I got my new Treo 700p on Tuesday. From the beginning, I wasn't able to
hear people speaking when I held the phone to my ear, but figured it was
a setting that I'd have to learn to change.
When you get a smartphone from Verizon Wireless these days, it comes
packaged in a plastic wrap that warns you to "STOP-- Read Contract
Before Opening!" or something to that effect. Opening the package
means you've accepted the terms. So my wife and I read for a good hour
or so... there are approx. 10 different brochures explaining how to do
this or that, from Palm and from VW. There were some things in the
contract that I was a little bit "iffy" about, but we went ahead and
took out the phones anyway, set them up and activated them. I deleted
all contacts from my old cell, prepping it for a donation or recycling.
In recent months, considering on who to sign up with for the next 2
years, I thought about switching to TMobile, and had some experiences
over the phone with VW customer care that led me to believe they're a
really sleazy, or poorly managed company.
For instance, soliciting my renewal a month ago (as my 2 years were
almost up), a lady from VW Customer Care calls one day trying to get me
to sign up again, upgrade the phone, the whole shebang. I asked a lot
of questions, as I was thinking along these lines anyway. She told me
that this was my opportunity to cash in on the New Every Two program
where every two years you can upgrade your phone with a $100 automatic
discount, and that I could get another $100 mail in rebate. I told her
that I wasn't ready to make a decision, and that I'd call back if I
decided to renew. She surprised me by saying that I'd lose the
opportunity to take that discount and rebate... that I'd need to renew
NOW to take advantage of those, and she wouldn't give me her phone
number to call her back. Of course, I came to confirm that I could
(and did) get those discounts anyway, but if they're recording phone
calls that come in to Customer Care "to ensure quality care" and such,
why not record the Promotions Department too?
I was actually going to go with TMobile, it was really close, but VW
won out simply because we know so many ppl who use VW also, and "In
Calling" is free, and would probably save us money over the long run.
Well, guess what!
Thursday morning, I call VW from my home phone to resolve this issue.
I confirm that--while I'm using the Treo in the regular mode, not hands
free and not with the headset--the volume is all the way up IN THIS
SETTING, yet I can't hear a thing. The lady test calls me, she hears
me, and I can't hear her. She looks thru the manuals, nothing she
suggests changes a thing. She conferences me with another tech on a
higher level just to check "the switches"... same crap. That lady
tells the first one that I seem to have gotten one "D.O.A." Great.
Dead on arrival.
So the tech, who was pretty nice, conferenced me in with the department
that handles returns. This new chic on the line tells us that I have 15
days (from activation) to return the phone to VW. If/When it's deemed
to be defective, they'll send me a replacement.
OK, wonderful... but what am I supposed to do for the next week or so
till I receive the new one? Go back to the stone age? Why can't you
send me the new one, and then I send you back the DOA? Why should I
suffer for something that's not my fault? I paid (even after
discounts) $299 + for a new, fully functional phone. The first tech,
who was still on the line helping me out and listening, suggested the
same thing... to send me a new one. She was surprised to learn from
the lady in returns that they need to receive the old one first, no
exceptions. "Sorry, it's for inventory purposes."
"Well, how about arranging something with a local VerizonWireless store
in Scott's area? Can you get them to exchange it for him?" The girl
says that they'd probably take my DOA and give me a refurbished phone
in exchange. Getting angry, I told the girl in Returns to put me on
with a supervisor, as I needed to vent and am sure she's not the right
one to vent to. The first tech (the helpful one) apologized for
everything, got off the phone, I waited a few minutes, and the
supervisor, Josh, gets on the phone.
I repeat these points to Josh, also adding that I'm willing to BUY, at
full retail price, a new phone... and then send back the old phone to
them once the new working phone is received, providing that they'll
then credit me for the old phone. He said that, of course, they'd do
that. Just making sure though, I said, "OK, and you'll re-apply the
hundred dollar discount and the mail in rebate to the new phone?"
"No, sorry... it's possible but we can't guarantee that."
