5 days time) that will fix the bug
Swap your current Lumia for an already updated Lumia 900.
Shame, shame, shame that a bug like this could appear for such a critical handset. Hopefully it has not been too widespread and props to Nokia at least for nipping it in the bud and addressing their customers best interest first.
Category: Nokia
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Nokia acknowledges Lumia 900 issues, offers a fix | techack.info | April 11, 2012
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- Nokia acknowledges Lumia 900 issues, offers a fix « nuWebd.co.cc | April 12, 2012
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So the smartphone beta test campaign goes up in smoke. Well done another idiotic campaign by the marketing team.
Yes, not the most ideal thing to happen and frustrating to folks who might have experienced it. I can understand the inconvenience.
On upside: It shows that Nokia is very caring of its customers, and won’t just fob them off. Accept the problem, help the customers, give options to sort it out and good will gesture for the problem. Overall, I hope it leaves an overall positive reaction and confidence in Nokia as a brand than can deliver and does care. The fact that the fix is already available shows it is a minor slip up. Not possibly on the scale of redesigning an antenna that possibly doesn’t work in human hands – and worse, the feeling of the fault being on you as a consumer.
I suspect its due to ATT bastardization of the o/s. They prob add some modifications and logging to help them monitor traffic and shape it. As it only happens on the cellular network I would say with a great deal of confidence its ATT problem but I hope its not Nokia paying for it.
I hope not either. Nokia would of course not blame this on AT&T given how important they are right now, but you’re right. There might be an obvious hint there in how the good will is money coming off the AT&T bill. AT&T bill.
Hardly. It’s an error that affects a small number of customers that a solution has been provided for within a day or so.
Nokia bleeding more cash. Time for Plan B.
OK. Plan B = Plan A. Back on track.
Track that leads to certain failure.
Plan A = Failure = The End
Please leave if you don’t have constructive to say.
anything*
Yeah… so, apart from the launch in the US being at least an initially success, what with actual queues and good sales ranks on Amazon for the first time in…. well…. just a bout forever it’s a failure.
Right. OK. Gotcha.
Certain Failure? You see into the future? As far as I know, WP was only joking when they talked about their free time machine. It seems you have one. Please, show us video demoes.
This gesture by Nokia is getting good coveage and many are noting the contrast between how Nokia is handling this problem and Apple handles theirs. Plus it may be an AT&T problem. But Nokia is going to turn it into a marketing plus regardless. Nice work.
Yup. Engadget are recommending folks to go jump on this ‘new offer’.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/10/nokia-makes-lumia-900-free-to-all-att-customers/
Comments very positive. 5 day fix is nothing. Could even be instant fix if they wanted. $100 in customer pockets. Nice. Well handled.
I love this company! And yeah, I suspect AT&T is helping with the $100 credit here. Just a troublesome batch of phones, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to have affect the majority.
All phones come with little ‘irks’ but Nokia handles like a pro. I am so close to dumping my N8 for the Lumia 900 – NOW! Damn waiting for my one year N8 warrantly to expire…Oh well, I think I can wait; but it ain’t gonna be easy
Nokia FTW!
It seems very well orchestrated. They’ve learnt from that smoked by windows fail from a couple of weeks ago – taking the opportunity to turn a bad thing into a good thing, show you’re a good sport, show you’ve got great customer service.
I really love companies that help me out when I’m stuck. Folks like Amazon, or Logitech to name some (at least for me). It was nice having the company admit something had gone wrong, communicate clearly what is happening and offer help and good will in return. I find myself returning to those companies because I know that if I face an issue, the support will be there and you won’t be left uncertain about a dodgy product.
Why give $100 and the fix? 5 days for the fix isn’t long. Also why extend it to the 21st April. The phone is not selling as well as they thought. As $100 is more than a goodwill gesture it looks like an extra inducement to buy. If the $100 or in some cases $50 for the Lumia was not enough of a discount an extra $100 on top of this smacks at desperation.
Exactly. Nokia is using this as an opportunity to sell more lumias. This will be reported and their promotion will be reported. It’s a nice gesture to current customers and a nice little short term incentive for those considering it. As for not selling as well as they thought, “On Monday, we saw that kind of a kick-off come to fruition, with a very positive response on day one. ”
No it’s not. It might actually be selling better.
http://mynokiablog.com/2012/04/10/forbes-strong-lumia-debut-for-att-and-nokia-lumia-900/
The lumia black is now at 60th place. Make of that what you want.
not bad. You know there are two charts. Cell phones and accessories is the one that shows volume sales. When Forbes reported on the strong lumia sales the lumia was at 64. It shot to 35 and now at 60. The next non Nokia phone is…
You’re never going to get a job at Nokia marketing.
