Touch Button Issue HTC One S - Communication campaign "Operation Rolling Thunder"

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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
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Touch Button Issue HTC One S - Communication campaign "Operation Rolling Thunder"

Hi all,

If you ended up on this thread, it probably means that like many others, including me, you have experienced the so-called "Home button issue" on your HTC One S. To sum it up very briefly, it happens mostly when you're on EDGE and the signal is weak: what then happens is that all the sudden, your phone simulates rapid presses of the Home Button, leading to your display switching constantly between the main Home screen and the "helicopter view" showing the 7 home screens. When it happens, the buttons become useless, and you cannot use your phone anymore. Needless to say it is a really annoying matter...

As you may know, there are many threads that report the issue in many different countries, which leads to believe that hundreds if not thousands of users are having the same issue... XDA has a very complete thread on the matter, which focuses on grouping people reports, hypothetical fixes, leads, ideas, comments etc. I strongly suggest you check it out if you haven't done so yet after you're done reading this post. Here's the link:


You will also find a link to a spreadsheet in this thread where you can write yourself in and describe your issue and its circumstances, thus helping people working on the issue to figure out a solution. Big thanks to SneakyGhost and ZoesDad for all the work! Remember to write your details in the sheet when you're through this post if you haven't done so yet. Here's the link:


Now, if you followed up on this issue, you will soon notice that many users have reported the problem to HTC, starting some months ago. The results were nowhere near satisfying:

  • No reply at all to their complaints;
  • Automatic emails from customer support telling people to restart or factory reset their phones, even though they had explained that they had already tried this in their mails;
  • Requests to send their phones in for repair. After weeks, customers would get their phones returned, with the exact same issue still present;
  • Emails from HTC stating that they were (finally) aware of the issue and that a patch would be released in the coming days/weeks. That was months ago, nothing has happened as of yet...

Bottom line: Nothing happened, the matter is still not solved, and we are all still stuck with devices that can stop working at any given time if the signal starts going down. Inacceptable. Time to act!



Operation Rolling Thunder

Apparently, HTC needs a little "motivation" so solve this issue, so here is my suggestion (I discussed the idea with some people on SneakyGhost's thread, link to exact page here):

In order to make ourselves heard, we need to join in a combined effort to attract attention of HTC through the media. I therefore started posting negative reviews of the HTC One S on numerous websites that review or sell the product. On each of them, I left a comment reporting this issue and advising people not to buy the phone until the matter was resolved.

...And here is where I need your help: I ask you to take a little time off and start doing the same. I will try to make it as easy and fast for you as possible.

The goal is to "spam" review and sales websites with so many negative reviews that the phone's average note will sink to the bottom. Thus, when people will check out the phone, they will see a quite good editor's note, but a very low users note. They will most probably then read users reviews and find out about the issue, which will lead them to delay their purchase or switch to another model or brand... They will talk/comment about it, and so on.

If enough people in various countries participate to the action, we will make quite some noise, and I am convinced that HTC will hear about it. Actually, my plan is to let them know asap that such an action is ongoing. I want them to be aware of this, and I believe we should regularly "invite" them to read our reviews on famous websites, and let them know that we will not stop until the patch is released. No promise of future upcoming patches will stop this action. The only way for them to stop us from spamming websites with unhappy comments will be the release of a patch that adresses the issue. Only then will we stop our action and edit our reviews/comments.

Operation Rolling Thunder: Phases

Phase One:
  • Leave posts/reviews/comments on famous review and/or sales websites
  • Send updates regularly to HTC about progress. If no patch after 1-2 weeks, proceed to phase two.

Phase Two:
  • Send emails to the carriers/tech supports of respective countries
  • Send regular updates to HTC about progress. If no patch after 1-2 weeks, proceed to phase three.

Phase Three:
  • Send emails to the media: bloggers, press...
  • Send regular updates to HTC about progress. If no patch by then... Improvise.

Now, I have already started with phase one on my own, and if you want things to change, I hereby invite you to join me in my effort to "motivate" our friends at HTC.


Remember to check out the two next posts. I wrote them to provide you with useful tools and advice, so that you can easily contribute to the action:
- Review templates in different languages
- Direct links to the product pages on famous websites for posting
- Some advice (my two cents)



Report your contributions:

After posting your reviews, don't forget to post your contribution through this form!
It will help us keep track of progress and maintain pressure on HTC!

You can check out the results at any given time in this spreadsheet!


