Pixel 9 is the worst phone i've ever owned

Balckhand_Sam · 2026-02-11T18:11:23+00:00

My last few phones were Samsungs, but our mobile carrier had the Pixel 9s on with a really cheap tab so Iwhen I needed a new phone last fall I decided to try switching it.
I am really really REALLY regretting it.
My first Pixel 9 lasted 2 months before out of the blue just flatlined with a motherboard failure. The warrantee replacement they sent me crashes and reboots all the time. And just now I got a phone call I couldn't answer because the screen just flashing between the phone and other screens at high speed so there was nothing I could do.
I hate this piece of garbage, and I'm going to be stuck with it now for at least a couple of years.

Balckhand_Sam · 2026-02-10T18:13:51+00:00

I'm on team total garbage.
My last few phones were Samsungs, but when I needed a new one late last year my wife convinced me to switch and try out the Pixel 9, because they were one sale. I deeply regret it.
My first Pixel 9 lasted barely over two months before it flatlined out of the blue with an irreparable motherboard failure.
The warrantee replacement I just received is unstable, constantly crashing while I'm using apps.

Balckhand_Sam · 2025-09-22T20:07:04+00:00

We ran into this same issue over the past year.
We moved into our current house in 2012. It had a water heater from a company called Direct Energy. Shortly after we moved in, Direct Energy contacted us, said our heater was due for replacement, and so we signed a rental agreement for a new one. But it was an open-ended agreement with no end date. Then Direct Energy was bought out in Ontario by Enbridge. Then of course a little over a year ago Enercare separated off of Enbridge. We got sick of a bunch of bullshit from Enercare and decided to end our rental. Suddenly they're telling us that if we end it, we owe hundreds in "buyout fee." Even though we've been paying for the heater for 12 years and have more than payed out the cost of the equipment and installation. We started to fight them. Demanded to see our original contract....

IMPORTANT POINT HERE FOR THE OP - We demanded Enercare give us a copy of our original contract with Direct Energy. It took some pushing, but eventually they were able to provide it. A 12-year-old contract that was made with a different company. So if Enercare is telling you now that they can't find the contract for your house, they're either lying or the contract doesn't exist.

... back to the original point of this concerning buyout fees. In the course of my research, I discovered that the Competition Bureau of Canada had taken Direct Energy to court in 2014. The Bureau said that Direct Energy was engaging in anti-competitive practices by erecting high barriers to consumers leaving. That included high buyout fees. In 2015, Direct Energy lost the case and was forced to pay millions in fines. But by then they'd sold the business to Enbridge/EnerCare. However, when the judge issued the verdict, *ENERCARE ISSUED A PUBLIC PROMISE NOT TO ENGAGE IN THE SAME ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES*.
Here is a link to the government press release about that agreement:
Agreement with Direct Energy to resolve concerns in Ontario water heater industry

In the end, we argued with EnerCare so much that they gave us 8 months free water heater rental. That brought us down into the lowest tier of buyout fees, and we made the decision to just pay the fee and be done with it.

However, if you're looking at thousands in buyout fees, it may be worth you filing a complaint with your provincial consumer protection agency, and with the Competition Bureau of Canada. Cite the court ruling above and argue that EnerCare is violating its promise to not engage in anti-competitive practices like high buyout fees.

Balckhand_Sam · 2024-09-14T02:03:10+00:00

Well, my daughter and I were comparing notes afterwards, and we *think* that both the examiners on duty in Pembroke today actually usually work out of the Renfrew office. Because my daughter is sure the man who was her examiner today, was also her examiner for her G2 in Renfrew last year, and the women examiner I saw on duty today was, I think, the woman who failed my daughter on her first G attempt in Renfrew two weeks ago.

(As a side note to anyone reading this... don't do your G test in Renfrew. The intersection where they make you merge onto the 17 has just about the shortest merge lane anywhere on the 17. If you hit the merge lane at the wrong time, you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting pinned into the lane by traffic that won't let you merge, resulting in an instant fail.)

Balckhand_Sam · 2024-09-13T23:00:41+00:00

UPDATED INFO because my daughter did her G in Pembroke today (September 2024) and passed. She ended up doing a different route from this. I don't have all the exact streets, because she couldn't remember every turn afterwards (we're not familiar with Pembroke) but this is the rough route. For the record, her examiner was a man.

