Broken Droid 6 months ahead of schedule. Help!

May 17, 2011 11:38 AM

My HTC Droid Eris is pretty much out-of-commission...6 months before my contract with Verizon is up (and I'm eligible for a discounted new phone). The warranty is up also. What are my options?

The touch-screen on my Eris has a lot of 'dead' spots, prohibiting me from making phone calls, checking my voice mail, or sending txts. This isn't going to work for the next six months.

I was planning on riding this phone out until October when I'm eligible for the $200 iPhone 4. But alas, to get an iphone now would cost upwards of $600, which I cannot afford.

So what are my options?

1) Have my phone fixed? Is this even worth it? I have no idea how much this would cost.

2) Any chance I can haggle the Verizon people into letting me get an early discount? Or is this pretty much a non-starter?

3) Purchase other non-smartphone on the cheap to get me through until October. The problem? I've gotten awfully used to my smartphone's features.

4) A friend of mine has an Eris about the same age as mine but it works properly. He doesn't use it (doesn't want to pay the data plan). He offered to sell it to me for $20 (which is what Verizon would give him for it). Any downsides to this? Will I be able to just take both phones into Verizon and have them wipe his phone and switch the number set-up and all of that?

Is there another option? Or anything I'm not thinking of?

Thanks Hive.

posted by Lutoslawski to technology (10 answers total)

Option 4 is your best bet. Just wipe his phone before hand, take it in, and ask them to do the switch. As long as their is no active line attached to the friend's Droid Eris, that should be a non-starter for them.
posted by deezil at 11:48 AM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Option 4 sounds like the way to go. The people at the VZW store should be able to do a service switch from one phone to the other. Just make it clear that you do NOT want to re-up your contract when doing this, because that can delay when you'll get a subsidy for the iphone. Get that in writing from a manager, in fact.

Other option - see if they'll subsidize you early. Show them the broken phone, and tell them you'll switch to AT&T to get an iphone if they won't give you the $200 deal right now. A manager can make it happen.
posted by Citrus at 11:50 AM on May 17, 2011

The eris has a trackball. I've not used an eris, but my aria and nexus1 both let me navigate on screen with that instead of using the touch screen.

Inconvenient, but it may be you can limp along with your phone as it is.
posted by devbrain at 12:06 PM on May 17, 2011

I'm also not eligible for my new-every-two until October, but they bug me weekly about discounted phones, so I checked it out. I can get a certified pre-owned Droid X for $99. My husband loves his.
posted by desjardins at 12:09 PM on May 17, 2011

Option 4 should work. Could probably do it over the phone. Call customer service or the line to activate a new phone and they walk you through it.

I have changed the screen on a BB Curve and can report that if you follow the steps in the youTube video, it is easy. Watch this video or this one both for your phone.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:37 PM on May 17, 2011

$20? Holy crap, Option 4! Just call the VZW store and confirm that they'll switch you over.
posted by Tehhund at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2011

Thanks for the great response! I think I am going to go for option 4, after making sure I can do a switch. Thanks guys.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:48 PM on May 17, 2011

You can activate the new phone without going into the verizon store, just call the support number, they will tell you how. Not a big deal, i do this all the time when one of the kids lose/break a phone and we use an old, decommissioned phone until they can get a new one.
posted by tomswift at 3:18 PM on May 17, 2011

Yep, I've done it twice now, buying used phones on Ebay and activating them (in place of my existing phone) without extending/renewing a contract - in fact, my last 2-year contract ended almost 2 years ago.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:54 PM on May 17, 2011

Option 4, but check with Verizon, they'll sometimes let you upgrade way early... I'm not technically eligible until January but I can get the contract rate starting next month (after one year).
posted by ista at 5:17 PM on May 17, 2011