Verizon Charging $299 to Replace Faulty Phone
GSandbega
Newbie

The mic on my phone stopped working right around Christmas 2019. People on the other end of the call could only hear me if I was on speakerphone or Bluetooth, not if I was holding the phone up to my ear. I took my phone to my local Verizon store in early January. The Verizon rep told me the mic could not be repaired and that I could get a replacement (same model phone) at no cost. A few days later, I received the replacement phone in the mail along with a return label for the faulty phone. I defaulted the faulty phone and shipped it back. Such a seamless process, right?

A couple of days ago, I got an email from Verizon stating that there was additional damage to the faulty phone and I have to pay a $299 fee for the replacement phone. There is a picture included in the email showing a small crack along the corner of the screen. I was unaware of a crack. I have since spoken with the Verizon rep who helped me at the store, and he does not recall a crack in the screen when he looked at the phone. Verizon is saying I am liable for the $299 fee and that my phone will not be returned.

There are at least three problems here: First, the fact neither I or the Verizon rep at the store noticed a crack when he was inspecting the mic issue. Second, I purchased and own that phone. I shipped it back in good faith and at a Verizon employee’s suggestion. If Verizon has deemed that what appears to be a small crack in the screen is what is causing the issues with the mic and they won't replace it in kind, then they should return my original phone. They won't. Third, we have been paying $17 a month (per phone) for 19 months now for the protection plan. THAT plan -- through Asurion -- is supposed to cover damage to the phone. So if there is a crack in the screen, I should have had recourse through the protection plan. But since I now can't get the phone returned to me, I have no way of pursuing that avenue.

The fact that I've been paying for that protection and now am completely prohibited from even attempting to utilize it -- because I followed the advice of a Verizon employee -- is ludicrous to me. I PAID for that service.

Don't get me wrong. I do not think the Verizon rep that helped me knowingly gave me bad advice. I think he was following standard procedure when a component stops working on a phone. Verizon covers those issues. Verizon does not cover cracked screens. But since neither of us saw a crack, the rep had no reason to believe that Verizon wouldn't replace the phone at no charge.

I have spoken to the store, and to customer service over the phone. My wife has also spoken to Verizon support over the phone regarding this situation. While everyone we have spoken with has been kind, no one is able to help us. They are all extremely sympathetic, yet disappointingly unable to assist. Is no one at Verizon able to make this right, or to help ME make it right?

During one of my phone calls, I was assured that I can formally dispute this, yet there is no formal dispute process I can find, other than this customer forum.

This entire experience has been so disappointing and beyond frustrating.

 

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Re: Verizon Charging $299 to Replace Faulty Phone
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

GSandbega,

 

Seeing a charge on your bill that you weren't expecting can be a surprise for sure. I don't like seeing surprises on my bill either. We are always happy to help in any way that we can. As this is a community forum, we can't go over account-specific details here. So we will send you a Private Note via this forum. Then we can review your account in more detail.

 

ErinW_VZW

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