VZW Sending me a Droid Charge Loaner

jlgraham

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So I'm on my 6th HTC Thunderbolt replacement, reboots. Problem is, I love this phone. I hate the look of the Droid Charge and I'm not on board with Bing on the Revolution. Today I called customer service, and without having to do any persuasion, the supervisor I spoke to said he would send me a Droid Charge as a replacement for my rebooting Thunderbolt, and gave me his direct number and name, and said that when VZW gets around to fixing the Thunderbolt, he would send me a new Thunderbolt since that was my preferred device, at which point I could return the Charge.

I'm in disbelief! After months of arguing with them finally they come up with a solution I can handle.
 

yodatom10

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Wow good for you most times I've contacted Verizon there everything but helpful maybe there turning a new leaf we only can hope
 

robrecht

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Great! This is exactly what I've recommended to people in your situation. I've always had good luck working out solutions with Verizon. Sometimes you have to escalate your problem a few times before you find a reasonable person but ultimately they don't care about the phones. They're primarily interested in building and maintaining the long-term relationship with you. That's their revenue stream.

Thanks, Robrecht
 

Nidaja

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Well, I sure do hope that VZ remembers this when I make MY call to them about that after NINE exchanged Thunderbolts......I can't take it anymore.

But, I think my more than freaking reasonable deal for them is: I get whatever 4G phone I WANT when its released, for free.

I won't make them reimburse me for 9 expensive screen protectors (one use only), the case, the car mount.

I just want a phone that works; specifically one that people can hear me talking on. Every time I am called or call someone.

I think they owe me this arrangement.
 

Sentrix

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6... even 9 Thunderbolts?

What the hell are you guys doing to your phones to go through that many? I feel like even in the most extreme situations, your total number of replacement phones shouldn't even begin to approach NINE.

I've had the same one since launch day, works great.
 
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CMRobinson

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Probably a new policy after they have decided to shove cell towers up their customer's rear ends with this tiered data nonsense. Might as well treat the customers you do have better, won't get many more.
 

Kronko

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I am with my original one and happier than a kid visiting an ice cream factory. Really do not know why people are having so much trouble with their phones. Maybe too picky? Maybe teenagers that expect too much perfection and want to substitute their desktop computers with a phone? No idea. :) :)
 

Nidaja

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No, not too picky; honestly, that's insulting.
I love this phone. I want to keep this phone. However, it must work consistently as a PHONE. When people cannot hear me, that's unacceptable. Every one of the 9, yes nine thunderbolts I've had have failed; randomly people cannot hear me. This happens on a stock phone, and no I don't accidentally mute the phone; it happens on speaker phone! I've spent hours and hours on the phone with tech support, marked ask the calls that have occurred.
So this isn't operator failure. It shouldn't be a crap shoot to make a "successful" phone call on a $500 phone!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
 

Dilpickle1

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Kept my original Thunderbolt until just a couple days ago.. it rebooted nearly 10 times in 45 minutes and killed my battery 55% in the process. That, added with the loose and peeling kickstand made me say "Screw it" and get a CLNR.. and the CLNR has radio issues and light leaking under the screen (not onto the screen)... taking it back tomorrow. Not settling for ****.
 

Mortiel

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Well, I sure do hope that VZ remembers this when I make MY call to them about that after NINE exchanged Thunderbolts......I can't take it anymore.

But, I think my more than freaking reasonable deal for them is: I get whatever 4G phone I WANT when its released, for free.

I won't make them reimburse me for 9 expensive screen protectors (one use only), the case, the car mount.

I just want a phone that works; specifically one that people can hear me talking on. Every time I am called or call someone.

I think they owe me this arrangement.

I think you take the term "reasonable" with extreme liberties.

I honestly do not understand your thinking. You continuously get replacements, which were all FREE, due to a software issue that was on the majority of Thunderbolts. As a result of this, you think that Verizon should give you whatever phone you want for free, even if it is more expensive, or not allow due to contractual terms between manufacturer and Verizon.

I understand the screen protectors, which I have sent people for free before because of warranty replacements, but how does the case and car mount even factor in? Are you having to replace car mounts and cases with every warranty replacement?

Personally, I have seen extreme cases where someone has received excessive amounts of warranty replacements, and authorized agents to send them different phones for free. This is not covered under any warranty terms, or in a customers contract agreement. It is purely a nice thing we do because we understand the frustration. Some phones have issues so severe that getting another type of device is just the best route to take. Do not mistake it, Verizon DOES take a loss every time an alternate warranty replacement is sent to a customer if it is a different manufacturer, albeit a minor one given the infrequency with which it occurs.

However, based upon your line of thinking, a customer could theoretically call in and bluff issues with a device over and over until we just give them a brand new phone for free, as often as they want. Being within standard business ethics, this would have to be available to all customers. Mind you this is not covered by any manufacturer warranty, so Verizon would take a complete loss. If you ran a business serving 100 million customers, would YOU see that as a justifiable cost when its potentially 100 million customers getting free $400-$700 product whenever they feel like it? Lets say Verizon pays $100 for a new smartphone. That would be potentially $10 *BILLION* continuous loss (which could be multiple times a month). Service prices would skyrocket, expansion would cease. In other words, Verizon would be bankrupt in a matter of months.

