HandsetsNews

Droid Broken? Verizon’s Willing to Step You Up to the Droid 2 for a Replacement

35

Verizon’s apparently going to be offering Motorola Droid 2s to folks whose phones are rendered inoperable by way of chance. This isn’t to be confused with an insurance claim (like one you might take up with their insurance partner Asurion): you can’t just happen to throw your phone off of a bridge and storm into Big Red’s store asking for a new one. If your Droid is bunked beyond repair (we hear some phones have “bricked” through the upgrade process to Android 2.2) and it’s not your fault, then let them know and see if you can’t wrestle a Droid 2 from their hands.

motorola_droid_2_verizon-540x429

This is based on reports from two of Droid-Life‘s readers – Phil and Tyler – with one getting a Droid 2 in place of the Eris and the other getting it in place of his original Droid. Your mileage may definitely vary so don’t get too excited until the Verizon employee tells you they’re about to bust a Droid 2 out on you… then you’re free to hop over the counter and kiss them rather violently (yes, kissing someone can get violent given the proper circumstance.)

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

Android Robot Toys From DeadZebra [UNBOXING]

Previous article

T-Mobile G2 September 29th?

Next article

You may also like

35 Comments

  1. There not doing this at any of the stores I been to in houston my og keys on the keyboard started coming of so the replaced it with a new moto droid1 and when I got that one the the headset on the phone didn’t work so the sent me another and this one works good but I have had 3 different droids in the last week I wish I was offered a droid2…. oh yeah when I took my og droid I had 2.2 with flash and one of the techs was like how do u have 2.2 with flash and wifi tether I had the app icon on my home screen and said we had the wifi tether disable so people would get the d2 and I was like some people know there way around the system and just like the iphone there’s app for that lol … so I hope I don’t get charge for wifi tethering

  2. Not sure if they’re doing it here in CT but I not only do I wish they would. I wish they’d extend it to the Eris as well. Not only has my volume toggle fallen off but my performance and stability has gone to hell since it upgraded to Eclair. 10+ seconds to initiate a phone call after tapping the call button on a contact is beyond unacceptable (not to mention the 10+ seconds it takes to load the contacts app when not using the widget).

  3. I know I’m a minority, but if I got “upgraded” to a Droid 2 right now, I’d be peeved. I’ve gotten too used to root apps and custom roms. Wait until it’s been hacked :)

  4. Yeah I’d rather be “upgraded” to a phone that doesn’t have an encrypted bootloader…

    I’d be tempted to sell the device in the box, and buy a used Droid 1…

  5. Well it sure didn’t happen to me. My phone was basically bricked and they sent me a refurbished droid, which i am kind of pissed about, since I paid for a new phone and now have a used one. With this article out, I may just call them back and tell them I want a new phone. Any one else run into this same problem and called back for a new phone?

  6. I’m in VA and somebody just walked out the place with a droid 2. I’m using my regular droid. i was thinking about upgrading but i heard the droid 2 has a bootloader just like the droid x.

  7. Getting a phone that can’t run custom roms is no ugrade.

  8. If they offered me the upgrade to a Droid2 and said they couldn’t replace my Droid with the same model, i’d cancel my contract. I refuse to switch to a bootloader-installed, ninjablur-running phone. yes, in a year i’ll be the guy with the old phone…. but y’know what – i don’t care!

  9. @scubasnac9 – How long did you have your Droid, though? It’s not as though it’s STILL a new phone. Furthermore, if your “new” device bricked, then it’s not as though a new device is necessarily any better than a refurb.

  10. @kevinski – I had my original droid from Nov. 21 2009 till, 2 weeks ago. My problem is the phone is under warranty for 1 year from manufacturer defects. Just like any other time I have a problem with a product that should not be happening, I go back and they give me a new product to replace the current one that is not working. This should apply to my cell phone as well. These devices are not cheap and if my phone is not going to work 100% like it should and I need to replace the phone, I expect to have a new device, not a refurb. Let me give you an example, when I purchased my PS3 ($400.00), it messed up so I took it back to the retailer and they gave me a brand new one, in a new box, etc. I expect the same to happen with a phone as well.

