I recently upgraded Original Motorola Droid to a RAZR. I've had the new RAZR for 21 days. I love the 4G LTE and the phone. Unfortunately... tonight I dropped the phone. I got reasonable customer service from Amazon, Verizon and Motorola but Amazon was the only one that made me smile with relief.
I am not associated with Amazon in anyway except that I am a customer. I bought the RAZR from Amazon because the price on Dec 7th (and still on Dec 31st) was the best I could find ($229 for upgrade. Verizon was asking $299).
When I dropped my RAZR the phone screen cracked. I dropped it out of my shirt pocket when I bent over in reaction to something falling out of my van. The phone fell about 4 feet and landed flat on the ground (face down). The source of the crack is either from one or two places. The glass shards (shatters) cover most of the screen and some glass pieces falling off.
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The crack is worse than it looks in the photo (I can't get a good photo since my phone is what I use as a camera). One crack point is 3/4 of an inch to the left of the "n" in Verizon. The other is more obvious in the picture (where the two "v" shaped shatters are pointing at each other - about 1.5 inches from the Motorola plate). This RAZR had no screen protector or case (apparently a big mistake). I dropped my original Moto-Droid many times over the last two years... but it had a screen protector and a rubber case. So no apples-to-apples comparison implied.
I called Verizon, Motorola and Amazon and got the following responses...
Verizon... I called customer support a few times (800-922-0204). The customer service people were very kind but had very little they could offer to help. The best they could offer was for me to buy a new phone for $299 using the upgrade from another phone line. If I had insurance ($7/month) I could purchase a new phone for $100, but I didn't have insurance. Because this is December 31, if I bought the phone, I would receive it by Jan 3.
Motorola... I called customer support once (800-520-6412). They had someone who I could not understand very well and it was clear she couldn't understand me very well either. In the end, she sent me an email with a link to
www.motorola.com/repair. She said they would either repair it or they would mail the phone back saying it couldn't be repaired. She was not sure, but she thought it might cost $120 or more plus shipping. I have not looked further into this option. If I chose this option, I would be able to ship the phone when Fed Ex opens on Jan 1st. I was told it would take 5-7 days (not including shipping) to have the phone repaired (or not as the case would be).
Amazon... I called the number on their website (
877-429-8502) and since I am within 30 days of my purchase, they will replace the phone. They will immediately send a new RAZR (apparently without a SIM card) which is supposed to arrive Jan 4th. I needlessly worried about this type of situation when I purchased the phone from Amazon at a significant discount to any other seller. It turns out that not only was Amazon's price lower, but they also have better return policy than buying directly from Verizon. I expect that I will simply exchange the SIM card from the cracked screen and put it in the replacement RAZR. I will then mail the broken RAZR within 30 days. It is New Years Eve so the phone will not arrive until the 4th. It is hard for me to tell how fast they would have gotten the phone to me if it was not a holiday weekend.
Lessons learned...
1) I am not sure what "shatter resistance" means on the Corning Gorilla glass... but it doesn't mean it will resist much of a fall (if any). Don't test the glass tinsel strength!
2) I will be buying a screen protector and a case that will keep the phone from landing face down.
3) Verizon insurance doesn't seem worth it.
4) If Amazon would not have replaced the phone... I would have either purchased another phone from Amazon (using the upgrade from my wife's phone) or I would have purchased new glass and replaced it myself (voiding the warranty). One such source is listed elsewhere in this thread.
5) I am not the only one to experience this problem. Everyone I talked to was familiar with cracked screens on the Moto Droid RAZR.
6) I have no complaints against anyone (with the small exception of not being able to easily communicate in English with the Motorola support rep on New Years Eve.
7) I don't know what would have happened had I walked into a Verizon store with a broken phone that was purchases less than 30 days from them... but from previous experience... I would speculate nothing different than what I mentioned above.
8) I am not speaking poorly of Verizon or Motorola... but I am praising Amazon for replacing my phone. They made a long term customer out of me.
