Verizon has gone to great lengths to create in me something much more that a dissatisfied contract customer. All the aggravation was exacerbated March 09 when my annual "UPGRADE" time came 'round. Circumstances cause that I keep expenses to a minimum and my cell is the only phone I have. A disabled Vietnam Vet 65 years into this first quarter of my life - I've pretty much been there, done that and got all the T-Shirts.
Explaining to the CS rep in March that a bigger screen would be a great help I came to, or by, the Samsung Brightside. I am a real old timer but I eat drink and sleep computer stuff (PC) and many things electronic. I have a fully operational audio production studio in my home and write, produce, do voice-overs for and publish not-for-profit videos - most supporting our brave men and women in harm's way. I have, of necessity due to a battle royal for over a year with a certain major concern that seems to think they own parts or portions of my operating system, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit and bare-knuckle fighting inside my OS has caused collateral damage. I have completely wiped and performed a clean re install of my OS twice in less than a year.
So, when I get a "NEW PHONE" from Verizon I'm all excited about getting it up and running and performing at least to the degree it is advertised as being capable of. The SAMSUNG BRIGHTSIDE, I have deduced after many hours struggling with it is simply a joke. The BRIGHTSIDE absolutely had to have been some marketing scheme that was designed, constructed and put on the market by SAMSUNG without one minute of research and development. It was as though they tried to define "BASIC" in a cell phone with this product and wrapped it in a very attractive package - until one tries to simply pick it up. Go to the Samsung/Verizon site that lists the phones specs to try to keep pace with requisite formats for music, sounds, ring tones, videos, photos and data and if you do not speak CODEC and FORMAT good luck even trying to load onto say a 16 gig external MicroSanDisk your own music, sounds, ring tones, videos and oh! yes pictures. Verizon has a "proprietary software cement program called "V-CAST". Written, instilled as part of the permanent footprint of the Verizon product and it simply does not like some "owner/customer" trying to circumvent it's sole purpose which is to funnel the owner customer into a controlled position whereby if "it ain't from Verizon - it is licensed to fight you to the death. Right now I could give lessons on exactly how and what to do to just be able to locate the files from your own library and view them on the phone. In fact I will give lessons if I'm asked but first I'll try to convince whomever to switch to SPRINT - thanx to Consumer Reports, and my now cemented dislike for recorded CS events with Verizon. When I wrote in a previous entry here - "It's on now!", I was not kidding.
Taking a close look at the "My Account" page with Verizon I come across an offer they make to buy your no longer needed phone(s) that are free of obligation. I needed to find something to hopefully make me feel a little better for the wear. Thinking about it angers me even more so it is simply this: My Blackberry Storm 3590, Verizon's appraised value, $7.00 - that's SEVEN dollars US. My LG Cosmos, $0.00, as in ZERO Verizon appraised value. So, that discovered surely Verizon must hold the new SAMSUNG BRIGHTSIDE (although "just a basic phone" as the manager of the Draper, Utah Verizon store rather bluntly said to me), here it is: $12.00 - All in one pile no less...
I feel so used...
