How many of you have gotten a different phone for free because your thunderbolt was failing you?

[matt0715]

My thunderbolt is starting to piss me off, has anybody gotten an different phone after complaining to Verizon and if so, which phone? I'm on the verge of demanding a different phone .

 

[Yeahha]

The only reports I have seen are when people get stuck in refirb hell they sometimes get to switch to a different phone but those are few and far between. If you call VZW and complain they will likely remind you that you had 14 days to try the phone out where you could have brought it back and exchanged it

 

[matt0715]

The only reports I have seen are when people get stuck in refirb hell they sometimes get to switch to a different phone but those are few and far between. If you call VZW and complain they will likely remind you that you had 14 days to try the phone out where you could have brought it back and exchanged it

guess when the prime comes out that best buy buy back program will come into use

 

[SeekerOfTheWay]

I tried to get a BlackBerry 9930 in exchange for my bolt from VZW. They advised me to sell the bolt and buy the 9930 at retail price.

 

[CharlzO]

It pretty much depends on how it's done, what mood the rep is in, etc. Usually they won't switch out models until you've had a device replaced 3 times in a short period of time for (usually) similar issues. But with the wide scope of abilities on smartphones, they're a little more lenient on the similar issue part of it. But no, if you get one phone, and don't like it or have a problem, they are 99.9% of the time not going to just say "ok, we'll give you something else instead".

 

[TxGoat]

What don't you like about the phone, the short battery life, 4G signal issues, peeling kickstand, reboot issues?

 

[matt0715]

What don't you like about the phone, the short battery life, 4G signal issues, peeling kickstand, reboot issues?

It's unusable on 4g, battery dies before noon everyday with minimal use, I know I can turn it off but what's the point of a 4g phone if you can't use it? Glass is peeling off from the chassis, kickstand peeling, it over heats a lot, 4g signal is iffy sometimes , and sometimes it randomly gets laggy and you can't use it, and this usually happens when I really need to use my phone ( yeah I'm unlucky) I just don't want to deal with this phone anymore

 

[CharlzO]

It's unusable on 4g, battery dies before noon everyday with minimal use, I know I can turn it off but what's the point of a 4g phone if you can't use it? Glass is peeling off from the chassis, kickstand peeling, it over heats a lot, 4g signal is iffy sometimes , and sometimes it randomly gets laggy and you can't use it, and this usually happens when I really need to use my phone ( yeah I'm unlucky) I just don't want to deal with this phone anymore

I'd say to contact ZVW and get a replacement Bolt, and see what happens. Just like there have been people with issues, there have also been plenty of perfectly fine one as well (mine included). However, at least give them a chance to replace it with hopefully a fully working, and flaw-free (as much as possible) replacement, before trying to get into something else right off the bat. And hopefully, the replacement is worlds better, and lets you enjoy it as it's meant to be enjoyed.

 

[SeekerOfTheWay]

I'm tired of poor battery life. I even have the extended battery. Tired of the bulk and weight now too.

It overheats when navigating all the time.


Not liking the virtual keyboard so much.

 

[scotty85]

i had an issue with data,and was offered a charge in place of the tbolt. no demanding or even asking.

i politely declined

they sent me a new TB,wich i ended up returning instead of my old one,as it started working again the next morning. so i am still on my original one

 

[Frisco]

It pretty much depends on how it's done, what mood the rep is in, etc. Usually they won't switch out models until you've had a device replaced 3 times in a short period of time for (usually) similar issues. But with the wide scope of abilities on smartphones, they're a little more lenient on the similar issue part of it. But no, if you get one phone, and don't like it or have a problem, they are 99.9% of the time not going to just say "ok, we'll give you something else instead".

My experiences and those of others I've talked to about this bears that out. What really amazed me was the lady at work who kept going back to the same store here in town (there are two Verizon stores and about 5 of those little franchise outlets) despite other store choices. She went through two floor reps, failing to get what she wanted, then about a week later the third one exchanged her X for a Fascinate at no charge.

Back in my Blackberry days I had a similar experience, but I "shopped" three different Verizon stores, including one of the little franchises, until I got my Pearl exchanged for a new Curve for $29.

