Wish Me Luck

[lydamorehouse]

 For months now, I've been turning my phone on by plugging my earphones into the jack. Some time around last August (I remember because it first happened when I was one of the GoHs at Diversicon,) my on/off button just stopped working consistantly. If someone texted/called me or if I lucked out, I could sometimes turn it on.Eventually, it fully failed. I discovered that the screen would turn on when it registered a device being plugged in, so I just carried around a zillion pair of earphones so I could always turn it on as needed.

I've been skating by on that for... well, I mean what is that? Almost six months?

Last night the earphone jack gave up the ghost. It accepts no plug into that jack as anything real. If I'm listening to a podcast, everyone gets to hear that I'm into "Betwixt the Sheets" and other sex history podcasts. That is, when I can turn it on. Right now, the only thing my phone will still recognize as a device is its charging cord--but only when active, as in plugged in. In essence it's a landline now, which is not what I need and, as it happens, I still have a landline. 

I found a place on University that supposedly will deal with ancient technology like my Samsung, so, hopefully, they'll be able to fix one or both of the phone's problems. It'd be cool if I could actually turn it on the normal way again, but I'd settle for a working earphone jack. 

Before you yell at me, yes. The plan *is* to buy a new phone. They're not that expensive. This will be an "in the meantime" as we wait for it to arrive solution. And, yeah, I'm aware that it's possible that the repair person will tell me that the cost of fixing it is more than the price of a new phone (keeping in mind that my family buys cheap-ass phones from Tracfone.) In which case, I'll figure something out. I can keep a charging cord in my car and so maybe before I go out on school patrol I can plug it in and just make sure I am always tapping the screen so I don't lose the ability to go on mic or, you know, hang up. I'll still be without headphones, which would suck, but you know, needs must. 

My appointment at the shop is for noon. I'm hoping for something simple and cheap.

Wish me luck.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

If you need to plug in a charger you could carry one of those portable battery things and just plug that in every time you need to wake your phone? Maybe? (I think the odds are high that it's going to cost more than is reasonable to pay to do the repair. You could get a better phone for $50 and I expect it'll cost at least $100 to do the fix, and if it doesn't, please let me know the name of this place because I have never been quoted a price below $100 for a phone repair.)

[lydamorehouse]

You were correct in your estimation. The prices quoted were all near $100.

I have a solution to my immediate usage problems, though it's not perfect. It does turn on. If I want it to stay on, I just need to have it my hot little hands and pay perfect attention to it. That is do-able until the new phone arrives. (which we are ordering tonight.)

[profiterole_reads]

An extra 6 months is pretty good. It's probably time to get a new phone. (Typed on my laptop where half the keys have started working badly. XD)

[lydamorehouse]

Yeah, I am typing this from a separate keyboard on my laptop because I blew out so many keys on my original. We just make do until we can't any more.

[dreamshark]

Just out of curiosity... what happens if you connect bluetooth headphones/earpods?

[lydamorehouse]

I have never owned bluetooth earpods in my entire life! I have no idea!

[glaurung]

FYI, refurbished phones are even cheaper than what a carrier will sell you. I buy unlocked phones on Backmarket.com or by searching ebay and using their "certified refurbished" filter. They come with a 1 year warranty and are guaranteed to work perfectly - the only downsides are that it isn't the newest model, the battery won't be 100% new, and it will show signs of wear - things I don't care about at all.

My current apple phone cost me about $100 that way, instead of $400 or whatever silly amount it was new back in 2020. I assume similar savings exist for Android devices. At that price, I can afford to buy a second phone as a spare so there isn't any downtime when something goes wrong - just pull the replacement out of the drawer, charge it up, and then see if repairing the old one is going to be cheaper than buying another refurb.

[lydamorehouse]

The phone we ended up buying last night was $65. It's a Tracfone phone, so it might be refubished for all I know. There's a reason people use Tracfones for burner phones, though! They are CHEAP.

Dumb suggestions

[lsanderson]

Blow out the jack. A little lint can make an excellent insulator. (I've had lint take out the charging port in Bangkok in Thailand...)

Any chance a USB headphone would bring it to life? Cheaper than a phone.

Re: Dumb suggestions

[lydamorehouse]

Turns out all I had to do was drop it! It started spontaneously working again after I fumbled it across the floor. Of course, as I will later report, that was exactly two seconds after Shawn hit the BUY button on a new phone for me. I mean, this is still probably a good idea? It is crazy how long I've gone without being able to turn my phone on and off like a normal person.

[bibliofile]

No advice, just sympathy for phone issues and also Tracfone solidarity.

[lydamorehouse]

Solidarity, fellow Tracfone user! We are perhaps bonded in our ability to put up with a lot of really terrible customer service. But, hey! The price is right. (To be fair to Tracfone, I have had some breezy interactions with customer service and some truly horrific ones.)