Have to give back my Droid?

[TomN]

Some of the responses in this thread are silly.

 

[Sex Cells]

i would think about writing theconsumerist.com

 

[Sex Cells]

would be great to have something else to read during luls of silence in my office, anyway.

 

[helter]

Yes you can change the minutes and other features but you can't switch from family to single until the 2 years are up. Someone needs to tell the verizon employees this.

 

[thelion]

2. Phone numbers are a status symbol. I have two cell phone numbers (personal and work), a work desk number, a home phone number and a pager number. A guy with five working phone numbers looks mighty important.

You are kidding, aren't you? A status symbol? My father, grandfather, fiance, best friend and roommate are all very important people (all except the roommates are VPs and Execs). They each have one phone number - their cell phone. Reach them there or not at all.

That's really not an option I'd consider. I have to be able to be reached, 24/7/365 and the way to do that is to make sure the people who need me have alternatives.

As for battery life, come on. Charge it over night and keep a spare.

Keep a spare... where? In my pocket? In my socks? Carrying a spare battery only works if you keep it with you. You don't want to keep it in your pocket. I knew a guy who did that and his keys got hot enough to make him do the Profanity Dance trying to get them out of his tender area.

People that pay for home phones and cell phones are just suckers in my opinion.

People who don't are just cheap in my opinion.

Why would somebody with the kind of cash to get a totally State-Of-The-Art luxury phone give a rat's rear end about saving money by cutting a landline out of the home? The Droid is a rich man's phone. It's not a bargain basement item. Sheesh, the misers should be running around with $20 Tracfones, not $200 Droids.

I'm gonna go ahead and stop you, hon. You are just making a fool of yourself.

But, a word of financial sense: self-made wealth comes from not wasting money where you can save. Don't pay someone to do a job you can do yourself for less and don't buy services you don't need. And never pay interest on credit

As for the OP - GET IN TOUCH WITH CORPORATE. They can fix anything. I don't deal with 611 anymore - I have a guy in the exec offices that handles all my issues.

 

[Martin030908]

This thread needs to be :closed_2:

edit: now that the arguments over number of phone lines is over I rescind my comment.

 

[gdoane]

Yes you can change the minutes and other features but you can't switch from family to single until the 2 years are up. Someone needs to tell the verizon employees this.

I think you caught them at a bad time. I was talking to a Verizon technician the other day, a guy who works on the Lucent infrastructure and a friend of mine, and he was telling me about the mess the Alltel merger created.

The Alltel employees weren't fired; they just started working for Verizon all of a sudden so the upshot is Verizon just got a lot of employees who don't know Verizon very well.

The way I understand the story, the Alltel-Verizon deal was kind of a three-way thing because it was too big at first until AT&T was allowed to have a piece of the action, so some Alltel employees wound up going to Verizon and some went to AT&T.

The timing was just bad for people who have their contracts up for renewal. A lot of new employees and a lot of new customers (I'm a new Verizon customer via Ex-Alltel but I seriously, VERY SERIOUSLY considered T-Mobile) means that the company is going through a learning period under duress.

If T-Mobile had gotten the Droid I'd be a T-Mobile customer today. Verizon's pro-rated cancellation fee is a bit draconian in my opinion and T-Mobile has the advantage of working in foreign countries by just swapping the SIM card. It would be nice to have a cell phone that works in Mexico.

I think what I'd do is see what the cost is to buy out of the last two months of the contract, which shouldn't be any earth-shattering amount of cash, and keep the Droid.

Otherwise, you have to reactivate the old phone, return the Droid, wait two months and rinse, lather, repeat. That's probably more hassle than I'd go through to save a few shekels.

 

[helter]

As for the OP - GET IN TOUCH WITH CORPORATE. They can fix anything. I don't deal with 611 anymore - I have a guy in the exec offices that handles all my issues.

Do you have a specific person or number to call? Verizon always comes across as arrogant when it comes to keeping customers happy from my experience.

I'm not hopeful but will try anything.

 

[helter]

Otherwise, you have to reactivate the old phone, return the Droid, wait two months and rinse, lather, repeat. That's probably more hassle than I'd go through to save a few shekels.

That might be an option I will see how much their termination fee is.
They always find a way to get extra money off you.

