Verizon Breaks Phones

If United broke planes, that would be really big news. So, it should be big news that Verizon breaks phones. I’ve been impatiently waiting for my Froyo update (Android 2.2). According to all reports, they were supposed to be done with the Droid 1 round on August 18th. The 18th came and went. No Froyo. Then last night (a day late – weeks of waiting), I was a excited when my phone notified me it was ready to receive an update.

I went to bed with dreams of candy canes and ice cream dancing in my head. I was going to have the new Android OS! Yay! I don’t even know what it does but I wanted it! So I jumped out of bed this morning to see the Motorola logo on my screen. It wasn’t done?

When I got to work I called Verizon on my land line and was told that this was a known problem and it was happening to others. I could take it into a store and have them attempt a master reboot. I suggested that we do it over the phone. It was just a simply key combination – and it didn’t work. “We’ll have to ship you a new phone, sir.” Um, really? Will I lose all my shtuff? “Yessir, you will!”

Ok, I needed to think fast since this phone is my lifeline. If I was going to be this inconvenienced, I needed something. I asked, “Can we work out some kind of discount on a DroidX? I mean, I’ll pay you, but I why do I want a phone that breaks from over the air updates?” No, sir. This is a warranty sitcheation. (typo represents overseas help desk).

Why shouldn’t I expect a little more effort (when I ask politely) than a replacement phone? Especially when there is no guarantee the replacement is going to work…

Markham55: @VZWSupport Droid didn't work after the new update, the replacement didn't work – now the 2nd replacement is being shipped late. Really?

This is not the only tweet I’ve seen about this!

Verizon Wireless, you broke my phone. I would like a discount on the latest phone, the Droid X. I’d ask you to call me, but you broke my phone. So, how about sending me an email. There’s a contact form on this site. Thanks. Or, look me up in your CRM system if you have one

You can turn this poor customer experience around with just a little bit of effort