"Huh?"
"We can't guarantee that because the New Every Two discount was already
given. You've already received it. That's how it shows in our system
here so no one is allowed to re-apply it or give it again."
"Ah, OK... so if I bring it to a VW store for exchange, they might take
it, they might not, if they do, I might get a refurb, right?
"Right."
"OK, can you help me find out?"
"No, not exactly."
"Errr... you can't help me to see what my chances are?"
"No, I have no control over the management of individual stores."
"Of course you don't, but you don't really seem like you're willing to
TRY, either."
"Oh, sorry if I made it sound that way. In any case, this is how we do
returns. Send it to us, and if you like, we can reactivate your old
phone."
"My old phone has no contacts in it, I've erased them all!"
"I'm sorry."
"OK, well I'm about to say 'screw-it' to my In Calling and take my
business to TMobile. Is that all you can do for me?"
"I'm afraid so."
I thanked him for nothing and got off the phone, steaming.
Once again, I was considering canceling everything and switching to
TMobile, but realized that VW would charge me the $175 early
cancellation fee for breaking the renewal contract of 2 years. And as
my wife pointed out, there isn't too much "In Calling" we can do with
TMobile.
Biting the bullet, I'm gonna call back today (unless a herd of folks
including my pops call me saying they're gonna switch over to TMobile
too!), have VW reactivate my stupid old Nokia, return the D.O.A. phone,
print out my yahoo contacts on paper, and wait for the new one and hope
for the best. I was seriously debating whether or not to take this to
Arbitration (in the contract, they make you agree to use arbitration
instead of court, except for small claims court under certain
circumstances???), but that'll just eat me alive with anger and the
whole thing will exhaust me. Of course, this comes at a horrible time,
too. I'll be needing a working cell while I'm in the hospital when the
wife goes into labor!
I just thought that this is a pretty careless way to treat a customer
(and not a new one!) who's gone ahead with another 2 year contract and
full upgrade and received bad merchandise. I'd send this to VW
Customer Care but they don't give you an email address (if you want to
email them, you need to fill out an online form, using 2000 characters
maxiumum). I really don't mind a refurb too much either, but consider
this: A new phone's got a 1 year warrantee. A refurb's only got 90
days.
Scotty9500 wrote:
> Of course, this comes at a horrible time,
> too. I'll be needing a working cell while I'm in the hospital when the
> wife goes into labor!
Go to Staples or Circuit City or whatever electronics store you have
available and buy a Tracfone. Something simple and inexpensive...at
least you'll have a non-VZW alternative line that you can use for
calls, and you're not locking yourself into a contract in the meantime.
>
> I just thought that this is a pretty careless way to treat a customer
> (and not a new one!) who's gone ahead with another 2 year contract and
> full upgrade and received bad merchandise. I'd send this to VW
> Customer Care but they don't give you an email address (if you want to
> email them, you need to fill out an online form, using 2000 characters
> maxiumum). I really don't mind a refurb too much either, but consider
> this: A new phone's got a 1 year warrantee. A refurb's only got 90
> days.
>
>
Its not just Verizon, phone in customer support always seems to end in
the same fashion.
I have never had an issue going back to the store and asking for another
phone during the 15 day period. I would suggest going over to the
nearest store and presenting your situation.
"George" <george@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:L7-dnac2wM809QPYnZ2dnUVZ_tijnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Scotty9500 wrote:
>
>>
>> I just thought that this is a pretty careless way to treat a customer
>> (and not a new one!) who's gone ahead with another 2 year contract and
>> full upgrade and received bad merchandise. I'd send this to VW
>> Customer Care but they don't give you an email address (if you want to
>> email them, you need to fill out an online form, using 2000 characters
>> maxiumum). I really don't mind a refurb too much either, but consider
>> this: A new phone's got a 1 year warrantee. A refurb's only got 90
>> days.
>>
>>
>
> Its not just Verizon, phone in customer support always seems to end in the
> same fashion.
