Verizon Cotomer Sevis Rant

"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
03/21/2018 at 19:35 • Filed to: cotomer sevis, verizon, cellphonelopnik

It all started the day my phone lied to me.

Its a fairly new phone, less than a year old, but the other day I was out and about and had 30% battery left, and it just died.

I plugged it into my car charger, and it BARELY charged on the 30min drive home.

Fast forward a few weeks and it happens again. This time at home, but I didn’t realize how little battery I had left. I was watching YouTube in the garage, switched to my camera, and DEAD. No 15% battery saver warning.

The other day I WATCHED IT DIE.

30% to ZERO in a heartbeat.

But a funny thing happened when I plugged it in to charge it.

It went from 6% to 47% super fast. Faster than its ever charged before!

Obviously there was an issue. Being a weekend, I decided to drop by the local Verizon store on my way to get groceries, but decided to bitch on Twitter first. I wasn’t going to answer their request to DM, but they made a Dark Tower reference so I HAD TO.

Of course I didn’t get JJT when I chatted via DM, but whoever it was said “Yup, sounds like a battery issue. The Verizon store can test the battery and phone when you get there ”

LIE #1: Except.... they don’t. I went to the store and they called the DMer a liar. All they do is change plans and order phones. And they stock accessories. And let people play with devices.

So they put me on the phone with someone at Verizon to explain my issue, and get a replacement ‘refurbished’ phone ordered. I asked for it to be shipped to my work address , and gave it to them.

Dummy me assumed it was the phone that had an issue, or that the refurb phone would come with a battery , given my issues.

It did not.

It arrived AT MY HOUSE yesterday, and the package felt awfully light.... because it was just the phone. No battery .

Oh well. I charged my old phone to 90% and commenced the swap over of sim card, battery, SD card, back cover.... but wait, the NEW phone is saying the battery is only at 70% . I assumed my problem, the old phone, had been found.

I figure it was reading the battery charge improperly, displaying false percentages and NOT dropping off or charging suddenly... and not receiving a full charge either.

So I installed all my apps, set it all up the way I wanted, put on my last screen protector, etc.

And went to bed.

I sleep with my phone on a USB charger next to my bed, screen off, but powered on with an alarm set for 6:00AM. Always have, ever since one of my first Android phones decided to update late at night and died, not waking me in the AM.

At 5:30, I rolled over and saw a bright grey light coming from the entire screen of my phone.

It was the backlight. The screen was not on, yet the backlight was.

It would not turn off. The phone would not turn on. It would not enter recovery or boot mode . I had to pull the battery and reinstall it to make the phone function again.

Then I plugged it back in and went back to bed, figuring it was a fluke.

At 6AM my alarm went off. I pressed snooze, and put the phone back down.

I rolled over again at 6:10, expecting the alarm to go off soon, and when I tried to wake the phone.... nothing. The little red LED was on stating it was charging, but once again nothing would turn it on/off/boot.

Pulled the battery YET AGAIN. This time, I noticed the screen was flickering like a bad refresh rate on an old tube monitor.

I left for morning errands and work, the whole time not charging my phone to fully test whether or not the battery problem was truly fixed, because if I had to call Verizon AGAIN they were getting the whole story, and I was GONNA GET A NEW BATTERY. Meanwhile I had already shipped out the old phone , thinking it was just a small glitch, and everything would be fine.

It got down to 10% around 11am today

Notice how sharply it began to drop off....

Then this happened:

It was up to its old charging tricks again. Time to CALL Verizon.

I was sent right to Tech Support, told a lady names Teresa my issues, and she said it sounded like a battery, 100%, all the issues were the battery’s fault BUT.... Verizon had none in stock. No one did. I’d have to BUY A BATTERY AT A LOCAL STORE and she’d reimburse me and give me her e-mail to send the total to.

I could up/downgrade to another LG phone . But that would take a few days. But she’d include a case and screen protector for my troubles. No mention that the phone is CHEAPER by the month than mine, however...

I needed it to work NOW, so I sent my driver with MY $40 FORTY MILES round trip to the closest Batteries + Bulbs that Teresa and I looked online for the battery to make sure it was correct and in stock. A Duracell, which she said would “be better than what the phone came with”

LIE #2 : The battery, once installed, gave a “Incorrect Battery, Shutting Down” message after working for a minute or two. I e-mailed Teresa and waited. I got fed up and called Verizon again .

This time I was told that though no LG batteries were in stock they could send me, t here were plenty of STORES in the area that might stock them like BEST BUY, TARGET, WAL-MART, and MY OWN VERIZON STORE that I was just at this weekend.

LIE #3 : I personally had to call around to ask and everyone sid the same thing: “We don’t carry batteries.... we don’t even carry YOUR PHONE”

Back to Twitter we go...

Still no e-mail from Teresa, I name drop her to the person who’s DM’s I’m sliding into, mention her offer for the different phone and accessories, and they say they can get me the different phone, but no accessories , and asked to call me so I gave them my work #

LIE #4: Twitter guy calls, verifies the order, I tell him to ship it to my house (might as well), but he says it’ll be MONDAY before it gets there. “No dice”, I say. I want overnight shipping. He agrees. I also ask for a credit for all the running around, time, and gas I expended doing VERIZON’S JOB because, oh yeah, ITS UNDER WARRANTY .

He agrees to a $20 statement credit. I guess?

So after all this, my phone (which has restarted THREE TIMES since the phone call) is untrustworthy, I should have kept the old one (though I would have to transfer EVERYTHING again, if I even could), and I won’t have its replacement until Friday sometime at home.... which means after work.

