The following rant chronicles my descent into the bowels of Verizon hell.
My cell phone contract was about to expire and Verizon offers a "credit" on a new phone if you re-sign for another two years. Being fairly technologically savvy, I did my research on new phones, and decided on the Motorola RAZR - mainly because it had Bluetooth that would allow me to wirelessly transfer contacts, calendars and files from PC to phone.
The signup was effortless and in less than an hour I had a spanking new RAZR complete with Bluetooth headset. Even pairing the phone and PC was easy - but there was a problem. No matter what I did, I simply could not transfer files to or from the phone.
I'm not one to give up on something like this so I went online to see if I could find a solution. Lo and behold there are volumes of data explaining that the Verizon version of the RAZR has object exchange (OBEX) disabled.
Yes, there is an alternative - send the picture to any email address directly from the phone - at $.25/each + airtime. Suddenly it all makes sense. Verizon through manipulation of the phone software, is denying me access to standard phone features and forcing me to pony up every time I send a file.
OK, shame on me for not knowing this beforehand - but I don't have an alternative. Verizon is the only carrier in my area with a signal.
Just for fun, I decided to return to the Verizon store and see if there was some alternative - perhaps this was all some big mistake and in the interim had decided to turn OBEX back on. Here's the chronology of my Verizon adventure.
LIE #1
At the store, they have a "tech support" window, so I bellied up like I didn't know what was going on and explained that my phone was broken and wouldn't transfer files.
The "tech support person" explained that it was something Motorola had done as a security measure to keep nefarious Bluetooth hackers from accessing the contacts and files on my phone. When I revealed that all other wireless carriers who offer the RAZR allow OBEX, he continued to insist that it was a Motorola problem and there was nothing he could do about it.
LIE #2
Not satisfied with the tech guy's bold-faced blame shuffling, I decided to see what the phone support people had to say. After reaching a Bluetooh tech support person at Verizon, I was told that, yes, there may be a way to transfer files from my RAZR, but it was not something that Verizon tech support could not do. Would I like to talk to Motorola about it?
My hopes soaring, I was transferred to Motorola. The next sound you hear is that of Verizon hanging up on me.
The Truth #1
So I get the Motorola tech support number and proceed to explain that my Verizon RAZR won't transfer files. The MOTOtech explains that this is not something Motorola supports because it doesn't exist on Verizon RAZR - Verizon has instructed Motorola to turn off OBEX.
Finally, the painful truth
Back to Verizon tech support. By now all I want is someone to come clean. We already have confirmation from both the Internet and from the phone manufacturer that this is a Verizon marketing scheme, so stop lying and tell me the truth.
This time over at Verizon phone support, the rep couldn't answer Bluetooth questions and requested that I talk to another tech support person (already on the line) who could help. Once again, the next sound you hear is that of Verizon hanging up.
Back to Verizon phone support. Finally, I was connected to someone who admitted that the OBEX is turned off and the only way I could transfer files was to use the Verizon service at $.25/each + airtime.
Shouldn't there be some law against blatant lies - if not through legislation at least on moral grounds? I'm sure that somewhere in the contractual language there's mention of OBEX not being available. But I'm stuck, I don't have another carrier. What's more, I'm a big boy - just tell me the truth, I can handle you being the greedy monolithic corporate telecom that you are.
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