Does this make you feel guilty or mad?

[Cory Streater]

I often see posts where people ask if they should get device A (e.g. a Charge) while they wait for device B (e.g. Bionic), with the intent on returning or exchanging it before the 14-day timer runs out.

I'm not going to share my opinion about this.

In fact mark me down as neutral.

I do wonder though, is doing this raising prices? Is this why Verizon changed their policy from 30 days to 14?

Your vote will be hidden, but I'd like to know how many people have dome this, so vote away.

 

[adinofaries]

I think its wrong.

 

[BigPete]

I often see posts where people ask if they should get device A (e.g. a Charge) while they wait for device B (e.g. Bionic), with the intent on returning or exchanging it before the 14-day timer runs out.

I'm not going to share my opinion about this. In fact mark me down as neutral.

I do wonder though, is doing this raising prices? Is this why Verizon changed their policy from 30 days to 14?

Your vote will be hidden, but I'd like to know how many people have dome this, so vote away.

Guy, people have been doing this forever. This is considered part of the "cost of doing business" and so yes, policies and prices are set taking things like this into consideration.

 

[irl Panda]

I believe people abuse these systems, just like some abuse "unlimited" data. It does hurt the consumer as a whole because rather than punishing the users who go overboard with it, they punish everyone by raising prices and introducing tiered data prices.

 

[Eggshen]

I don't see an issue with it. I did this for the Droid 3 just to test and see if it was worthy of what I was looking for and it wasn't. You also have to pay $30 for a restocking fee so it's not like you can keep doing it unless you like throwing money away. ^_^

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

I have not done this because I am patient enough to wait. However, along those same lines, I have said (not done this, but would) that if you break your phone and its rooted, etc... that I firmly believe that saying you lost it instead of sending it in broken is something i would do. I dont want them to say I voided my warranty by rooting, etc... if the failure has nothing to do with me rooting it and since the device is broken and I pay the same deductible insurrance wise, i would be more inclined to just 'lose' the phone and destroy it so it can't ever come back on the network.

 

[2defmouze]

It can be abused, but it depends on intent.

If you buy something knowing you were def going to return it in a few weeks when the new thing comes out, then you're abusing.

If you buy it with the intention of trying it out, knowing that if you're unsatisfied you can return it within the return period for something else, that's just your right as a consumer.

 

[saltysteve]

Its always built into the cost.
I've never returned a phone because I've done so much homework looking for the right one.

I personally think its a pain to buy a cell, set it up, add your apps, contacts Etc and then return it in less than two weeks. Its just not worth it and o don't think to many people do this.

I like that Verizon offers it for the ones who get something they didn't want. Like the thunder bolt with the weak battery life.
Its partly the makers fault for advertising incorrectly or just not informing the consumer

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[2defmouze]

Well it should be offered regardless.. You're paying a couple hundred dollars or more and are going to be stuck with it for 2 yrs or so... You deserve a reasonable evaluation period to decide if its right for you and if you want to keep it. Unfortunately there will always be some people who abuse that right, but as with most rights that can be abused, I'm sure the guilty ones are in the extreme minority.

 

[Noble.Four]

If you buy something to hold you over for 14 days and have no intention of even thinking about keeping it, that is both wrong and stupid. Two weeks, in tech time, is not very much. If you get something and like it, but within two weeks something you think you might like more comes out, I think it is within your rights to take back what you have in exchange for the other item. Two years is a long time to be stuck with something you aren't totally pleased with, and the 14 days is set in place so that you can make sure you like it more than everything else on the market.

As for affecting prices, I have my doubts. I think carriers and manufacturers will charge whatever they can get away with. At most they would use abuse of the system to justify a price hike. But they are going to charge what consumers will pay, and I don't think the 14 day policy changes the ecosystem much. The phones being returned are being sold back for slightly less as refurbished devices, or being used as insurance replacements. The ecosystem NEEDS phones to be sent back. If they had to give insurance claims brand new phones, we would see higher prices.

 

[Noble.Four]

And yes, I have a feeling this is exactly why they changed the return policy to 14 days. 14 days is a reasonable amount of time to see if you like a device. 30 is just asking for people to get something with no intention of keeping it.

