Monday, November 22, 2010

A total fail by Verizon- and how they could make it right

Back in July, I was beyond excited to have joined the smart phone world- I upgraded my old Motorola Razr to a new HTC Incredible. I had never had any complaints or problems with the phone until about a week ago. Now, thanks to Verizon Wireless, I am going on my 5th day without a phone. Here's what happened---

Last week while traveling, I was prompted to download an update (not the Froyo update- that downloaded with no problem a few months ago) and immediately started receiving an error notification that my application data space was too low. I didn't have many apps on my phone, but I deleted a few that I never used. On Wednesday, I gave the phone to my very tech savvy hubby to look at. He couldn't figure out why I was getting the error message either. In the middle of looking at some apps, my email program on my phone force-closed, and caused a restart of the phone. Well, the phone got stuck in the power-up cycle. It kept going to the screen where it says "DROID" and then would restart. As you can imagine, after the first few times, this got very annoying. Mike took the battery out and tried all sorts of things to reset the phone. None of them worked.

So, Thursday morning I headed down to our local Verizon store. The tech specialist, Ryan, took a look at the phone and had no luck. He then called tech support, who also had no luck. 45 minutes later, Verizon said they would send me out a replacement, factory-restored phone. We picked up the phone from Fed Ex on Saturday and turned it on to make sure it worked. Everything looked ok, so we went and put a ZAGG Invisi-shield on it.

So Sunday, after the 24 hours of waiting for the coating to dry, we attempted to use the phone. And guess what- the phone didn't work. As I said, the phone Verizon sent to replace my 4 month old phone wasn't new- it was a factory-restored/refurbished phone. It was supposed to go through a 100-point checklist before it was sent out. Turns out, the checklist needs item 101- that the phone connects to the Verizon network and can make a call. Yep, the phone wouldn't connect to the network or make a call. So, Mike went BACK down to the Verizon store with both phones (neither of which worked).

He again dealt with Ryan with no luck. In fact, Verizon said we couldn't have a replacement for the replacement phone because we hadn't sent the first phone back yet. So, Mike came home and called Verizon Customer Service. After 30 minutes and 3 different people, Verizon finally agreed to send out a new phone- to arrive on Tuesday. But really, it's not a new phone- it's another factory restored/refurbished phone. Like the one we got that DOESN'T work.

Needless to say, I am NOT happy with Verizon right now. I am looking at going on almost a full week without a phone. And they have done very little to help. We have had several dealing with Verizon customer service, and have found that they don't care. In fact, when Mike was on the phone with them yesterday, they asked him if sending a replacement phone would make him happy. He told them "No, I want a new phone." Their reply "I'm sorry you're not happy, but this is what we will do. This should make you happy."

So what do I want Verizon to do? It's simple. Send me a NEW phone- not a restored or refurbished phone. It's obvious that the 100-point checklist those phones go through miss some important points. And I want a credit on my account- I am paying for a data plan and minutes that I have not been able to use for a week due to THEIR issues with the phones. That's all- a working, new phone and a credit for the time I haven't been able to use what I am paying for...

2 comments: