Droid Replaced 3 times

Question

I am on my 3rd Droid & I'm having the same issues that I've had with my previous Droids.  I was assured that when they sent me this replacement if I had any problems with it they would replace it with a different cell.  I just got off the phone with Verizon & was told that they would only send me the exact same Droid as a replacement unless I wanted to purchase a Pre-owned phone at a discounted price.  I'm so frustrated right now - I just need a phone that will work all the time.
The problems that I'm having are:
Phone freezes up
Won't hold a charge
Sends text messages to the wrong people
Touch screen stops working when I'm texting
Any ideas what I can do?  I've already done the hard reset a few times & taken the battery off several times, deleted apps, etc.

Answer 1

Don't give up, it just takes a while to get someone to listen to you. Yesterday morning I unpacked my fourth replacement DROID from the FedEx shipping box and on the very first phone call it malfunctioned. Of course it was a refurbished unit.
I called my local Verizon store and while they've always been wonderful, the only thing they could do was offer to send a fifth refurbished handset to me. I called Verizon to discuss other options since I was not confident that another of the same thing would really fix anything.
Here's what I think is the key: Don't let your call be transferred to technical support! As best you can, stay on the line with Customer Service. In my experiences--
Customer Service Representative staff: caring, attentive, polite. Solution oriented
Technical Service staff: argumentative, dismissive. Blame oriented.
My phone call yesterday to John in technical support was a nightmare. He scolded me for being ungrateful that I got a $700 retail phone for $99 when I began my contract. He lectured me using ridiculous analogies like purchasing a new car and such. He insulted me by pointedly refusing to acknowledge that there may, in fact, be a problem with the equipment; suggesting instead  I didn't understand how to use it or was intentionally causing the issue. He talked  over me, explaining in detail the steps involved in Verizon's quality control process and how they only send out "like-new" equipment, even after I said I didn't care to hear about all that. He ignored for 25 minutes my repeated requests to speak to a supervisor. He actually stated  it didn't matter that I'd carried Verizon service uninterrupted since 1998 replying "Well I've worked for Verizon for a number of years." and then telling me it was "not any business of yours" when I asked him how long he has worked for Verizon. After 45 minutes of listening to this jerk and not losing my temper I finally cracked and used a single bad word, my actual sentence was: "You just cut me off [again, while I was talking]. You don't have to care but you do need to be ******* polite." At that point the he hung up on me, I shouldn't have cursed and I don't blame him for ending the call. I do blame him, however, for the 45 minutes of useless garbage he gave me before that point.
I was more stunned than angry and called back immediately while I felt I could still be level-headed. I spoke to Tanya in Customer Service and in less than five minutes she suggested an option that, while it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, was fair. And more than that, she listened and understood that I was simply frustrated to have four phones not work as expected.
This isn't the first time I've called Verizon in the twelve years I've been a customer but I only realized yesterday that I'm consistently disappointed when I deal with Technical Support and generally pleased after dealing with Customer Service.
I'm going to stay a Verizon customer, I'm still glad to have them as my brand and I don't think changing carriers will mean I'll never have to deal with lousy employees again. Keep trying and if you feel the person you're talking to isn't listening ask to speak to someone who will listen. A contract works two ways not just one and if you've done what you're supposed to do, it's not unreasonable to expect the same of the other party. Good luck, maybe on your next call instead of a "John in technical service" you'll get to talk to a "Tanya in customer service."