Was that aimed at me?
It was a reply to your post so yes.
I don’t like Nokia marketing its pretty lame. But in your little world and brain if that equates to me wanting a job at Nokia then your barb is as misguided as is your wit.
It seems no matter what anyone does, someone will always find something to complain about. If Nokia didn’t offer $100, someone would have still complained that they didn’t give any good will gesture. If Nokia does, someone will still complain. I think some people just enjoy complaining. Especially if you read their comment history and see every comment is whining.
+1
That $100 x buyers is basically lost revenue. There was no need for that. But I guess they have sold so few phones that the offer is not costing Nokia much.
Right, but good PR which, in the end, will matter more.
To introduce your new flagship on the market with a bug is never good PR, Mark.
People nowadays only read the headlines and when you look all around the net there’s just one headline about this matter: ‘The new Nokia Lumia 900 has connection problems’.
The fact Nokia did what they have to do is only written in the articles themselves and will not have the same influence compare to the headline.
With this launch they have just one shot. They will gain or lose everything.
This is their best investment yet.
I tend to agree that this is not encouraging news. If the launch had been a success, Nokia wouldn’t be throwing a hundred bucks at anyone willing to take an L900. There would be no shortage of people willing to buy in spite of the bug, which supposedly only affects a minority of customers, as was the case with the iPhone 4.
Whether the bug has cost Nokia customer goodwill or the Easter launch was poorly timed or the product simply isn’t selling is impossible to say, but it’s fair to extrapolate that even the low price of $100 is more than the market is willing to pay at this time. The response from a company that has no other means to compete: cut prices.
If, for example, Nokia had sold out out initial quantities of the L900, this offer would have been impossible to fulfill. Evidently, there’s no shortage of L900s out there to satisfy demand.
I would guess that Nokia is losing money on these phones. At $100 it was anybody’s guess. At $0, I suspect it’s likely.
““On Monday, we saw that kind of a kick-off come to fruition, with a very positive response on day one.”
+
http://mynokiablog.com/2012/04/10/forbes-strong-lumia-debut-for-att-and-nokia-lumia-900/
Yeah, I’ve read the tidbits from Nokia and they mean about as much now as they always have in the past. Unless they supply numbers comments about positive responses and strong sales and whatnot mean nothing. Seems to me that Nokia keeps lowering the bar for successful launches.
My bottom line is this: Nokia has so many L900s available for sale that it can give them away for free for the next 11 days immediately after their big launch. That’s not a success. Economics 101: you don’t lower the price on an in-demand product. It doesn’t matter if there are bugs, so long as there is demand – Apple proved this. You certainly don’t lower the price out of the kindness of your heart. Nokia would simply take care of customers affected by the bug if that was the only problem.
The discount is happening on people’s AT&T bill…because it is an AT&T problem (as much as Nokia would like to officially deny it) but Nokia will take the ‘flack’ and now to good promo for dealing with this issue correctly. I don’t think AT&T care that much about that $100 per customer when they’ve trapped them in for 24 months.
Before April, 21st, if you buy one, you get $100 refund, regardless you have problem or not. And they update will be available next Monday. So, I think it is a good marketing opportunity.
Yup. And more of a testament of how Nokia and any company should be handling possible problems.
Acknowledge the problem and explain what’s going on
Provide a simple quick fix by software update or offer exchange if that’s more convenient
Give a good will gesture, which also acts as a little promo for potential customers.
Putting people first and thinking of your customers. Looking at how this is being reported, it’s coming out to be a positive thing. Negative events don’t always have to be negative – it can often be influenced by how people react, and Nokia reacted well to put its customers first. This is the sort of ‘feel good’ thing you want to be associated with.
Good way to throw money away unnecessarily. $100 is a big amount. There was no need for that kind of sum. They should have done what Apple did and offer some accessories to buyers. Stuff that has high profit margins and low net values. That way the loss for Nokia stays small, but the customer still thinks he/she is getting something valuable.
It’s not real money, it’s AT&T credit. The cost of the 100$ worth of network usage is pretty much nada.
Nokia: We promised that our phones are good but there’re faults (probably not even our fault) but we make it up to you anyway.
Apple: Our phones are perfect so any problems is your fault not ours.
Also Nokia don’t have any good will and no brand recognition right now in the US, so you would want to do anything to make it up for such an important launch were anything can be blown up into negative news.
