stupid stupid cell phone company

[talloulou]

Remember my post where my car got robbed?

Well anyway I finally got around to standing in the long verizon line at the mall. Usually I give up and walk away but this weekend I decided I need to stand in the line no matter how god forsaken long it takes and replace my **** cell phone.

Well on display they have a whole bunch of phones all ridiculously priced, in my opinion. But here's the kicker....those ridiculous prices are for people signing up for "new service." Turns out the prices are even more horrendous if you are already a good loyal customer!!!!

Bastards!

The cheapest phone they had for me was $150. If I was signing up for new service I could have gotten a cheap $60.00 phone. In fact there are all kinds of deals and specials for new customers but for old loyal customers who got robbed there is nada, nothing, crapola.

I did a whole lot of huffing and puffing and complaining about how they should give me a deal as well because I already am a customer under contract who got robbed! Do they really want to rob me again? Plus my home owners insurance does not cover stolen cell phones. (Another group of bastards.)

Anyway they suggested if I wanted a cheap phone I should look on ebay. Oh okay like I'm gonna support the stolen phones for sale web ring.

If it wasn't for my husband insisting I needed a cell phone I would've just walked away again. But alas I took it up the backside and paid $150.00 for their cheapest most piece of **** phone in the place

[Jchillin]

That's a pretty wild story but I have seen it happen with most service provider's. As soon as your contract with Verizon expires, try Cingular. A friend of mine lost his phone. He went to them and got an even better phone than the first one for the same price.

For the record, my ISP did a similar thing. We were existing cable subscribers and decided to go with them for our ISP. Wouldn't you know, a couple of months later, they were offering new customer's deep discounts if they signed up for both at the same time? The price for new customer's is half what I'm paying. Though it's only for the first year. Of course, I called and asked if they could do anything, which was met with all manner of negatives.

They also issued a veiled warning that if I had considered cancelling all my services and subscribing under a different name they would know and re-instate the previous rates.

[An t-iasg]

talloulou, what a terrible experience. My husband had a similar experience with Verizon too. We were thinking of switching companies when our contracts end, but Verizon has the best coverage around here and you have to make sure the phone you have now, if it works, is compatible with the new company's network. That's almost too much of a pain to deal with also.

My husband's phone totally broke apart -- the hinge broke and the wiring must have too because it wouldn't turn on, or if it did, it might turn itself off in the middle of a call. He had 4 months to go on his contract, and they wouldn't give him those good prices on a new phone until 2 months before his contract was up. He needs this phone for work and couldn't wait for the two months to pass before Verizon would let him get one at the cheaper prices. They told him he wasn't eligible for the good price too, and we also said we were a good loyal customer for over 15 years, back when they were Bell Atlantic or something. Well, that customer service (good name, huh?!) rep wouldn't budge so we just walked out.

They also said to try Ebay, which we didn't want to do for something like this. Someone at work gave my husband their old Verizon-compatible phone that was only about 2 years old and still worked. My husband took that phone in and they switched this phone's ESN number over to his account. I don't think there was a switching charge. I didn't go with him that time, but nothing showed up on the bill. If you can possibly take this phone back and do what we did, it may be worth a try. Then two months before your original contract ends, they should give you the better deal on those new phones. Good luck!

[TankGirl]

I had to replace my phone with Verizon because it totally died, but I got a new picture/video phone for myself and my husband for $50, and I have been a customer with them forever. I did it on their website, clicking on the "upgrade your phone" link on my account page. This was about a year ago, though.

I am totally NOT surprised you had this trouble, though, because it sounds typical, but I did want to relay my story, because I have been very pleased with Verizon's coverage, and now I feel very fortunate not to have been reamed.

[Fishyfanatic]

My dad bought cell phones for all the guys on the farm. They have been loyal to Verizon for MANY years. They got the new Push To Talk phones when they first came out. Well, not all the bugs were worked out. After persistant daily phone calls to Verizon about the crappy service, they let him cancel his service plan and wrote him a check for service since they bought the phones PLUS the cost of their cell phones. They ended up going with Nextel and now they lose service all the time. Oh well. When these contracts run up they are back to Verizon.

[dralarms]

talloulou,

I have an old Verison phone your welcome to. My son had his turned off and I paid him 20 bux for the phone for a spare. Well to make a long story short I ran over my phone and couldn't find this one so I bought another while the ins. co was taking their sweet time, so I already have a spare.

[talloulou]

Originally Posted by dralarms

talloulou,

I have an old Verison phone your welcome to. My son had his turned off and I paid him 20 bux for the phone for a spare. Well to make a long story short I ran over my phone and couldn't find this one so I bought another while the ins. co was taking their sweet time, so I already have a spare.

Kudos to you for that is awesome. However unfortunately I already shelled out the money for the stinking phone and I programmed all my numbers into it. Plus to return it I'd probably have to stand in one of their never ending lines again So it hardly seems worth the hassle. But now I know I should come here and talk to people before shelling out big bucks in the future. The people here are great :P

[dralarms]

I honestly would lodge a complaint with the home office, I had verizon years ago and the people were a real pain, smart additudes, "holier than thou", I turned off my phones went to us cellular and called their boss (took like 5 phoens with me) and told him what I did and why. Well I went back to verizon simply for the "in" network (love it, saves me about 300 a month), and the same people bend over backwards to help you (still have the lines but alas what can you do?). When my phone got damaged they sold me one for the "2 year agreement" price without messing with my contract. then I got the one I paid the insurance for replaced. I have been in businesses where people acted like your verizon people and I've told the "hey, I'm the customer here, your here because of people like me". Sometimes we all need a littel reminder.

[talloulou]

Good idea...maybe I should give them a call and deal with someone over the phone as opposed to the mall rats. Couldn't hurt to try anyway. I too love the in network plan as I have alot of out of state relatives who all have verizon.

[dralarms]

mall rats

That's the dang problem. Go to a real verizon store.