 

[Turdbogls]

I got offered a Droid charge after i had to send back my second thunderbolt.
my third one has been rock solid, so glad i stuck to my guns and dismissed the charge offer.

 

[sassy1217]

The same for me. They offered me a new charge before I got my replacement bolt. I'm on the second tbolt and so far, no issues.

 

[Thats]

I don't want any other Phone on Verizon right now. I say 85% of the problems with this phone are user error. I can make my battery last 16 hours everyday, in 4G. Standard battery.

 

[matt0715]

I don't want any other Phone on Verizon right now. I say 85% of the problems with this phone are user error. I can make my battery last 16 hours everyday, in 4G. Standard battery.

How do u get that good battery life?

 

[Yeahha]

How do u get that good battery life?

Tweaks you can do by rooting can be very effective

 

[Vigor1]

I got sent a voucher for a droid prime for when it comes out. They sent me a box to send the thunderbolt in when I go to verizon store with voucher.

New program called get prime

 

[sean76]

Vzw let me get the Charge at the 2 year contract price when it came out! That was maybe 3 months after I got the TB. Granted I was on my 3rd TB from them, and they were getting another $299 from me...lol!

Vzw is pretty cool with stuff like that, all depends on who you talk to, and how you talk to them.

Since then I sold my TB at CEX in NYC for $300, gave my dad my Brand new condition Charge, and used an upgrade on my account to get the DROID Bionic.

Life moves fast in the Android World!

 

[gvillager]

I don't want any other Phone on Verizon right now. I say 85% of the problems with this phone are user error. I can make my battery last 16 hours everyday, in 4G. Standard battery.

^^^ This mirrors my experience.

How do u get that good battery life?

Stock battery, unrooted, and no tweaks.

I also live in a strong 4G market (NYC). Stronger reception=better battery life. The guy at the store let me take a quick peak at their internal cell site map. There are 6 cell sites within a 3/4ths mile radius (not sure if they are all 4G, but they probably are) of my apartment and one of them is only a block and a half away. Obviously if I do a lot of speedtests, Netflix, and Youtube the battery life isn't nearly as good.

 

[TxGoat]

Vzw let me get the Charge at the 2 year contract price when it came out! That was maybe 3 months after I got the TB. Granted I was on my 3rd TB from them, and they were getting another $299 from me...lol!

Vzw is pretty cool with stuff like that, all depends on who you talk to, and how you talk to them.

Since then I sold my TB at CEX in NYC for $300, gave my dad my Brand new condition Charge, and used an upgrade on my account to get the DROID Bionic.

Life moves fast in the Android World!

I got the opposite treatment when I spoke to someone about the possibility of getting a replacement. I've had 4-5 TB refurbs sent to me and have turned around and sent them all back for various issues (the worst one sent to me was one where the screen would actually move when you'd type something on it). I've told every Verizon rep that I'm not looking to score a new replacement phone, but that I just want a TB that is built correctly. I'm sure they get a lot of people calling in hoping to score some new battery/phone/accessory/etc. All I want is a phone that works like it's supposed to.

On another note, the company I'm working for has set me up with an iPhone 4 and I must admit if it wasn't for my general dislike of Apple and the seemingly over-sterile app community (I prefer "free-range" apps that aren't governed under a 'totalitarian' entity the "app store") I'd probably switch to an iPhone just for the battery life alone. It's not uncommon for me to go 4-5 days before I charge the iPhone where the TB, I have resorted to walking around with my USB charging cable hoping that there will be a computer or a USB wall adapter accessible to me wherever I go.

 

[brandonrr]

i am on my 4th thunderbolt. i finally got one that doesn't have issues that affect performance too much. the only issue with this one is a kickstand that doesn't sit flush and sticks out about 2mm, but is unnoticeable with a silicone case on the phone.

i am in a mid-low signal 4g area and my battery life before rooting could easily go up to 14-15 hours with light-moderate use. i just made sure to kill running apps in "manage apps". if i used slacker radio, it would keep running and draining battery until i manually killed it. by killing apps manually without a app killer app, my battery life got much better. now that i am rooted, i can go 25-30 hours with the same amount of use that would get me 14-15 hours before. rooting can be a royal pain in the arse, but it is worth it.

