Verizon Wireless Does Not Want Me to Have a Cell Phone

This is the true story of how I spent almost an entire day attempting to purchase a cell phone from Verizon and was thwarted at almost every turn.

Background:  

• My lovely Motorola Droid went missing 4 days ago (Last seen on my desk at work.  It's somewhat incomprehensible that someone took it, and yet it's no where to be found).  
• The phone is 7 months old and I am 7 months into a 2 year contract
• I do not have the insurance 

At first I could hardly believe the phone was gone and was of the opinion that the phone would re-appear.  However, I deactivated the day it went missing just in case.   While on the phone with Verizon, they sadly informed me (well sad for me, not sad for them) that because I did not have insurance and I wasn't yet eligible to upgrade my phone for the reduced (ahem.. sane) amount, I would be paying full retail price to replace the phone.   The Motorola Droid's full retail price (last Tues.) was $529.   Let's just say there is no way on God's green earth I would be paying $529 for a phone.   The representative then mentioned it would be possible to purchase a pre-owned Droid for a far more reasonable, but not thrilling $280.  I specifically asked him:  could a pre-owed phone be purchased in a store (that way I wouldn't have to wait for shipping).  He replied yes, but not all stores may have the Droid pre-owned in stock.  Fair enough.  Because I really hoped the phone would show up, I declined this nice offer to purchase the pre-owned phone.    



The following day, the phone did not appear.  I sadly reactivate my old, complete piece of crap, non-smart phone just so I have a phone.



That night I went to a 'Verizon Kiosk' at BJ's just to look at the phones.  In my (I now realize delusional) mind, I was thinking if I could buy a Droid pre-owned, I could by other phones pre-owned.. perhaps a Droid Incredible.   I look at the phones, I chat with the salesman... explaining my situation.  He, also, informs that I will have to pay full retail price. He also mentions that the Droid 2 is coming out the very next day.  Interesting.. I had no idea.  Can I see one?  No.  They are in the kiosk, but can't be unveiled until the following day.  Then I ask him if he has any pre-owned phones.  He says, oh no... not at the kiosk.  You will have to go to a Verizon store.  I gaze up at the large Verizon sign above us, but let it go. 



2 more days go by and the phone does not appear.  My co-workers have been trying to find me deals, but nothing interesting has come up.  It's Ebay or the $280.  Ebay makes me nervous:  do these phones really work?  Are they stolen?   What if it breaks later?   The prices on Ebay hover in the $200 - $250 range.  Not enough savings to make losing the Verizon warranty worthwhile to me. 



So today I step out on what I think will be a quick errand to an actual Verizon store to see if they have any pre-owned phones.   I arrive in the store, explain my plight.  They look me up in the computer and tell me I have to pay full retail price.  Really?   He says this is a 'small store', so they do not have pre-owned phone, but a larger store would. He looks it up in the computer and says that he can order me pre-owned Droid for $280.   I decline this because I'd really rather find a store with a pre-owned phone so I can ditch the piece of crap today.



I then call a few Verizon stores.   None of them seem to have pre-owned phones.  I'm sensing a pattern here.  I don't think these stores have pre-owned phones at all (or there is a demerit for selling them).   This is when I start to get irritated.



I go out to my car and decide to just call Verizon wireless and order the pre-owned phone.  By the way, you can not order pre-owned phones online for some reason.   I call explain my story again and am again told I will have to pay full retail.  So I say when I last called, they said there was a possibility of buying a pre-owned phone.   I am put on hold for a long time.   The rep returns and says:  I'm so sorry, but the Droid isn't part of our pre-owned program.  Umm... say what?   I inform him that I was just in a store and they told me they could order a pre-owned one for me.   He asks what store and I tell him.   I am put on hold once again.  He returns and says no, the store was mistaken.. they must have been looking at an old list.   Could they really be this disfunctional?   The rep continues and says the only phone available is the Devour and something else I'd never heard of.   Hmm...  I reply:  well, I guess I'll have to buy it on Ebay then.   The rep coughs and says: oh!   Let me look on one more list. I'm on hold one more time.   He returns and still says no (but really, if there was another list why did he wait until I threatened Ebay to look at it?).   I say ok.. bye.    As I was sitting outside an Apple store, I began calculating how much it would cost to just ditch the Verizon contract and buy an iPhone, even if you can't really make calls from it.   Sadly, this was cost prohibitive.