Don't mistake me, I myself own a Thunderbolt that has rebooting issues, albeit they are not that severe (about one reboot every few days). I have not replaced it once. I have no issues with call quality either. I see it as pointless since its a widespread software issue, not just one bad device. If I wanted a phone that works with little hiccups and could care less otherwise, I would have gone the Apple route.

All in all, it is easy for any one person to think that a business should bend over backwards to serve their individual needs and whims. What is harder for a customer to think of is how a business maintains its level of service with competitive prices. Yes, there are many areas Verizon and I do not see eye to eye that I feel make them less competitive (mostly in pricing), and I work for them!

I also know how losses can spiral out of control very easy with a business, because I was once high up in a company that tanked because the owner took no control of company losses. While one customer thinks that a large company should make special concessions based upon the customer's whim, it is standard business ethics that said company has to apply that concession availability to all like customers. Can you tell me honestly and logically that if you were the head of Verizon you would agree with what you just stated? That such a concession is "reasonable"?
 

robrecht

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I think you take the term "reasonable" with extreme liberties.

I honestly do not understand your thinking. You continuously get replacements, which were all FREE, due to a software issue that was on the majority of Thunderbolts. As a result of this, you think that Verizon should give you whatever phone you want for free, even if it is more expensive, or not allow due to contractual terms between manufacturer and Verizon.

I understand the screen protectors, which I have sent people for free before because of warranty replacements, but how does the case and car mount even factor in? Are you having to replace car mounts and cases with every warranty replacement?

Personally, I have seen extreme cases where someone has received excessive amounts of warranty replacements, and authorized agents to send them different phones for free. This is not covered under any warranty terms, or in a customers contract agreement. It is purely a nice thing we do because we understand the frustration. Some phones have issues so severe that getting another type of device is just the best route to take. Do not mistake it, Verizon DOES take a loss every time an alternate warranty replacement is sent to a customer if it is a different manufacturer, albeit a minor one given the infrequency with which it occurs.

However, based upon your line of thinking, a customer could theoretically call in and bluff issues with a device over and over until we just give them a brand new phone for free, as often as they want. Being within standard business ethics, this would have to be available to all customers. Mind you this is not covered by any manufacturer warranty, so Verizon would take a complete loss. If you ran a business serving 100 million customers, would YOU see that as a justifiable cost when its potentially 100 million customers getting free $400-$700 product whenever they feel like it? Lets say Verizon pays $100 for a new smartphone. That would be potentially $10 *BILLION* continuous loss (which could be multiple times a month). Service prices would skyrocket, expansion would cease. In other words, Verizon would be bankrupt in a matter of months.

Don't mistake me, I myself own a Thunderbolt that has rebooting issues, albeit they are not that severe (about one reboot every few days). I have not replaced it once. I have no issues with call quality either. I see it as pointless since its a widespread software issue, not just one bad device. If I wanted a phone that works with little hiccups and could care less otherwise, I would have gone the Apple route.

All in all, it is easy for any one person to think that a business should bend over backwards to serve their individual needs and whims. What is harder for a customer to think of is how a business maintains its level of service with competitive prices. Yes, there are many areas Verizon and I do not see eye to eye that I feel make them less competitive (mostly in pricing), and I work for them!

I also know how losses can spiral out of control very easy with a business, because I was once high up in a company that tanked because the owner took no control of company losses. While one customer thinks that a large company should make special concessions based upon the customer's whim, it is standard business ethics that said company has to apply that concession availability to all like customers. Can you tell me honestly and logically that if you were the head of Verizon you would agree with what you just stated? That such a concession is "reasonable"?
I agree with much of what you're saying, but you're also partly misrepresenting the issue. Nidaja is not asking for replacement phones on a "whim", he just wants a working phone. I think Verizon is also preferring to blame the phone rather than correctly diagnose and resolve the real issues. 9 phones is ridiculous. Clearly this is not a hardware issue that will be fixed by another replacement phone. You're so sure it's a software issue but you haven't been able to account for why some people are plagued with awful rebooting problems and others don't have this problem at all or have it, like you and me, very infrequently. I haven't noticed a reboot since May 27th. Same firmware. Obviously, there are other variables. I've asked you elsewhere what you think these other variables are. And Nidaja is not even talking about the reboot issue here. He's talking about people being able to hear him when he makes a call. You also did not understand what he was saying about car mounts and cases--he said he was willing to eat that cost.

And, by the way, Verizon does have a policy to handle people who misrepresent problems to get a replacement phone. If a returned phone obviously does not have a problem, they will charge the customer for the replacement. That's obviously difficult to demonstrate with intermittant problems that may also be partly network related, so I expect Verizon to be conservative in applying this policy.

Now, Nidaja. Seriously, 9 phones all with the exact same problem? Or did some phones have light leakage, or poor screen fitment, or rebooting problems, or data connectivity issues, or GPS problems, etc?
 

