3 months left with Verizon. Eligable upgrade is a joke & 'm sick of Verizon & its lies & pricing

Question

First of all, I was a happy Alltel customer. Happy with my plan, my service, my reception etc. Then Verizon took over my reception became mediocre, and then I accepted a job offer in New Bern, NC. From the day I got here, I had problems with my reception and service. I could not have a conversation with my family 4 hours away with out multiple dropped calls or poor reception. Both areas were in the red areas which meant that there was coverage and plenty of it. Finally after numerous calls to Customer Service and numerous visits to the New Bern Verizon store we were told by Verizon that the only way we could solve this problem was to upgrade to a Verizon brand phone. We upgraded from a Samsung Hue to a LG ENV 3. We were also told that we could not keep our Alltel plan family share 1000 minutes and unlimited text. We had to upgrade to a 1400 family share plan with unlimited text which was about a $30.00 a month increase. But it was the lowest plan we could get and keep our 10 friends & family plan. We also added a phone for our son, since we were in a new area and felt he needed to have one in the event of an emergency. Okay so we thought our dilemma was over.
Then shortly after wards we were getting charged for data usage. I would talk to Verizon customer service and question why there were multiple data charges when we did not use data. I was basically shrugged off by customer service every time I brought it up. Finally I called when I noticed that there was a data charge on my phone that I did not make, I remembered that day clearly and I hadn't used my phone all day. Even the bill reflected that day no calls were made or received. Long story short after a year of being charged here and there on each of the phones I finally totaled my bills up and took it to the New Bern Corporate store. The store employees were not helpful and frankly didn't want to waste their time with me. I asked to speak to the manager, Kendall Greenhill, who blatantly asked why I waited a year to come to them. I told him that I had been complaining for year and no one, no one was taking care of it. He was unhelpful and didn't want to hear it. I asked why there were people who were in the same boat as me not using data, but being charged that I read this and heard this on the news and why was I different? After several hours of my time and being talked down to, I walked out without any resolution. It took another week and I did finally get a 40.00 credit from Customer Service, so.. another dilemma finally after a year of complaining.. finally over.
NOW... here is the new problem with Verizon. I have a little over 3 months to go on my 2 year contract, I have been flooded with text messages, emails etc regarding upgrading our phones. I wasn't planning on upgrading, but I unfortunately left my cell phone on the shelve in the bathroom and on vibrate, and when my alarm went off, it vibrated itself right into the toilet this past weekend. SO- I figure okay.. time to upgrade, and if I am going to do one, I might as well do 2 if not all 3 phones. EXCEPT.. all the feature phones that are offered to me are not in the same league as the ENV 3 they are a downgrade in quality.. and so I look at the Smart phones, well they require a 30.00 data package for each one. OMG. I am already paying 155.00 a month for 3 phones 1400 family share & unlimited text . That would clearly make my bill well over 250.00 a month. In this economy, I really need a phone that is decent and the plan cost to be affordable. That being said, I have also seen the need for the usage of internet on the phone at times. And if we are going to upgrade why do a lateral switch on a phone when all the normal cell phones are being phased out and smart phones and androids are becoming more common?
Why get a phone just to replace what I lost and be locked into another 2 years and not be able to take advantage of the newer phones?
Well after my unfortunate accident with my phone, I had decided to check in the offers I have received recently and in past months, I normally keep all my emails from Verizon and put them in my Verizon Mail Folder, or if I have a offer that we find appealing or information that is useful we will just bookmark it to our Verizon Folder. I had such an offer back during the winter, and at the time we were not eligible for an phone upgrade, it is the Talk and Text Plus Data Promo. There were 2 plans, one was the for Single lines the other Family SharePlans.
Here is the link :
https://email.vzwshop.com/servlet/website/ResponseForm?OSPEUT_9_9_z_UU_0Hsr_.2eHmH_wkhthE
Basically you get for $139.00 for the first two lines : 1400 anytime minutes, unlimited text; unlimited vzw m2m, unlimited data, then $19.99 per extra line. Great. I double checked, there is no expiration no offer ends date. My husband called both customer service and the New Bern Corporate store, no one had heard of this promotion, and after researching it after he tried to explain it to everyone he spoke to, the response then then was "oh", that promotion has expired. But why is the link still active? The ad clearly has no offer ends date, no expiration date..regardless, again my husband called both the Customer Service and then Kendall Greenhill the manager at the New Bern store. Both were very unhelpful and acted as if they cared less.
