I had actually planned to do a ‘First Impressions With My First Smartphone(s)’ article, but pretty soon I realized things weren’t going to go as I planned. I bought a smartphone, returned it due to some issues and ordered another that had even MORE issues, and when I went to return that I discovered something interesting – Verizon wouldn’t let me return it due to a provision in their policy that is very difficult to find and never addressed by customer service folks, until it is too late!
Given my very long history of being a gadget junkie, many folks are surprised to learn that I have never owned a ‘smartphone’ before. That is a long enough story in itself, better kept for another day! As is the whole decision process: suffice it to say my choice came to either the Motorola Droid and HTC Touch Pro 2 from Verizon due to my criteria and the difficulty in justifying the extra $15 a month if I got a Blackberry!
I would have loved to go to a store and try them both, but Verizon doesn’t carry the Touch Pro 2 through stores. You could order one through the store but wouldn’t be able to try one out. Nor would they forgive the $35 restocking fee if I ordered it sight-unseen and didn’t like it.
So I decided to get the Droid.
I loved the great screen, and the really nice open-feeling interface. From there you will be treated to a very customizable experience, an easy-to-use app store, great Google integration and more. The finger-touch interface is a bit hit or miss, and the keyboard is pretty lousy. I was never able to get the integrated Exchange sync working correctly, so I was using a utility called TouchDown that worked well enough but wasn’t integrated. However, after a week or so the combination of the keyboard and fragmented Exchange support, I decided to return the Droid for the Touch Pro 2. When I went in to return the Droid and get the Touch Pro 2, since I was unable to actually experience the TP2 I wanted to be sure I could return it if it didn’t work for me, and was assured that I could. I signed my receipt that looked identical to the original receipt including the notation of ‘return within 30 days’.
I spoke to my local store and they told me the only way to do it was to return the Droid, switch to my dumb phone, order the Touch Pro 2 and activate that when it arrived. Not optimal, and my local store was absolutely inflexible and unapologetic about the situation … so I ordered the Touch Pro 2 and waited for it to arrive.
Since I’d been using Windows CE forever and syncing successfully, I assumed ‘what could go wrong’? Well … apparently I went wrong in assuming that a 2009 top-end device would be at least as functional as my 2005 Dell Axim x51v! I *still* had Exchange issues, and actually missed calls due to the awful touch-interface not fully accepting swipes to answer the phone. Within two days of trying I knew it had to go back.
That is when my problems began.
When I brought the Touch Pro 2 to the store and was helped by Jason I was soon told ‘we can’t take that back’, with no offer of additional information until I asked, and was told ‘you used your exchange already’. Continuing to press my case got me nowhere – there were no answers or suggestions forthcoming unless I asked a direct question. And I found my temper starting to rise. I asked to speak to a manager and was told ‘no, there is nothing they can do’. I asked them to call main customer support and was told ‘what reason would I have to do that’. So finally I said ‘you have no intention of attempting to help me in any way’ and was told ‘no’. I grabbed the phone and receipt and left the store … and in my car called customer service.
My customer service encounter was better than the in-store experience: Rebecca from the Kentucky call center was pleasant and actually engaged in listening to my case and trying to help. She basically told me that the store ‘had correct information’ about the ‘one and done’ policy, and I asked where it was documented. I stated that since it was not on anything I signed or was given to me that I did not feel I had been properly informed of this policy. She ultimately said there wasn’t anything she could do, but offered to put me in touch with a supervisor. After a total of ~40 minutes on the phone, she took my info and promised that a supervisor would call me in 24 – 48 hours.
Since I had no desire to just wait a couple of days, I checked all over the Verizon Wireless site, joined their forums and sent an email to their support center. I read through the whole return policy and didn’t find anything about a ‘one and done’ policy. So I posted in the forums as well.
Reading support forums is very interesting, as there is a whole preponderance of folks there simply to vent frustration, along with folks trying to be helpful. There were numerous complaints about the $35 restocking fee, but not much of anything about the return policy for a second phone bought after an upgrade.
I actually have no issue with the $35 restocking fee. They are very up front about the fee. Verizon is incurring a cost associated with having to clean and ‘wipe’ a device that has been returned – because the likelihood of it not being used is pretty much nil. I also have no issue with having a ‘one and done’ policy.
But I think that there are a few issues:
- I bought a phone and was told it could be returned within 30 days, which was reflected on the papers I signed.
- I returned that phone and wanted to get one that was unavailable to try *at all* in stores, and had to order it through the store and have it home delivered.
- When ordering that phone I specifically asked ‘can I return this if not happy and go back to the original’ and was told ‘yes’. The person who said that definitely knew the situation since she had just charged me the $35 restocking fee.
- The paperwork I signed was identical to what I signed the first time, with absolutely no indication of any new limitation.
- There is no visible indication of this limitation anywhere in the store.
- I asked – was I really wrong in assuming that since I was told I could return it, and all the paper work I was given and had signed said I could return it … that I could return it?
- I also made some further notes on the ‘one and done’ policy:
- The ‘single time’ phrase appears exactly once, and is on page 3 of 4 when printed in a font of reasonable size.
- The only way to find the policy is to ignore everything that says exactly the same things as my receipts and shipping papers and the customer service reps, such as:
- You actually have to read on past service terminations, buy one get one free returns, software returns, GPS phone info, and even past “Gift Card Returns” to get to that line.
So while it might not be ‘excluded’ from all of the potential documentation available to me, it was certainly not prominently featured, never on anything shown to or signed by me, was never mentioned, and the policy never came into play until I tried to return the phone.
I honestly think that something needs to change with Verizon’s way of handling their policy – it needs to be on the receipt, or a account flag needs to be set so that when you DO return something the customer service rep tells you that if you make a return and get a different phone, you are stuck with THAT phone for 2 years.
Anyway, while I never got a call from a supervisor, the next day I got a nice email back from customer service (Ian) and they said that they would help me as follows:
So I headed over to Verizon Wireless – and of course ended up with my friend Jason again. Whether he knew who I was or not, i could not tell – but it was pretty clear he recognized me. I was very pleasant since every dealing since leaving the store the previous Tuesday had been very nice and professional. Jason helped me out, had me out of the store within twenty minutes, despite how busy things were and the fact that he had to get a new case of Droids from the stockroom. He never socialized or really spoke unless he needed to, but transferred my contacts from my old phone and made sure I was all set up before I left.
A final cool note on the Droid – the new one I got already had the 2.01 update applied, and anything I bought from the Android Market I was able to access and download again without having to re-purchase. It was a great convenience!
In the end I was never called by the supervisor, never really got an answer as to how the policy *should* work – in other words, I was appeased. I was certainly taken care of as a customer, and I thank all of those who contributed to that.
But what is there to prevent the next person from experiencing the same thing … and the next after that, and so on? Nothing – Verizon’s policy remains the same – state nothing about a ‘one and done’ policy publicly, but slap it down on anyone who tries to return a second phone. That is why I decided to write this – so that others can learn from my troubles, know that they should not relent but should always be professional and respectful in their dealings, and that hopefully with enough complaints Verizon will eventually deal with this policy in a more proactive way.
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