(Many thanks to SneakyGhost for his advice and the idea of the sheet :good:)


Please keep this thread tidy:

Thank you for not postings rants, complaints or non-constructive comments on this thread. It is important, especially if we relay a link to this thread to the media/press at a later stage, that it remains factual. Posts are reserved for the following:
  • Your reports on where you posted reviews, in order to show involvement
  • Your suggestions on new links to websites to post reviews on
  • Constructive remarks.


Remember that this post is dedicated to the Home screen issue ONLY!


Don't forget to fill out the form when you are done posting your reviews! Here are the links to the form and to the spreadsheet!

Thank you in advance for your effort, may this campaign be successful... for all our sakes :highfive:
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
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Post/review templates and advice

Below are some links to reviews/comments I wrote in different languages. Feel free to copy/paste them (or edit them, if you disagree on certain aspects: it's your review!) if you don't feel like writing them yourself.

Some advice when it comes to reviewing (if I may...):
  • A general note of no more than one star (less if possible) would be appropriate for this phone as long as the bug persists, don't you think?
  • Don't be hostile/rude... You are probably pissed by now and tired of waiting, but try to keep things civil. It will add to the credibility of this action and benefit the results. We don't want to sound like raving idiots, but rather like a determined group of people who want to make things happen...
  • I believe that it writing in the title of your review that this phone would deserve a better note if the issue was gone might help encourage HTC to provide a fix. Just stating the HTC One S is a **it phone will probably not encourage them so much, rather the opposite.
  • Please insert a link to this thread and SneakyGhost's in your reviews, so people can read about the issue and know what we are talking about. They should know that this is a legitimate effort, not some loose and unmotivated ranting...

In order to keep things fair, I plan to edit/adapt my reviews when HTC has fixed the issue. I hope you'll do the same...
Let's act like gentlemen: the phone wouldn't deserve such a bad note if it wasn't for this bug. Let's remember that when a fix removes the issue.


Here are the review templates:
- In English
- In French
- In German (I'm not so great in German, so you might want to adapt a little ;) )

Don't forget to fill out the form when you are done posting your reviews! Here are the links to the form and to the spreadsheet!

Thanks for your help!
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
21
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Links to review/sales websites

Here are some links to websites you might want to post on. Of course, you are welcome to post on other relevant places too.

Leave a comment in this thread with the links, and I'll update the list whenever I can!

Remember that some websites may have several HTC One Ses on sale. They can all be reviewed...

Some advice on speeding things up:
  • You'll always have to create a user on the websites you post on. Thankfully, it usually requires a username and a mail adress. No big deal, one minute tops! Facebook login works too sometimes...
  • This is how I do when a website has the HTC One S several times for sale (aka Amazon): I search for the HTS One S, then sort from highest price down in order to avoid cases and accessories. When the list appears, I open every HTC One S page in a new tab. I then go to the reviews page for each of them and start copy/pasting. It took me barely 10 minutes to review 20 HTC One S on an Amazon!
  • Don't comment on somebody else's review, make your own. That way, you can give a (1-star) note.
  • You may post on French post even if you're not French. Trust in my post ;)

Here are the links. I tried to make sure you would end up on the right page (review page or list page with HTC One Ses)

English:
Cnet.com (post confirmed)
Cnet.com.au (post confirmed)
Amazon.com (post confirmed)
Amazon.co.uk (post confirmed)
GSMarena.com (post confirmed)
Techradar.com (post confirmed)

German:
Amazon.de (post confirmed)
Saturn.de (post confirmed)
CyberPort.de (post confirmed)
Pixmania.de

French:
Amazon.fr (post confirmed)
LesNumériques (post confirmed)
Clubic.com
Pixmania.fr
Darty.fr
LesMobiles (post confirmed)
FrAndroid (post confirmed)
TomsGuide.fr (post confirmed)
cDiscount


Don't forget to fill out the form when you are done posting your reviews! Here are the links to the form and to the spreadsheet!
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
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Posts to publish on forums and gather people

Here are post templates you can use in order to rally people on other forums to join this action/thread. Don't forget to leave posts in video comments too :)

Post Template (EN)
Post Template (FR)
Post Template (DE) (I'm not so great in German, so you might want to adapt a little ;) )

Help me spread the word. Thank you!
 
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Sneakyghost

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2008
8,314
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InMyHead
Right mate. That'll be a rush of people showing up I hope.
From the posts surfacing in my thread now I get the feeling that some where drawn here from sales sites already.

