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Thank You Verizon for making my decision to leave so easy

I am not one for social media or forums, but I unfortunately have to vent somewhere and hopefully others can empathize.

I have been with Verizon Wireless since 2004, have purchased all my devices through them and have spent over $25,000 in that time in wireless service. Within the last 2.5 years I have purchased two LG G2 phones for my wife and myself. Within 14 months, my wifes phone would no longer charge, would drop calls, reboot on its own and freeze constantly. Verizon's own Over-the-update was the cause of the problems, yet they would do nothing to help. We used my "New Every Two" upgrade for her line so she could have a working phone. Now, my LG G2 is barely operational. 1.5 hours of battery life, dropped calls (including the call to Verizon Customer Service yesterday), and apps just quitting, like Google Maps just exiting on its own while I was trying to navigate through San Francisco.

Well, after getting in touch with Verizon Customer Service yesterday explaining I could no longer live with a phone that doesn't work, I asked if I could get an early upgrade on my phone, my upgrade date is July 1, 2016 so 3 months early. I was told that there is no way to get an early upgrade and I'd have to pay full price for the phone. So after 12 years and over $25,000 spent, I can't even get Verizon give me an early upgrade which I would have gladly signed a new 2 year contract to get.

After last night, when my wife had to take my Mother-in-law to the emergency room and could reach me as my phone was once again not working, Verizon made my decision to leave easy. I look forward to my contract being up in 3 months.

I'm sure many of you have received the same kind of poor customer service from Verizon and I just wanted to let you know, you not alone!

Comments

Tidbits

All companies will do the same. Doesn't matter how much you spent. Best of luck to you.

Verizon_Support

deejaid,

Oh no! Your twelve plus years with us means a lot & never want for you to even think about leaving our wireless family. I want to make sure I take a second look at the account to make sure that all options for another phone are provided. I’m going to send you a Private Message to gather much needed information. Please respond back to me in the Private Message to continue. Thank you!

AliciaS_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

deejaid

Well, Ive learned to not get into a contract anymore. You get locked into a contract for 2 years with a phone that last 14 months. I'll buy my own phone and pay monthly. With so many options for wireless and coverage getting better by competitors, it makes it easier to switch.

Tidbits

deejaid wrote:

Well, Ive learned to not get into a contract anymore. You get locked into a contract for 2 years with a phone that last 14 months. I'll buy my own phone and pay monthly. With so many options for wireless and coverage getting better by competitors, it makes it easier to switch.

You'll get the same results from buying outright and not under contract anyway... Anything outside of the warranty period you are on your own. FYI I only buy outright and I all 3 of the 4 major carriers I deal with, There is NO difference.

pherson

You had the option to pay for an extended warranty and or insurance and it appears you did not do so. That's not a Verizon error.

kaebfly

Something to consider...even if you're paying monthly if your device starts having issues and is outside of the warranty period then you still lose. You would either have to pay for repairs out of pocket or pay off the remaining balance. Trading it in may not be an option (assuming you have a device that allows for yearly DPP upgrade) as the device has to be in good working order. If you trade it in and it's deemed not to be then you'll have to pay for it still. If you opt not to get insurance or pay for an extended warranty then you take this risk. Just something to think about.

deejaid

Why should I need to pay for an extended warranty? My wife's phone stopped working after an over the air update. She didn't drop it. It didn't get wet. Shouldn't Verizon be responsible for their own software/hardware comparability and any problems caused by over-the-air updates?

Her phone was in perfect physical shape, and it still powered up, and that was all that was needed to trade it in for a new phone. My phone suffered the same problems, but nearly as bad as her phone so I give her my upgrade so she could at least have a working phone.

To imply that Verizon need not stand behind their product because I didn't pay for an extended warranty is ludicrous.

deejaid

It also isn't like I was asking for free replacements of our phones. We paid $350 to upgrade her phone to an iPhone. After having phones of the same brand and model have major problems, I simply tried to find a resolution and find a way to upgrade 3 months early. I was willing to pay for a new phone. It would seem after being with a carrier 12 years they could figure out a way to get a customer a working phone. Their options to me have been to by a refurbished phone or a phone from eBay. That is not customer service in my opinion.

Tidbits

deejaid wrote:

To imply that Verizon need not stand behind their product because I didn't pay for an extended warranty is ludicrous.

Sadly this is why there is problems. LG pushed out the update and are in control of their software. If things breaks it's on LG to fix it. People blame carriers when they honestly have less control than people think. Verizon did not make the LG G series of devices. Sure they have their name on it, but their name is there to ensure people knows it works on said carrier and it's been still put that way since the 90's and a Class Action lawsuit showed that was the case as they did not make said hardware.

After 1 year even buying your device outright you'll be in the same position. if it happens.

pherson

Thats like blaming Best Buy because your Samsung tv went out after the one year warranty, and which is why stores offer warranties. It's a phone manufacturer issue, not Verizon's, and why they offer insurance. If there's anyone to be mad at, it would be at the person who declined insurance, or the extended warranty.

deejaid

Wow, do you work for Verizon or something? Maybe have stock in the company?

It is nothing like buying a television at Best Buy and having it break. Your television from Best Buy doesn't receive software automatically that changes they why it works.

