Note to Shelf: My Note 7 Experience
I’m a techie, always looking for a way to get a new phone. A few weeks ago my Bluetooth on my Nexus 6P was causing me headaches and when my fiance said that she was getting purple dots on her front facing camera on her S6 Edge I took it as a sign. After watching countless YouTube hands on videos, the Note 7 looked amazing, and I had a way to make it work.
We went to Verizon and found that we could trade her phone in for a $300 credit and I had my 6P sold to a friend. I bought mine retail (ouch).
We loved the devices (she really, REALLY liked the blue). The camera was awesome, no Bluetooth issues, and definitely snappier than the S6 Edge. All was good. Until Samsung announced the voluntary return program due to exploding batteries. I follow a LOT of tech sites and listen to quite a few tech podcasts, so I was very aware of what was happening, and the votes of confidence that everything would be taken care of in short order.
Then, day by day, news dripped in about how things were getting worse. First a hotel room in Australia, then a garage in South Carolina, then a Jeep in Florida. Then rumors that the FAA was going to issue restrictions, then they did. This is especially troublesome since my fiance and I are flying to Seattle next weekend to get married. Because of this, a great camera is very important (we have a photographer for the wedding, but receptions and such).
During this whole time, I stopped by Verizon 3 times, talked to Verizon on chat and on Twitter, as well as talked to Samsung directly. Verizon pointed at Samsung, Samsung pointed at Verizon. Verizon encouraged me to just keep my phone, telling me repeatedly that their manager has one, and they haven’t had any problems and that “Zero devices have been returned so far” (mind you, this is at a MAJOR mall location, like when you think of major malls, this is probably the one you would think of).
I decided we would wait. I turned off fast charging, utilized wireless charging since it seemed to run cooler. But I kept watching podcasts telling me I was crazy for keeping it. Then the Consumer Protection Safety Commission announced that the device should be shut off and not used and that a recall will be announced ASAP. This caused me especial heartburn, because if the device has an official recall, it would be banned from planes (not just recommended to be off and not charging). Time for another trip to Verizon. Not before I get my ducks in a row with Verizon CS on Twitter. They had now changed their tone and stated that I COULD get a Galaxy S7 Edge, and then return it without a fee. This was new.
I get to the store and predictably, they tell me if I take an S7 Edge it will be an exchange and it will be the phone that I will keep. Eventually they check with a manager, and then the manager checks with someone and then they tell me that I can take an S7 Edge. They can’t guarantee that I will get a Note 7 if they are not released in the next 2 weeks, however, and they also can’t assure me that I would be able to exchange it in Seattle if I needed to (they ended up saying that they should as long as it was a corporate location). I back down, thinking that I will wait until the end of next week, then by the time my 14 days is up, I will be back from Seattle.
Then Samsung updated their exchange program to state that the CPSC will have to sign off on replacement devices before they will be available. I didn’t have a hover board, but I listen to enough tech news to know that didn’t get resolved in a couple weeks. I then see that the Galaxy J will be the potential loaner (REALLY??? I’m getting married in 2 weeks!).
I’ve officially given up on the Note. I purchased two Galaxy S7 Edges from Best Buy. The reason I’m getting them from Best Buy is so that they will be unlocked. Unfortunately, when I went to return the Note 7s to Verizon, they informed me that since I got the $300 promotional credit toward my Notes I would now have to pay the difference between that credit and the price they are currently offering for the phone I traded in ($185), thus another $115 out of pocket (couldn’t even charge it to my account). Update: A very nice “Social Media Manager” called me after a back and forth on Twitter DM and reading this post. The $115 charge has been refunded. Thank you for that Verizon!
Through this process I’ve become especially frustrated by the fact that payment plans effectively lock you into a carrier, and definitely complicate things at times like this. I will be purchasing unlocked retail phones from here on out, which could ultimately lead to me leaving Verizon for ATT, where I would definitely have more flexibility in this space (One Plus 3, Honor 8, NextBit Robin, etc).
This has definitely been the most stressful part of my last couple weeks (and did I mention, I’m getting married in 2 weeks?). There was confusion, there was anger, self doubt, and on top of that I knew that though the chances were low, my phone might just blow up. But at least I’m told I should be able to keep the 256GB SD cards I got as part of the Note promotion, and I think I should be able to get 2 free Gear VRs for buying S7 Edges, so that’s cool.
Special thanks to Droid Life, Android Central, Gizmodo, Android Central, Material Podcast, TWiT, and everyone else that may have stressed me out, but I can’t say I wasn’t informed.