>
> I have never had an issue going back to the store and asking for another
> phone during the 15 day period. I would suggest going over to the nearest
> store and presenting your situation.
The store will tell him they have no association with the on-line store.
Been there.
On Fri, 5 Jan 2007 07:23:01 -0600, Scotty9500
<Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net> wrote:
> Why can't you send me the new one,
> and then I send you back the DOA?
That's the way it worked whenever I've had to return something to
Verizon. You just give them a CC number for surety and they ship you
the replacement unit. A post paid return label comes in the box with
the new phone and you just send the NG unit back. (You could always
affect the transaction at a Verizon store as well)
Something about your diatribe just doesn't smell right here... I've
been dealing with Verizon for years and never got that degree of
misinformation.
Scotty9500 wrote:
> I got my new Treo 700p on Tuesday.
Maybe I read your message wrong, but you got something in the mail
(expecting it to work perfectly), and instead of testing it out FIRST to
make sure there was no damage first, you whacked your old phone so you could
never go back and use it in case of error.. Like I said maybe I read it
wrong, but you should never ever ever ever get anything in the mail and
expect it to work perfectly....
hey all, thanks for these replies. I appreciate it. I sent basically
the same text to 42 of my friends/coworkers and got a lot of helpful
suggestions. Not sure what I'm going to do. One guy tells me to stop
payment to the cc company, someone else says to report them to the BBB.
Eh, alls I really want is to have the working Treo in hand, I don't
want to wait 2 weeks or so for the good one to arrive, and with no
offer of compensation or anything it feels crappy. But I've already
switched the service back to the old Nokia phone.
A_C, my axe gets heavier when it's made to be that way. I was really
nice with the first rep (who sided with me), patient with the second
one, and offered to vent to her supervisor since I know she's not one
to vent upon. I would say I was even pretty cool with the supervisor.
I don't believe you really need to do much more than assert yourself in
these situations... using expletives against me never made me feel more
sympathetic to anyone, so I wouldn't do it either. But when you feel
how these companies have you by the grits, and they don't really need
to go out of their way for you because they've got you by contract,
under the threat of cancellation fees, and they can do what they want,
'cuz they know you need them. At least, that's what they think. I may
take that one suggestion and get a tracphone. Thank you!
In article <Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net>, Scotty9500 wrote:
> I was actually going to go with TMobile, it was really close, but VW
> won out simply because we know so many ppl who use VW also, and "In
> Calling" is free, and would probably save us money over the long run.
T-Mobile is a great company. I'm a customer now. Customer service is
good, the phones are good, the coverage in this area needs a bit of
work but they are working on it.
But they still only have GPRS in most areas right now and that's
14.4Kbps. They have EdGE (ISDN speeds) in some areas and are
purchasing spectrum with which they can deploy HDSPA (which runs at
DSL speeds.)
Right now, for anything besides email and basic web browsing, Cingular,
Sprint and Verizon are likely to be better choices for data. (Although
from this post, it sounds like Verizon isn't a good choice either!)
> "Ah, OK... so if I bring it to a VW store for exchange, they might take
> it, they might not, if they do, I might get a refurb, right?
> "Right."
Personally, I think you should have taken it to a store first and
talked to them.
> Biting the bullet, I'm gonna call back today (unless a herd of folks
> including my pops call me saying they're gonna switch over to TMobile
> too!)
Try a retail store.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 13:24:24 -0500, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
>It's why I'm on ALLTEL, here.....hee hee.
I'm sure they're sleezy, just like everyone else out there. No one 's
perfect.
Never had any personal experience with Windstream (er, Alltel), but
like any company - you'll find your good folks and you're bad ones.
Then again, that's why my wife and I switched to Verizon from
Stinkular. Stinkular had crappy customer service and coverage. VZW has
been very nice and helpful to me. Going on 5 years as a customer. :-)
> A_C, my axe gets heavier when it's made to be that way. I was really
> nice with the first rep (who sided with me), patient with the second
> one, and offered to vent to her supervisor since I know she's not one
> to vent upon. I would say I was even pretty cool with the supervisor.