I had an ongoing issue with my old phone which was only used for voice and texting. Sometimes I would accidently hit the wrong button and be charged $1.99 for data usage even though it was only on for a couple of seconds. I'd have to call up when the statement came and they didn't want to refund the money "like don't hit the button or you'll have to pay"

 

[hrhkee]

Careful about refusing to pay bills. I am noticing the customer has no rights lately and all this will do is affect your credit. There is no consumer advocate to really stand up to companies that screw up. The BBB tries but companies lie their way around them.

Find a way to get what you want without shooting your credit in the foot.

 

[hanano17]

What exactly did they charge you on the bill? If you switched from a family plan to a single plan, then you more than likely got charged a termination fee + early upgrade and maybe even an activation fee (on top of the discount price of the droid). Reason should be obvious, you close a line when changing to a single plan. Now they should have told you that at the store, but if they didn't it's in the contract you signed originally, so you can't go after them with a lawsuit. What you can do in that case, is just ***** them out enough for the lack of being informed properly. ***** enough and they should budge a little in some way.

I believe the ETF before the increase was $175, which goes down by $5 a month for every month you've been under contract (might be $10 for a family plan).

The fact that they said you were eligible for an early upgrade is on them, and not you.

 

[JonKyu]

Ugh, this bothers me soo much. This is why I have to do proper research and really KNOW what my plan is and keep track of it because Verizon reps don't know what they are doing sometimes. I feel like their so eager to sell you something so they get more commission. Always always ask them questions, The lady that sold me my droid almost did some strange things to my account until I started to ask questions and made her second guess herself. Always ask why, and how much etc...

Anyway definitely contact someone do NOT allow them to steal an early termination fee when they were the ones telling you, that you are eligible. I hate to say it but I think you should ***** big time (it's not something I like to do, but if I'm getting ripped off I'm going to *****). Ask them to speak with someone higher etc...

 

[thelion]

As for the OP - GET IN TOUCH WITH CORPORATE. They can fix anything. I don't deal with 611 anymore - I have a guy in the exec offices that handles all my issues.

Do you have a specific person or number to call? Verizon always comes across as arrogant when it comes to keeping customers happy from my experience.

I'm not hopeful but will try anything.

I have a number but I am reluctant to give it out as it goes to a direct desk. Do a quick Google search for Verizon executive customer service. Talk to whomever answers and tell them your story. Tell them you WANT to stay wit VZW but.... and by the way their customer service has been terrible and you just want to work this out and if they could only help you....

You know the drill. These guys are great. They aren't your average paygrade.

 

[hanano17]

Ugh, this bothers me soo much. This is why I have to do proper research and really KNOW what my plan is and keep track of it because Verizon reps don't know what they are doing sometimes. I feel like their so eager to sell you something so they get more commission. Always always ask them questions, The lady that sold me my droid almost did some strange things to my account until I started to ask questions and made her second guess herself. Always ask why, and how much etc...

Anyway definitely contact someone do NOT allow them to steal an early termination fee when they were the ones telling you, that you are eligible. I hate to say it but I think you should ***** big time (it's not something I like to do, but if I'm getting ripped off I'm going to *****). Ask them to speak with someone higher etc...

They won't be stealing an ETF from him, its in his contract. Just like anyone elses. The upgrading has nothing to do with that. He wanted to switch from a family plan to a single plan, sucks that you get charged an ETF for it, but thats how it works.

 

[LordKastle]

I think we are missing something here. When he got his new Verizon phone he opted in to a new contract. Last time I checked when you opt in to a contract one side cannot then go behind the scenes and change it.

It's called a breach of contract.

If you sign a contract where I pay you 1 million dollars but if you make the all-star team there in a bonus incentive that will give you 200 thousand dollars more, thats the deal. If you make the all-star team and then are notified that the 200 thousand only applies to players with at least 2 years of service on the team so the pay is refused, that is a breach of contract.

Another example? There was a gas station that made a mistake and was selling 99 cents for a gallon. If I paid 2 dollars on my credit card to fill up my tank and left, the deal is final. If I got a bill where the gas station charged me 40 dollars instead, that would be illegal.

A contract is a contract. Just like Verizon says.