I have been having trouble with my cell phone, so I though it was time for a new one. I had gotten this one, a Nokia, over five years ago from Verizon. It had served me well over those years, and I had had no real issues with Verizon either. I really don’t use it much, just a few minutes a month. It is more for security on the road than anything else. So, I have never renewed my contract. I just left them bill me monthly for the past 3 years.

All was well until I went shopping for a new phone. I stopped at the Verizon booth in the local mall to check what was available. After looking at the phones, I chose a simple one… I don’t need mp3 players, cameras, video, or web browsers. I just want to be able to make and take phone calls. Then the clerk looks up my account, and this is when the trouble started. I was informed that they would not sell me a new phone unless I took out a new contract. I told the clerk that I didn’t want a new contract, and I was not looking for a discount on the phone. I just wanted a new phone, at my expense, and no new contract. No deal. Then I went to another Verizon dealer, and was told the same thing.

I emailed Verizon’s customer support, and received an answer about a week later. (A week wait for an answer is customer service?) Again, the story was the same, except that they would allow me to buy a used phone without taking out a new contract; so the policy seems to come from corporate, and not the local stores. My answer was thanks, but no thanks.

Now this seemed like a very strange and stupid business policy. Verizon would have made money on the new phone, and they would continue to make money on my monthly account. Why then would they have such a policy? I asked the other phone vendors, Cingular, Nextel, and Sprint. They have no such policy. Their policy is that a new contract is necessary to get a free or discounted phone, but it was perfectly acceptable to otherwise buy a new phone anytime.

Still I needed a new phone, and I would have to take out a contract with another vendor anyway. So why not just take out a new contract with Verizon? The answer to that is simple. I refuse to reward stupidity, and this issue could come up again. Obviously, Verizon did not value me as a customer.

Oh, I am now a Cingular customer with about 4 bars of happiness, and Verizon has lost a customer forever.