Verizon believes in the law of supply and demand. They have all the
supply, so they can demand whatever the #$%@ they want. Seriously, they
have gotten a bit too cocky as a result of all the surveys that show
them as the carrier with the best network by such a wide margin. They're
attitude is basically, "what are you going to do, go to Cingular, Sprint
or T-Mobile?"
In a few years, I think that the competing networks will be built out to
a level where the Verizon network doesn't have such an advantage, then
they will be forced to change their ways. In the meantime, you're SOL if
you leave Verizon. Two weeks ago, I found it amusing to be roaming onto
Cingular's AMPS network with my Verizon phone, in an area where Cingular
and T-Mobile GSM customers had no coverage at all. Earlier this week I
was roaming onto Golden State Cellular's AMPS network in an area where
Cingular and T-Mobile customer had no coverage at all. Of course with
the Treo, you don't get to use the AMPS networks.
VZW ships replacement phones overnight with a return label in the box
for the old phone - return shipping pre-paid.
I have had to have a few phones replaced and the above has ALWAYS
been the case. And, the replacement phone has always arrived within a
day or two of my requesting the replacement.
Call back and hopefully you will get a smarter rep the next time.
"Scotty9500" <Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net> wrote in message
news:Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net. ..
>
> I got my new Treo 700p on Tuesday. From the beginning, I wasn't able to
> hear people speaking when I held the phone to my ear, but figured it was
> a setting that I'd have to learn to change.
>
> When you get a smartphone from Verizon Wireless these days, it comes
> packaged in a plastic wrap that warns you to "STOP-- Read Contract
> Before Opening!" or something to that effect. Opening the package
> means you've accepted the terms. So my wife and I read for a good hour
> or so... there are approx. 10 different brochures explaining how to do
> this or that, from Palm and from VW. There were some things in the
> contract that I was a little bit "iffy" about, but we went ahead and
> took out the phones anyway, set them up and activated them. I deleted
> all contacts from my old cell, prepping it for a donation or recycling.
>
>
> In recent months, considering on who to sign up with for the next 2
> years, I thought about switching to TMobile, and had some experiences
> over the phone with VW customer care that led me to believe they're a
> really sleazy, or poorly managed company.
>
> For instance, soliciting my renewal a month ago (as my 2 years were
> almost up), a lady from VW Customer Care calls one day trying to get me
> to sign up again, upgrade the phone, the whole shebang. I asked a lot
> of questions, as I was thinking along these lines anyway. She told me
> that this was my opportunity to cash in on the New Every Two program
> where every two years you can upgrade your phone with a $100 automatic
> discount, and that I could get another $100 mail in rebate. I told her
> that I wasn't ready to make a decision, and that I'd call back if I
> decided to renew. She surprised me by saying that I'd lose the
> opportunity to take that discount and rebate... that I'd need to renew
> NOW to take advantage of those, and she wouldn't give me her phone
> number to call her back. Of course, I came to confirm that I could
> (and did) get those discounts anyway, but if they're recording phone
> calls that come in to Customer Care "to ensure quality care" and such,
> why not record the Promotions Department too?
>
> I was actually going to go with TMobile, it was really close, but VW
> won out simply because we know so many ppl who use VW also, and "In
> Calling" is free, and would probably save us money over the long run.
>
> Well, guess what!
>
> Thursday morning, I call VW from my home phone to resolve this issue.
> I confirm that--while I'm using the Treo in the regular mode, not hands
> free and not with the headset--the volume is all the way up IN THIS
> SETTING, yet I can't hear a thing. The lady test calls me, she hears
> me, and I can't hear her. She looks thru the manuals, nothing she
> suggests changes a thing. She conferences me with another tech on a
> higher level just to check "the switches"... same crap. That lady
> tells the first one that I seem to have gotten one "D.O.A." Great.
> Dead on arrival.
