How Verizon WIreless Deals With A Customer's Issues With A Flawed Device

Question

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Let me start at the beginning…
I have had a bad history with phones during my 6 years I been with Verizon Wireless(VZW). All the phones I had with them always have some manufacturer issues. I either had to pay a deductible or was allowed to exchange it for free due to it still being under warranty.  I had to go through this 14 times in under 6 years. For the most part, Verizon Wireless has been very helpful with these issues & the amazing service they provided as kept me a very loyal customer. These qualities even lead me to sign up for Verizon FiOS over Comcast when I moved into my new apartment.
On February 17th, 2014, I received my tax refund. Most of it was going to repairs for my car, but for a birthday gift to me, I wanted to upgrade my phone. At the time, VZW had a deal to trade in your old phone & upgrade to a new phone. Your trade in got $100 taken off the cost of your new phone. I thought that was a sweet deal since the phone I had, The Motorola Razr Maxx HD was my 4th replacement to replace my original phone from when I first upgrade my phone with a new contract 2 years ago, The Motorola Droid 3. The Razr Maxx HD was a good phone but not what I wanted, It did what it needed to do & the technology was steller. Just not my first choice in a phone.
Since the Droid 3 was no longer in production, i always had to get a replacement phone VZW saw fit for me to get. Now with my contract up & my opportunity to get a new phone, I knew what I wanted   I wanted the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 now. It has so many amazing features, apps & it is the perfect phone for someone my size. I can easily text with it, I do not feel I will crush the phone holding on to it & all of the hardware in it is like nothing on the market at that time. I been researching the phone months before it came out & I knew once I had the money, this is the phone I wanted.
So I went to the VZW Store ready to make the exchange and have a phone I wanted finally for once in nearly 2 years. I got there to be helped my a gentleman named Teddy. He was eager to help me. I told him why I was there & instantly got the ball rolling. My phone I wanted was in stock, I was able to get $100 from the trade-in promotion. HE also informed me I could get a free tablet by just paying the taxes for it, A mere $15 & The Note 3 was on sale. I could walk out this day with a new phone AND a tablet for $172! So I agreed to it & all I had to do was pay. Then the problems started…
I was told I could not pay with my debit card. This was due to an issue of a returned payment. An issue I had with VZW due to their company in October 2013 in which they took 9 days to process my monthly bill payment to only return it when the funds was still available to complete it. So I had to leave the store to find an ATM to withdrawal the cash so I could purchase the phone & tablet. Once I came back, we tried to finish the sale. Now I was told I could not trade in my phone due to the fact VZW did not allow me to make debit payments because of their own error. I was told i could pay full price for the phone and I could not get the tablet. I declined & left the store.
Very upset, I called VZW’s customer service line to formally complain. They could do nothing to help me since no one, not even a supervisor could fix these restrictions to my account. This made me more upset, so I went above their head & reported my situation to The Better Business Bureau(BBB). Within 7 days, a Manager From VZW’s Home Headquarters, named Brian (removed), finally called me to resolve my issues. HE apologized, removed my account restrictions & was sending me A Galaxy Note 3 for my troubles free of charge. I wanted the tablet too but did not care at this point. I just wanted a phone I wanted for once & I can do without a tablet. I never went out of my way to get one before & I was not planning to now.
On February 25, I received my new phone. I instantly fell in love. The phone was the perfect size for me & it worked just like every review I read online said it would. Then on February 27th, the phone began to have charging issues. The factory charging cable that came the the phone began to have issues charging the phone, then not recognizing the charger at all. I called customer service to make a complaint. This is when I learned for the first time that The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a defect with it’s charging cable & charging the device. They told me I could either mail the cable for a replacement or try to get the replacement at a store. So I decided to go to the same VZW store to get the replacement.
Once I got there, I had to wait in line for 30 minutes to finally speak to someone. Once I did, I was told they had no chargers in store. All that could be done was call Samsung & have a replacement phone sent to me. I asked what would I do for a charger until then & they said I could use the micro USB charger from my last phone to charge it.
So I mailed the charger to Samsung, who said it would take 8-10 days to get my replacement. During this time, the phone began to now stop holding a long charge. So I again called customer service. I was again told to go to the VZW store to get a replacement charger. I went back to the store again to be told they could do nothing for me since I did not have to original charger. All I the could do was sell me a mobile charger for 50% off. Since i need my phone, I had no choice. I had to spend $30 now on a device to help my faulty one.
March 6th, my replacement charger arrived. I was happy because now I can charge my phone with the proper charger & get a full battery life from it. That same day the charger had the same issues again. So i instantly took it to the Verizon Store to be told I need to call customer service for a replacement phone. So I return home to see in my mailbox is my VZW bill. The statement says my bill is $400! Verizon Wireless & Brian (removed) had charged me full price for my phone despite what he told me when he called me.
I instantly called his office to only get his answering machine. I left a very angry yet respectful message explaining my disgust with what he & VZW have done since I got this phone. I said I refuse to pay anything until this issue is fully resolved. I then proceeded to file another complaint to The BBB. This time I would get no response from VZW. Instead i had to call and chat online with their customer service lines for over a month to have a REFURBISHED device, a replacement battery & a generic charging cable sent to me. My phone still has charging issues & I must travel around DAILY with my mobile charger to make it a whole day to be able to use my device.
Verizon Wireless and Brian (removed) will not resolve this issue for me. Instead they have suspended services to my phone and are forcing me to pay the full price for the phone or having my service “permanently discontinued”.
I am left with no choice but to pay this by next month. I need my phone for personal, business & emergency reasons just like everyone else. I can not pay this AND an early termination fee. Verizon Wireless has done nothing to help me & now I am stuck in a contract for the next 16 months with a company that has done this to me during the last 2+ months. I have a improper working phone and they get $400 for it and Brian (removed) gets his commission.
Before I pay this bill, I am making one last complaint to The BBB & I am spreading my story across social media like wildfire, I am hoping someone at Verizon Wireless sees this. MAYBE they will do the right thing. Then again, they had the chance to & have not….
Mr. Brian (removed) & Verizon Wireless,
My Name IS Reginald (removed). Due to months of complaints you should very well know who I am. Since you will NOT help me, I have no choice but to play by your rules and pay you ridiculous cost for a phone despite the act of what I was verbally told. You & your company you work for have had countess times to make this right & you have not. I might have to be stuck in a situation like this, but the entire internet will now learn of your actions & how you treat people. Maybe this will teach you all how to properly treat your paying customers. Someone can still make this right. You have my number, but you would have to reactivate it to contact me though.
Regards,
Reginald (removed)
Edited as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service
Message was edited by: Admin Moderator

Answer 1

    Reginald, We absolutely want to make this a better experience. Would it be possible for us to work together in direct message. Please follow us and we can get started.
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