So I decide to just buy the cheapest possible smart phone because I refuse to give Verizon any more money than necessary. I already know this is the LG Ally and I know the phone is $369 on the Verizon site.   I refuse to return to the first 'small store' I went to because I don't want to reward them for giving me bogus information.   The was a Best Buy near by, so I went to their Verizon kiosk.  I walk in and quickly look at the phones.  The LG Ally was a remarkable $499.  My mouth hung open.  How stupid does Best Buy think people are?  $130 more than Verizon charges?   The usual pushy Best Buy sales person approaches me and asks if I need any help.  My mouth still open, I just glare at him and he backs away slowly.  I storm out of Best Buy. 



The only Verizon like store near by is the kiosk at BJ's.  Yes, the very first place I went 3 days prior.  I don't want to reward them, either, but now getting late and I'm beyond irritated.  I cruise in.  I really just want to see if the LG Ally is $369 there or if that is an online price.   Naturally, the same employee is there.  He says to me:  finally ready to buy?   How does he even remember me?   He then, bizarrely, tries to sell me on a net book.  I say:  that is somewhat large for a cell phone, yes?    The LG Ally is indeed $369 there, so I say I will take that.   He looks me up in the computer and says:  oh, you have a contract.  Yeah, we can't sell you anything full retail if you have a contract.  We can only sell to people who are starting new contracts.  You need to go to a 'large store'.  Is this a joke??   I told you my situation 3 days ago!  You said I have to buy full retail.  You didn't say I couldn't do it at your kiosk.   Why did he spend 20 min. trying to sell me something the first time I was there??   How does one know which stores are 'large'.   I'm beginning to think there is no way for me to actually buy a phone from Verizon while in my situation.



I briefly consider going to a place called 'Wireless City' near my house, but as they are merely an 'authorized reseller' I have doubts about whether they can do anything for me, plus when I had trouble with my charger a few months ago, the told me my only option was to buy a new one which was completely false.



I return home and just order online.   Of course the site times out and I have to start the order again.  After I submit the order, I notice it appears as if it made my contract month to month (because who else would be paying full retail price)?    How much do you want to bet that somehow that goes through and they bill me $350 dollars for ending my contract?? 



I have no optimism.  This is the same company that nearly pushed me over the edge with internet access issues. See my rant on that one here.



** Update **
20 min. after I finish writing this post, I received an email from my credit card company that they believe the charge to Verizon is fraudulent. It came through as "Phone Service". Maybe I'm just not meant to have a phone, period.

** Update 2 **
Thinking about this a bit more, there is a possibility that the Droid 2 coming out when it did may have impacted the availability of a pre-owned Droid. The Droid is no longer available for sale anywhere. Not that anyone from Verizon told me that. If they had mentioned that the launch of the Droid 2 a mere day away would mean I could no longer buy a Droid when I first spoke to them on Tuesday, I probably would have bought it then. Since on Weds. I could buy a brand new Droid, but on Thurs. I could not there must be new Droids in boxes in stores all over the place. If you're not going to sell them to the public, why can't I buy one for a reduced price? The timing of this is something that could only happen to me. Just like when my laptop died 3 days before Vista came out and there was literally not a laptop to be bought until the date Vista launched. The torture of having an early Vista machine, I will spare you.

** Update 3 **
When my credit card company sent me the email saying they thought the charge was fraudulent, I called them up and said: I charged it, put it through. Over 48 hours later I received an email from Verizon saying the order was on hold because my credit card was declined. Are you fucking kidding me? My level of irritation is off the charts. Who screwed up: the credit card or Verizon. In either case, why did it take 48 hours for them to inform me of this? So I bought a Droid on eBay.. I'm nervous about it, but I just can't give Verizon any money right now.