Oh, and since I’m sure some of you are curious, though it doesn’t matter the phone, this is about Verizon’s shitty support that I have a LG Stylo 2:

Because it was cheap, and am now getting a LG K20... which is cheapER:

But it has GOOOOOOOOOLD

TL:DR My phone battery is shitting the bed, Verizon sent me JUST a new phone, putting shitty battery in new phone made things shittier, Verizon lies and I wasted an afternoon and precious time typing all this and in the end I’m getting a different cheap ass phone that’ll probably have issues in 6 months like they all do.

DISCUSSION (15)

Chariotoflove > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 19:43

You should have insisted on a new replacement, not a refurbished phone, not that any of this is your fault. That’s what the Verizon store should have given you the first time.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 19:50

So few questions before the meat n potatoes, sorry if you answered but I was keeping up and eventually TLDR. What type of phone, are you somewhere it’s abnormally cold, and does the phone frequently stay in the lower half (eg only gets a solid full charge at night as during the day you get a battery alert, toss it on the charger and it gets used.) From how I was explained those same cells are constantly getting used/discharged/charge while the rest aren’t. So the first 85% are running off a few hundred cycles where as the last 15% are in thousands.

Second, cold temps are murder on batteries. Plenty of times I was sitting in my tree stand, mid November in NY, pull out my phone to see when anyone is going back to camp - immediately drops 40% in power.

Also, worked 3+ years at alltel as a tech support team lead, another 3+ in a retail store for Verizon. They dont have technicians. You’re there to buy things or have your phone factory reset. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get a techie person but 95% of them are there to make sales and work primarily off a commission. If not buying anything, hell even if you are - dont bother with the retail stores.

Ad generally unless youre ranked through Verizon for having a large following, Twitter or social media call outs get handled the same as any other customer complaint by the lowest possible rep.

Takuro Spirit > Chariotoflove
03/21/2018 at 19:59

Can’t. Thems the breaks. There are no “new” phones given out under warranty.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 20:05

/me still has an old nokia 3310 and charges once every other week

/me not sold on this newfangled tech

Chariotoflove > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 20:24

That sucks.

arl > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 20:29

Hello, thanks for calling Verizon’s customer disservice number

Your call will not be monitored to ensure customer dissatisfaction.

None of this is surprising, and yet it’s sad. Sad that a company treats its customers like crap.

Hope the new phone works out for you!

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 20:59

Id show you the battery life I get on my new phone but I don’t want you to get even more depressed haha

Takuro Spirit > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
03/21/2018 at 21:16

Never kept in the cold long, usually kept on a charger if I’m leaving it on running music videos or games.

I know the stores don’t have techs, but I expected them to at least be able to order me a new phone without much hassle.

Also I wasn’t expecting a miracle from Twitter, like I said I only responded because someone was a nerd (or good at Googling) like me.

AestheticsInMotion > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
03/21/2018 at 21:22

What are the best channels to go through with issues? At this point I’ve realized it’s not worth the frustration of walking through the doors and having my time wasted, so I just go to electronics repair places and try to handle any billing problems on the app....

smobgirl > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 21:23

This reminds me of when someone called AT&T to change to a Canadian plan, only they changed everything on my account instead.

Steve in Manhattan > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 22:09

My 6S Plus is 2 years old - purchased in Tokyo, given to me, reprogrammed a few months later in Tokyo so I could turn it into a Verizon phone. It’s filling up, sometimes have to delete things, but I want it to last forever. It has a headphone jack, and I have a Lifeproof case for it. Please let it go another 2 years.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > AestheticsInMotion
03/21/2018 at 22:21

Billing problems - over the phone customer service actually. As long as you’re level headed and nice about it they’ll help or at least explain/fix the issue. 9/10 times billing issues are just a matter of getting someone to explain the bill correctly or someone was misquoted during the sale.

Software issues - Google. Every error code, issue, anomaly - 1k other people have also had, 100 people have posted to a forum about it and 10 have answered correctly.

Hrdwarw ussues- ifixit and YouTube. These things are made to be modular and made to be put together in the most efficient time possible. Meaning repairs, much like with vehicles, are modular too. eBay is the go-to for replacement parts, but purchase “assemblies” when you can. EG: cracked screen but the LCD is good. Don’t mess with screen wire separation and realigning the digitizer with the LCD, just get the assembly and replace it as one big module.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Takuro Spirit
03/21/2018 at 22:24

The problem with stores ordering replacements is they get graded and dinged on the number of non warranty issues they replaced a phone for or if basic troubleshooting would have resolved the issue, but they still sent out a replacement. The problem is troubleshooting and resets take time and time can = money on a busy night. It’s not the reps fault though, it’s all rained down from upper management to turn stores into sales carosels and let the people online/over the phone handle the rest.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Takuro Spirit
03/22/2018 at 05:11

i’ll stick with Apple.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Takuro Spirit
03/22/2018 at 09:54

I remember the good old days when shaming a company on social media did anything, but those are long gone. They fixed the glitch.

Anymore if I call a company out on some bullshit I either get (A) nothing, or (B) a request to resolve via DM. About 80% of the time the DMer tells me to contact customer service, but only after wasting a day or two talking with them via twitter.

Our dystopian future is great! T_T

Related: I’ve been a lot happier since I started buying unlocked phones. When I bought through Verizon, it seemed like I had to replace the phones one per year, no matter what. Since switching to just buying them via the manufacturer or Amazon, they’ve been lasting 2-3 years without problems.