Nidaja

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To all, I'm a lady :)

To Robrecht: I don't think I can mute the phone from 5 feet away with my mind powers though! This morning, not 45 minutes ago as I was getting ready for work, talking on the phone which was laying on my bed, speaker phone on. Had been talking for probably 11 minutes, when the caller started said, "Are you there? Where'd you go? Hello? Helllo?" This has happened exactly in that manner, and multiple different configurations of where I was, whether I was on speaker or not, whether I was talking to someone on a cell phone or not, within the same state that I live...ETC.

No, I've had zero other issues with this phone. Not even reboots. No light leaks, no jack issues, NOTHING.

Mortiel: So by your logic, if you bought a car that routinely but inconsistently stopped running while you were driving, you'd find it acceptable to keep it? I call bullsh** on that. After 9 replacements of the same make/model/year, you'd keep accepting the same solution, on the grounds that you wouldn't want to hurt Ford's bottom line? I call bullsh** You wouldn't eventually say to your dealer "Look, this isn't working out, I'd like a comparable replacement. Give me that (fill in the blank) and we will call it even." I do believe you WOULD.

I have hours of documented time on the phone with VZ. I have pages of marked calls indicating when/where/who the problem occurs. I'm NOT some adolescent tech junkie, nor am I an incompetent user. I'm a 50 year old adult who has been a customer with Verizon for 12 years, pays my substantial bills every month, and expects to get what I pay for.

So, get off my ass, read what I've written carefully, and maybe even offer an apology for assuming that I'm trying to play the system.
 

robrecht

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Sorry, Lady. ;-)

BTW, I don't think Mortiel assumed you were trying to game the system, but rather just trying to approach your situation from a corporate policy perspective for dealing with a worst case scenario, not necessarily your specific situation.

Have all of your speakerphone incidents happened when you were far away from the phone?

As for the non-speakerphone incidents, is your proximity sensor always working? I have seen that reported as a known problem on some ThunderBolts and that could mute the phone. Still, astronomical odds against that occurring on 9 successive phones! Is there a geographic variable? Has the problem occurred in many locations? Do you use a headset? Good luck!

Thanks, Robrecht
 

Nidaja

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This issue has never happened on a headset, I don't use them.

Distance doesn't factor into this issue, nor does proximity sensor; I've installed ScreenSuite which LOCKS down the screen when on a call, and it still happens. It happens when Screen Suite is not installed.

Trust me when I tell you, that since this phone launched I've been documenting the who/what/when/where of each occurrence, and I can assure you that there is absolutely NO consistency to this failure. I do believe that VZ would love to find a commonality, but they have not. And, I am not alone with this issue, there are threads on this forum that speak of others that have this exact same problem. Some have moved onto other phones, others have just "given in" to the inevitability that at any point in time, their phone will not allow a 2 way conversation.

I am not one of those folks. I'll get a working, 4G, 4.3 screen phone on my current unlimited data plan. And I won't pay any more money than I already have when I got this phone on my ne2.

And yes, that IS reasonable.
 
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robrecht

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This issue has never happened on a headset, I don't use them.

Distance doesn't factor into this issue, nor does proximity sensor; I've installed ScreenSuite which LOCKS down the screen when on a call, and it still happens. It happens when Screen Suite is not installed.

Trust me when I tell you, that since this phone launched I've been documenting the who/what/when/where of each occurrence, and I can assure you that there is absolutely NO consistency to this failure. I do believe that VZ would love to find a commonality, but they have not. And, I am not alone with this issue, there are threads on this forum that speak of others that have this exact same problem. Some have moved onto other phones, others have just "given in" to the inevitability that at any point in time, their phone will not allow a 2 way conversation.

I am not one of those folks. I'll get a working, 4G, 4.3 screen phone on my current unlimited data plan. And I won't pay any more money than I already have when I got this phone on my ne2.

And yes, that IS reasonable.
Yes, of course it's reasonable. I had no idea this problem was so widespread.* I'm well aware of one component of your problem: Verizon recycling bad phones as 'certified like new'. That's why I have so far refused to let them replace my phone for issues that I think are firmware-tower related.

*Now that I think about it, the speakerphone incidents seem like they could be related to the dual mic noise cancelation issue that many people experienced with the video recorder.

Thanks, Robrecht
 
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AndroidXTC

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So I'm on my 6th HTC Thunderbolt replacement, reboots. Problem is, I love this phone. I hate the look of the Droid Charge and I'm not on board with Bing on the Revolution. Today I called customer service, and without having to do any persuasion, the supervisor I spoke to said he would send me a Droid Charge as a replacement for my rebooting Thunderbolt, and gave me his direct number and name, and said that when VZW gets around to fixing the Thunderbolt, he would send me a new Thunderbolt since that was my preferred device, at which point I could return the Charge.

I'm in disbelief! After months of arguing with them finally they come up with a solution I can handle.

I got my Charge the same way. Your going to love the Charge. What they will do is send you a brand new brown box service phone. Then they will send you a retail battery and maybe a door. However im thinking Gingerbread will fix the reboot issues on the Bolt anyway. They never asked for my Thunderbolt back either so now I have both handsets.
 
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