WOW! I have never heard so many complaints! I am glad that my experience is much different!
I switched from Alltel to VZW in March of this year. I had been running Alltel phones on VZW carrier for quite a while and our Moto Q9C's were not playing well with VZW's service. So, we went to the VZW store with our 5 phones and switched EVERYTHING. Now, please keep in mind.... we had VZW service many years ago. It was marginal in my area and they let me out of my contract with no fees because they couldn't fix the issue. I was EXTREMELY hesitant about going back to VZW. They even let me use a phone for a week to make sure it worked before I transferred the service. I was not under contract with ANYONE. I also tried an AT&T Iphone..... the phone was OK, but the service was TERRIBLE!
I got a Moto Droid, My wife and my son got the HTC Eris, my daughter and daughter in law got LG Chocolate touch's.
Everything went smoothly... other than the rep botching the details a bit.... easily fixed with a call to customer service.
Fast forward 1 month.... My son's Eris went nuts! I went to the store, they looked at the phone and did a factory reset. The phone was good for about 2 days and went nuts again. I called 611 and got tech support. They sent out a CLNR. This phone was terrible, I called them again and they sent another. This one seemed pretty good.... he ran the phone for a week and it went nuts again. Customer service eventually ended up sending 5 total CLNR phones. After the 5th phone in 2 months time, I called back and talked to tech support again. They were very sorry that this was happening. I told them that I understood their policy about replacements, but the Eris was just a bad phone. They offered a Droid2 immediately. I got it in 2 days and haven't had an issue since.
My wife still had the Eris. Hers was flawless until about 3 months into it. It had random glitches, but they were mostly user created. At the 3 month mark, it began to shut down by itself. I called tech support and they IMMEDIATELY sent me a HTC incredible. Again, no more issues.
My Moto Droid was still flawless. I subject this phone to a construction environment. Dust, shock, impact, ect. It has been one tough piece of hardware! My earpiece went out. I called VZW and they sent me out a CLNR. It has been completely flawless! It actually works better than my original Droid!
Now, I don't root, I do run a ton of apps, as does my son. Both my sons D2 and my wifes Dinc were CLNR products. ALL were in NEW condition. They received NEW backs and NEW batteries and chargers.
Call me lucky, but I have no issues with CLNR phones and if I did, they would send me anther. As long as the phone works, I don't care if it's refurbished or not. I have purchased refurbished Ipods, GPS units, Cameras, ect. I have NEVER had an issue with a refurbished unit. If it does fail, it has a warranty. CALL and speak with someone about your issue. Don't act like an idiot when you talk to them.... They didn't refurbish the device nor did they make the rules. They just work for that company and they have to follow the companies rules or they lose their job! CS has more options than the stores do. Above all..... BE NICE! You would be amazed at what can be accomplished if you speak to someone like they have 1/2 a brain. If you act like an idiot, they will usually shut you out. If you can't get anywhere with the CS you spoke with, CALL BACK... 99% of the time, you will get a different representative and they will give you a different answer. EVENTUALLY you will get what you want. If you are trying to CHEAT the system, you are most likely gonna get burnt though. JMHO.... it hasn't NOT worked for me yet.