Effective 3/31 Verizon will be revising their Warranty Exchange program. More specifically their CLNR program. CLNR is Verizon’s Certified Like-New Program. This luxury is used when a customer has to request a warranty exchange on a device. The Warranty exchange process is used for customers outside of their 30 days to return/exhange. But, you are still within the manufacturer’s one year warranty. Typically if you fell into this time frame , you would call for support, they would determine that you have an issue and then set you up with a replacement.

Usually the replacement procedure is as follows. A phone without a battery/battery cover is sent to your home with a return label for you to send your defective phone back. Now you are good to go. Right?

This is where things get dicey

Apparently they will be some new internal evaluation of each device sent back. Upon recipt of your defective device it will be thoroughly examined. Something comparable to the way your mother gets checked out every year. Except this time pictures will be taken and emailed to you with an explanation. If your device is determined to be “out of warranty” You will be hit $99 for feature phones and $299 for Smartphones and tablets. You will see these fees hit your bill within one-two billing cycles,

What is really strange is how they are determining “out of warranty” status. Take a look at the picture below. To the average person, that phone looks to be in immaculate condition. However, take note of their evaulation

  • No blemishes are permitted on front surfaces..
  • No flaws or defects on lens
  • Ports must be free of foreign material or corrosion

Those just to name a few. There seems to be a HUGE gray area in what is covered and what isn’t. In the end, I can see they are really pushing customers towards getting the Total Equipment Protection. If I were you, I would get a good case or get the total equipment protection. From the looks of these docs, if your devices has the slightest defect, you could get hit with a charge. Two strikes and your out! What kind of sport is that?

I’m still in shock. As a new Verizon customer. I don’t know if I should be alarmed or if this would even apply to me. Since I have Total Equipment protection, I wouldn’t be subjected to “all” these rules. As far as the rest of the customers, I can’t help but say it, but you are getting screwed. While these documents are real, it almost seems like a April fools joke. I assure you that it isn’t. Be Sure to check out the full details in the gallery below.

Oh and before I leave you wondering, “What Verizon was thinking?”…For those of you near verizon service centers. Those stores will only carry a few devices on hand to replace. Also they are only to distributed out on an Emergency basis. Meaning, if you are not military or a smartphone user. You could be out of luck. For some strange reason windows Phones are not included in this emergency, neither are iPhones. Once again, Android looks to be the golden child.

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