Yes, to ignore it, even if it was just with a limited number of handsets, would have been terrible. Now it has given people even more reason to go flock to Amazon/AT&T/Best buy to get one of these phones.
BTW, April 22nd – the white one appears. Kind of just the right timing, no?
Now THAT’S customer service. Instead of sliding the problem under a rug, come out, admit the problem and give something good in return.
Reading XDA forums many seem to think its squarely an ATT provisioning issue. I thought as much.
I agree. The Lumia wasn’t/isn’t the only phone affected. HTC Titan II is also and some are reporting the Samsung Note also. This is what you get for being the first devices on a brand new LTE network. If I recall correctly, the exact problems occurred w/ HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon. It was their 1st LTE device. I bet this will happen to Sprint also when they finally make the switch from WiMax to LTE.
You’re right, I’ve seen quite a few threads now of users on different devices complaining of sudden connection loss on AT&T.
Nokia have decided though to take the flack, with a good will gesture being offered – not a Nokia accessory or a Nokia discount, $100 of their AT&T bill which, AT&T will most likely be paying. As mentioned – $100 is not so much after tying someone in for 24 months.
Just bought the Cyan 900 from the Microsoft Store..just verified that it does have the connectivity issue and did a simple APN fix, rebooted and it works…I rebooted a few times to make sure it stays on…thanks for the $100, pays for my Lumia 900..now about that $36 activation fee
BTW…for anybody buying from AT&T, did they charge you tax on the full retail amount? I bought mine from the Microsoft Store and I got charged $7 tax on $99 (California)
Yesterday I read (over gsmarena I think in some comments) it was an AT&T’s problem, they did not put the connection codes (Sorry to not be able to recall the actual term or words) and an easy fix was to put those connection settings manually. The link was given within that comment as well.
Smartphone beta test is over? Is it? That commercial was not very clever move.
“Other phones have connection issues too” LOL!!
Having an issue like this during your opening launch is bad news–period. Nokia is giving the phone away, a sure sign of marketplace weakness.The device is not future proofed. Windows Phone 8 comes out later this year, with no promises that an upgrade to the new WP OS will be provided to the Lumia 900. WP8 should have multicore support, and Lumia 900 can’t keep up, especially not with only a single-core processor and 512 mb of RAM. And against A-list competition like iPhone 5 and SGSIII, Lumia early adopters will only feel regret as they sit out their two-year overpriced ATT contracts with an undersupported dinosaur. Welcome to the cruel world of smartphone marketing, you’ve been suckered into a $2000 ATT contract with a bunch of hype, and all to to save a couple hundred bucks. Advice? Return the Lumia 900 and, if you must have WP, wait a couple months for the WP8 superphones that actually have a future.
all of what you are saying are based on speculations.
Still he has a valid point; is the 900 future-proof?
Not a single person from Microsoft or Nokia has answered this question and with Apollo almost ready for release gives me a feeling it will not be future-proof because it’s a simple question and by now I’m sure it’s quite easy to answer.
So in my opinion Realistic Waiter is quite realistic, if you really want a high end WP you better wait until Apollo and do not buy the 900 with his uncertain future.
What a total load of bullshit that is. Source for this total load of shit you have put up on the board?
JUST PLACED AN ORDER FOR MY FUTURE LUMIA!
If you put some numbers on this. In Q4 ATT sold 9.4m smartphones in Q4 2011. Expect it to sell 10m phones in this quarter. Android and Iphone account for over 80% of sales with RIM about 10% and MS and Symbian about 5%.
So lets assume its been a succesful launch that would mean Nokia selling between 5-10%. Ie 500k -1m in 3 months.
I would split the sales over the 3 months with the most in the first month and then tapering off in the subsequent months.
So 50%, 30%, 20%.
ie 250-500k, 150-300k, 100-200k.
250-500k in 30 days is about 8.3k-16.7k per day.
So for the 14 days its been on sale 8-14 inclusive that would mean about 116.2k – 233.8k phones.
At $100 that would be about $11.6m – $23.4m.
Tp put this amount into perspective, ATT wasted about $6bn on its failed merger T-mobile.
“…as opposed to fobbing them off and telling them something like they’re holding it wrong…”
That condescending response is one of the reasons why I avoided Apple products, aside from the price (I own an iPad 2, though, and hated syncing it with iTunes thanks to its snail speed of transferring files and a tendency to delete installed apps if you try to sync with the latter).
At least other manufacturers, including Nokia, do not display that same attitude when it comes to problems with their devices.
I think this is going to end up being the marketing ploy of the Century. Even people who were not interested in a Lumia 900 will now rush to own one for free.
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