On August 6th of 2010, I purchased a new Samsung Captivate from an AT&T Retail store located on Cobb Parkway in Smyrna, GA. Wtihin the first couple of months, I noticed my phone would turn off randomly. At first, I believed it may have been a button push caused by me while the phone was in my pocketbook or pocket. After a little while, I noticed it would happen when the phone was not in my pocket or pocketbook, but at random times and places. Sometimes as many as 3 times a day. I called AT&T and was transferred to their Android Warranty technician. They walked me through a factory reset and promised that the problem would be resolved by the reset.

The reset did not stop the shut downs at all. I started to do research and learned that the shutdown issue was being experienced by many other Captivate owners. There are many boards and forums with people complaining about this issue, not excluding AT&T's own community website. Those having their phones replaced by AT&T were getting refurbished devices that were also shutting down. Those who went to Samsung for repair received their "repaired" devices and still had shutdowns. In December, after having a particularly bad week with shutdowns, I again called AT&T. I explained that my phone had been reset and that it still had shutdowns. At the same time, Samsung had sent out notification that there was a known issue with the Captivate that caused it to shutdown. It also stated a serial number (or IMEI) range and manufacturing date range that would most likely experience the shutdown issue. In short, those phones manufactured after November 6th, 2010 would not have this issue. The operator assured me that I would not get a phone with a shutdown issue and proceeded with processing a warranty replacement.

I received the phone on January 7th. By the next morning, the replacement phone had shutdown on me 5 times. I repackaged the replacement phone and sent it back to AT&T. I called AT&T the same morning to report to them what had happened with the replacement phone and that I was assured by the previous agent that the replacement phone would not have the shutdown issue. I was told by the current agent that there is no way to insure that any refurbished phone that is sent to me will not shutdown. I then stated that I purchased a NEW Samsung Captivate and instead was sold a defective device with a known issue. I should be able to have the NEW and non-defective device I paid for in the beginning, not a defective phone that will be replaced with another defective phone. The agent stated that if I wanted a new phone, I would have to contact AT&T customer service, which I did. As it turns out, that was just a redirect, as they also told me to contact warranty to see about replacing my phone.

After a "cool down" period, I again called AT&T on January 24th to inquire about getting my phone replaced. I explained that I had been having shutdowns, received a replacement that also shutdown and wanted to receive a non-defective phone, as that is what I originally expected when I made my Samsung Captivate purchase. The agent stated the refurbished phones that were sent out were not defective as of November 6th. I then stated to him that the replacement I received was in early January - well after November 6th - and it was certainly defective. And that the November 6th date was manufacture date, not a ship date. I had already been down that road and tried everything. What I really wanted was to have a non-defective Samsung Captivate, manufactured after November 6th. Unfortunately, the agent reverted back to the statement of the previous agent - there is no way to insure the refurbished phone that is sent to me will not shutdown. I reminded him of the manufacture date and suggested that sending me a phone manufactured beyond November 6th would (according to Samsung and AT&T) insure that I received a phone without the shutdown issue. He again stated there is no way to insure the phone that is sent to me will not shutdown and would I like to move forward with a refurbished replacement. I stated no, as I had done that already and I did not think it was fair that I could not be assured of a phone that was not defective, even though I paid for a new phone.

At this point, I would like AT&T to replace my Samsung Captivate with a New Samsung Captivate, since that is what I paid for. Once they realized that the shutdown issue was wide spread, all Captivate owners who purchased a new Captivate that was defective should be able to get a new (not refurbished or repaired) Captivate that is built without this issue.