I hate verizon

[alyssa121050]

Verizon sucks. My daughter had an iPhone and after about 8 months the phone started having mechanical malfunctions. You could not here anyone you were talking to unless you put them on speaker phone. We took the phone to our local Verizon store and they said that the phone was still under the one year warranty and said they could replace it no problem. (Keep in mind they said there was nothing wrong with the phone other than the mechanical malfunction). She gets her "Certified like new" in the mail and plugs her iPhone into her laptop to retrieve all the info off of it and on to her laptop. (Apps and photos ect.) Then we reset the phone and put it into the Fedex box. A week later they sent my daughter an email saying that there was physical damage that voids the one year warranty. And then proceeded to charge my account $299. They said that the physical damage was in the charge port. This is a load of crap! She transferred her information that day and charged her phone. So how was there any possible damage? They can't even prove that, that phone was our phone! They have NO evidence what so ever and when our contract is up in 2013 ( 😞 ) WE ARE LEAVING VERIZON. All they do is come up with false claims to try to gouge people. Really who has an extra $300 just to pay for an "Equipment charge."

[kaebfly]

It's possible that there was water damage (condensation, rain....anything could have caused that if it is the case). Unfortunately, once you send any device in after receiving a replacement device it's possible that they may find that there is something wrong that voids the warranty. This doesn't help you any as far as actual proof goes...the only way you would have received that type of info is if you had taken the device to an Apple store and they checked it. I don't think finding internal damage is something they can usually tell just by looking at it on the outside (which is probably what the Verizon store did when you took it in for assistance). I can say that it is possible to have damage in the charge port and still be able to backup your information to your computer. I was able to do so with my iPhone 4 with no trouble at all and I know for a fact that I had damage that would definitely qualify to void my warranty (liquid entered my iPhone 4 during a serious car accident...a significant amount of liquid. I was able to charge the phone with no trouble, backup all data on my device, restore it, etc...it still powered on...issues I experienced were occassional home button response issues, decrease in earpiece volume...initially and for a few days after the accident the ability to hear through the earpiece did not exist. I had to use speakerphone  to hear the caller. I also had intermitten issues with sounds such as ringtones and alerts). Of course, if you feel strongly that no such damage existed then you have every right to switch to another provider, but do know that the same situation can occur with any other provider if they provide you with a replacement device and they deem that some sort of damage occurred...and they also will not return that device to you for proof of damage if you have to mail it in to them. If there is enough time left for you to return the replacement device you could opt to do that and pay the ETF to end your contract now and switch providers if you would like to (the ETF might be the same as what you were charged for the device, but if you're unhappy and really want to switch then paying the ETF might be  more worth it to you than keeping the replacement and remaning unhappy until 2013...although I am surprised they didn't charge you the full retail amount like they usually do in this situation...which would be a lot more than $299).

At any rate, good luck with whatever you choose...you might want to see if you add the insurance plan to avoid anything like this happening between now and your contract ending or your next upgrade. That would be a personal choice...some don't believe in insurance for "small" expenses like cellphones...others feel like the peace of mind is worth it.

[dirtjump132]

I know it seems like you got screwed pretty bad, but out of the half million warrenty claims every year, the percentage that Verizon deems damaged by the customer is very low. I'm not sure switching providers will save you any headaches in the future. Insurance might be a good option on your daughters line.