1 yr left on Verizon contract but hate my phone, help!

[jennyerin]

I got a Droid Razr last year and ever since the ICS update - (2 weeks after I purchased it!) my reception has gone from bad to worse. I keep trying to make it work but get so frustrated. To top it off, the battery life is horrible. If I don't put it in airplane mode after I charge it for overnight, I have no battery charge by 9:00 am in the morning. Of course every time I call Verizon to complain about the lack of phone service, the 4G suddenly works. It is sad that my previous 3G phone had better reception. What are my options - I am debating on purchasing another phone (pre-owned) and just having it activated but where is the best place to buy from? I could take my husband's upgrade (he has a dumb phone...) but then I'd lose my unlimited data that I still have for now. Or do I pay the cancellation fee and switch to another company? I just want a smartphone that works! Thanks for reading this far...

 

[HayGan]

Was your old phone a smartphone & do you still have it? You could always reactivate that phone until your contract is up. You could then sell the Droid if you hate it that much.

You can cancel and go somewhere else. The cancellation fee is prorated for the time reamining on the contract. You could then sell the Droid to make up for the cancellation fee.

 

[jennyerin]

I've thought of going back to my DroidX but I go back and forth as to whether or not to sell the Razr. I don't know if this is the way the RAZRs are or if mine is defective... Thanks.

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

Wirefly.com is a good place to look. Also take a look at republic wireless, they have a $19 a month smartphone plan. Its a little inordinary so you should read about it first. Also tmobile has a prepaid $30 smartphone plan buried on their website.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Sounds like your Razr has issues. Dh has the orignal Razr (about 15 mos old now) and I have a 2 mo Razr HD. We are both really happy with them. It took me a little while to get used to it, though (always had HTC before).

One thing I could not do until dh showed me how was to adjust the settings so that it doesn't blow through the battery. You have to set up smart actions (it's an icon on your apps page) so that it keeps your battery usage lower. I have mine adjusted so that the background data only activates if I'm using an app. Makes the battery last much longer. I also keep the wifi off unless I am someplace where I really want to use it. At our house, the bedrooms are far enough from the router that it takes a lot of battery life to stay connected. I also have the bluetooth turned off.

With the above options and not a lot of surfing (I mostly play downloaded games, use FB, limited web surfing when out shopping or looking for places), I only have to charge my phone about every 3 days.

 

[jennyerin]

Sounds like your Razr has issues. Dh has the orignal Razr (about 15 mos old now) and I have a 2 mo Razr HD. We are both really happy with them. It took me a little while to get used to it, though (always had HTC before).

One thing I could not do until dh showed me how was to adjust the settings so that it doesn't blow through the battery. You have to set up smart actions (it's an icon on your apps page) so that it keeps your battery usage lower. I have mine adjusted so that the background data only activates if I'm using an app. Makes the battery last much longer. I also keep the wifi off unless I am someplace where I really want to use it. At our house, the bedrooms are far enough from the router that it takes a lot of battery life to stay connected. I also have the bluetooth turned off.

With the above options and not a lot of surfing (I mostly play downloaded games, use FB, limited web surfing when out shopping or looking for places), I only have to charge my phone about every 3 days.

That's what puzzles me too - I have wifi and Bluetooth off. I have smart actions set up and the guy at the Verizon store went through my apps and we got rid of everything that was a battery drain that I didn't need. I barely use it - just to check e-mails at work when I get reception and yet can rarely last the full day. Maybe I'll try to call them again. I just never get anywhere with them. Thanks!

 

[dawnball]

Spotty reception will kill your battery. Have you done a hardware reset on your phone yet? Is it covered under warranty? Asurion?

If you do decide that you need to use your husband's upgrade - it -is- possible to do that without losing unlimited data. You'll need to go to a third-party verizon dealer, not use the website, but they can do a swap (I don't recall the details, but we do these for both our smartphone lines) where the phone is activated on the dumb-phone line, then swapped to the smartphone line. We did it at costco last time, but a non-corporate verizon store should be able to do it for you too.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I was able to give my old iPhone 4 to DH and get iPhone 5 and keep unlimited on the iPhone 5. I did it at a Verizon store.

 

[sookie]

I got a Droid Razr last year and ever since the ICS update - (2 weeks after I purchased it!) my reception has gone from bad to worse. I keep trying to make it work but get so frustrated. To top it off, the battery life is horrible. If I don't put it in airplane mode after I charge it for overnight, I have no battery charge by 9:00 am in the morning. Of course every time I call Verizon to complain about the lack of phone service, the 4G suddenly works. It is sad that my previous 3G phone had better reception. What are my options - I am debating on purchasing another phone (pre-owned) and just having it activated but where is the best place to buy from? I could take my husband's upgrade (he has a dumb phone...) but then I'd lose my unlimited data that I still have for now. Or do I pay the cancellation fee and switch to another company? I just want a smartphone that works! Thanks for reading this far...

I had major issues with a verizon mifi. They had to replace my model 3 times and finally upgraded me to an LTE verson because my other model was having so many issues. But to actually get them to get me an LTE version it was a nightmare. I was so fed up, and had been on the phone so many times, I had HAD it up to my eyeballs with them. I wanted out of the contract.
They won't waive any sort of contract fee or service fee. In fact, I got one person to agree to waive 50% of it at one point, but when I told them that it was a manufacturing issue and that this was costing me $$$ because I required internet while traveling (and my MiFi was down - again) and I asked to be transferred to a higher level rep so I could get the entire contract waived so I could get something that day to take with me while traveling - they retracted that offer. I was really mad, because I paid extra money each month so I could have expedited shipping on replacements for my warranty. I had issue, after issue, after issue.

Finally I did end up getting the model switched and I was given an LTE model, but it was too little too late - I cancelled when my contract was up. They will not waive a contract no matter how much you call and gripe - about malfunctioning equipment or signal.

 

[MHopkins2]

I can't help you with the reception problem, but for the battery issue, download the (free!) Juice Defender app. My current phone rocks, but my last one had TERRIBLE battery life. Juice Defender took me from 3-4 hours to 8-10, just using the standard settings, without any (too complicated for me to bother with) customization. Hope that helps!

 

[Fyrefly]

If you're losing battery in hours you might have a hardware problem. Can they replace the phone under warranty? That would be the easiest thing to try first.

 

[wiigirl]

If you're losing battery in hours you might have a hardware problem. Can they replace the phone under warranty? That would be the easiest thing to try first.

I would definetly keep calling and complaining....they might send you a new phone or even let you upgrade.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would definetly keep calling and complaining....they might send you a new phone or even let you upgrade.

It's extremely doubtful either of these two things are going to happen.

OP, you could buy a used phone (eBay is a good place) and use that for the next year.

 

[livsmom04]

You could always find a phone on eBay and after you have found a phone sell the phone you have now. Or you could go back to the phone you originally had and sell the one you have now.

Also do you have insurance on the phone? If so you could call them to get a replacement phone.

 

[jennyerin]

WOW! Lot's of responses! Thank you! I am still under warranty for another month or two so I plan to keep hounding them but if I have no success, I will probably just try to buy a used phone somewhere.