A chat with Verizon

[giza]

I forgot to mention the chat with I had with the sales guy at Verizon Wireless the other night.

Sales guy: [Mentions something about phones having the occasional glitch]

Me: I understand. I'm a computer programmer.

[later]

Me: I can't wait to copy over my contacts with Bluetooth!

Sales guy: I'm sorry, but that won't work. We disabled Bluetooth file transfers for security reasons.

Me: Oh, well... maybe I can find a workaround.

Sales guy: I'm sure you will. You're a programmer, after all!

Me: But uh... won't hacking the phone void my warranty?

Sales guy: It's okay, you have our insurance policy on it. If you mess up your phone, just smash it with a hammer before returning it.

Me: Um... uh... okay then! o.O

Comments

[doco.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's a nice way to claim warranty on your phone when you've removed the operator branding, like so many people here in Europe do these days...

[giza.livejournal.com]

Operator branding...? Clue me in, please!

[doco.livejournal.com]

As simple (or, as bad..) as that.
They mangle the phones' software so that you cannot change menu options, colour schemes or even hotkeys that lead to their portals.
Of course, putting the original manufacturer software back into the phone voids the warranty...

[giza.livejournal.com]

Whoa. I've never heard of that happening here in the states before. o.O

The closest thing we have is the name of the carrier on the phone's display (sometimes changeable) and the name on the case of the phone.

[ex-tjcoyote516.livejournal.com]

We disabled Bluetooth file transfers for security reasons.

Actually, they disable Bluetooth on cellphones so you have to use Verizon's services to get data in and out of the phone... so they can charge you for it. Basically, they hold your photos hostage.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I can email my photos to myself.

Or I can use my digital camera which takes MUCH better photos anyway. ;-)

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, at least Europe has the concept of "pay as you go" minutes that don't time out after 30 days without paying more!

Verizon is evil.

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

GET IT IN WRITING

Wireless salesdroids lie as bad as spammers, no matter how nice they seem. I'd be willing to bet that insurance policy won't hold if they even suspect intentional damage, and I KNOW it won't hold if the phone has had it's firmware changed.

FYI, verizon is the only US wireless operator that disables OBEX and file transfer over bluetooth, and the other commenters are right: They do it so you must pay airtime to move data. Some of their phones are locked down even over direct USB connection.

If you have a buyers remorse period to return the phone with no penalty, I'd recommend going with Cingular or T-mobile. Both are rolling out EDGE and UMTS, which compete favorably with verizon's EVDO

Re: Verizon is evil.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Those aspects of Verizon suck, but I've had really good customer service experiences with them over the years, and they have really good coverage. Both of those outweigh the bluetooth issues for me.

[atpaw.livejournal.com]

Ah, the advantages of buying an unlocked handset outright. Wheefun. :)

vzw

[fc-greyfox.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Verizon tangles with the software to make you pay more for everything, but they (at least last year) had no way of blocking USB/Serial file transfer in tech mode. Sprint may be anal about using phones bought through them and locking them with a service code, but I have yet to get a Sprint phone I couldn't hack and open up in less than a day.. and I do believe their coverage is just about as good as Verizon's at this point. Never had a service outage yet.

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

You got the E815, didn't you? Out of curiosity, was the glitch in question related to volume and/or other settings getting changed when the charger cable is unplugged?

My friend at Verizon had recommended the LG 8100 or the E815, actually leaning toward the 8100 until the recent 'upgrade' Verizon did to it actually made it more expensive than the 815. I've been considering getting an E815 so I was lookin at user reviews and saw mention of some little issues when the cable is unplugged after charging.

Most Verizon sales people, in the stores at least, are pretty easygoing about things like people getting around the Bluetooth crippling. They tend to be pretty no-questions-asked about such stuff.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I don't remember what the glitch was, offhand. We might have been talking about phones in general, actually.

I'll keep you posted (via my LJ) if anything goes wrong with my phone.

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I'm in no big hurry to replace my current phone. It's got a couple minor things that could be better, but it does the job for me. I've just been half-heartedly looking at upgrading because of the Verizon 'new every two' thing.

I was heavily leaning toward the 8100, but the so-called update to it is apparently mostly to saddle it with all the Vcast stuff I'll never use as well as to up the price. That makes the E815 preferable now.

My main goals for upgrading would be Bluetooth, which both have. Really that'd mostly be just so I could use the Bluetooth headset I have for Skype/ts/ventrilo with a phone as well.