Another Bad Verizon Experience

You may remember that about 18 months ago, I purchased a new Smartphone (Treo 600). I have never been pleased with the voice quality of the phone, but I generally like everything else about it.

I have had several bad experiences with Verizon Wireless, some of which I have mentioned in this blog before and some I haven't. I will list them here to inform you and refresh my tired memory.

At the time of purchase, I was lied to a couple of times at the store, and contemplated canceling my contract. I didn't because another store made me a believer again.

After I started working for the company where I now work, I learned that I could get 25% off my bill. I filled out the paperwork and started getting the discount. However, I was only getting a discount on my voice service, not the data plan or insurance. I called Verizon when I noticed that they had a plan for $80, which included voice and data, so since it was a single price, I assumed (and customer service assured me) that I would get the discount on the full amount, At that tine, my two year contract had to be renewed to make that change. After this, my bill was virtually the sane and when I've complained, everyone has apologized that I was given bad data.

2-3 months ago, Verizon called me and said that my text messaging had gone over my limit and I should get a different plan, which would provide more sms / mms usage. That change never occurred,

Last week, Verizon called me and said that my text messaging had gone over my limit and I should get a different plan, which would provide more sms / mms usage. I made that change and before the guy hung up, he asked me how I liked my phone and I said I didn't and I was counting the days till I could replace it under the New Every Two plan. He said that I didn't have to wait and if I went by a Verizon store, they would make me a great deal because of the holidays and it would be even cheaper than if I waited until April.

Saturday, Amy and I went to the Verizon Store. I had narrowed my choices down to the Motorola Q and the Verizon (Audiovox) VX6700. I stood and waited for the next salesperson who said that I was due no discounts, so the Q would cost me $419 and the VX-6700 was $519, Now, if I were not a loyal Verizon customer, the Q would have cost me $99,

I really like the phone service that Verizon provides. Most of Amy's family is on Verizon and it works and save my minutes because 'in network' calls are free.

I am sick to death of the price gouging that I am enduring as a long time Verizon customer. I am considering what my options are (as I've discussed before), I could get a new phone from Verizon and get a PDA fron someone else (TMobile will sell me their version of the VX6700 for $24, a $495 savings). My plan is to go to a store and explain my situation and see what they offer me.

Google Maps for Treo

Google Maps is now available for the Treo. If you have a Treo (check!) and have ever been lost (check!) then be sure and check it out at http://www.google.com/gmm/treo.

Typing About Technology – Treo Replacement

I’ve spoken many times about my cell phone, the Treo 600. It’s a multipurpose device which I carry daily. It provides the following functions for me:

• Phone
• PDA
• MP3 Player
• Web Browser
• Camera
• Games

Some of the above tasks are performed better than others.

• The phone is not great. When using it without a headset or headphones, the phone gets warm against your ear after 20 or 30 minutes. If using headphones, the sound is OK, but the sound quality that the other person hears isn’t great.
• The PDA is excellent; it is as good as Windows Mobile. The problem is that the synchronizing software (HotSync/Pocket Mirror) is not nearly as good as ActiveSync which is what Windows Mobile uses. For example, all my Outlooks contacts are categorized and when I sync them to a Windows Mobile device, those categories are honored. All my contacts, calendar, tasks are included here and are sync’d daily to my desktop PC.
• The MP3 Player is good. I use it to listen to podcasts, almost exclusively. I listen on my commute and usually at lunch. This gives me 2 or so hours of entertainment that I can’t get without carrying an MP3 player. I use an application called Pocket Tunes, combined with a 2G MiniSD card. This gives me enough capacity for several days worth of podcast listening. I do have to manage moving the data to it manually, but I have a pretty good system for that which has been perfected over the last couple of years (I was using the same system pre-Treo)
• The web browser that ships with the Treo is called Blazer. It is quite elegant, especially when using sites that are made for tiny screens. It is reasonably fast. There are some websites which make this browser even more valuable which I will talk about in a later article. I have a plan which allows unlimited data transfer, so I can use this feature as much as I want.
• The camera is lousy, but almost always available. Even though my Canon SD-450 can take nuch better pictures, having this camera around has been great for the blog, I have posted quite a few pictures taken with the Treo (even to my Flickr account).
  

Now comes the fun part. On April 22, 2007, I will be eligible for a $100 discount on a new phone. I would like the new device to provide all of the above functions and clear up some shortcomings. These include:

• Better screen – The resolution on this one is 160x160 and even when the characters are big enough to read, they’re sufficiently blocky to make reading it difficult.
• Larger screen – In addition to wanting a screen with a higher resolution, I also want a larger screen.
• Bluetooth – When the Treo 600 came out, this was not something that was available to any real extent. When I bought the 600, I could have gotten the 650 (which includes Bluetooth), but it was $150 more.
• Camera – I believe that any device I would be considering would have a better camera.
• Ability for the media player to sync with desktop, so that my manual process can go away.
• Wifi – If the phone I choose has WiFi, I might be able to do without the data plan, saving me $40-$50 per month. 802.11b will be sufficient for connectivity
  

These are only the options and prices that are available today. Chances are that in the next 7 months, these options will change.

• Motorola Q – This device is closest in physical appearance and spirit to the Treo. Runs Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone OS, so it doesn’t include a touchscreen, something I like about the Treo. It doesn’t have 802.11b. It has better resolution than the Treo 600, and the screen is slightly larger. Cost to upgrade: $ 319
• Verizon VX6700 – This is larger than the Treo. It has much better resolution (320x240) and a larger screen. It also has 802.11b wifi, so I would have Internet service where wireless service is available. The screen is large enough to watch videos as well. It has a full slide-out keyboard. Cost to upgrade: Cost to upgrade: $ 419