I haven't gotten to read through your reviews yet so forgive my ignorance: have you thought of dropping a link to this xda thread and/or mine in your reviews?

One thing I deem of major importance is making the spreadsheet reflect a true picture of the situation out there. That'll be only possible if we reach as many people as possible. So I think having the sheet linked to the product directly it would get us closer to that goal. At last 430 potential reviewers can spread it quite far and fast I guess.

Power to the masses! :D

Somehow I really like mobilizing a lit of people in a short time.
Have you ever heard of avaaz.org? They've gotten the most brilliant campaigning concept I know of. They managed to get a million signatures in 24h for some campaigns...

Feel the Viper! :D
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
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I haven't gotten to read through your reviews yet so forgive my ignorance: have you thought of dropping a link to this xda thread and/or mine in your reviews?

Good point. Not always. I urged people to google the issue, but no direct links. Had done most of the reviewing before getting active here. I ll update my templates so the links are in there. Thanks.

One thing I deem of major importance is making the spreadsheet reflect a true picture of the situation out there. That'll be only possible if we reach as many people as possible. So I think having the sheet linked to the product directly it would get us closer to that goal. At last 430 potential reviewers can spread it quite far and fast I guess.

Agreed. How do you suggest we achieve this? I was planning on PMing those who left their usernames in your sheet. Do you have a quicker solution?

Somehow I really like mobilizing a lit of people in a short time.
Have you ever heard of avaaz.org? They've gotten the most brilliant campaigning concept I know of. They managed to get a million signatures in 24h for some campaigns...

Yep, heard about them. I think we can start as planned, and if we need some help because things aren't going fast enough, we could find some inspiration/help over there. Yet I think that even a few hundred people can achieve a lot, if they do the posting properly. As I said earlier, most product pages only have maybe a dozen reviews, so our posts will definitely tilt the balance. :)
 

gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
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I haven't gotten to read through your reviews yet so forgive my ignorance: have you thought of dropping a link to this xda thread and/or mine in your reviews?

Done! Please remember to set up a little description of this thread and big fat link leading here on your first post, will you?

Thanks!
 

gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
21
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I appreciate your willingness to help us out, I really do, but I will have to ask you to stand down if you haven't experienced the home screen issue yet. I want ONLY people who really have this problem to post about it, or at least through this action/thread.

Why? Well, because if others do so, it undermines credibility. I want honest statements on these review websites, from people who have seen this bug first hand.

That's my official point of view on the matter. Of course, I cannot stop you from helping us anyway :D

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
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I have now left comments on most videos about this phone I could come across: reviews, but also problem reports etc.

I might have forgotten some: you are welcome to help me out :)

Remember: TOGETHER, WE ARE LEGION!


Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
 

Roundtableprez

Senior Member
Jun 27, 2011
528
83
I'm sorry but is this really a real issue? My whole family (not including baby brother) has the oneS were all rooted and on different ROMs(my sister just prefers stock though) and none of us have had this problem... not even once. I truly believe it is not fair for people to write bad reviews on phones because of one issue a select few are having... and ones has 4g why are you using edge? Leave a one star rating? How about you get a new phone and leave this beauty to us?

Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
 

Sneakyghost

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2008
8,314
13,595
InMyHead
I have two devices and one is ok.
I think there's people though who got a return from service with a new phone 4 times and the issue is still there. Look over at the Vodafone UK forums.

Since the facts show that it is spread over all production batches and all software variants and also even happens on the 850/1900mhz band, although far less frequent, we came to believe that this issue can theoretically affect every unit.
Those who do not suffer it are considered lucky ones for now.

I am aware that this is all looking very grim but I'm sure it really isn't. Just HTC's response is dark and grim.

It's mainly about putting more pressure on HTC since they have fobbed us of since basically April now.

I am very very sorry if this concerns you as happy user. Basically the idea for such a campaign already came up at around the end of July when I and zoesdad where discussing options but we opted to hold off such actions and also discourage others from doing so out of fairness reasons.
We have now reached a span of six month nearly consisting of nothing but empty promises and denial. It is just enough now.
Also keep in mind that we will change the reviews and take back everything we can as soon as HTC commits to the issue in the shape of a real fix.
Thank you for your understanding.