  11. 2.2 bricked my Droid yesterday. Spent an hour in line at the Verizon store this morning, and tried to get them to substitute the Droid2. No dice, and on top of that, they didn’t have any Droids in stock so I have to wait until Fedex delivers it tomorrow.

  12. @scubasnac9..had the same issue as you, got the droid when it came out and the 2.2 upgrade messed it up and got sent a refurb, agree that we should get a new phone since we paid for a new phone, now I want to call and find out if i can get a droid 2

  13. *breaks phone*

    i can haz droid 2 now?

  14. @bobby – I feel your pain, except I had to go even further! Verizon said they put my address in correctly, Fed Ex was supposed to deliver in 2 days, which didnt happen. I called 611 and the Verizon guy said the address was right. Still no delivery 4 days later. Called Fed Ex, they said Verizon did not submit the correct paperwork to have my address changed (which was correct in the first place). So I ended up driving up to my local Fed Ex hub to pick up my phone 5 days later. Good luck getting your phone, I hope they put the right address in.

  15. @jo – if you decide to call, would you post the response you get on here and I will do the same if I end up calling them. I should at least try to get some money off the bill since I didn’t have full service for a WEEK!

  16. @scubasnac9

    The terms of the Warrenty will clearly state that you are not guarenteed a new phone if a replacement is required. That is why the likes of Best Buy and Assurion offer replacement plans that highlight the fact that they’ll give you a new phone of the current model or an equivalent if it’s not available. The refurbs are typically returned merchandise or phones Assurion/BB got and send to Verizon for Credit.

  17. @kb
    Thanks for the information on the Verizon warranty, I never read the fine print. In response to your mention of Best Buy (which is where I purchased the PS3), I didn’t even mention the warranty and they provided me with a new console. I guess that differs between companies.

  18. HA!!! Anyone that falls for this trick to get you to turn in your Google Experience, completely unlocked, completely hackable Moto DROID for some POS encrypted DROID 2 is a total idiot! I promise that when they day comes that you can’t get an OG DROID (RIP) from Verizon my OG DROID will be worth more than I paid for it because there will be a high demand for a truely open device! And don’t think that just because they figured out a way to get froyo on your DROID X before officially released that they are going to figure out how to get to the kernel so that you can put a true custom ROM on your device. The encrypted boot loader phones will not be hacked until manufacturer decides to allow it. End of story. Too bad my next phone won’t be made by motorola….they really do make some of the best hardware…

  19. I would like to say that my Droid one had a broken charge port (the plastic and metal pins got messed up, probably from the restraint of the small charge cable being on the side of the phone…) I had went into Verizon and I could’ve gotten a replacement from Insurion for $90 OR they allowed me to upgrade to a Droid X or a Droid 2. I opted for the Droid X, but I could’ve gotten a Droid 2. Just wanted to let you guys know. If you want to read my full writeup on my Droid problem, check out my website which is linked to this comment ;)

  20. This is true. My Droid was bricked from the froyo 2.2 update and I called them and they are now sending me the Droid 2 because no more replacements are available. Not sure if you can negotiate for a Droid 2 though, I’m only getting mine because of the unavailability of the original droid.

  21. I was able to wrangle a CPO Droid as a replacement for a second-time-crapout on my wife’s Droid Eris. Took some crying, whining, fist-shaking, and downright mean looks, but the Droid is on its way :-)

  22. I got a moto droid and i got 2.2 loaded on my phone with no problem but it get laggy when gettin to home screen is it worth even tryin to get a replacement with out having to get a droid 2

  23. Well I have a brand new Droid 2 on the way. My second replacement (refub) was not working right at all. Called told a good story (yes it was true) and then got on the phone with the manager who is the one who has to give permission to get a different replacement phone. No stores around have a Droid 2 replacement, so they are shipping me a brand new one. I guess some luck, a good story and being nice can get you a new one. Just be prepared with everything going wrong before you call. Good luck!

