Now on Fourth phone replacement. Fed the same bull. Anyone else deal with this?

Question

I'm just curious how many people out there are going through or have gone through the current issue I'm having with Verizon Wireless. I upgraded my cell phone to the HTC Droid Inc 2 a little while back. I had informed the in-store customer service rep that I was in need of a very reliable phone but would like to have all the "bells and whistles". I also informed him of my line of work (I work on an ambulance as an EMT) and that my phone was critical for my job, and that I was also expecting a newborn. He then proceeded to pitch this phone to me as one of the top selling and that there have been "barely any known issues reported". I bought it. That day, had to replace the phone TWICE due to (the first phone) not having any signal, and (the second phone) not having any signal AND screen not responding. Then after a couple months of use (phone has a protective case, screen protector, no water damage) the screen suddenly stopped responding again. Was assured by customer service that this is a very rare occasion and almost "unheard" of. Was sent a new phone in the mail a few days later. Was told that all new phones are "guaranteed" to work fully as expected. Now, that phone's screen has also STOPPED working. Being a dedicated Verizon Wireless customer for many years with multiple lines on my account and having always paid my bill on time and never having a complaint before, I called customer service to explain to them how I could no longer take the risks of having this cell phone due to the possibility of its malfunction either during a critical moment at work, or if anything was to happen while my newborn daughter was in my care. I was pitched the same "this is a rare occasion" and "your new phone is guaranteed to work" lines from the customer service rep. Now I understand phones malfunction. But I would rather take my chances with a new model phone, due to the fact this is the ONLY phone I'v EVER had ANY issues with. And it's not like I was asking for the newest and greatest, just something of equal value, or even less of a value, as long as it had relatively the same functions. For a bill of roughly $200 a month that I give Verizon, I honestly didn't think this was to much to ask for. Does anyone else have anything similar that has happened to them like this? I would love to hear it and find out your outcome.
Thanks and sorry if I rambled, just really frustrated and wanted to get my point across.

Answer 1

Daisy,
Besides hardware issues like the power button that keeps sinking further into the phone and which Verizon has told me is actually a feature of the phone there are issues with a tower that is one mile from my house.  In fact I can see the tower, yet I have constant dropped calls and conversations are garbled. 
Now, before you tell me to do the *228, a battery pull and hard reset, I've done all of that.  This tower is defective.  I've had a technical support engineer tell me that.  A major interstate runs by and my exit is known as a dropped call area for Verizon.  Yet, when I call to ask what could be done they were surprised I was having problems because of the close proximity of the tower.  And I was told this was the first trouble report they had had, which I find amusing since I hear people all the time refer to the area I live as the "black hole." 
So, what they've done is open a trouble ticket and they were supposed to have sent out technicians to run tests.  I was told they would get back to me within 24-48 hours.  It's been five days and I've yet to hear anything, nor do I expect to.  The support team kept trying to sell me an extender, which won't work given the tower has problems. 
I work out of my house several days a week and it is imperative I have a phone that works as advertised.  Your coverage maps show this to be your strongest area for coverage.  My phone shows 4-5 bars constantly, yet voices are garbled and calls dropped.  The support rep had me mark calls and when I called back she said she saw 25 dropped calls.  That's unacceptable.  I never had these problems when I was with AT&T.  Since Verizon's answer is to deny there is a problem and try and push me to buy a cell extender my next step would appear to be to invoke the mediation clause on my contract.  I believe I have collected enough evidence to render the contract void at this point.
I appreciate you responding to my post, but I also know it's your job to monitor these sites and offer lip service to customers complaining.  But you and I both know you aren't going to do anything to help rectify this problem.  I am going to call them one more time and press them for a solution and if none is offered then the next step will be in the legal arena.