My husband was directed to call the loyalty department who basically twisted what my husband said and called him liar and round about ways and accused him of just now opening up old Verizon Emails. That we could not get that promo it was expired.... All this when my husband was trying to make the sarcastic rep understand that this was a offer we have saved in our bookmarks and there was NO experation date at all. The Loyalty rep again was making my husband out to be a liar by saying there was 3 pages with detail information of it's experation date.
https://email.vzwshop.com/servlet/website/ResponseForm?OSPEUT_9_9_z_UU_0Hsr_.2eHmH_wkhthE
Do you see a experation date or a 3rd page Verizon???????????????????????????
After a heated conversation, in front of the Verizon authorized dealer in New Bern, we went in and spoke to a representative Tammy (who was helpful and nice). She looked at our promo and called customer service and spoke to a supervisor named Sharon, who after researching the information told her to direct us back to the Verizon Corp Store, that they were authorized to give us the promo andthat she would note our account and have them check it and they would take care of us.
We did as we were told, we drove to the store, and Scott (bad problems before with him) was the salesperson who talked to us. We told him about the conversation with Tammy and what the supervisor Sharon told us and he remembered over hearing Kendall Greenhill's conversation earlier that day and checked our account and claimed there were no notes and that they couldn't authorize this promotion even if they were told to. My husband immediately called customer service from his cell phone and the person he spoke to saw the notes on the computer. We asked Scott to call Customer Service and double check. Lets just say, the store again was unhelpful and would not go one blink out of their way to try to resolve this. We drove back to the authorized dealer, and spoke to Tammy again, who called again, and after a lengthy conversation with a woman named Martina Williams,(who is the only Verizon Rep on the phone that seemed to care and was nice) she has put in a request to accept this offer. So we have to wait to see if our offer is “acceptable”. And that is where I stand right now. I am so upset at the lengths my husband and I have to go through with Verizon. My thing is that if you go the store, and the loaf bread has a sale sign on it for 99 cents and the cashier rings it up at 3.00 shouldn't she honor the price of 99 cents? The sticker has no end date, no offer expires...
Tomorrow night we might go to the Verizon store but if we do it will be in Morehead City or Greenville NC which is 45 minutes away(More gas $ and time). Why? Because Every since we have lived here in New Bern. The reps at the New Bern Corporate Store has always been unhelpful or rude. And I'll be D%MM if we will deal with them anymore!!! Our quality of customer service experience with Verizon since day one has been awful and to deal with the local New Bern store just amplifies the pain. Since Saturday we have put in countless hours on the phone & internet and multiple trips to Verizon. Who pays us for our time and troubles? Yet Verizon , all they care about is the $$$ and not customer service.
Maybe I should just order a crap used phone from ebay. Finish our contract with Verizon and when October comes switch to ATT and get 3 (better selection) smart phones with just enough data on each phone, the same 1400.00 minutes and unlimited text and all calls (ALL) to cellphones are free for 160.00 a month plus tax...
The ball is in your court Verizon.
YOUR CUSTOMER LOYALTY IS A JOKE!!!!!

Answer 1

I have been having issues with my phone. The problems started after only having my brand new phone for 2 months. I called customer service and they tried resetting my phone. Unfortunately, that didn't fix it. I thought I could live with the phone with its problems until it got worse. I am having to take out the battery several times daily to restart the phone. My phone charger suddenly stopped working and my text messages would not come through without taking out the battery. It reboots when I unlock my phone. It randomly shuts off. The battery life does not last even when it's fully charged. I took my phone to my local Verizon store looking for help. The representative was disrespectful, refused to talk to the Verizon customer service rep on the phone, and threatened me. I left the store crying. When I got home, I called Verizon customer service and after 2 days I still don't have a solution. They don't have the replacement phone in stock. I was told it could be up to 6 months before the new shipment. I have never seen such horrible customer service. My contract with Verizon has over a year left and I just want a working smartphone (which is what I paid for). My boyfriend wants to cancel our contract because we can't get any satisfaction from Verizon.