[EDIT]
Gibarian,
I have now begun to post some reviews (managed to cover cnet) but my lunchbreak is short...
I would like to edit your german template, impressive german you got there (where do you come from mate?), but i would like to take out a few minor glitches, makes it sound a little smoother then. Do you mind?
Here's the edit. Take it or leave it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJUpTGLz8PNJkwqwRg1IhardJys172wwyv3sMp5Zvh4/edit
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
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I'm sorry but is this really a real issue? My whole family (not including baby brother) has the oneS were all rooted and on different ROMs(my sister just prefers stock though) and none of us have had this problem... not even once. I truly believe it is not fair for people to write bad reviews on phones because of one issue a select few are having... and ones has 4g why are you using edge? Leave a one star rating? How about you get a new phone and leave this beauty to us?

Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

I couldn't agree more on SneakyGhost's reply on your post. I share this 100%

I'm really happy for you, I just wish all of us would have the same things to report, trust me.
I haven't enjoyed spending half my day and my whole night all the way to 5am writing this thread, the reviews, the posts, the sheets and forms, the advices, the research and all the posting. I would have loved to just sit back in my garden and toy with my phone (which is a beauty, no argument there!) Unfortunately I can't, because of this issue. I had it no later than today when using the GPS, which would just disappear and the screen would go crazy. No way to rely on it...

As SneakyGhost pointed out, we unfortunate ones feel neglected and are disappointed by HTC's lack of action. Thus the action.
Remember this:
- We plan to adjust our reviews as soon as the bug has been mended
- We clearly point out that the bad review is due to this bug
- We urge people to remain civil

You might want to read what I replied to maek_it_happen a few posts higher, and who was offering to help even if he did not have the issue (thanks again): we do not encourage this, because we want our claim to be justified and forwarded only by people who suffer from this issue. I believe that is fair, no?

And about using 4G instead of EDGE: Man, don't you think I would do so if I could? I don't choose to connect to the slowest network available. Maybe I do so because there's nothing else around... Btw, the technical sheet of our phone clearly states that is compatible to EDGE. So...

Enjoy your phone, and please wish for all of us here to be able to do the same pretty soon ;)

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
 

gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
21
46
Gibarian,
I have now begun to post some reviews (managed to cover cnet) but my lunchbreak is short...
I would like to edit your german template, impressive german you got there (where do you come from mate?), but i would like to take out a few minor glitches, makes it sound a little smoother then. Do you mind?
Here's the edit. Take it or leave it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJUpTGLz8PNJkwqwRg1IhardJys172wwyv3sMp5Zvh4/edit

Thanks SneakyGhost. You work on sundays? Oh man, sorry to hear that...

Check out my profile: I'm from Luxembourg. Puts me on the crossroads between France, Germany and Belgium. And my wife is swedish, so English is the way to go at home ;)

I will insert your template: I'm sure it's better than mine ;)

I'll PM you to grant you admin rights to all the documents: it will make things easier.

CU!

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
 

Roundtableprez

Senior Member
Jun 27, 2011
528
83
I have two devices and one is ok.
I think there's people though who got a return from service with a new phone 4 times and the issue is still there. Look over at the Vodafone UK forums.

Since the facts show that it is spread over all production batches and all software variants and also even happens on the 850/1900mhz band, although far less frequent, we came to believe that this issue can theoretically affect every unit.
Those who do not suffer it are considered lucky ones for now.

I am aware that this is all looking very grim but I'm sure it really isn't. Just HTC's response is dark and grim.

It's mainly about putting more pressure on HTC since they have fobbed us of since basically April now.

I am very very sorry if this concerns you as happy user. Basically the idea for such a campaign already came up at around the end of July when I and zoesdad where discussing options but we opted to hold off such actions and also discourage others from doing so out of fairness reasons.
We have now reached a span of six month nearly consisting of nothing but empty promises and denial. It is just enough now.
Also keep in mind that we will change the reviews and take back everything we can as soon as HTC commits to the issue in the shape of a real fix.
Thank you for your understanding.

[EDIT]
Gibarian,
I have now begun to post some reviews (managed to cover cnet) but my lunchbreak is short...
I would like to edit your german template, impressive german you got there (where do you come from mate?), but i would like to take out a few minor glitches, makes it sound a little smoother then. Do you mind?
Here's the edit. Take it or leave it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pJUpTGLz8PNJkwqwRg1IhardJys172wwyv3sMp5Zvh4/edit

You got promises from HTC? Truth full though they support their phones better then most my sidekick never received an update from Samsung. My droid didn't from Motorola. Holy**** my HTC oneS did though. Give it some time you can't expect to fix an edge data problem when everyone uses 3g/4g right away lol. Anyways I'll go back to my thread as to not clutter your guys thread we can argue about the ethics there if you like.

Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
 
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Sneakyghost

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2008
8,314
13,595
InMyHead
:D
Trust me, no real harm done, this is a mere try to threaten a giant. It will probably just show that we are serious but never bring down the sales figures. That is a dream. But a dream worth the while. And mate, it might help us at the end of the day.

HTC promises fixes since two month at least, has released 3 updates (one of them just being a voda) of which each manipulated the issue in a slightly different way and looking at it in sequence gives the impression of HTC actually testing a fix on us. Which is so not right. We are not getting paid as beta testers.

There is one user on a German forum claiming he got an ETA for the final fix, named the 8th of October. I think thats just bullsh from either him or the agent he spoke to. Anyhow: if there is such a thing as an ETA, its just so unfair to not let us know and let us fry in our pains here.
I think many of us would willingly test stuff out and help to get this resolved asap but its just like we are treated like idiots since month. It just makes me feel so stupid and i ask myself why do i do all this data collection, analyzing, thinking about solutions, chatting with people to try desperate measures ( Tecardo already nearly bricked his unit trying to figure out a fix on his own)...
Its just such an EFFIN pain!

It needs to go away.

My phone resorted to locked buttons variant of the issue all freakin day today! kept unlocking it so i could - maybe - use it for a few seconds until the buttons locked up again...

And honestly, i am short of giving up, selling it on ebay and buying a HOX instead on Ebay Local markets every day. Every Day i keep thinking about this but i wont for two reasons: i have some honor left and i wont sell THIS POS to anyone in that state. The other reason: there is no other phone i would feel comfortable with so much. The HOX gets close but honestly, its made from plastic and its not nearly as nice. The phone is too big too.
 
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Fredfly

Senior Member
Jul 11, 2012
76
10
toronto
This whole campaign sounds like a bad idea. Using threats to get your way is not the proper way to get people to listen. All the and reviews will do is discouraged people from buying the one s and if this happens HTC will offer less support. Why spoil the dozen if one egg is bad

Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
 

Sneakyghost

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2008
8,314
13,595
InMyHead
why keep a dozen bad eggs if only one is good?

And: we think we don't threaten. We rather believe we haven been overly fair to a company that is not fair to us. We have all kept very very quiet. Most have not rated the phone or reviewed it yet because most expect this to not hit the majority and most did not take action to not spoil the dozen. We have quietly dealt with HTC support. But now it becomes apparent more and more that HTC support just does nothing, zip, nada. It is a real joke. Not a funny one though. So what this is, is that we are no longer wanting to be quiet. We want everyone else to know that there is problems with these phones. Potential ones. It is not just all candy.

and believe me, the matter has been discussed between us up and down the argument ladder since beginning of august. I said that already. It will NOT permanently damage sales. Naming it a bad idea means you believe in it having more effect than we do.

Trust me, it will NOT have such a major impact. We will never manage to rate it down on all relevant sites. All that will happen is a little too much salt in the pie.

It will draw attention to the problem. Not more. And once HTC acts correctly, the reviews will be all praise and hallelujah.

No whining. We had enough mercy. This should have been sorted at least 3 month ago. The issue became apparent in April. Now we have september. Which is closing in on october. So that makes it getting close to 2 quarters of a year. I and many others reckon one quarter to fix a very serious issue that hits hundreds of people more than adequate.

We don't even have near the resources HTC has but in the same 5 and a half month we got very near the source of the problem. The only thing that keeps a few people from finally fixing it is the goddamn Security HTC put on the phones.
So, ironically, we can't even fix it ourselves even though we probably could because HTC doesn't allow us too.

How would you feel in that situation? I think we act very rational, very well discussed and very controlled.
This will NOT damage anyone.

Please have trust.
 
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gibarian

Senior Member
Dec 15, 2007
61
21
46
This whole campaign sounds like a bad idea. Using threats to get your way is not the proper way to get people to listen. All the and reviews will do is discouraged people from buying the one s and if this happens HTC will offer less support. Why spoil the dozen if one egg is bad

Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

Let me make a wild guess here: I am willing to bet that you don't have this issue. Am I right? So you don't have the bad egg. Now imagine you did...

Because if you did, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say this, especially after having written to HTC for support and gotten an automatic reply, or none at all, or having returned your phone and waited just to end up with the same result etc etc.

