Can you hear me now?

The only phone that I have is a cell phone. It is cheaper than having a land line and more convenient to travel with. I've had the same phone since 2003 when I received a phone for Christmas.

Now, my current phone is not the original phone that I was given. The original one never worked right. And when the company headquarters couldn't get it to work either, they gave me the one I have now. A $200 upgrade on phone value. They gave me the make and model of a new phone and told me to bring in the one that wouldn't work and have the store replace it with the new model.

Everything had been going fine with said phone. My only complaint being that I couldn't get service out at my parents house. I figured out all the bells and whistles, had it programed to have a different ring and color for each person programed into it, and even used the alarm clock a couple of times. The GPS in it really came in handy when I was rear ended 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, it got broken while I was on my vacation a couple weeks ago. It appears that someone stepped on it and broke it. It was a flip phone, and now the top comes completely off the bottom. Ironically, if you line the two pieces up just right the phone still works.

I went to the Version store to replace the phone. I had been told in the past that I had a $100 credit towards a replacement phone. I get into the store and have to interrupt the sales lady to get any help. I explained what had happened and she looks up my number on the computer. Since my parents had given me the phone as a gift, their name is on the account, not mine. She then told me that unless I signed a 2 year contract and had my name added to the account, then there was no way I was getting a replacement phone.

I was confused by this, so I called my mom (on my broken phone) and had her add me to the list of users. I asked how much longer we had on our current contract and was told that I could only have "Limited" information since my name wasn't on the account. While I waited for mom to add me to the list, I looked around and tried to decide what new phone I wanted. Mom called me and let me know that she talked to the headquarters and they told her that I should be able to get a new phone free. I went back up to the counter to relay the new information to the sales dragon... I mean lady. She curtly informed me that she was with a "Customer" and it would be a minute. I stood there thinking... Ok, I was your customer a minute ago... what am I now? Chopped Liver?

When she finished up with her "Customer" I waited to be acknowledged again and relayed the information that we had been given by the headquarters. Then the witch went off saying that it didn't matter what the headquarters said, that was them and this was her store. If I wanted a new phone then I had to sign up for a 2 year contract or pay full price for the phone. She said that the only way I was getting a free phone was if I bought their 2 for 1 special phone. She checked the computer to verify what I had said that the headquarters had said and said that they shouldn't have added anything about a free phone and that they had made a mistake about that.

I have never been treated so rudely by a retail person before. It's not my fault that someone stepped on my phone or that the company headquarters said to give me a free phone. I finally said forget about it and left with my broken phone. I'll contact the headquarters and file a formal complaint. I'm seriously thinking of switching providers. It's not like Verizon is the only company out there. You cant around without some company offering you a better deal.

Hey Verizon.... Can you Hear ME Now! Your customer service sucks! And I'm going to be sure that everyone I know or talk to knows how lousy your staff treats customers. I'll get as many as I can to switch provides as well.

I'm going to bed gang. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for all of us. Except for the Verizon people... remember what goes around comes around... I hope someone treats you exactly how you treated me today.