From Sprint to Verizon...

Whats up everyone, this is teh first post from me I will try my best to contribute to the board once I figure everything out

I moved to Wyoming from Michigan, and was forced to give up my Sprint phones. They got tired of me constantly roaming (free for me, not for them) and shut me off. After about a month in denial, I went and signed up for Verizon. Ordered an enV since they didnt have any in stock. Got to my place two days ago, broken. It turned on, made funky sounds, then never worked again. Since this has happened, I have been on the phone with two tiers of tech support, about 5 service reps, and in 3 Verizon stores. Sent the phone back, and Im not to expect a new one for about 5 days.

Is it common for Verizon to give people the run-around when you call support? I was on the phone with them for about an hour, and all that happened was I was transfered from one idiot to another who cared nothing of my issues. Needless to say I am a little worked up over this since I never had issues like this with Sprint...

One more question Has anyone played the retention game with verizon yet? When you call to cancel, they give you stuff and so on. I did it once with Sprint (actually wanted to cancel my phone due to lack of coverage in my neighborhood) and they gave me a FREE treo700p (when they first came out) free roaming, free N&W @6, unlimited texting free, the PCS vision ult. (135 channels of television and music and stuff) free, 20% discount, 5$ monthly credit, credit on my account to cover a bluetooth headset, and upgraded me to a business acount. If they do, Im gonna give it a try... My Verizon "relationship" started out bad, and I hope to not end it... but if it comes to it, they can have the house and the kids... I just want the dog :/


Sorry for the typo(s)

That is a dangerous game to play. Because Verizon has the highest customer satisfaction (based on industry leading "churn" of less than 1%) they are not going to "give away the store" like Sprint or another provider that may have to fight to keep customers. Most likely, they will call your bluff and you will get to keep your house, kids and dog.

This is not to say that Verizon doesn't value your business, quite the contrary. Verizon just knows that there are far more people switching to Verizon and staying with them, than any other provider. They simply will not argue, fight with or bribe you, just to keep your business. If you choose to leave, Verizon knows that you will probably be back. Besides, you have to remember, "the customer is always right".

Since you (Paulcman) seem to know so much about verizon, is it true that we can get out of our plans due to the text messaging increase? If not do you know any way to get out with out etf

Thanks for the heads up. Im not too worried about dropping Verizon, but they have the best coverage in my working area so its in my best interest to keep them. Still have Cingular and Alltel (and some local network called Union) to play with. But its just upsetting that they managed to blow me off before I even got my working service... I probabl;y wont do anymore crying to Verizon till I get my enV again :/

As I posted in another thread, text messaging is not a contracted feature. It does not come as part of your contracted rate plan. therefore, you are not obligated to keep that feature and can drop it at any time. Consequently, an increase in text messaging costs would have no impact or bearing on your contract.

Short answer, no, you can not get out of your contract simply because of the text messaging costs.

Technically as its a subscribed feature because you opt for it, it is considered a material breach of the contract. I'm certainly understanding and cognizant of "your" and I mean by "your" the Verizon side of things that its not considered a feature. I think because its part of the included feature list of the brochure it is considered a "feature," as is voicemail, caller id etc. Removal of those features would cause a riot and certainly lead to a material breach of services you were promised. Verizon has obviously decided against that, while Sprint let it slide and Cingular did for about a week. I for one was able to successfully convince Cingular that it is considered a material breach of the contract, then again thats the law student in me. I see both sides but I guess personally I don't consider it anything other than a breach of the conditions I signed. Regardless, Verizon will undoubtedly be more prepared than their competition for this contingency.