Unhappy With Verizon Wireless

[Vulcan1600]

I went to a reseller. The corporate store is over 2 hours away from me.

This is why I always preach corporate store, or buy directly from VZW CS in a call center. You will get much better service. A lot of resellers, and online places like wirefly have their own ETF policies that are in addition or different from your VZW one. And, sounds like you're getting a "Certified Like New" (formerly called FRU). They are adding that $$ to your account to hold as collateral until you return your original phone. Nothing new, been that way for many years. This isn't a new policy whatsoever.

Many of the issues you talk about are ones that will probably be resolved as soon as you get your replacement.

[joshclovis]

I bought my phone from verizon wireless online. Not wirefly or any other site. The internet sales associate I spoke with tonight advised me it would be a brand new device.

[JessiesGirl]

Like I said before, customer service told me I couldn't go to a corporate store. I would have to mail it back. I'm done ranting. Enough said, enough learned. Thanks everyone.

Don't forget that you can contact Motorola Customer Support ion this situation. They made the phone and they have a stake in this. If you aren't getting what you want or need from Verizon, try Motorola. If it's truly a hardware issue, they may well be willing to step up here. Many people found Motorola to be of more help with the battery cover, for example. Try them too before you throw in the towel.

[Narsil]

...
You want a company to send you a brand new $600 dollar item with no risk to you while you are holding a heavily subsidized $600 item in your hand.

Why you would expect Verizon to front you $1000 is beyond comprehension

Your math is off. He's already paid (regardless of how heavily subsidized) for the Droid he has in hand. They would only be fronting the $600 for the Droid they send him. The only conceivable way for Verizon to be "out" over a grand is if he got the second Droid, kept the first, and then somehow got out of his contract and never paid them again.

Untwist your panties and show a little [un]common 'net courtesy. Let the guy have his rant. Just because you disagree with him doesn't mean you're entitled to brazen incivility. It's a sign of a lack of maturity.

[Martin030908]

Josh, while Verizon is billing you the $200 for the new device, you won't ever have to pay that provided you return the previous device when you receive the new one. It's just an insurance on their part that you will return the phone instead of hanging on to the first one and say, selling it on eBay.
They'll charge your VZW account the $200.... you don't need to actually pay it and then get refunded.... just return the first phone and they'll wipe off the $200 charge from your bill. It's very simple.
Don't stress yourself out, there's enough crap out there to fill in the blanks

[joshclovis]

Thank you for the advice. I won't throw in the towel just yet. I'm gonna bet the phone they are sending will be better. If not, I'll contact Motorola. I do realize the Droid has only been out for a little over a month, so it's normal to have some issues I would think.

[Narsil]

Josh, while Verizon is billing you the $200 for the new device, you won't ever have to pay that provided you return the previous device when you receive the new one. It's just an insurance on their part that you will return the phone instead of hanging on to the first one and say, selling it on eBay.
They'll charge your VZW account the $200.... you don't need to actually pay it and then get refunded.... just return the first phone and they'll wipe off the $200 charge from your bill. It's very simple.

See...civility. It makes the 'net such a nicer place.

[Vulcan1600]

I bought my phone from verizon wireless online. Not wirefly or any other site. The internet sales associate I spoke with tonight advised me it would be a brand new device.

I thought you said in a previous post you got it from a reseller. If you got the phone from VZW online, then you could go to a corporate store and exchange it like I did. I got mine online, and had to exchange the original one a week later at a corporate store because of an internal memory issue. If you're saying VZW wouldn't let you return it because your closest store is a reseller and the corporate store is 2 hours away from you, it's correct, the reseller is not a corporate store and therefore would not be able to do the exchange. Again, you've been treated no different than anyone else in your situation, down to the $200 collateral until they receive your first Droid back. It's S.O.P.

[New2u]

This thread has been

I know dealing with a situation like this is extremely hard and frustrating. I have had to deal with many things like this all the time, though not with verizon as of yet. Always remember that the first person you talk to is usually never a supervisor. In your case, having talked to techs and it having been a week, the best thing to do would have been contact a supervisor immediately. They are always the best ones to help you in a situation like that. While verizon is not a bad company, just like any company in the world, it can have bad people working for it.