Again: if your phone works perfectly, congratulations! I wish I was in your shoes. But I'm not, and neither are many others. So, after having tried every other way, we end up here. If you have a better suggestion, I will gladly take it. Maybe exchange your phone for mine, how about that? :)

Nobody is forcing anybody to do anything here. Those who want to take part in the action probably have good reason to, because spending time creating user accounts and posting on websites is not that fun. Trust me, I know :) Yet if people do it, it means that they have a pretty strong motivation to do so, and no other choice.

Bottom line: I am looking forward to enjoying my One S fully, like you probably do, when this issue is fixed. But I will do what it takes to get there!

If you cannot understand this, fair enough. I really hope you won't have to share my experience.

Live long and prosper! :)
 

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    Touch Button Issue HTC One S - Communication campaign "Operation Rolling Thunder"

    Hi all,

    If you ended up on this thread, it probably means that like many others, including me, you have experienced the so-called "Home button issue" on your HTC One S. To sum it up very briefly, it happens mostly when you're on EDGE and the signal is weak: what then happens is that all the sudden, your phone simulates rapid presses of the Home Button, leading to your display switching constantly between the main Home screen and the "helicopter view" showing the 7 home screens. When it happens, the buttons become useless, and you cannot use your phone anymore. Needless to say it is a really annoying matter...

    As you may know, there are many threads that report the issue in many different countries, which leads to believe that hundreds if not thousands of users are having the same issue... XDA has a very complete thread on the matter, which focuses on grouping people reports, hypothetical fixes, leads, ideas, comments etc. I strongly suggest you check it out if you haven't done so yet after you're done reading this post. Here's the link:


    You will also find a link to a spreadsheet in this thread where you can write yourself in and describe your issue and its circumstances, thus helping people working on the issue to figure out a solution. Big thanks to SneakyGhost and ZoesDad for all the work! Remember to write your details in the sheet when you're through this post if you haven't done so yet. Here's the link:


    Now, if you followed up on this issue, you will soon notice that many users have reported the problem to HTC, starting some months ago. The results were nowhere near satisfying:

    • No reply at all to their complaints;
    • Automatic emails from customer support telling people to restart or factory reset their phones, even though they had explained that they had already tried this in their mails;
    • Requests to send their phones in for repair. After weeks, customers would get their phones returned, with the exact same issue still present;
    • Emails from HTC stating that they were (finally) aware of the issue and that a patch would be released in the coming days/weeks. That was months ago, nothing has happened as of yet...

    Bottom line: Nothing happened, the matter is still not solved, and we are all still stuck with devices that can stop working at any given time if the signal starts going down. Inacceptable. Time to act!



    Operation Rolling Thunder

    Apparently, HTC needs a little "motivation" so solve this issue, so here is my suggestion (I discussed the idea with some people on SneakyGhost's thread, link to exact page here):

    In order to make ourselves heard, we need to join in a combined effort to attract attention of HTC through the media. I therefore started posting negative reviews of the HTC One S on numerous websites that review or sell the product. On each of them, I left a comment reporting this issue and advising people not to buy the phone until the matter was resolved.

    ...And here is where I need your help: I ask you to take a little time off and start doing the same. I will try to make it as easy and fast for you as possible.

    The goal is to "spam" review and sales websites with so many negative reviews that the phone's average note will sink to the bottom. Thus, when people will check out the phone, they will see a quite good editor's note, but a very low users note. They will most probably then read users reviews and find out about the issue, which will lead them to delay their purchase or switch to another model or brand... They will talk/comment about it, and so on.

    If enough people in various countries participate to the action, we will make quite some noise, and I am convinced that HTC will hear about it. Actually, my plan is to let them know asap that such an action is ongoing. I want them to be aware of this, and I believe we should regularly "invite" them to read our reviews on famous websites, and let them know that we will not stop until the patch is released. No promise of future upcoming patches will stop this action. The only way for them to stop us from spamming websites with unhappy comments will be the release of a patch that adresses the issue. Only then will we stop our action and edit our reviews/comments.

    Operation Rolling Thunder: Phases

    Phase One:
    • Leave posts/reviews/comments on famous review and/or sales websites
    • Send updates regularly to HTC about progress. If no patch after 1-2 weeks, proceed to phase two.

    Phase Two:
    • Send emails to the carriers/tech supports of respective countries
    • Send regular updates to HTC about progress. If no patch after 1-2 weeks, proceed to phase three.