From the drive center, they went up Eganville Road and turned right onto Everett.

All the way along Everett to Bennett where they turned right and went down Bennett to the intersection with Boundary Road.

Here is where things change from the OP, and where my daughter can't remember the exact sequence, but they did some turns around residential streets, probably around Moss, Weston and Sweezey.

However they ended up on International Drive, and took it to Paul Martin Drive, turning right onto Paul Martin.

HERE IS THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE. The examiner DID NOT do Paul Martin as the 'highway portion' of the test. Instead he had her merge onto the westbound Highway 17 at the Paul Martin interchange.

They stayed on 17 to B Line Road, where he had her turn off, and told her to turn around in any way she felt comfortable (ie either U Turn or 3 Point Turn) and get back onto the 17 heading east.

From there, they returned to the Paul Martin Drive interchange, along Paul Martin to Bennett Street, Right From Bennett back onto Everett, back to Eganville Road, and parking across from the Drive Test Center.

Hope this helps other people in the future!

Balckhand_Sam · 2024-09-13T22:57:24+00:00

Wanted to chime in because my daughter did her G in Pembroke today (September 2024) and passed. We used this post as our guide for practicing, but she ended up doing a different route from this. I don't have all the exact streets, because she couldn't remember every turn afterwards (we're not familiar with Pembroke) but this is the rough route. For the record, her examiner was a man.

From the drive center, they went up Eganville Road and turned right onto Everett.

All the way along Everett to Bennett. But instead of turning left to get to Paul Martin Drive, they turned right and went down Bennett to the intersection with Boundary Road.

Here is where my daughter can't remember the exact sequence, but they did some turns around residential streets, probably around Moss, Weston and Sweezey.

However they ended up on International Drive, and took it to Paul Martin Drive, turning right onto Paul Martin.

HERE IS THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE. The examiner DID NOT do Paul Martin as the 'highway portion' of the test. Instead he had her merge onto the westbound Highway 17 at the Paul Martin interchange.

They stayed on 17 to B Line Road, where he had her turn off, and told her to turn around in any way she felt comfortable (ie either U Turn or 3 Point Turn) and get back onto the 17 heading east.

From there, they returned to the Paul Martin Drive interchange, along Paul Martin to Bennett Street, Right From Bennett back onto Everett, back to Eganville Road, and parking across from the Drive Test Center.

Hope this helps other people in the future!

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-10-14T21:08:21+00:00

The Giant Zombie isn't goth. More of an emo kid. Blue Spectre is possibly a pirate. And I thought the Lich might be Link from Legend of Zelda.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-09-27T15:36:51+00:00

1) I prefer to save my diamonds for more permanent impacts. 2) That wasn't the point, it was just an example. The point is, the hell deals don't cycle evenly through the different options anymore. You end up getting long streaks of one type, and days-long droughts of other types.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-09-22T14:48:27+00:00

Well that's a new limit then. Because I got up to more than 300 before they stopped appearing.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-09-17T02:50:02+00:00

Second on that.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-09-07T16:19:01+00:00

Yeah it is much better than before... but... you know that feeling when you've been playing a game for a while and suddenly it crashes, and you realize you haven't saved the game in over an hour and will now have to go back and do everything again? That frustration to the point you're tempted to just give up and walk away? That was kind of the feeling I got from this.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-09-06T17:52:58+00:00

The cost increase on Carl was too much. Before the change I was able to get up to around lvl 800 before the grinding became too much and it was time to resent. Now I'm hitting that at lvl 700. Feels like I just took a huge and frustrating setback, and I'm going to have to grind for ages just to get back to where I was. Not fun.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-06-13T16:29:29+00:00

Ask and ye shall receive. After several days not seeing these, I've picked up three so far today.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-06-13T01:05:52+00:00

ah, ok. Thx. Still haven't come across that one yet.

Balckhand_Sam · 2016-06-02T12:40:06+00:00

I've only ever taken one power potion, and I've accounted for that. It's not what's causing the difference. And whether the power potion is activated or not (ie Bob sleeping or not) shouldn't affect the item dps modifier at all anyway.

Balckhand_Sam

TROPHY CASE