Verizon FAIL

[bbianchi]

Got a very interesting call from a local VZW store manager. I explained to him some hardware and software issues ive been having with my phones. In the end I focused on the software trouble...

He told me to go to the app store and root then hack my phone to run 2.1... er wait a minute? Doesn't he know that voids my warranty? Doesn't he know that's NOT manufacture approved software? Also shouldn't you oh I dont know... be careful who you tell to do this? I mean if I wasn't tech savvy and I destroyed my phone id darn well hold him to replacing it since he told me to do this... I see lots of problems with this... anyone else?

 

[ikith]

What exactly are your problems?

Just call again and get a different rep if they tell you the same thing escalate the call to their manager.

 

[Dapke36]

Yeah. If your phone is "destroyed", all you had is a phone conversation, nothing that could stand as evidence to get your phone back on warranty

 

[bbianchi]

What exactly are your problems?

Just call again and get a different rep if they tell you the same thing escalate the call to their manager.

Perhaps you missed the "local store manager" part...

 

[rick707]

So what are your problems?

 

[Roy Aguilera]

Perhaps you missed the "local store manager" part...

I do find it weird. Then again, just cause he is a store manager does not mean he knows anything. I had a problem with my Droid, took it into the store the Manager helped me, he wiped my phone without telling me that he would wipe it. I got pissed, told him it would now take me an hour to re-set everything up.

Walked out with a new Droid, free 16GB memory card and a free Droid Media Dock.

Some of them are not all that smart. He should have said: "I would need to reset your phone, this will erase everything. Are you okay with that?"

Punk just did what he felt like doing without communicating or fixing the issue.

I do see your point though, a manager should not ask that you root. That is just plain dumb.

 

[Adiliyo]

you should root and somehow brick it on purpose and then make them get you a new phone.

 

[shdwjackal]

That is hilarious. I don't know if this is bad (A VZW rep should never give you the advice to root your phone) or good (at least he knew what thell rooting you rphone was and was actually aware you could run 2.1 on it). LMAO

 

[brdl04]

Not good at all, If his superiors heard that he would be without a job.

 

[Dapke36]

I do find it weird. Then again, just cause he is a store manager does not mean he knows anything. I had a problem with my Droid, took it into the store the Manager helped me, he wiped my phone without telling me that he would wipe it. I got pissed, told him it would now take me an hour to re-set everything up.

Walked out with a new Droid, free 16GB memory card and a free Droid Media Dock.

Some of them are not all that smart. He should have said: "I would need to reset your phone, this will erase everything. Are you okay with that?"

Punk just did what he felt like doing without communicating or fixing the issue.

I do see your point though, a manager should not ask that you root. That is just plain dumb.

Either you had a conciliatory manager, or you are an intimidating guy. Because around here (worcester, ma), they would just say "oh that sucks, well you can reload that".

I know that, because they did it on my girlfriends Storm 2. Which we hadn't backed up recently.

 

[Adiliyo]

i would have been especially peeved if it happened with a blackberry as there's no real guarantee that you had a backup before they wiped it.

with android phones, at least all you really lose are your texts, but if i lost all my contacts, there would be HELL to pay at that store. and i mean like everything short of burning the place down would happen.

 

[PJnc284]

Was it an actual Verizon corporate store or a authorized retailer? Either way, he must not really care about his job if that's what he's recommending. I did have a rep recommend crackberry.com when I bought my storm and he hinted at leaked OS's but never told me to install one directly.

 

[clr007]

Did you happen to notice if the manager was a Droid owner as well? That could account for his advice and apparent worry-free attitude toward rooting your phone. At least it sounds like this guy/gal was technically inclined (or at least s/he was a wanna-be).

I'm not sure why you titled the tread "Verizon FAIL" though... perhaps the manager gave bad advice (or at least non-corporate sanctioned advice), but I'm not quite sure where Verizon failed you or did anything wrong here. If anything the manager was going a little out of his/her way by telling you about rooting your phone. I'd take it as a compliment in a way-- at least the person thought you were technical enough to understand what was involved in rooting and how to do it...

I'd be curious to see what s/he would do for you if you headed back over there, mentioned this previous conversation, and asked for help/advice on how to root your phone. (I guess that would be the test of whether or not the manager is the slightest bit technical or just spewing some jargon s/he heard elsewhere.)

While this may be a solution-- and might perhaps be something that a number of us would do-- I would well agree that providing this advice to the average non-technical user would only confuse and eventually create more problems than it would solve.

 

[PJnc284]

I'd take the battery out, take the phone to that manager and tell him I rooted but it won't turn on just to see the look on his face.

 

[clr007]

I'd take the battery out, take the phone to that manager and tell him I rooted but it won't turn on just to see the look on his face.

Good prank.

That would be yet another way of determining whether the manager was really a tech savvy person or just a wanna-be dropping a few words s/he overheard here and there...

If the person is technical, it would still be funny and you both would get a bit of a laugh out of it.

 

[rick707]

If the person is technical, it would still be funny and you both would get a bit of a laugh out of it.

Or you would be wasting his time just to be a jerk IMO.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Or you would be wasting his time just to be a jerk IMO.

I'm pretty sure if I worked for Verizon and someone did that to me, I'd be pretty pissed for wasting my time. Or maybe shocked if the person was really that stupid...