Do not use Recycling Program - sell an old phone yourself

Question

This program is absolutely a scam.  I wish I'd done my due diligence and read this board before I sent my phone in.  I had an iPhone 4s and I just upgraded my phone - only because they had a promotion in March to upgrade to the 5c for free.  Otherwise, my 4s 16GB phone worked just fine.  The phone had been kept in a case with a screen cover the entire time I owned it.  It was pristine.  So I logged on and got an estimate for 200.00.  I figured that anywhere between 100 and 200 dollars would be a fair price for a phone in such good condition.  So when I received and activated my new iPhone 5c, I backed up all of the 5GB of apps and data on my 4s, then I removed find my iPhone, and reset the phone to the factory settings.  "Hello" was streaming across the screen, just like the phone was brand new.
A few days later I received the envelope to return the phone to Verizon.  Yesterday I logged on to see the status and it read "phone will not power up".  That is an absolute lie, unless Verizon did something to damage the phone.  The phone was in perfect working condition when I sent it to them.  I called customer service.  I got bumped from person to person.  Finally I asked for a supervisor.  The gal that came on the phone "Courtney", was rude and not very helpful.  She did say that she was escalating my complaint.  When I asked her who her supervisor was, she said, "I don't have one".  I asked who do you report to?  Her reply was "No one."  I said, you are not the CEO, you have a boss, what is their name and contact information?  She refused to give it to me and then put me on  hold - for almost 10 minutes.  Another lady who was nice but not helpful, came on the line and claimed to be her supervisor.  She also claimed that someone from customer service would be contacting me.  Nothing.
Today I get my voucher for 36.00.  That is a completely unfair amount for a 16GB iPhone 4s that was in perfect working condition.  Obviously after reading all of these posts, the standard Verizon response is "The phone will not power up".  Because of Verizon's lack of customer service, unwillingness to discuss the matter, and general lack of cooperation from their recycling program department - this seems like a major scam to screw people over.
We have been loyal Verizon customers since their first merger with GTE.  We spend quite a bit with this company on domestic and international service.  After major customer service problems earlier this year, I almost left.  When I asked them to deactivate our account they suddenly became super customer service oriented.  Now that I've upgraded one of our phones and we are in a contract, they are back to their old lack of customer care.  Shame on me for getting sucked back in.  I have no problem paying the fee to break our contract, and I am currently shopping other wireless providers.
Regarding their recycling program - I have filed a complaint with the BBB, and as others have done, I will start investigating class action.  It seems that there are many of us in the same boat.

Answer 1

Wow...amazed that I wasn't the only one cause I thought it was a fluke that Verizon failed to follow through on the valued $200/each for two phones I sent in to recycle. BOTH phones were taken to an authorized dealer I've worked with for years. The manager there prepared BOTH of my phones to be sent in to recycling program and were valued at $200 each. I got an email saying one was $200...the other was $36.  That one for $36 was in perfect condition. I called and was told the "FIND MY iPHONE" had not been deactivated.  Interesting since I watched the manager prepare BOTH phones the same way before I mailed them. I've been told by TWO Verizon employees the same thing happened to them and there was such a thing as escalation. I escalated the request to be reviewed AFTER contacting Apple to be assured my phone was able to be used by them. I escalated it twice and was sent an email saying they would not give me the money nor would they return my phone (as I requested) so that I could sell it for what it was worth. You can not talk to a manager about these situations as they hide behind their computer screen and send emails to tell you they wont back up their word to give you what they agreed...and they wont back up their manager/ representative who prepared the phone...and they wont honor YEARS of being a faithful customer. Instead I feel I was lied to and taken advantage of....all for $136 in Verizon's pocket. I will be seriously considering changing carriers after this escapade...especially now that I'm seeing that this is an ongoing issue (that even employees told me they encountered). Unfortunate that good quality customer service has been ditched by Verizon Wireless...I thought they had more integrity than that. I would like to see a refund of $136 which is duly owed to me or my phone to be sent back in the same great condition so that I can get what its worth for it.