[HTC Rezound] tynman11:
Hello all, sorry for the long post, but looking for thoughts, opinions and suggestions on this.

Issue:

My wife and I upgraded to Rezounds last November and since then we've been through a total of 16 refurbs. Anything from bad LEDs, to overheating, to dead pixels, to light leakage, to continuous reboots... You name it, we've had it. In each case we contacted Verizon, explained the issue, and Verizon then sends us a refurb. We've had several cases where the refurb would be DOA right out of the box and, in fact, have had replacements sent out on 4 consecutive days. I've finally gotten sick of it and have escalated to managers at Verizon, HTC and PCD (supposedly the company that is actually fixing the devices that are marked as refurb). In each case I've remained calm, courteous and professional since I know that getting rude and abrasive won't get me anywhere. Here's a summary of the conversations from each company.

Verizon:

I was escalated from the first line CSR to a tech support rep and then to what I'll refer to as a customer relations rep. I was given the option of going with the Galaxy Nexus or the Razr as comparable devices which Verizon actually considers an "upgrade"; however, in my opinion, neither of these are comparable. I use the camera ALOT so that's an important feature to me so the Nexus was out and the non-removable battery/storage is an issue for me with the Razr. I explained that my preference would be to either get a NEW rezound vs a refurb or be upgraded to the GS3 as that's really the only device that is "as good or better" than the rezound. Of course, that option was out being that this is a newer phone despite the fact that I offered to pay the difference. Against my better judgment, Verizon actually sent me a Nexus to try out. I did some photo/video comparisons between the Rezound/Nexus and the differences were pretty stark. The Rezound blew the Nexus away so I sent it back. I then explained my preference again of either getting a new rezound or a SG3 and was told that, since I tried the nexus, it was considered an "upgrade" and that because of this the GS3 was not an option. I said that this conflicted with what I was told earlier, but the manager fell back to the stance that this was a newer phone and not an option here. The manager basically gave me 2 options: 1. Continue requesting refurbs or 2. Purchase another phone off of Amazon/Craigslist since I'm not eligible for an upgrade right now. I calmly explained that I might come out cheaper if I paid the ETF and subsidized another phone with another carrier, but that didn’t get me anywhere. It was at that point that Verizon suggested that I contact HTC to see if there was something they could do.

HTC:

I was escalated in a simlar matter with HTC to a manager. The manager explained to me that they have nothing to do with the repairs of refurbs and that Verizon contracts to PCD to do the repairs on these devices. I was then directed to call PCD or go back to Verizon. I explained the quality control issues on these refurbs and that I'd be concerned if I were them that this is giving HTC a bad rep since most people probably assume that they come from HTC. I asked if there was anything that HTC could do and the manager took my name/number and said she would call me back within 24 hours; however, that was 3 days ago so I decided to call PCD.

PCD:

I was escalated to a manager here as well. The manager took the IMEI number from my recent refurb that I just returned back to Verizon. He confirmed that PCD did "certify" this phone; however, it was done by another company that PCD contracts to. I wasn't given the info on this company. I was told that PCD only repairs the devices and that my only option with them was to send in my refurb to them for repair or go back to Verizon and request another refurb. Two issues here is that I'd have to pay for shipping and be without a phone for an undetermined amount of time while they worked on it and, to be frank, I don't trust that they would fix the problem anyway given all of the bad refurbs I've gotten. I basically ended the call alerting the manager that they have quality control issues with their refurbs. He said he made a note of it and would look into it.

All of the managers that I've spoken with have been very understanding and courteous; however, no one has provided an acceptable solution to the issue. All of these companies seem to be "caught in the middle" with no one really accepting any responsibility for customer satisfaction or standing by what they are selling. But basically, after all this time and effort, I’m right back where I started with running through refurbs until I get one that finally works. Of course, come November when the 1 year warranty runs out I’ll be in trouble…

Again, just looking for thoughts, opinions and suggestions as well as if anyone else has experienced issues with refurbs.