 

[lembowski]

Does it bother me? No

Are phones now a long time investment since carriers took away our 1 year contract options? Yes

Is testing a phone for a trial run to see if you want it for 2 years bad? No

Is testing a phone for the trial knowing you are only doing it to have a phone and are planning on returning it before the return window closes bad? To me the answer is No

Its a safegaurd built in for consumers. If it cost everyone on VZW 25 cents extra a year to offer all VZW customers the ability to make sure the equipment works as they wish get over it. Doesn't matter if you abuse it on purpose or for no reason at all.

 

[Puzzlegal]

And yes, I have a feeling this is exactly why they changed the return policy to 14 days. 14 days is a reasonable amount of time to see if you like a device. 30 is just asking for people to get something with no intention of keeping it.

Well, I got a Photon on Sprint's 30 day return policy, to see if I liked it enough to be worth the increase in cost (I picked up the new "smart phone surcharge" by getting a new phone) and to be worth being indentured to Sprint for another 2 years.

At 15 days I would have returned it, because it had a software bug that was only fixed by an OTA update on day 25 (rumored a few days earlier). I didn't decide to keep it for sure until after that, and even if there hadn't been that bug, I wouldn't have been comfortable enough to choose it until about day 20. And at day 31, I haven't fully "moved in". So 14 days seems unduly stingy to me.

 

[Noble.Four]

Well, I got a Photon on Sprint's 30 day return policy, to see if I liked it enough to be worth the increase in cost (I picked up the new "smart phone surcharge" by getting a new phone) and to be worth being indentured to Sprint for another 2 years.

At 15 days I would have returned it, because it had a software bug that was only fixed by an OTA update on day 25 (rumored a few days earlier). I didn't decide to keep it for sure until after that, and even if there hadn't been that bug, I wouldn't have been comfortable enough to choose it until about day 20. And at day 31, I haven't fully "moved in". So 14 days seems unduly stingy to me.

Fair point. For us nerds with more discerning taste, it takes us longer to get settled with a device. But for the general public, 14 days is plenty of time to realize Widgets are confusing and that their phone isn't an iPhone.

 

[Issemann]

I don't see an issue with it. I did this for the Droid 3 just to test and see if it was worthy of what I was looking for and it wasn't. You also have to pay $30 for a restocking fee so it's not like you can keep doing it unless you like throwing money away. ^_^

And the activation fee, which could be up to $25. (But you can finagle the rep to waive it).

 

[Stein357]

I believe it's an abuse if you go in fully knowing that you will exchange it in 14 days for a Bionic, but it is a cost of doing business. However, in my case, if there are problems with it that I find when using it for two weeks that aren't caputured in a review, it's fine to exchange it, this is the proper use of their return policy.

 

[p08757]

I strongly believe that if you go into the transaction knowing you are going to return the device, that it is wrong.

On the other hand the return policy is there, if you get buyers remorse, find a problem with your device, or find the device is not for you. I have no problem with people returning a device for these reasion.

I know people do this all of the time, and thats probably why there is the restocking fee Verizon charges.

Just my $0.02

 

[Fable]

Speaking of a restocking fee...

Does anyone know if they still honor the old VIP program. I haven't heard boo about it but one of the perks on that plan was that there was absolutely no restocking fee.

 

[mjforte]

Nope...it's simple why Verizon changed their polices. They took away NE2 discount, changed the return policy to 14 days, cut unlimited data...all because of the iPhone.

 

[rsantos97]

I think it is ok to do this for a couple of reasons:

1: they are charging you a restocking fee of $35.

2. And most importantly they use these returned phones as refurbished replacements. Think about it, when a new phone comes out and you need a replacement because yours is broken at first they give out brand new phone because they don't have any refurbished ones yet but after a while they start giving out refurbished units (which are more than likely the phone that were returned but are in perfectly fine condition). So they are not losing anything from you returning your perfectly working phone because they will just use it to replace someone else broken phone, and if they have no refurbished phones they would have to give away a brand new one anyways.