>
> So the tech, who was pretty nice, conferenced me in with the department
> that handles returns. This new chic on the line tells us that I have 15
> days (from activation) to return the phone to VW. If/When it's deemed
> to be defective, they'll send me a replacement.
>
> OK, wonderful... but what am I supposed to do for the next week or so
> till I receive the new one? Go back to the stone age? Why can't you
> send me the new one, and then I send you back the DOA? Why should I
> suffer for something that's not my fault? I paid (even after
> discounts) $299 + for a new, fully functional phone. The first tech,
> who was still on the line helping me out and listening, suggested the
> same thing... to send me a new one. She was surprised to learn from
> the lady in returns that they need to receive the old one first, no
> exceptions. "Sorry, it's for inventory purposes."
> "Well, how about arranging something with a local VerizonWireless store
> in Scott's area? Can you get them to exchange it for him?" The girl
> says that they'd probably take my DOA and give me a refurbished phone
> in exchange. Getting angry, I told the girl in Returns to put me on
> with a supervisor, as I needed to vent and am sure she's not the right
> one to vent to. The first tech (the helpful one) apologized for
> everything, got off the phone, I waited a few minutes, and the
> supervisor, Josh, gets on the phone.
>
> I repeat these points to Josh, also adding that I'm willing to BUY, at
> full retail price, a new phone... and then send back the old phone to
> them once the new working phone is received, providing that they'll
> then credit me for the old phone. He said that, of course, they'd do
> that. Just making sure though, I said, "OK, and you'll re-apply the
> hundred dollar discount and the mail in rebate to the new phone?"
> "No, sorry... it's possible but we can't guarantee that."
> "Huh?"
> "We can't guarantee that because the New Every Two discount was already
> given. You've already received it. That's how it shows in our system
> here so no one is allowed to re-apply it or give it again."
> "Ah, OK... so if I bring it to a VW store for exchange, they might take
> it, they might not, if they do, I might get a refurb, right?
> "Right."
> "OK, can you help me find out?"
> "No, not exactly."
> "Errr... you can't help me to see what my chances are?"
> "No, I have no control over the management of individual stores."
> "Of course you don't, but you don't really seem like you're willing to
> TRY, either."
> "Oh, sorry if I made it sound that way. In any case, this is how we do
> returns. Send it to us, and if you like, we can reactivate your old
> phone."
> "My old phone has no contacts in it, I've erased them all!"
> "I'm sorry."
> "OK, well I'm about to say 'screw-it' to my In Calling and take my
> business to TMobile. Is that all you can do for me?"
> "I'm afraid so."
>
> I thanked him for nothing and got off the phone, steaming.
> Once again, I was considering canceling everything and switching to
> TMobile, but realized that VW would charge me the $175 early
> cancellation fee for breaking the renewal contract of 2 years. And as
> my wife pointed out, there isn't too much "In Calling" we can do with
> TMobile.
>
> Biting the bullet, I'm gonna call back today (unless a herd of folks
> including my pops call me saying they're gonna switch over to TMobile
> too!), have VW reactivate my stupid old Nokia, return the D.O.A. phone,
> print out my yahoo contacts on paper, and wait for the new one and hope
> for the best. I was seriously debating whether or not to take this to
> Arbitration (in the contract, they make you agree to use arbitration
> instead of court, except for small claims court under certain
> circumstances???), but that'll just eat me alive with anger and the
> whole thing will exhaust me. Of course, this comes at a horrible time,
> too. I'll be needing a working cell while I'm in the hospital when the
> wife goes into labor!
>
> I just thought that this is a pretty careless way to treat a customer
> (and not a new one!) who's gone ahead with another 2 year contract and
> full upgrade and received bad merchandise. I'd send this to VW
> Customer Care but they don't give you an email address (if you want to
> email them, you need to fill out an online form, using 2000 characters
> maxiumum). I really don't mind a refurb too much either, but consider
> this: A new phone's got a 1 year warrantee. A refurb's only got 90
> days.
