Apparently, you *can* hear me now

How often do we have horror stories to share about the woeful state of customer service nowadays? You're correct -- far too often. So, I felt obliged to share a positive story of a company going a little above and beyond. And shockingly, that company delivers telecommunications services! No, no, gentle reader -- it's not Comcast. That would be ridiculous. It's Verizon Wireless!

I have had my LG VX8700 for just over a year now. And it's that "just over" part of the phrase that gave rise to the problem. See, about a week ago the battery in my phone stopped holding a charge for longer than about ten hours. Doesn't matter how many calls I make, or don't -- that was the limit. Ten hours.

I sauntered on in to my friendly neighborhood VZW store yesterday to get a replacement battery. The extremely [sarcasm] nice and helpful [/sarcasm] Customer Service rep informed that because the warranty on my phone had expired about three weeks ago, I would be obligated to pay $41.99 for a new battery. "Ah," I replied, "but I had the foresight to pay the extra $5 a month for insurance against loss, damage or Act of al-Qaeda. So make with the replacement battery." Mais non -- that insurance policy doesn't apply to accessories. And the battery, dear reader, is deemed by the Verizon Wireless Corporation to be an accessory. Ohhh, don't bother me with your clever arguments that no cell phone can complete its ordinary and necessary function without a battery, that's it an integral and indivisible part of the phone. VZW sez it's an accessory, so it's an accessory!

I decided to politely decline the rep's offer to take more of my money, and thought I'd try my hand with VZW's 800 number. The first woman to whom I spoke regurgitated the exact same line as my good friend in the store. When I noted that I was being given little reason to stay as a VZW customer when, oh, Boost Mobile is shilling the Hades out of its $50-for-everything plan. . . well, then my luck started turning around a bit. I was given a supervisor -- that magic title! -- to speak to, who immediately offered to send me a new battery for $20. Progress. Undeterred, however, I noted that the phone was only three weeks out of warranty, and that I had been a customer of VZW for about ten years. (truth! I was a Bell Atlantic Mobile customer even before the merger with GTE!) The supervisor put me on hold for about 60 seconds, and then came back and said that she was mailing me a new battery gratis. Say it with me, Viking Quest fans: VICTORYYYYYY!!!

I do give thanks where thanks is due. It took some wrangling, and I *almost* had to not be nice, but I got a new battery for my cell phone at no cost. Truly, every day is a gift.