  24. Called today with drop call issues and the screen not able to swipe after unlock and I’m getting a Droid 1 refurb. :(

  25. @ThisIsCrazy, i feel for ya..they told me there was going to be a 72 – 96 hour waiting period before i got a droid refurb and i told them it couldn’t happen, it was my only line of communication. I am sorry to hear your getting the refurb, hope it works.

  26. I just returned from Verizon. Droid 1, power button/volume/scrolling/loose slider/loose phone jack/cant answer calls issues. They are sending a referb’d Droid 1…I said I heard that they were out. Manager said ‘No they just got a huge shipment of Droid 1’s in for warranty. He was almost totally positive it would be a Droid 1…I’m happy bout that. :)

  27. Oh ya, my receipt said warranty replacement…then further down A855. so pretty sure they are back in stock.

  28. hey guys.i got the same problem with my moto droid. tell me one thing if a person dont have protection plan or insurance
    will they still change the cell phone??

  29. hey guys.i got the same problem with my moto droid. tell me one thing if a person dont have protection plan or insurance
    will they(verizon) still change the cell phone??

  30. @josh, even if you dont have a protection plan or insurance, your phone is still covered under a verzion and manufacturers warranty for 1 year from your date of purchase. Sometimes, if you have a good store that likes to take care of their customer’s, they will even replace the phone if it is out of the warranty date, but since the original droid did not come out till (i think) Nov. of 2009, it should still be under warranty.

    You can take it into the store, they will probably do a hard reset, but make sure to back everything up before you go in, because a hard reset will erase everything on your phone. Also, make sure when they do it, to take out your MicoSD card, just in case something messes up and it erases that as well. I suggest writing down your apps, so you dont forget to install one after the wipe. The other option you have is calling 611 from your phone and talking to customer support, they can ship you a phone directly, without you having to go into the store, but it can take a couple of days.

  31. This morning my droid 1 was working perfectly and i was listening to Last.fm as i got ready to go to university. I closed Last.fm and started to drive to university, when i noticed that my 3g turned into 1x for the whole trip. So i turned off my phone and from there on my droid keeps restarting after the 1 min that it is on.
    So:
    I turn on Droid…Droid shuts down after 1 minute…droid restarts and then restarts again.

    I have tried to take out the battery…Anyone know if best buy will replace my phone with a droid or droidx since I bought it within a year and it seems as though it is a internal droid error.

    Thanks

  32. @Luis Retana, your phone has a 1 year manufacturers warranty and I am sure has some type of warranty from Best Buy. I cannot speak to Best Buy’s cell phone practice, since I have not used them before. I do know for a fact you have a manufacturers warranty and if Best Buy wont do anything ( i think they will) you can always call Motorola. (1-800-331-6456 is the number I was given by Verizon, if we got disconnected)

  33. Had a Droid that didn’t work, got 3 different refurbished droids, all did the same thing. Called Verizon again they offered to get me a different newer droid for all the trouble…sent it to me, have had it more than 30days. I noticed they charged my account for the phone, called Verizon and they said they would take care of it. Bill payment was due and the account still showed phone charged on the account, called Verizon AGAIN, they said just pay the normal amount and that they will take off the phone. Get new bill, still on there. Call Verizon AGAIN, this time they informed me too bad so sad you have to pay for it and if you don’t pay the balance service will be shut off. They had SEVERAL times to tell us the phone would no longer be FREE when we called about the charge the first time. Now they are saying it is passed the return date policy and they will not take it back and they will not give to us in place of the old phone! ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS ISSUE!!??

  34. after 3 trash droid replacements from Verizon on the phone, the rep just said it was time for something different and just fixed me up with a droid 2. so they are definitely giving out droid 2’s for droid replacments.

  35. 3 replacement droid 2 and will not give me new phone said they will keep sending replacement until one works

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Handsets