Verizon Bitterness

So my phone broke last night! It's an LG Venus, it slides open. The tracks wore down so there are pretty much no tracks left. My phone is now in 2 pieces which are just barely connected by the wires in the middle.

I left my house at 7:35 last night to run down to Verizon to get a new phone. I get there at 7:52 and the lady has the keys in the door ready to lock it up for the night. She lets me in! The man tells me that I pretty much have 5 minutes to pick out a new phone. I tell him I don't want to pay the extra $9.99/month for the data plan that is required now on 90% of the phones. He shows me 4 phones. I choose the best out of the 4 horrible choices, he activates it, and helps me out the door at 8:05. I was in there for 13 minutes! They wouldn't even transfer my phone numbers from my old phone to my new one because they had already closed down the software or whatever they need to do it.

I understand they were getting ready to close, really I do! I used to work at a restaurant and I hated when people came in right before closing, but this was an emergency. I couldn't be stuck at home all day with 5 kids and no communication to the outside world!

This morning I pulled my phone out to take a video of Gage crawling, oh btw, Gage is crawling, and my new phone did not have video on it. Seriously? I thought any modern phone, like within the last 5 years, had video on it! Apparently I was wrong. So as soon as the girls I babysit got picked up today, I packed up Maisey and Gage and we headed back down to Verizon. Now, going in there with a mobile 9-month old and a energetic 2-year old is pretty much suicide, but I really needed a new phone!

The guy calls my name when it's my turn. I explain to him that I was in last night right before they were getting ready to close. I told him I got there at 7:52. And he said, "well, all clocks are different." I said "according to my Verizon phone, it was 7:52. I hope you guys go by Verizon time too!" Anyway I continued to explain that they were trying to rush to get me a new phone and that I'm not happy with it so I am returning it and wanted to get a new one. But I also said that I was not willing to pay the $35 re-stocking fee for returning my phone because of the customer service I received the night before. He told me there was no way around the $35 fee. After "discussing" it further with him, I could tell he was not going to budge, but I KNEW there was some way to get around it. He showed me my options again, even though I spent 25 minutes looking at them when I was waiting to be helped. There were only 2 of the 5 that didn't require the data plan (that's another story I'll get to in a min) that had video on them. They were HUGE! I'm not kidding. Remember those big brick phones in the late 90's? These were pretty comparable in size. It wouldn't have fit in my pocket if I was wearing my fat pants but thin enough to fit into my skinny pants. And they were UGLY! While the man was showing me the phones, the lady from last night came over and said, "I knew you wouldn't be happy with that phone." Why the crap did you not tell me that last night? Because she wanted to go home. I was so ticked! (I could have used several other words to describe my feelings, but my mom occasionally reads this! Hi Mom!!!)

Shaun was on his way to rescue the kids from their angry mother, so I told the man I would talk it over with my husband when he got there.

So after talking for like 15 minutes, we decided we had 2 options:
1) Keep the p.o.c (edited for the mom!) phone, but switch numbers. So I would take Shaun's phone and he would take the new one without video capabilities.
2) Switch the new one out for another new one. We would pay the $35 re-stocking fee and an extra $50 for the phone so a grand total from both nights would be close to $200 for a crap phone that I don't even like!
---I told Shaun that it didn't matter which of these 2 options we chose, every time I looked at my phone I would be ticked!---

Finally I was helped by another man. Malik. I was going to go with option #2 because Shaun really likes his phone and wanted to keep it. I explained the whole situation to my new friend. Malik tried talking me into the data plan. I told him I stay home all day and I can check my email whenever I want. And when I do go out of the house I don't want to be checking my email, I want a BREAK! He told me I could update my facebook status, and then was SHOCKED when I told him I don't have facebook. So we were back to option #2.

Then I had a thought. I wondered if they had any more of my old phones in the back that I could just trade it out for. Malik hooked me up! I ended up just returning my phone and not getting a new one from the store, therefore avoiding the $35 re-stocking fee that there was absolutely NO WAY AROUND! I also returned the pink silicone case and the car charger that was part of the accessory bundle. He allowed me to keep my blue tooth (it's the new law here, also kinda bitter about that!) at the discounted bundle price! Then he gave me the phone number for the warranty department. My old phone was out of warranty so I would just have to pay $50 and they would send me a new one. That beats $35 + $50 for the new ugly, huge phone. So he reactivated my old phone so I still could use it until my new one comes. And I walked out of the store with a discounted blue tooth, no phone, a new friend Malik, and feeling empowered.

BTW, I was sitting in my car and I could see inside the store. As soon as I left Phillip, Patty, and Rosalinda all gathered around Malik. (You better believe I wrote down all of their names. Verizon's Customer Service Department will be getting a letter very soon!) I could see them all talking. I'm sure they weren't saying very nice things, but I didn't have to pay the re-stocking fee! So I didn't care.

It wasn't even the $35. It was the fact that they were trying to get me out the door the night before. And I was also a little bitter about the phone selection for those not interested in the data plan. Seriously, the were so lame! I'm sure they do it on purpose so you will buy the phones and pay the extra $240 over your 2-year contract.

When I got home, I rigged my phone with a rubber band. That's right, a rubber band! Pretty ghetto, I know. But it still works. . . barely! Enough to call the warranty number. My good friend Maurice from the warranty department is sending me a new phone. It will be here Thursday afternoon. And you want to know the best part?

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He didn't even charge me the $50!!!!!!!!!! I was only over warranty by a couple of weeks so he let it slide!

Seriously? Now I really felt empowered! That is like a slap in the face to Phillip, Patty, and Rosalinda. So HA!

And, to top off my night Gage needed some more baby cereal, so Shaun and I paper/rock/scissored it out and I WON!!! I never win, ever! I should have gone to the store and purchased a lottery ticket, because it is definitely my night!