Defective iphone stolen by Verizon employee????

[kk210]

Has anyone had this issue??

On August 15th, 2012, I filed a claim with Verizon.  I had a few week old iPhone 4S that had a defective volume button.  This is a huge and widely known issue for this model.  The service rep was happy to send me a replacement which I received about 2 days later. I immediately took the broken device and placed it in the box for return.  I even made sure to secure the plastic slot for the phone box further with tape to make sure nothing happened on it journey back to Verizon's warehouse.  I even left my $15 scratch guard on the phone so it would arrive in perfect condition so the receiver would see that indeed there was nothing wrong with the device but the defective volume button. On August 23rd I went to the  USPS location and mailed the device back at 4:00pm EST.  Although I could have dropped this off or handed it to my regular mail carrier, I do not trust people and wanted a physical receipt.  I mail very important documents for my career in the Legal word and always make sure I am fully protected should some foul individual try to tamper with federal mail. 

This is not the first time I have gotten a replacement over my time with Verizon.  Over the many years I have been with Verizon I have received replacements previously.  Each time I recall getting numerous reminders, calls, texts and emails about sending back the device.  Even after I sent my last device (Blackberry) back and it was received I still continuously had a follow up after follow up. 

Oddly I received NONE of these follow ups from Verizon about my defective iPhone.  Why is that?  Could it be someone thought I wouldn't notice and let some CRIMINAL steal my phone and let me get charged almost $1000 for a phone I went OUT OF MY WAY and was LATE TO WORK to return?  I found it exceedingly disturbing I received none of these follow ups.  I was getting worried and place three phone calls to Verizon about the issue.  One of the women was very strange when asking me question about how I mailed the item back.  The label CLEARLY says it can be sent either USPS or FEDEX.  Since there is a USPS right in my building I obviously went for the convenient choice.  She first told me it was "never delieverd" .  She then proceeded to quiz me on how I sent it back but It was just very odd.  When I replied "USPS" she told me she "could see that" and that she saw the tracking and it was indeed delivered.  Her method of questioning was very odd to me and perplexed me as to why she was quizzing me insuch a way and why suddenly it was now "deleivered" .  She said she would look into it. I spoke to her again and she told me that everythign was okay and that sometimes it just "takes a while" to "update the system".  She told me there was a "back up" up devices and that they just haven't updated my account yet.  I requested she look into this as I CLEARLY DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR A BROKEN PHONE I SENT BACK.  This woman told me she would call me in 24-72 hours.  Well look at that she never called back.

I called yet again at 6am on October 06, 2012. This is now almost TWO MONTHS since I got my new phone.  The woman I spoke to claimed that the "box was empty".  I am not sure what is going on here but I REFUSE to pay for some CRIMINAL or DELINQUENT employees fault.  If they are so "backed up" who is to say one of the employees did not screw something up?  I can not believe this is happening right now.  I absolutely will NOT PAY FOR A CRIMINALS ACTS.  Should I have to I will take legal action.  Not only will I be lost as a customer but my entire family,friends and my entire Law Firm which uses Verizon will leave your company.  I have never been so appalled in my life.  Why on earth would a 28 year old career person go out of her way to mail back an empty box?  What kind of MORON would think that is a good plan?  Certainly not me.  The joke is on whoever took the device since it is defective.

OBVIOUSLY NO ONE IS GOING TO SAY "Hey I stole an iPhone!! It was me!!"

Any ideas or suggestions?? Has anyone had this happen??

[gina7239]

I was charged and it took a few weeks to check it in. As long as you have you track number saying in there possession delivered your ok. Call financial services to put a hold on it if your charged so you don't have to pay for it.

[brandon325325]

I had this happen to me a back in March of 2012 as well. It took me 3 months of bickering and vzw employees to never call back. They kept saying they can't remove the charge only the warehouse can then all the sudden the charge was removed even though they never found the phone. I have had some other issues with verizon since then as well. I have found the best thing to do now is just go straight to their executive office and they don't waste anytime resolving issues. Here is the list of execs just choose the one for closest to your area:

John Bianchi
Vice President - National Customer Service
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Joan T. Bowyer
Vice President - Midwest Area Customer Service
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Eileen M. Creeden
Vice President - Northeast Area
Customer Service
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Melanie Braidich
Vice President – West Area Customer Service
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Charlie Falco
Vice President - South Area Customer Service
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[Jakeman1]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you look at the posts here on Verizons board you will see hundreds of complaints about the exact same thing.

I had it happen to me but I had an ace up my sleeve. When I sent the device back I sent it via FedEx and I paid the shipping. I did NOT use the pre paid label they sent. With the prepaid label no one ever weighs the box so there is no record of weight anywhere (check your receipt). When you send it and you pay for the shipping, FedEx weighs the box to charge you and the weight is recorded and listed on the receipt you get.

So first they said it was not delivered. I gave them proof that it was. Then they came back and claimed it was an empty box, I gave them proof it was not, then they claimed I put the incorrect phone in the box and returned a device that was different from what they replaced. They made the mistake of giving me an MEI number of the phone that I supposedly returned. Blew that one away as well since I have that MEI in my hand. Spoke to a supervisor and they went through the exact same checklist of how I sent the phone back incorrectly or sent the incorrect phone back.

I went to the BBB and the FTC and within an hour of the BBB making the complaint known to Verizon, they mysteriously found the phone. They claimed it was delivered late to them so the charge would stand. I was on a 3 way with the BBB and Verizon and when they claimed it was delivered late, I produced the delivery record showing it was delivered just 3 days after they sent the replacement and in no way could it be late. Verizons excuse was, someone manually typed in the date and they typed it in incorrectly so it is showing 1 month later then it was really delivered. After 4 months of going round and round with Verizon I finally got the credit back with the help of the BBB and FTC.

Also as a side note, the USPS has claimed that there are way too many complaints of this happening and they are investigating this as well.

So first, check your receipt, you might be one of the lucky ones that actually has a weight listed on the receipt. If you do have a weight listed there, then you go back to Verizon and tell them that when you turned the phone over to their agent (the USPS) the box weighed XXX pounds proving it had a device in it. At that point the issue now shifts to either someone within the USPS stole the device and delivered an empty box, or someone at Verizon stole the device and is only showing an empty box, or Verizon is just trying to play games and claim the device was never returned.

If they still go on file the complaint with the USPS as well claiming you dropped the box off and it weighed XXX pounds and when it was delivered it is claimed to be an empty box. They will tell you that since you did not pay for the shipping they cannot take the complaint form you however they will investigate as well on Verizons behalf. They will contact Verizon and let them know they are investigating the complaint, and as such give them the standard USPS disclaimer that any attempt to deceive their investigation will be deemed as US Mail Fraud, and Verizon will once again find the device misplaced somewhere.

I would also contact the BBB and FTC and list your complaint.

[gina7239]

How do you know that it isent checked in by now have customer service check it for you a notation or anything. If not have them send a fax to the warehouse. It takes 1week or more for the warehouse especially USPS. Mine took a week and I used FedEx label. Keep calling everyday. If you don't get charged after 35days they have checked it in.