>
>
> --
> Scotty9500
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Scotty9500's Profile: http://cellphoneforums.net/member.ph...&userid=154174
> View this thread: http://cellphoneforums.net/t240642
>
VZW company policy is to have data support do exchanges.
After the 15 days. The store(s) won't touch a PDA phone exchange.
As I stated in another post, data support will overnight a replacement
with a pre-paid return for the old one. Only takes a day - two max if
late in the day and shipping isn't until the next day.
"George" <george@nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:L7-dnac2wM809QPYnZ2dnUVZ_tijnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Scotty9500 wrote:
>
>>
>> I just thought that this is a pretty careless way to treat a customer
>> (and not a new one!) who's gone ahead with another 2 year contract and
>> full upgrade and received bad merchandise. I'd send this to VW
>> Customer Care but they don't give you an email address (if you want to
>> email them, you need to fill out an online form, using 2000 characters
>> maxiumum). I really don't mind a refurb too much either, but consider
>> this: A new phone's got a 1 year warrantee. A refurb's only got 90
>> days.
>>
>>
>
> Its not just Verizon, phone in customer support always seems to end in the same fashion.
>
> I have never had an issue going back to the store and asking for another phone during the 15 day period. I would
> suggest going over to the nearest store and presenting your situation.
I was going to ask if he had 'copped an attitude' with them.
Ya know the old flies with honey/vinegar saying...
Yell and get huffy and things don't happen as you would like...
My replacements have always arrived the next day (or in one case the
day after because of shipping deadline)
And, BTW, have never been asked for a CC - they just sent the replacement.
"Agent_C" <Agent-C-hates-spam@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message news:b08tp2pp856c1ooknr9e8jhn9lmlcn8gbe@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2007 07:23:01 -0600, Scotty9500
> <Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net> wrote:
>
>> Why can't you send me the new one,
>> and then I send you back the DOA?
>
> That's the way it worked whenever I've had to return something to
> Verizon. You just give them a CC number for surety and they ship you
> the replacement unit. A post paid return label comes in the box with
> the new phone and you just send the NG unit back. (You could always
> affect the transaction at a Verizon store as well)
>
> Something about your diatribe just doesn't smell right here... I've
> been dealing with Verizon for years and never got that degree of
> misinformation.
>
> Perhaps it's that gigantic ax you're carrying?
>
> A_C
Diamond Dave <dmine45.NOSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:iaptp2h7cukn7rfvrrqtqpaqdvbo23v2vm@4ax.com:
> Then again, that's why my wife and I switched to Verizon from
> Stinkular. Stinkular had crappy customer service and coverage. VZW has
> been very nice and helpful to me. Going on 5 years as a customer. :-)
>
>
You are moving in the right direction. In Charleston, sometimes you can
hear the irate customers in the mall yelling at the Stinkular counters...
(c;
for one thing, I'd like to say that Peter Pan is right... I should NEVER
have removed the contacts from my old phone before making sure that the
new one worked perfectly. I assumed I was getting a perfectly working
product and that was outright dumb. Honestly, I think I would have
remained a lot calmer throughout the whole thing if I was able to go
back to a phone loaded with contacts, though I still would have been
insulted by their lack of respect.
Anyway, as for Ness Net, I have a surprise for you!
At the suggestion of a neighbor, I went to a VW Store on 5th Ave bet.
20th and 21st Streets in Manhattan, not far from where I live. The
tech confirmed that it was a bad speaker, and offered to exchange it.
I was like, "But for a refurb, right?" "Nope, for a NEW phone."
Man, I could have cried from happiness right there on the spot (but my
axe was too damn heavy! :P) Seriously, she asked if i brought my
receipt, and i thought I hadn't, so she printed me a copy right there.
Within 1/2 an hour, I was out the door with a brand spanking new Treo
700p, I sheet you knot. But just curious, the phones you returned to
verizon in the way you describe, were they smartphones or just
cellular?