    Phase Three:
    • Send emails to the media: bloggers, press...
    • Send regular updates to HTC about progress. If no patch by then... Improvise.

    Now, I have already started with phase one on my own, and if you want things to change, I hereby invite you to join me in my effort to "motivate" our friends at HTC.


    Remember to check out the two next posts. I wrote them to provide you with useful tools and advice, so that you can easily contribute to the action:
    - Review templates in different languages
    - Direct links to the product pages on famous websites for posting
    - Some advice (my two cents)



    Report your contributions:

    After posting your reviews, don't forget to post your contribution through this form!
    It will help us keep track of progress and maintain pressure on HTC!

    You can check out the results at any given time in this spreadsheet!


    (Many thanks to SneakyGhost for his advice and the idea of the sheet :good:)


    Please keep this thread tidy:

    Thank you for not postings rants, complaints or non-constructive comments on this thread. It is important, especially if we relay a link to this thread to the media/press at a later stage, that it remains factual. Posts are reserved for the following:
    • Your reports on where you posted reviews, in order to show involvement
    • Your suggestions on new links to websites to post reviews on
    • Constructive remarks.


    Remember that this post is dedicated to the Home screen issue ONLY!


    Don't forget to fill out the form when you are done posting your reviews! Here are the links to the form and to the spreadsheet!

    Thank you in advance for your effort, may this campaign be successful... for all our sakes :highfive:
    2
    Like I mentioned in the threat " [17.09.2012] Touch (Home) Button Issue HTC One S " I had some nice conversations with the HTC Benedelux Helpdesk. I can't blame those people because its not their fault but still its annoying.

    --- Here follows the post ---

    Well once again after several mails with the Benedelux HTC Tech team I received the following info ( and i'm not that glad about it ) :

    My question :
    - Dear, concerning my homebutton issue in my previous mails, do you allready have a date when the next update will come out if this is a software issue. Or if its a Hardware issue could you keep me informed.

    The reply :
    - A mail I allready received that the software team was looking in to it and they would inform their customers through Facebook and stuff.

    I replied with the answer that they allready gave me that info for the 10th time and that I wasn't happy anymore with that answer.
    Last reply I got was this :
    - Dear sir,

    The reason why we give you the same answer again is because this is still the same. Its not yet officialy known when an update will be published. I'm really sorry and I can understand that this is very frustrating. Problem is that I can't put any presure on the Dev team itself so the only thing we can tell you is to wait. I'm really sorry

    Kind regards

    So that date on the German site I don't know if its a leaked or incorrect but thats the info I received.


    ( Btw sorry if there are some spelling errors in my text )
    2
    Sneaky keep up the good work mate, you're doing a great job.
    As for the suggestion to take it to a higher level at HTC, I have been promised an urgent callback from their escalation team for over a week now, and I've been communicating with them patiently to no avail for two months. They just don't care. I have the MAO and homescreen problems.

    Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
    2
    WCDMA only is not even an option to consider for many. I myself hardly ever find WCDMA networks available unless i go to town. The small village i live in hasn't gotten 3G coverage from O2. I am thinking of changing my provider for two reasons since a while now: number one being the hope to escape the home button problem, number two being the coverage, which is just utter sh1t from O2. Also their pricing is rather outrageous compared to all the others.

    [EDIT]
    So, Gibarian, where are we standing now? Are you going to show us the way to the newspapers?

    1.) Fact is, the rating campaign isn't going very well without constant motivation and,
    2.) Some newspapers have already picked up on it (CHIP.de), so Phase 2 launchend itself? An open letter to all the others is about time and ideally be done from multiple users

    You had been insisting on being in control on the progress. You need to show up here then and tell us when it is about time. Also we could begin to formulate this open letter here and pass it around so people can make their annotations and suggestions before we send it off. Other people could collect email-adresses from all the papers out there.

    I would be particularly interested in covering other languages than just English, German and French.

    While we are making good progress on the other thread (a new HTC rep turned up and is in touch with me now to find out about the phone quality problems) it seems like this thread is dying off somehow?

    [EDIT 2]
    My Device is back from repair with Arvato Services Solutions GmbH since a week, the problem is worse than ever (See here: http://youtu.be/kvPOZsk9I_I) and Mr. Willis has offered me a new device now - finally-
    Things are moving too slow and Mr. Willis says this is because of problems for HTC to track, identify and analyze problems. Nothing new. He says HTC is fixing this problem (internal data flow, contact to consumers) too but since that involves adjusting of many company parts it is gonna take a while - we are waiting.

