Curse You, Verizon! and Opportunity Strikes Again!

CURSE YOU, VERIZON!

Generally speaking, Verizon Wireless has been a pretty good carrier.  Since the switch from AT&T/Cingular, I've had fewer dropped calls and some pretty decent customer service.  The only problem so far has been that I seem to be on an uphill trend as it relates to the amount of money I pay them every month. 

First it was just my phone and my wife's.  Then I added the Blackberry and the cost of e-mail/internet. Then came my son's phone (he's 12).  And, finally, me being the guy who has to have access everywhere I go, the wireless card was added.

What was once a convenient wireless plan at $69 per month is now over $230! But I can't blame anyone but myself.  I do have a choice in the matter, right?

But this friendly (albeit expensive) relationship came to a screeching halt this past Friday.  You see, my son lost his phone when we were at the Grand Canyon a few weeks back (my wife swears she handed it to me). So, thinking of the possibilities as we walk through the door, any optimism was dashed quickly once our predicament was explained to the customer service rep at Verizon.

The good news, they said, was that they have a lost or stolen phone policy. Great!  (Imagine my son and I looking at each other and sharing a warm father/son moment).  However, it turns out that the policy's cost depends on the status of your free upgrade (we are scheduled on his lost phone for September).  So, according to Verizon it was either $200 for a new phone (with $50 rebate now $150) or wait until September.  

Now, let me remind you that I am currently paying Verizon $230 per month. And I paid an average of $100 for the phones I have now (3).

Isn't that enough?

And, aren't the phones made in China for $15-$20?  And they wanted to charge me $150?  It's frustrating even telling you about it.

But, you know what?  The solution, which I figured out while in the store, was that there was one simple and no cost solution.  The one, I guess, that was on the last page of the Verizon customer service rep training manual:

If you have another phone (perhaps an old one laying around the house),Verizon will switch the phone over - for FREE.  As in no charge.

The lesson here?  Do not throw away, donate, give away or garage sale your old cell phones - they can come in handy.  Place them in a junk drawer (along with your cords and chargers) for an emergency.

We hadn't done that.  We weren't prepared.  Luckily an Aunt had an extra phone and we were home free.  We went back to the Verizon store, handed them the phone and within 5 minutes he was back texting his friends.

Did I do all that just so he could text again?  No, it is a safety thing.  Right.

OPPORTUNITY STRIKES AGAIN!

So, being that this site is about ideas, here's one that came out of my experience.  A place where, I think, many good ideas take root.

For all those people out there who lose a phone and do not have one to spare, take heart!  I will open a store (virtual or next to Hallmark) that buys and sells Verizon phones.  I'll pay $5 to the old owner and charge $25 to the new owner.  

The best part?  I won't charge either person any fees and I won't force a contract on anyone.  

Everyone wins.  Except Verizon, I guess.

Comments

[Julie]

I like your new opportunity idea. I would be happy to get rid of my old phone and get $5 for it too. I have phones sitting around that I don't know what to do with and feel bad just throwing them away. I don't need (or want) them but it just feels too wasteful! So they sat in a drawer for years. I finally threw them away when I moved.

I also can relate to your Verizon frustration. For me, the level of service is okay as long as nothing is wrong. Then one day, I made that fateful decision to get fiber optics for my internet connection. "It will be so much faster and cost $5 less per month!" How could I say no, right? I had to go for two weeks with no internet connection because they made a mistake and picked the wrong tower for my service. Then, when my office set-up and connection wouldn't work (ie, wireless printing) they said they couldn't help me. I talked with at least customer service reps, technicians, and managers and had to spend hours on the phone trying to fix this. In the end, they said they couldn't help me. But wait, it worked great before Verizon came over. Sorry, can't help you. What? Are you serious? I pay $200 per month for my cell phone service, $100 for my home phone, plus I have a Verizon aircard. And you won't fix my set-up back to the way it was? Okay, for me, I want nothing to do with Verizon as soon as my contract is up.

Sorry for venting here, but I do like your opportunity idea and think you should go for it!

[Tim Tyrell-Smith]

Thanks Julie - Nice to know I'm not alone! Hoping someone else will find this idea interesting and make a go of it. I'm too busy!

[Shashank Banerjea]

umm... I think you can Craiglist or E-Bay (using them as if they are verbs, but you know what I mean) for old Verizon CDMA phones.

[Tim Tyrell-Smith]

Yes, I suppose that's true . . . but then you have to wait for shipment, right? Thanks for your comment!