Steven Sobol: Yea, if I tried this store first, I would have had some
luck (though it really does seem to matter a) which store you go to;
and b) the individual you speak to at that store. It's a blessing and
a shame, but people aren't machines, so we can't rely on them to all
have the same philosophy even tho they work for the same company. BTW,
my friend switched from T-Mobile to VW because of so many calls dropped
or such low reception in restaurants, etc. He says that T-Mobile's
cust serv is SO much better, he sometimes misses it, 'cuz they're
humble. You talk to Verizon and lots of them know they're pretty much
the best network around here. But he's staying with VW since, the way
he sees it, "choose between good cust service, or good service."
hmph...
Diamond Dave... two folks emailed me to say that I made one mistake: I
should have gone with Cingular instead. That must depend on the area,
though they love the rollover minutes.
SMS... yep, it's that cocky attitude I'm talking about. I saw it a
while back with MCI Worldcom. Where the heck are they now?
No "surprise" BTW..
If you noticed, I did say after the 15 day period.
The stores will help within the 15, not afterwards.
The above is policy for PDAs. Phones they will exchange
anytime (within your warranty period)
"Scotty9500" <Scotty9500.2jzco6@nospam.cellphoneforums.net> wrote in message
news:Scotty9500.2jzco6@nospam.cellphoneforums.net. ..
>
> for one thing, I'd like to say that Peter Pan is right... I should NEVER
> have removed the contacts from my old phone before making sure that the
> new one worked perfectly. I assumed I was getting a perfectly working
> product and that was outright dumb. Honestly, I think I would have
> remained a lot calmer throughout the whole thing if I was able to go
> back to a phone loaded with contacts, though I still would have been
> insulted by their lack of respect.
>
> Anyway, as for Ness Net, I have a surprise for you!
> At the suggestion of a neighbor, I went to a VW Store on 5th Ave bet.
> 20th and 21st Streets in Manhattan, not far from where I live. The
> tech confirmed that it was a bad speaker, and offered to exchange it.
> I was like, "But for a refurb, right?" "Nope, for a NEW phone."
> Man, I could have cried from happiness right there on the spot (but my
> axe was too damn heavy! :P) Seriously, she asked if i brought my
> receipt, and i thought I hadn't, so she printed me a copy right there.
> Within 1/2 an hour, I was out the door with a brand spanking new Treo
> 700p, I sheet you knot. But just curious, the phones you returned to
> verizon in the way you describe, were they smartphones or just
> cellular?
>
> Steven Sobol: Yea, if I tried this store first, I would have had some
> luck (though it really does seem to matter a) which store you go to;
> and b) the individual you speak to at that store. It's a blessing and
> a shame, but people aren't machines, so we can't rely on them to all
> have the same philosophy even tho they work for the same company. BTW,
> my friend switched from T-Mobile to VW because of so many calls dropped
> or such low reception in restaurants, etc. He says that T-Mobile's
> cust serv is SO much better, he sometimes misses it, 'cuz they're
> humble. You talk to Verizon and lots of them know they're pretty much
> the best network around here. But he's staying with VW since, the way
> he sees it, "choose between good cust service, or good service."
> hmph...
>
> Diamond Dave... two folks emailed me to say that I made one mistake: I
> should have gone with Cingular instead. That must depend on the area,
> though they love the rollover minutes.
>
> SMS... yep, it's that cocky attitude I'm talking about. I saw it a
> while back with MCI Worldcom. Where the heck are they now?
>
>
> Thanks all...
>
> Scott
>
>
> --
> Scotty9500
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Scotty9500's Profile: http://cellphoneforums.net/member.ph...&userid=154174
> View this thread: http://cellphoneforums.net/t240642
>
On Fri, 5 Jan 2007 19:53:28 +0000 (UTC), "Steven J. Sobol"
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>In article <Scotty9500.2jxvw5@nospam.cellphoneforums.net>, Scotty9500 wrote:
>
>> I was actually going to go with TMobile, it was really close, but VW
>> won out simply because we know so many ppl who use VW also, and "In
>> Calling" is free, and would probably save us money over the long run.