A more fitting analogy would be you buy a car from a dealership with a 3yr/36,000 mile warranty. You decline to purchase any additional warranty. You then bring your car to the dealership with 40,000 miles on it to get an oil change, and a technician puts transmission fluid in instead of engine oil. Your car is now inoperable and the damage was caused by the dealership. Oh, sorry, you didn't pay for the extended warranty. It's your fault. Give me a break.

deejaid

ok I see my car analogy doesnt work for some of you. Lets keep it consumer electronics. If I you have Comcast cable and an over the air update to your set top box causes it to work incorrectly, wouldn't you call Comcast to fix the problem? Who would you call, Motorola, the maker of the set top box? No, you would call Comcast.

Considering these LG G2 phones were Verizon specific models, and the update came over Verizon's network, Verizon should be held responsible for making sure the devices work with the updates.

kaebfly

You would call Comcast because you are 1). Renting/leasing the unit from them and 2). The OTA update is coming from Comcast so it's something they would handle. In the case of your phone the OTA update is not coming from Verizon. It's coming from the manufacturer. You're not leasing/renting the phone from Verizon.

rcschnoor

Except it is most likely you don't own the box, Comcast does. You are only renting it. If it was a box you owned, it is VERY likely Comcast would do nothing to help you out except offer to rent you one of their boxes.

longtimeshorttime

There is no more loyalty for any customer now. I have been with Verizon since Airtouch around 1999. I just paid retail for a Samsung S7 Edge and the screen went black after only 20 days. I went in today to the local Verizon store and because it was over the 14 day time they refused to exchange the phone. I have to wait until a warranty phone is sent and then send the bad one back. I will be out of contract in October for 2 phones and will shop my options. Verizon was never this way in the past but the drones they have working the stores have no leeway is keeping customers happy. I am also very unhappy with the direction Verizon is taking and it will cost them my business.

deejaid

And if you buy a phone from Verizon with payments, you don't own it until all of the payments are made at the end of two years. So technically, it is still Verizon's phone until all payments are made.

deejaid

THank you longtimeshorttime. I'm glad to see someone else agrees that Verizon is not treating their customers as they should. The lengths that people have gone to in this thread to stick up for Verizon is mind boggling.

rcschnoor

deejaid wrote:

And if you buy a phone from Verizon with payments, you don't own it until all of the payments are made at the end of two years. So technically, it is still Verizon's phone until all payments are made.

You like car analogies so I will use one here. If you purchase a car and finance that purchase so that you make monthly payments on it, the financing company is basically the owner of that car until you have made all the payments. No different with financing the phone by making payments over a period of time. The finance company has a lien on the device until all payments have been made.

kaebfly

But you aren't leasing it either. If you opt to cancel service before you finish paying over 2 years then the balance of the phone is due immediately. You can't just turn it in and be done. Where in your Comcast example if you opt to cancel service you turn the box in. If you don't turn it in then you have to pay for it. Making payments doesn't make it a lease. Same as your car. If you stop making monthly payments on your loan does it mean your purchase suddenly changes to a rental and you turn the car in so that all debt is cleared like it never existed? Of course not. The lender repossess. They get a judgement on you for the amount you continue to owe them. They can opt to sell the car but you are still responsible for whatever is deemed owed.

kaebfly

And just to once again make it clear...I'm not sticking up for Verizon. I am however adult enough to know what is right and wrong. What you're wanting is for what is clearly fact to be adjusted because it doesn't suit your current situation. If you were in the exact same situation with another carrier the same would be true. Manufacturers warranty expired. You have no extended warranty or insurance because you either didn't want to pay for it (something I 100% support as I don't believe in wasting the money unless you are prone to having issues enough to justify it) or you just didn't think you'd ever need it. It was a choice and with that choice you accepted the possibility of risk. Your device doesn't have a lifetime guarantee. It doesn't have a "as long as I'm under contract" guarantee. It has a guarantee for 1 year that it will be repaired or replaced for any defect that is covered under that warranty. That includes bricking from OTA OS updates. Now if you feel strongly that the OS alone is what ruined your device you definitely should be reaching out to the manufacturer that actually created and pushed out the update (although I think this keeps being about what happened to your wife's device and yours is just that it's not working as expected anymore...and since you used your upgrade to allow your wife to get another device your own need can't be facilitated because it's already been used. Might have that wrong now since this thread has dragged on far longer than it should have because you're insisting on arguing that it shouldn't matter that you aren't eligible to upgrade again just yet despite knowingly using your upgrade for your wife). You apparently refuse to see that because...you don't feel like you should have to put in any effort to get your out of warranty device taken care of by the people that make it and make the updates?

Let's try it this way. Say you purchased something from Wal-mart that has a 2 year manufacturer warranty. Let's say it's a TV. Let's say that TV failed at the 16 month mark after an OTA update was pushed to it. You bought it from Wal-mart. You didn't go to the manufacturer and buy it. You gave your hard earned money to Wal-mart and you spend money with them monthly buying food or other goods so you rightly believe that you are a loyal customer. They should care about your satisfaction. So you take the TV to them and tell them what happened. Think they will fix it or replace it for you? Sure they will...IF you purchased their extended warranty when you bought the Tv. But you didn't. Didn't think you needed it. Is Wal-Mart wrong because they won't ignore their policies? No. You have the option to contact the manufacturer. Let's say it's Samsung. Will you refuse to use that avenue because you didn't purchase directly from them and you feel Wal-mart should make it right for you instead? All of this is rhetorical of course because I'm sure it doesn't matter what is said you will still think I and anyone else that doesn't agree with you are going out of their way to stick up for Verizon. I wish you luck in whatever you do going forward. And I hope if you switch carriers you never find yourself in the same boat or you will again be angry.

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