    Can we not speed up the process by urging HTC to get moving? I think people that have been dealing with the issue since 6 month (for me it now is nearly 5 month) just deserve an uncommented exchange. Just straight away without ANY comment/question.

    Can we not get this moving on? Where is the Boss? Gibarian? Did you now give up? Big words at the beginning and now nothing? What is happening? Do you want me to take this over? I can run this campaign no problem! I can talk to people and get help and get them moving. You are leaving a bad impression of yourself here mate. I really want to have this moving forward now!
    This was supposed to be the parallel project to my thing with the technical side and the contact to HTC. Your non-presence here is about to ruin it all!

    Hi Sneaky,

    I apologize for my long "leave of absence", but I have unfortunately been completely out for the past few weeks, due to some health issues. To make matters worse, my work has been stacking up so I now have to catch up big time. And, of course, we now get many demands (which is good business-wise, and yet exhausting) which means that I'm extremely busy right now...

    Regarding this little campaign of ours, I was hoping that people would deliver the message on other forums to gather more "voices". Some people did, and that's great, but when I look at the spreadsheet, I feel that scores could be better. I wonder if people just don't know about this action, or if they indeed do know about it but just, for whatever reason, don't join in (or fill out the spreadsheet)...

    Anyway, our action has not gone unnoticed as we get echoes here or on other forums, and that's a great thing.

    I agree that waiting any longer to get more adherents will probably not be as fruitful as expected, especially since I will not be able to post around a lot in the coming weeks. Of course, if other people who are just as annoyed by this issue as we are were to take over, that would be nice... But I guess those who are willing to help already did so, and the others are mostly just bystanders...

    That being said, I fully agree to your plan to move on and take it to the media now. Maybe people can start posting drafts of the letter that will be sent by all in the coming days...

    It needs to be a common action I think, again to show this to be a common action. I am curious to see how many people will actually post drafts :)

    I myself will try to work on it this weekend, but I do not promise anything. Anyway, I also want others to join in and express themselves here. This is to be a team effort.

    ps: as I will be very busy in the coming weeks, your offer to help out (and you already did so a lot) is very much appreciated. :) I'll do my best to keep up, but I might be less active now. Again, sorry about that. And no, I'm not letting you out there to dry ;)
    2
    I am in good contact with HTC. I have had some statements telling me either indirectly or even directly that HTC doesn't care because they think its not enough phones that are affected.

    Every promise and every friendly word from them is a SWEET SUGAR CANDY BLUNT LIE INTO OUR FACES.

    if we now resort to SCREAMING i could do so as well.

    It doesn't make anyone look any smarter though and i assume that you, djsubtronic, probably had been drunk last night while typing that. I cannot explain it any other. You had been pretty reasonable before on the other thread.
    And since we all are entitled to have hour opinions you are very welcome to have yours too and express it but you really don't need to scream, mate.

    All we do is getting people who are actually having an affected phone to speak up.

    We do NOT want anyone else (with good samples or no samples at all) to join in.

    We have a right to express our frustrations and because it is so many and because it is near certain that it is even more which have not been seen yet it will eventually correct the picture that is now dominated by false positives mainly.

    Have you ever heard about professional review-writers that push products on various platforms? Have you heard about the war between the mobile phone producers that is partly fought with this method? Do you really think the positive reviews on the big platforms are all from customers?

    There is a good deal of purposely placed good reviews all over the net that do trigger other sheep like morons (the true believers, right) to chime in and praise and sing hallelujah before they even had the phone for a day.

    This is, although it might have sounded different to you, djsubtronic, not about destroying anything. In Fact, it won't because it's not enough people for that to happen (just a dream, right). It is solely meant to correct the very wrong picture that fools people into buying something that is really flawed. And i repeat: it is not just those 430 people on the sheet. Wherever you go reading about the issues of the HOS, you find hints that there is sh1tloads of people having no idea whats happening to them. Those who left positive reviews are amongst them too mate. Because they usually cant tell one issue from the other.

    You ever heard the Term "Raise Awareness"?

    Everyone else thinking we are morons:

    Please stop before posting and re-think! This has absolutely nothing to do with being idiots. We try to reach out and get those that are affected to please speak up now. We have been very, very quiet for 6 month. That is really enough.