BB Peoples,

Since this point yesterday when Verizon told me it would charge me retail price, $470, for the second-hand, reworked bare-bones, batteryless 8703e if I refused to return my broken (and un-wiped) one for the swap, a few interesting things have occurred.

They played out in this order, which I'll entitle:
1. The Math of Dropping Verizon
2. High Up, More Reasonable
3. "Hi, I'm Calling from Verizon's Legal Department"


***** 1. The Math of Dropping Verizon *****

What? $470 to keep still-not-fully-fuctioning used 8703e? Ha! Absurd. I can buy a new 8703e from Verizon for that. I have zero desire to shuck out that chunk yet again only 60 days after purchasing the first one that melted down. Though its appears cheaper than unzipping my fly, so to speak, and handing over me and my clients' private information to possible irresponsible leaking.

But wait. It costs only $175 to drop the Verizon contract. And I can purchase a brand new BB 8703e from Sprint (yes, the exact same phone, and on an EVDO network just like Verizon's) for $200 after new contract and rebate. Heck, even with the additional charges thrown in, it still comes out cheaper than Verizon's offer. And changing providers and punting Verizon looks like a welcome consumer change.

These thoughts began to brew in my mind as I attempted to speak with yet another hierarchy of Verizon Technical Service Reps and managers yesterday afternoon. At this point I rated myself at 60% ready to heave Verizon.

With the Rep, I site the private data left on the FRU phone as to why I will not return my own phone.
Are you kidding me? He says. That's terrible, I cannot believe that happened. Tell me what happened. I should record it.

What do you mean, you should record it? Don't you have it in your notes right in front of you? (Since Friday when I received the FRU 8703e and discovered another customer's data still on it, I had not only contacted the original owner of it, but I had also told Verizon through at least four Technical Reps. Each said he recorded that important fact in the record, and that Verizon would address it.) What did this rep see? You must see this several places in your previous notes? I said.

No, he said. Verbatim: "It's not even noted."

Now I'm at 80%.

More insulting fun. Let me recreate the conversation with his superior.

Me: "Let me make this clear, Nothing will make me send my original phone back to you."

Him: "See, I have this technician in the warehouse who knows how to guarantee it will get wiped clean, when we receive it."

Who can change policy? I said. That would be the associate director, he said. You want him to call you? Um, I'll have him call you before 5 PM, he said.

After 6 PM EST (their time), I figured they blew me off. But at 7 PM CST (my time) the associate director did call...


***** 2. High Up, More Reasonable *****

The associate director, fortunately, came across as reasonable, thoughtful, and one who seemed to look the bigger picture of this. He did not give push-button auto-answers, which came as an improvement. Again, I said in no way would I return my original phone. Summed: Broken 60-day-old new 8703e. Replacement 8703e still screwed. Three, four hours troubleshooting with Tech Reps. Former owner's private data breached. $470 retail charge for FRU 8703e.

I also talked about the math of punting Verizon. He must have perceived I stood ready to chuck Verizon right there. Or he saw the absurdity of the situation. Or both. But afterward he said: okay, I could keep both the FRU 8707e and my broken 8703e, and that I did not have to pay the a fee.

Exhale...

Take note. He said they would list the broken one under their 'stolen device' record, which removes the ability from it for anyone to reactive that device. So no need to return it. That sounded fine with me -- mine was fried anyway and would never reactivate.

More intrigue. With that current FRU phone, he said, it looks like the quirky problems still there come from: its HARDWEAR. Not the software nor the network.

Incredible! He just said they replaced my broken 8703e with yet another broken one.

We will ship you a third one, another FRU, he said. You won't have to pay for it. I made a comment of yet again several hours troubleshooting this next phone. He thought for a moment. Then said:

* I will send you a new 8703e, not a FRU.
* And you can keep your old phone.
* And no additional charge.

Bigger exhale...

They should have done this from step one. All my time and persistence expended to reach this point. It should not have had to occur this way. And the data privacy breach remained un-addressed.

But I called it a night last night feeling content and pleased that I followed through with this, got what I needed, had helped the former owner, and had relayed this important experience to the BBForums readers.

The associate director acted responsible, to his credit, when others did not. What little trust I had for Verizon before this had all but eroded.

But wait. There's more...


***** 3. "Hi, I'm Calling from Verizon's Legal Department" *****

I got an out-of-the-blue call at about 5 PM tonight. An attorney from Verizon's legal department called, and to my surprise, it had nothing to do with any of my calls.

It seems the former 8703e owner, or "Ms. Fru" if you will, who I emailed and notified that all her private data arrived on my FRU 8703e, contacted Verizon's customer service department on her own. And it seemed to have a large effect. She emailed them her own words plus the email I had written to her on first contact with the details. She also mentioned she asked her attorney some questions about this.

Her message must have awoken a whole separate arm of Verizon. Because something seemed to have jumped up a notch.

Let me give you an example.

The attorney did not seem to know about much of my long calls, my refusal to requish my broken phone, nor my conversation with the associate director. He did not know the associate director agreed to ship me a new 8703e. Yet the conversation with the attorney started like this:

"Mr. Palmer, we would like to send you a brand new 8703e at no charge to replace your broken one, and in return we ask you to send both the broken and the replacement 8703e's back to us so we can destroy them."

Ummm. That seemed rather fast.

We have become very concerned about this privacy incident, he said, at the national level. It seems a batch of FRU phone dispatched to new owners unwiped, with previous owners data still on them. Mine counted as one of them. This incident of mine and Ms. Fru has so far become the only one where someone has recognized that a former owner's data had mistakenly come unwiped in the phone. We at Verizon are embarrassed about this.

Hmmm.

What has Ms. Fru said about this, I asked. We plan to call her next, he said. Why did you call me before her, and not the other way around?

I need to communicate with Ms. Fru about her thoughts and feelings before I can move forward with any of this, I said. Let me make clear, I put the best interest of Ms. Fru and of myself at a higher priority than I do Verizon's, I said. And ended the conversation.

Emailed and then took a call from Ms. Fru, and talked about this. The attorney called again. In the middle of his call, the associate director called. How funny to say, I cannot speak with you right now, I have an attorney with your legal department on the other line.

I do not want more headaches, nor make this into something it should not become. Though the betrayal of confidentiality of Ms. Fru's information, amongst the rest, continues to chap my hide. Seems gratifying that Verizon finally begins to address this, after 5 days.


This is a looooong post. But the content remains important. BB Peoples, give me your thoughts and input on this. It's tough for me to get my whole mind around it. I appreciate the support.

Thanks!
-Andrew