 

[nohsp4u]

The TB is fast.....at rebooting. every freakin hour. VZ is useless. HTC is useless. I am stuck with a $300 piece of crap and i am trying to run a small business. i have lost money because this POC reboots and i loose calls. VZ does not care becasue they think i am stuck on a two year contract, well, breach of contract baby, breach of contract. I follow my contract by paying a bill, they need to follow theirs by providing the proper equipment. As soon as AT&T tower goes online, by by worthless two bit VZ.

 

[Frisco]

The TB is fast.....at rebooting. every freakin hour. VZ is useless. HTC is useless. I am stuck with a $300 piece of crap and i am trying to run a small business. i have lost money because this POC reboots and i loose calls. VZ does not care becasue they think i am stuck on a two year contract, well, breach of contract baby, breach of contract. I follow my contract by paying a bill, they need to follow theirs by providing the proper equipment. As soon as AT&T tower goes online, by by worthless two bit VZ.

I hear you. We've seen a lot of those frustrations posted around nearly every device forum here at AF.

I just want to share this with you: One thing I keep being struck by, as I read through the experiences of users who seem to have purchased a "lemon," is the wide disparity in reactions to their complaints at the carrier's stores, indeed, some even getting different reactions to complaints from two or three different floor monkeys in the very same store!

I've posted my own experiences about that (never with any of the Android phones I've had: Eris, Fascinate and Droid 3) but back in my Blackberry days. Going from one store to another until I got exactly what I wanted worked for me.

Even calling tech support at the carrier or the manufacturer more than once will get differing responses to the issues at hand.

I highly encourage frustrated users to try taking their issues to more than one store.. it can be well worth it, just first set your sights on exactly what you want: a refurb? an exchange for a completely different device in the store? a refund? <-- tough one, that.

If you can't get it at one store, take the trouble to go to another (some are not fortunate to have more than one in their town, I know).

 

[donas]

I did not get a different model, but Verizon was quite helpful replacing mt first two TB. The first phone had a camera issue and would turn on during calls, #2 had the constant reboot problem. I noticed the reboot issue as soon as I received the phone and called Verizon, they sent another one next day air....two phones in two days - I can complain about the phone, but not the service.

So far, so good with #3, no problems. To the posters that have reboot issues, get a new phone, that is not standard for the TB.

 

[CharlzO]

The TB is fast.....at rebooting. every freakin hour. VZ is useless. HTC is useless. I am stuck with a $300 piece of crap and i am trying to run a small business. i have lost money because this POC reboots and i loose calls. VZ does not care becasue they think i am stuck on a two year contract, well, breach of contract baby, breach of contract. I follow my contract by paying a bill, they need to follow theirs by providing the proper equipment. As soon as AT&T tower goes online, by by worthless two bit VZ.

If I may... what steps have you taken as of yet to try to resolve your problem? Have you had the phone replaced yet, to try to eliminate the issues? Many people have gone that route, and gotten a working phone as a replacement. I understand your frustration, but you can't instantly go "Verizon isn't doing their job", if you haven't given them ample chances to do so. (and for the people that like this sort of thing, the newest version of their "Your Guide", page 49, under Disclaimer of Warranties...it DOES actually say "We do not warrant that your wireless device will work perfectly or will not need occasional upgrades or modifications, or that it will not be negatively affected by network-related modifications, upgrades, or similar activity".)

I would also like to add, to anyone currently having to get a replacement, etc.. Be courteous, at least at the beginning. If it becomes obvious that you're getting less-than-expected treatment, try another store / call. Very rarely will yelling, screaming, threatening, etc... get you anywhere if you start with that tone. Reps are a lot more likely to help you, and go a little extra mile, if you're pleasant. Doesn't mean you have to be a pushover. You can still be firm in what you're hoping to attain, but don't be a jerk about it. (Also...page 49 again... to put it simply, you are actually subject to having your account cancelled if you get vulgar, verbally abusive, or harass reps in store, or on phone).