Verizon customer service and retention "What a joke".

[JeremiahP]

To whom it may concern,

It is my turn to complain about Verizon for a second if you dont care and don't want to read then please look away now..... Verizon Wireless is the absolute worst at customer retention and costumer service.  I have a blackberry storm 1 which is the crappiest phone ever made which I know falls back on RIM .. but nonetheless its a Verizon phone.  I am on my third storm 1 phone due to the multitude of problems. I am 3 months from the end of my contract and Verizon refuses to help in any way.. I ask to speak to a suprevisor they dont call back... I asked to get transfered to customer retention and they will not transfer.. just simply say" Do an insurance claim" until march then get a new phone.. So lets spend $50 on a refirbished phone when I can spend $80 and get a new storm 2.... I have a total of 12 lines between my family and I which WILL be terminating ... VErizon WIreless is by far the worst carrier when it comes to customer satisfaction.. retention and all around service.

[JeremiahP]

Oh and did I mention .. there suggestion to resolve issues is to always do the familiar"battery pull" or if that doesnt work a "phone wipe"... how frustrated does one customer have to get before they will actually help them... they obviously had RIM develope the new Storm 2 to fix all of the issues with the storm 1..

[Zehan]

How has your phone service been? Able to make calls? Have signal? Call quality good? What about browsing? Pull up websites ok? If so, it sounds like Verizon is doing their part. You said it yourself; the device problems fall on RIM. I'm sorry you're having issues and really do hope that you end up working everything out, but it would be a shame for you to cancel your service with Verizon due to RIM's poor device. FYI, good customer service does NOT mean "give me whatever I want because I said the magic word 'cancel.'" Oh, and why in H-E-double hockey sticks are you considering the Storm 2 after having so many problems with the Storm? After all, they ARE running the same software...

[JeremiahP]

Ok it is a RIM device.. but it is carried on Verizon network which in my eyes deems Verizon responsible.. DOnt get me wrong i'm not asking for a hand out .. I am asking to be able to purchase another device for the two year price.. i cannot afford the astrnomical price of $500 plus for a new device when this one is obviously flawed.

[JeremiahP]

Oh sorry I forgot one question in your reply, call quality,etc; the phone completely locks up and gives the hour glass on a regular basis.. sometimes you cannot even type the number in to place a call.  I have no problems with their network call areas,, dropped calls or anything I only have issues with their devices not working and then they say sorry becuase I am an old customer. and have to pay my bill or get charged some rediculous fee to cancel

[Zehan]

I'm sure you've heard this before, but just in case... Are you making sure to close your apps properly, not just hitting the END button? That's usually the first mistake Storm users make.

[SFObrien]

Are you the primary line on all those 12 lines?  If so you may be eligible for an annual upgrade.  I would go to a corporate store and ask for the manager if you haven't already and plead your case there.  While there mention an earlier promotion called "select few". Many say they got it and used it and were nowhere near their upgrade date.  And I personally know of one person who got the upgrade offer after having a Storm only three months.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[JeremiahP]

I have tried that as well, but with no luck.. I have done one warrnty claim and one insurance claim already on this phone and that is all they will offer for me to do.  There has been this infamous "Email" supposedly going out to storm 1 customers to early upgrade. But I guess I am not one of the selected few. And CS has no idea what you are talking about. After the problems I have had I think I would rather just get the Droid and be done with it.  And all of the VZW people on here wont say or comment on it at all.  I have calls in right now to our area executive so we shall see what happens.. The Mods here will edit your stuff but wont comment on a true problem someone is having.. atleast thats my observations.

[MacDaddy]

Unless you have a true Hardware problem such as the buttons or screen not responding, most problems on the Storm1 are 3rd party apps and the OS not being installed from a clean device, By CLEAN I mean  Completely wiped of everything device, Should show a 507 error in the middle of OS installation in Desktop Manager. First time device reboots should come up with a 507 error, (No OS Found) Then Desktop Manager should continue to install a clean new operating system. If you did not receive the 507 message when upgraded to 5.0 software you will have problems. I am on my original Storm 1 from Feb., and never had a problem that couldn't be solved with deleting a bad app or making sure the device was wiped before a clean install of a new OS.

Do you have any Idea how many Storm 1 devices are out there? Verizon could go bankrupt trying to replace every single device with something new everytime someone complains or has a problem, Best that they can do is replace with a refurb and try to get something working for you. Remember there are some hardware problems too but 75 percent of problems can be resolved through the software.

[MacDaddy]

P.S. Forgot one thing, I have had Nextel, Sprint and AT&T over the years, Verizon is the BEST all around Service provider out there in Customer Service, Quality Calling, 3g Data.

If you feel you need to switch, be my guest, but you have been for warned, Beware the Nightmares of other carriers. I have been there.

