I've been loyal to Verizon for 10 years, brought my girlfriend (now wife) over from AT&T, and pay nearly $2,000/year for service. I used a Kyocera 7135 for 5 years but it finally reached the end of its useful life. That's where the trouble started.
All I really need is reliable contacts, calendar, and web browser functions. I went with the Pearl and had nothing but trouble. After a year of hassle with dropped calls and enormous synch problems, I upgraded to the Storm. Just as bad as the Pearl. In January I decided this phone had to go and started researching what was coming up. I've been watching the rumor mill since January regarding the forthcoming Incredible. It seems just perfect for me and I thought I'd be paying $199 or maybe $299 since I'm not yet eligible for an upgrade.
When it came out, I went to the store and found that Verizon expected me to pay $529.99 FULL RETAIL PRICE! That's just crazy! I've talked with 6 different CS reps, trolled all the forums, and found no way to make it work.
To top it off, I played with a Storm 2 while at the store. My god, it's great! It is the phone that should have been released, not the Storm. Verizon and RIM should hang their heads in shame for inflicting such incompletely-engineered hardware on their customers. Some data: the Storm 2 is worth $300-$400 on eBay, but Storms barely bring $150. Pearls are worth $15. I thought maybe I could find a cheap Moto Droid in the open market (at least I could get away from the BlackBerry OS synch issues), but found that they are bringing $300-$350.
I resigned myself to continued suffering with the Storm and harboring resentment for Verizon. Today I decided to call in and find out when my contract expires along with how much it would cost to buy out my contract. Turns out, I paid $135 to buy out my contract and then was able to get discount pricing. Hurray, my sob story changes to Glee! I don't mind paying something extra to upgrade early, but full retail is ridiculous.
Why did I bother writing this? I started writing to complain while on hold with Verizon, then finished the story after the call was complete! Big Thanks to Chris in the Little Rock call center who heard what I was saying and found a way to offer customer satisfaction. The other 5 reps should take a lesson. Also big thanks to Verizon for not making me talk so some foreigner with a thick accent. Verizon is more expensive but this is one item (domestic CS reps) that I don't mind supporting at all.
Hope this story is helpful to someone.
I'm glad you ever able to complain enough to get what you want. Congrats
FYI, what Verizon sells phones for aren't what they are worth. Usually worth several hunderd dollars more. That's why you agreed to a contract saying you won't get another phone at discounted pricing until 20 months into your contract.
I guess you need to be a pain to get what you want.
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