Does Verizon ever provide a different model phone if the customer has basically had the same issues with 3 prior 'replacemet' (refurbished) phones?

[amysue]

I have owned a Samsung Galaxy Stellar for the about the past year and a half, which is only my second smartphone. I am not a whiz at all this but I'll try to be coherent. I had problems with the Stellar  from the beginning: Very slow loading browser, problems with the cursor, etc. After about 6 months, the phone dropped, and no, I didn't throw it on the ground!

I have insurance and it was still under warranty, so it was replaced, by Assurian, I believe. The replacement phone had the same problems, plus a whole lot more. During calls, the wifi, and/or Bluetooth options would appear, or the phone would suddenly go on mute. In addition, when I tried to access my voicemail, what I heard was my own voice and outgoing message, not the one from Verizon asking for the password. These problems were intermittent, which made the Verizon employees  dubious, but it's like the car that you take to the garage that suddenly works fine. Anyway, there were some other problems too, so I got a replacement phone again, which is the phone I currently have had for about 3 months. A few days ago it went from bad to worse. In fact it went Crazy!: Every call I make or receive is immediately dropped. Maybe after 5 or 6 tries, I can  complete a call, but rarely. When I do, the mute and speaker options spontaneously activate, at the same time!!  When I go into my voicemail, the messages are deleted in rapid fashion, one after the other, and I cannot get them back.   Or, as I said earlier, the Wifi/Bluetooth screens appear, and it's difficult to punch in any numbers as I have to hit the back arrow many times. Strangely, the phone makes odd sounds: It buzzes or makes this odd chiming sound! If I didn't know better, I would think that I have finally lost my mind! I could go on but you have the gist.  The phone is simply not workable. I  phoned tech support, and she was very nice. After an hour on the phone, it worked ok, until the following day. She didn't do a factory reset, but she had me take the sim card and battery out. She did things on her end, which unfortunately I don't recall, but the phone worked ok until the following day, when it went crazy again.

I took it to the corporate Verizon store where I live, The guy said "It's a lousy phone, a cheap, bottom of the line phone." By the way, throughout this time, I had had about 6 hours with tech support, between this phone and the last one.

THIS IS MY QUESTION: I asked him if I could have a totally different phone, since this model is clearly defective. He said no, but they could send me another replacement. He told me to call trech support  while I was there in the store and ask them, because they don't do repairs at the store. The tech on the phone  told me the issue is with my Gmail account! That there is a virus on some phones and each time I get a replacement phone, because I have kept the same Gmail account, the virus keeps getting 'transferred', for lack of a better word, to the next phone. I was totally incredulous. Virus? She said, "Well, I use the  term loosely, but it's just a weird glitch.When you get a replacement phone, bring it back and we'll save and upload all your data, and set  you up with a new email account." I was confused and annoyed, as I had never heard of this, and felt I was getting the runaround. I asked her if they could give me a different phone (free of charge) and of course the answer was no. By the way, I should mention that the Stellar is no longer made. These are my options, according to the 3 different Verizon employees I spoke with: I am eliblele for the early upgrade which they call the Edge. From what I understand, it's the full retail price paid out over 2 years, with a partial payment made at time of purchase. One person told me that after 24 months, they would accept what I paid as payment in full? Sounds too generous. Option 2 is $50 of a new phone, and option 3 is to buy a new phone at a Verizon store that is having an android sale. So, I acquiesced to getting another replacement which I will keep until I buy a new totally different phone. My impression is that it's not like buying a bad toaster. They don't refund your money and let you get whatever you want for the same price! My question is this: Does Verizon ever just replace a phone that has had problems, with a totally different model? I have made as much of a stink as I can muster towards that end, but I am wondering if anyone out there has actually been able to pull that off?

Thank you for any feedback ,comments or stories!

[vzw_customer_support]

amysue, We defintely want you to have a reliable and working phone. Our apologies that you have had issues with the current model, the Galaxy Stellar. After reviewing information about the overall function of the phone, it does not appear that Samsung has recalled the device or stated that all Stellar devices are defective, with that being said, the warranty would still only cover the same make and model. The only time a completely different phone is sent out is if the manufacturer deems the entire make and model overall faulty. It is common to have a few glitches and a master/factory reset, in addition to all other troubleshooting, will help resolve these issues. The Stellar is no longer made because there have been several Samsung galalxy devices launched, and this is common with any device manufacturer. Our recommendation is to take advantage of EDGE, if you are seeking a new device with low monthly payments. This gives you the chance to explore different device options without having a contract and you can EDGE up to a new device once meeting certain requirements. We hope to resolve your concerns here or by calling customer support.

sheritah_vzw
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