Phone 1: I carry insurance on my Droid 3 I bought over a year ago. Every month I pay an extra bit of money to have that insurance. It covers the usual, as long as it's not something I've done recklessly to the phone it's covered. I am also on the Unlimited Plan (text, minutes, data) that was "outlawed" with Verizon but still grandfathered in.
About a month ago I began having issues with my Droid 3. It would reboot every 10 to 15 mins. I tried all the usual restoring it, etc. Keep in mind I used to be an IT guy so I'm not alien when it comes to hardware and software. SO I figured, "I'm paying for all of this insurance. Let's see what can be done."
I took it in to the corporate Verizon store that's located in my hometown and, lo and behold, they're next-day airing me a "new" phone, which really means refurbished I quickly found out.
Phone 2: I received my new phone and began the process of reinstalling applications, updating everything, etc. Then I returned the old phone to the FedEx Store. Everything seems to be running smoothly. Minor hassle, no biggie. I can take it, I'm not a squeaky wheel.
One week later the phone rebooted and became stuck on the "Droid" splash screen." Couldn't use it, couldn't get past it. I traveled back to the Verizon store.
"Hey, I've never seen that happen before," said the sales associate. We'll overnight you another one.
Phone 3: The new phone actually came in a few days later. Same process. Mailed the other one back. Set everything up again. (I took pictures of my "apps" screen so I could remember what I had on it). Not long into this one some keys on the keyboard began to either not work or double up when I pressed them.
I went back to my friendly neighborhood store. When I walked in there was a gentlemen walking around with an iPad checking customers in.
"How can I help you?"
In a completely calm response, "Hey man. I actually received this phone in the mail as a 2nd replacement for my original phone and I'm having issues with it. I think it could be because, perhaps it's refurbished."
Before I knew it a different customer service representative swept me off to the side of the store, out of earshot of the other customers that were waiting.
"Hi. What seems to be the problem?"
I repeated my initial statement.
"Well you know that refurbished means that someone brought it back because they didn't like it."
I'm an IT guy. I also worked at a Gamestop for eight years I know what "refurbished means." And thusly I replied, "It could mean that. Or it could mean that it was broken or had an issue and your company's IT guys attempted to fix it."
"What specifically is the issue?"
"When I type on the physical keyboard, specifically the "L" and "P" keys it doesn't register most of the time."
She took the phone from me and started typing on it.
"I'm not seeing the problem."
"You have to type "L"'s and "P"'s."
"Works just fine for me. Show me what your issue is."
"Ok. Watch. I'm gonna type Lindsay Lohan."
And the keyboard typed out "Indsay Ohan."
"I see the problem now. Ok we'll send you another one."
Phone 4: I received my new phone. Same conversion process. Two weeks later the numbers stop working on the physical keyboard.
I venture over to my store. Same customer service representative.
"Hey! Guess what?!"
I showed her the issue. "Ok we'll send you another one."
"By the way, how many phones does this make?" I ask.
"Four."
"Ok, hope this next one does the trick!"
The Phone Call
So there's where I am as far as the store goes. I immediately call the corporate Verizon customer service line and explain the issues I've had. A very nice girl on the other end of the line answered.
I said,"Hey there. I'm not trying to be a squeaky wheel but I've had to exchange several phones because Verizon keeps sending me phones that are pretty much broken. I just left my local corporate store and they're sending me my 5th phone in a month because the last one, the one I'm talking to you on, has decided to stop letting me type numbers on the physical keyboard."
"I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Cribbs. Can you hold on for just a moment?"
"Absolutely . . . "
"Mr. Cribbs? I'm sorry that you had to wait. I'm going to try to troubleshoot your issue and if I can't get it resolved I'm going to forward you over to our technical help, ok?"
Silence
"Mr Cribbs?"
"Yes, I'm here. I appreciate that but here's the deal. The numbers on the physical keyboard aren't working when I type on them."
"Right I understand that, so I'm going to try to troubleshoot with you."
"Right. That's my issue. It's a hardware problem. You tell me to type a number. I tell you it doesn't work. That's pretty much all the troubleshooting there is for this issue."
"Ok Mr. Cribbs . . . umm . . can you hold on for a moment please?"
"Sure."
"Mr. Cribbs I'm sorry for placing you on hold."
"It's cool."
"So, I've looked into the issue and found out that we have a couple of solutions for possibly finding you a different phone."
WONDERFUL! I think. She finally understands.
"I've found out that we have some new phones that we can offer you retail price for if you'd like to stay with your current plan or we can offer you a minor discounted rate but you must change your plan. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I understand that because I'm 'grandfathered' in on my Unlimited plan, Verizon is trying to force their customers to revoke that plan and jump on a new plan so they can collect more money, specifically on data packages."
"Exactly. I'm glad you understand."
"I don't."
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing. What are the offers that you have on the ones where I don't have to change my plan?"
"Well we have a few here. Two of them are $419.99 and one is 359.99. I'd be happy to tell you more about them if you'd like."
"Wow. OK. Umm what's the OS on the cheapest one. I know it's Android but which one?
"Ok let me pull that up for you. . . .ok . . . ummm . . . yes . . ummm . . .ok sorry, what did you ask?"
"I was wondering what the operating system was on the $360 phone."
"Right . . it looks like it's Gingerbread and/or Honeycomb."
"Those are outdated operating systems by about two updates."
"Right."
"Ok . . .yeah. I'm just gonna wait for the next phone in the mail and hope it works."
SO that's where I am.
