Loyal Verizon Customer of Almost 18 Years

[abski4]

I have been a loyal Verizon customer for almost 18 years and recently experienced the worst service and treatment regarding my Galaxy S6. I purchased the phone last summer, and by January, the screen appeared to have bubbles underneath. I went to the Fairview Heights, Illinois Verizon store and the representative, Calvin, stated he's seen this occur a few times. It is a defect in the phone. He declared it wasn't damaged -nothing to do with being dropped, water, basically, human error. It could be replaced with a factory restored model or I could watch and monitor the situation. Being that this was a brand new phone, I wasn't happy being told I'd receive a secondhand device. I work hard for my money and wanted the phone to be replaced, but is it too much to ask for a new phone? I just spent well over $500 and felt as if this was a slap in the face.

The phone's screen has started to further deteriorate. It has not been dropped, thrown, flung, ran over by a car, submersed in water, or endured any other type of destructive situation. I visited the same Verizon store today and walked in a little after 4 p.m. I am providing details because later in this story, a Verizon customer representative supervisor shared with me that there was no documentation of me in that facility. I waited around 20 minutes to be helped by a man named Derrick. I had 2 other witnesses with me who heard him state that the screen is IN FACT defective. They have seen this happen to a number of Samsung S6 models. He offered to again provide a factory restored model since I have insurance, but then took my case off, and noticed a scratch on the back of the phone. He declared the device to be damaged. Interesting, because the screen was DEFECTIVE in January and there was no scratch on the phone. Just so we are all on the same page, 2 Verizon employees have stated that my phone has a physical defect and it's not my fault. I was then pressured to pay $150 for a secondhand phone or start over with a new phone.

I left the store and called Verizon’s customer service line. I was on the phone with a woman discussing these issues for around 35 minutes when I was either hung up on or the call disconnected. She had my number and chose to not return the call. I know this because when I called back the next agent said the previous lady had to take another call. So, proper protocol is to not contact the customer in these types of circumstances? The 2^nd agent was nice and told me I needed to back up my cloud. She would try to get my phone fixed or exchanged. After several hours of waiting for the backup to finalize, she called back to inform me that I may have to pay $600-$700 if the warehouse deems my phone damaged. I would be paying over what I owe?! How is this ethical? She became flustered and I asked to speak to a supervisor. This is now the 4^th Verizon employee I spoke to tonight. His name was Doug and he said this problem should have never escalated. He did offer to send my phone to Samsung, but what am I supposed to use in the meantime? Why can’t Verizon stand behind their word and products? Doug viewed my account and saw that I am a reliable customer-pay my bill on time, have not tried to scam the company,  nor have I went through a lot of products. I usually upgrade my phone and pay the extra. The 2^nd customer service agent made it a point to tell me notes were not made in my account about what I said occurred. How is that my fault?! I can’t control a rep or perform their duties. In fact, Doug told me there was no record of me even setting foot in the Verizon store today!! Yet, Verizon wants to keep me as a customer and do everything they can to resolve the problem. I spent 6 hours on this tonight because it’s my money and it is also about doing what’s right. I’m supposed to visit another Verizon store tomorrow to see if they can view any damage. My phone is functioning-please fix the screen or replace the device. If this type of service continues, I am afraid Verizon will lose business. Clearly, anyone can understand my frustration regarding the hassle and runaround I experienced with Verizon. It isn’t hard to have integrity and do the right thing.

[Weth]

tl;dr

- Phone with screen defect after being used for 6 months.

- Verizon offers to replace used phone with used phone at 6 months, user refuses since they wanted new phone for used phone. No cell company does this.

- In interim, phone sustains some type of damage to back of phone (like to see a picture of this)

- Now 1 year later, phone taken in again for warranty service. Damage ot back of phone is noted and warranty refused. Need to pay $150 copay for replacement phone on insurance. Customer refuses

- Customer wants fixed screen or replace device, which was what was offered 8 months ago before damage to phone.

How bad is this damage to the back? Why didn't you just get the phone replaced at the first offer if the screen was so bad? The key is what this damage looks like on the back.