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Robbed by Verizon Wireless Again!

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By now I’m sure that you all know the myriad problems that I’ve had with Palm’s Treo 700p. This smartphone/PDA is a complete disaster (as you can find out by reading comments on Palm’s own blog on the matter). I’ve had the Treo replaced numerous times and each time I get a new device, it has a technical glitch. This time around the earpiece doesn’t work. In other words, when I have to use a hands-free device while I’m driving (because it’s the law), I can’t use one because the connection doesn’t click. I can hear the person, but they can’t hear me.

It’s a joke. This phone is a damned joke.

So I called Verizon Wireless a little while ago and to make a long story short, there’s nothing they can do to help me with this phone. After some discussion with two folks who, by the way, were very pleasant I asked this question: “I have a phone that I can’t use, I can’t replace, I can’t return, and I can’t fix. So are you telling me that I have a $500 paperweight here?” And God bless the Supervisor I was talking to because without actually saying, “Yes,” she said, “Yes.” That’s skill right there!

She made a point about what other business allows you to return a device months, even years, after you bought it? A clever ploy on her part which I’m sure confounds many people, but I came back with the fact that there are lemon laws in place where if your purchase is faulty you can return it. After reminded her that this would be the FOURTH replacement for this phone in an 18 month time frame, she dropped that argument. But she still saved Verizon Wireless some money because in the end – and without actually saying so – she suggested that I dump this device in the garbage. And there you have it, folks. I have a $500 paperweight sitting on my desk. If you’re interested, I’ll let it go for a mere $400… 😉

At this point, I’m not sure whether or not I’ll stay with Verizon. It’s extremely insulting to have them come back at me with, “There’s nothing we can do. Sorry.” I’ve been a loyal customer who pays his bill EARLY for almost a decade and these bums can’t do anything for me? That’s not right. It used to be that the customer was always right – within reason. I believe that I am far within reason on this issue and that Verizon is trying to save themselves from having to give back a few bucks (or even from replacing this phone) from the consumer. It’s a shame, really.

Apparently my business isn’t worth much to this company. But of course, everyone I know has Verizon so if I go to a different carrier my bill will undoubtedly go up due to the fact that I’m on a new network.

I’m incarcerated by my mobile company!

And now I put this out to you folks – what do I do with my phone? Do I bag it up and demolish it with a hammer? Do I box it up and send it over Verizon Wireless and tell them to keep it? Do I donate it to some group when I know that it doesn’t work? Let me know what you think!

Verizon’s “New Every Two” Kicks In

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My unhappy history with Verizon Wireless has been detailed in depth on this blog. I’m no big fan of them and they’ve found new ways to tell me no (bear in mind that I am a customer who has paid his bill EARLY each month for the last 5 years). The unfortunate truth is that in New Jersey, and the Northeast in general, Verizon Wireless is really the only choice if you want uninterrupted, clear cell phone coverage.

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from Verizon telling me that my “new every two” has kicked in. For the non-Verizon readers out there, this is a plan that the company has where after two years the customer has the option to get a $50 – $100 discount on a new phone. Now I have a decision to make – which new phone should I get? There’s no chance in hell that I’ll get one of those crappy smartphone/PDAs that caused me so much trouble. Let me state emphatically once again that the Palm Treo 700p is a complete disaster of a phone! Stay away from it!

Right now I use my 4+ year old LG VX8000 phone, which I really like. The camera phone is only 1.3 megapixels but it takes great pictures whenever I use it and the call quality is crystal clear. The speakerphone works perfectly as does the video recorder and voice recorder. In it’s old age (4+ years is more than a life time for cell phones these days) it has become a little stodgy and unresponsive at points, but it’s still better than that overpriced piece of crap Treo 700p.

Anyway, what I’ve learned is that I like the LG brand of phones and that I’d prefer to stick to their brand. The problem is that looking on Verizon’s website, I don’t really care for the LG phones which are being offered. There is one phone that is only a slight upgrade from the one that I currently use (I think it’s the VX8350 or something like that). I figured that if I get that phone, I can still keep my current phone on standby just in case the new one sucks. Plus, with the “New Every Two” discount, the new phone would be free. Can’t really say no to that deal, can you?

At some point this weekend I’m going to go for the new phone. I just hope that everything works out better than when I got the disaster Treo 700p “smartphone” two years ago. Of course, after the debacle that was the Treo 700p, I don’t think anything could be worse!

Anyway, check out Jersey City Locksmith for the best locksmith service in the Garden State!

My Treo 700p from Verizon – Broke AGAIN

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The worst phone that I have ever purchased in my entire life is broken once again. This phone is the Treo 700p from Verizon Wireless. It’s a disaster – a complete and total disaster of a phone. Not only have I had problems from this “smart” phone in the past, but the contract that I’m locked into keeps me with this piece of shit until August 2008.

I’m being held hostage by Verizon Wireless.

The problem this time around is that my touchscreen seems to work on all parts of the screen, except the middle. So this means that any time I put the stylus on the center of the page, the phone doesn’t recognize it. And what’s so bad about that? Well, the obvious – I can’t get this thing to work the right way and I spent over $600 on the package when I purchased it.

