Verizon sent long-time customer a refurbished phone, wiped it remotely, and then refused to own up

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It’s not uncommon for people to buy a used or refurbished phone from a random stranger, only to realize it’s either stolen controlled by an enterprise MDM (Mobile Device Management) system. But it’s a rather unfortunate rarity when you get locked out of a device you purchased new, even when it has been bought from a reputable company like Verizon . That’s exactly the plight of someone who sent their phone for a repair, received a refurbished unit in return, and then got locked out of what was supposed to be their own device.

Redditor Tcolls86 (a Tom Collery, according to Ars Technica ) described the harrowing experience in a lengthy post. After experiencing poor 5G connectivity, Collery, a Verizon customer of more than 21 years, reportedly sent a phone, seemingly a Galaxy Z Flip, for a hardware diagnosis. Verizon support reasoned it by saying it was due to a “software malfunction.” They were informed that this was likely a manufacturing defect, and their phone would be replaced with a new one. Usually, you would rejoice at the idea of getting a new phone without paying for it. I certainly would! But that’s where things started going south for them.

First, Verizon delivered the phone to the wrong address, to the Collery’s parents’ house in New York, instead of their address in California. Then, they found out that it wasn’t exactly a new phone but a refurbished one. After being told that the phone had gone through a “150-point” checklist, they initially conceded and began using it.

Despite that, their problems with 5G didn’t go away. “If anything, it got worse,” according to them, and another advisor then informed them that the issue was likely due to network extenders in the area, refuting the whole point of replacing the phone. The advisor promised to send them an extender, which never really arrived.

A week later, when Collery called to check on the status, they were informed that network extenders were out of stock, and the advisor wasn’t sure when they would be available next. And we haven’t gotten to the actual annoying part just yet.

Life went on for Collery, and they eventually started noticing an increasing number of security updates on their phone, followed by frequent restarts. One fine day, they noticed that the phone had restarted and gotten reset to the factory condition. And, you guessed it, that wiped off the entire data stored on the phone. Every contact, photo, video, and even the last memories with their grandma before her death.

Collery wasn’t able to log into their Google or Samsung accounts, as the phone kept asking them to contact their IT admins. Verizon support wasn’t able to comprehend the issue initially and asked them to contact Samsung instead. Since calling Verizon wouldn’t help and the broken phone prevented them from going to work, Collery visited a physical store, only to be questioned about the whereabouts of the device. The store manager initially refused to believe it was sent by Verizon, and instead assumed it was either stolen or bought off eBay. After some checking, the manager told them it looked like a demo unit from the store that hadn’t been properly wiped.