>
>T-Mobile is a great company. I'm a customer now. Customer service is
>good, the phones are good, the coverage in this area needs a bit of
>work but they are working on it.
Steve - did you drop Sprint, or do you have both Sprint and T-Mobile?
In article <ab12q2lek0id1tnlpsqctqd9dl6i1tuagm@4ax.com>, Diamond Dave wrote:
>>T-Mobile is a great company. I'm a customer now. Customer service is
>>good, the phones are good, the coverage in this area needs a bit of
>>work but they are working on it.
>
> Steve - did you drop Sprint, or do you have both Sprint and T-Mobile?
The timeline... there is some overlap
1993-2001, GTE Wireless, which became Alltel in Cleveland
2000-2004, Verizon Wireless, overlapping about a year with GTE
2000-2004, Sprint (got an old Samsung from a friend and activated it
for the wife)
2004-2005, I flipped to Sprint and we were both on Sprint for another
year
2005-present We both left Sprint and are now on T-Mobile
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
On 2007-01-07, Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
> 1993-2001, GTE Wireless, which became Alltel in Cleveland
>
> 2000-2004, Verizon Wireless, overlapping about a year with GTE
GTE Wireless became Alltel in Cleveland? Verizon was formed
when Bell Atlantic aquired GTE, and I thought Verizon Wireless
was formed by folding together the wireless assets of Bell
Atlantic, Vodafone and GTE. What happened in Cleveland?
In article <slrneq35cl.83.dcferguson@dhcp-floor2-sw-133.juniper.net>, Dennis Ferguson wrote:
>> 1993-2001, GTE Wireless, which became Alltel in Cleveland
>>
>> 2000-2004, Verizon Wireless, overlapping about a year with GTE
>
> GTE Wireless became Alltel in Cleveland? Verizon was formed
> when Bell Atlantic aquired GTE, and I thought Verizon Wireless
> was formed by folding together the wireless assets of Bell
> Atlantic, Vodafone and GTE. What happened in Cleveland?
Doing this from memory, but still should be mostly correct.
In the beginning (80s and early 90s), you had CellularONE and GTE
Mobilnet (later called GTE Wireless).
CellularONE in the Cleveland area was owned and operated by a
franchisee called NewPar Cellular. I think it was about the time
digital was rolled out that NewPar switched to being an AirTouch
Cellular franchisee.
So in 2000, both GTE and AirTouch were in the Cleveland Market.
Sometime around then, Vodafone bought AirTouch.
Then, The Merger happened. But the newly-formed Verizon Wireless
couldn't snap up both GTE Cleveland *and* AirTouch Cleveland, due to
Department of Justice anti-trust concerns.
So Alltel purchased the GTE network in Cleveland, a purchase that made
sense because they were already the landline telco in a number of
small markets around Cleveland. AirTouch became Verizon Wireless.
Cleveland, if I'm not mistaken, is still the largest market served by
Alltel.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
On 2007-01-08, Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
> Then, The Merger happened. But the newly-formed Verizon Wireless
> couldn't snap up both GTE Cleveland *and* AirTouch Cleveland, due to
> Department of Justice anti-trust concerns.
>
> So Alltel purchased the GTE network in Cleveland, a purchase that made
> sense because they were already the landline telco in a number of
> small markets around Cleveland. AirTouch became Verizon Wireless.
Diamond Dave wrote:
> On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 13:24:24 -0500, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
>
> >It's why I'm on ALLTEL, here.....hee hee.
>
> I'm sure they're sleezy, just like everyone else out there. No one 's
> perfect.
>
> Never had any personal experience with Windstream (er, Alltel), but
> like any company - you'll find your good folks and you're bad ones.
>
> Then again, that's why my wife and I switched to Verizon from
> Stinkular. Stinkular had crappy customer service and coverage. VZW has
> been very nice and helpful to me. Going on 5 years as a customer. :-)
>
> Dave
There's a difference now. Alltel is now wireless ONLY and Windstream is
what used to be Alltel landline + Valor Telecom.
My Verizon Wireless Story 
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