But through some no-good online help, I’ve managed to reset my phone and gotten it stalled out where it asks me to “Use stylus to tape center of target one last time.” And where does this target appear? That’s right – the exact middle of the touchscreen!

So I have a stalled out, piece of garbage phone. Not only is this the worst phone that I’ve ever purchased, but I am going out of my way to dissuade other people from buying this piece of shit. I’ve already gotten two people to stay away from this phone (and the now-tarnished Palm brand) – here’s hoping that this post gets more people to stay away from this brand.

A Review of the Treo 700p for Verizon

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Palm has a high-powered smartphone on the market – the 700p. I purchased this phone from the master of all hidden-charge companies, Verizon Wireless, on October 1st and for the first fifteen days or so, I have to say that I was very pleased.

Why denote the first 15 days? Well, with Verizon you can return any item purchased and receive a 100% refund within the first 15 days of purchase. Great deal, right? Right.

Except when your new, expensive smartphone becomes a glitch-ridden, buggy machine on day 16…

When I first got the phone, I spent a lot of time just getting used to it. The weak battery life was annoying and I’ve looked into getting the extended battery (I’m waiting for the price to drop a little bit). The remarkably low volume on the machine was and is still annoying, though I’ve managed to get a software program that boosts the volume to an almost obnoxious level. There is also this weird white screen lag that just pops up randomly. For Windows users, think the Blue Screen of Death – but only for a few seconds and a white screen. And the phone almost completely stalls after sending a text message – very bad.

On the bright side, this thing is an absolutely phenomenal Personal Digital Assistant. I don’t think that any smartphone/PDA out there could even compete with it in terms of getting “the job done.” I can (and I have) read Word documents, download e-mail, surf the web, manage my calendar, sync with my laptop computer, take pictures & videos, use MP3’s as ringtones (after installing free software), and do so much more with this machine. It’s really impressive in the breadth of possible uses that it has for the busy lifestyled, somewhat-of-a-business-oriented kind of guy.

Oh – and it has great game playing abilities so I can download and play Scrabble, Bejeweled, and Monopoly (all sweet games). I’ve also enjoyed the SD card reading abilities which allow me to take some of my favorite pics from the laptop and bring them with me on my phone. That’s a pretty sweet feature – and one that I didn’t think I would ever be making use of, yet I use it almost daily.

The phone DOES work, too…but when it wants to work. That white screen glitch and stalling effect sort of makes the phone aspect of the 700p a hassle to use because when you’re hanging up the phone using the touchscreen or even the red “end” button, you ultimately wind up with the screen freezing and then accidentally pushing another option (usually making a second call).

Another bright note is that the text message and video messaging features are all fully-functioning (when you look beyond the stalling out). Also, Palm lets you store these messages as an IM conversation – so it looks VERY similar to your AOL Instant Messenger conversations on the computer.

I also have to mention that I’m on my second actual phone. The first one had this weird technical glitch where whenever you plugged something into the port at the bottom of the phone (charger, headset, sync wire) and then unplugged it, the phone would seem to think that it still had something plugged into it. For example, I would plug in the wired headset and 1) the people couldn’t hear me talking into the microphone and 2) when I unplugged it, the speaker and microphone on the actual phone itself wouldn’t work.

Yes, I use a wired headset because no one could hear me when I was using the bluetooth device. When I returned the obscenely expensive Bluetooth headset to the Verizon Store, the guy behind the counter was surprised. He wanted to know where I was using the headset. Obviously, I told him that I was using it in the car while driving. His response? “Oh, well that’s why the people can’t hear you. There’s probably a lot of wind noise and car noise in the car.”

I almost punched the guy right in the face. Where exactly would I be using a wireless headset besides my car? Would I be one of those status-seekers who feel the need to walk around the mall or their offices with a little device hanging out of their ear? Hell no!

The bottom line on this device is that it could be a GREAT PDA if it didn’t have the white screen lag, but as far as usability is concerned, I find it lacking. Yes, I can use it to read Word documents and I can use it to manage a calendar and coordinate my schedule, etc, but with the technical glitches that haven’t been fixed by Palm yet, the device is just a pain in the ass sometimes. Once Palm releases some new firmware to upgrade the phone’s internal software, this will be THE Palm device to own!

Until then, look at the much cheaper, similarly styled Motorola Q.

It’s All Over… The Streak Is Gone… It’s Dead!

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Son of a bitch! I’ll get to the snow outside in a minute, but more important than being snowed in is the fact that my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Tour 9630 decided to reset itself while I was on an epic streak on BrickBreaker! Over the last month and a half, I racked up some 630,000 points and 59 lives on BrickBreaker. If you’ve ever played the game on your BlackBerry, you know that you typically get between 15,000 and 25,000 points and that if you get around 13 lives you’re doing pretty well.

What the hell causes a BlackBerry to reset itself like that?! How ridiculous is this? I want justice. I want justice!!!

Or I’ll just start playing it again…