[ryetech]

I use to think they were the best all around, but I don't like that I am now on my 4th Storm in 11 months and that out of the 10+ Customer reps and Tech support  I have spoken to, one has finally admitted to the storm having reception issues.  Which I have complained about the whole year.  I work next to other Verizon customers who can make uninterrupted calls but I can't they get bars but I don't.  Sometimes I get dropped calls as frequent as 1 out of every 3.  Dropped calls are a daily thing for me.  The last Tech Support rep told me that "the storm does have weak reception in comparison to their other phones" but unfortunately they cannot change it for something else because I am no longer within 30 days of purchasing the phone.  I think for just the consistency of my complaints and the high number of dropped calls since I got this phone that they should replace it for something else and that I should not have to pay $500 + for a new phone.  But I will keep pursuing.

[MacDaddy]

---

ryetech wrote:

I use to think they were the best all around, but I don't like that I am now on my 4th Storm in 11 months and that out of the 10+ Customer reps and Tech support  I have spoken to, one has finally admitted to the storm having reception issues.  Which I have complained about the whole year.  I work next to other Verizon customers who can make uninterrupted calls but I can't they get bars but I don't.  Sometimes I get dropped calls as frequent as 1 out of every 3.  Dropped calls are a daily thing for me.  The last Tech Support rep told me that "the storm does have weak reception in comparison to their other phones" but unfortunately they cannot change it for something else because I am no longer within 30 days of purchasing the phone.  I think for just the consistency of my complaints and the high number of dropped calls since I got this phone that they should replace it for something else and that I should not have to pay $500 + for a new phone.  But I will keep pursuing.

---

First I have heard of the Storm Signal Problem. My Whole family has Verizon and I get a better signal on my Storm than any of the other phones ( 5 lines) I would bet most of your problems are software related. Sad fact is the Refurb Storms they send to customers, Some of which probably didn't completely wipe the old operating system before they installed 5.0 which is a major problem. Take your Storm, Backup your contacts, and completely wipe the device to a 507 error, then reinstall 5.0, unless you have a true hardware problem, your phone should work perfect with no problems.

[katieyhip]

My husband got the glide and he brought it to the store and sat it on the counter. The guy there watched as the phone "clicked itself" through several menus (as was the problem my hubby was having). The solution = reboot the phone and give it a "few days" to see if it solved himself. haha

[Zehan]

Actually, that was a known issue with the original version of the Glyde. Samsung released an upgraded version that fixed that problem. Just goes to show that not all reps are equal. While some may receive poor service from certain reps, it's flat out unfair to lump ALL customer service reps into this category.

[tSeEnToHr]

While I don't have the storm, I have had many problems with my MotoQ9m - Being a tech nerd, I don't really have problems figuring out how to get around things etc. But my phone would lock up often and go EXTREMELY slow in general (runs on windows mobile) I would have to say many of the problems that Verizon phones face are software issues and not hardware issues. (Going on 8 years of having Verizon) This being said, I have been sent another phone everytime the problem arose. I work in customer service industry and the problem is finding a solution that is beneficial to the consumer AND the company.

As far as your customer service complaint goes, as Verizon has gotten older, I would have to agree it's basically a joke. E-Mail through the website has responded to me once out of the countless times I have sent an e-mail and the closest Verizon store (corporate owned) is a pain in the rear-end to deal with. I tend to deal with satellite stores and authorized retailers and have no problems maybe you should try it that way? Verizon I do believe is trying to retain customers, but with their track record, they are also having many come in, so I think it's not as much of a concern as it could be.

Again, it's trying to find the balance between what's good for the consumer and what's good for the company. February is only a few months away

[bkfist]

I'm actually a bit surprised that Verizon doesn't offer a customer in your situation the chance to "buy out" the remainder of the contract to allow an early upgrade.  US Cellular, despite ALL their other problems, would at least give you the option to pay the amount of your ETF remaining on your contract for a line, then allow you to upgrade for the upgrade price.  Which with 3 months remaining should be around $30 or so.  After all, VZ has already "recouped" most of it's investment in subsidizing the phone to you.

Have you specifically asked about doing that with this line?

(Keep in mind the ETF fee for a new smart phone will be $350 now...)

[JeremiahP]

yes bkfist , I have tried this among many other things. So I have just recently placed a call into my area exectutive with Verizon and actually got a call back... I wa shocked to say the least.  I instructed him of all of the issues I was having and that I was not wanting a handout just to be able to purchase a new phone at a resonable price.  So I was offered to be able to do an 1 year upgrade instead of a to year.  Well at this point I cannot use my phone so I am paying for service that I really could'nt use.  So I agreed and thanked him.  I then talked to the person in CS he directed me to and made an order for the new droid and they agreed to take the mail in rebate off which gave me the phone for $243.  So now the next day I called in for an unrealated question on my wifes phone and while I was on the phone I inquired on the shipping date and was instructed the order was canceled do to the supervisor of the person who took my order, denied the order cause I had to do the mail in rebate because it was a one year upgrade... now how does this make since.. online through verizon they take off the rebate instantly.. but on the phone from verizon they wont that makes no since to me.. so I had to pay $343 instead... i'm not happy about it at all but atelast I will have a phone that will work at this point..