During this hour-long Verizon Wireless store experience, I learned about the following complications with Verizon Wireless fees and billing:

1. There is a $35 restocking fee if you exchange your phone for a different model or color, or if you return your phone and buy a new one within 3 days. There should be no restocking fee if you return your phone and buy a new one in 4 days, however the Verizon computer system forces the employees to charge a $35 restocking fee even if a customer is simply returning their phone. A manager can override the fee, though some stores do not have managers working during all business hours. In my case, I had to drive to to a different store that had a manager that could help me.

   Solution: Verizon Wireless needs to change their computer system so employees can process returns without charging the $35 fee. Currently, their computer system doesn’t allow them to follow their own restocking fee policy. Also, when the sales people happily advertise that you can return or exchange your phone within 15 days, they need to be clear and up-front about the $35 restocking fee rule.

2. The “upgrade” price for a phone a 2-year contract extension on an existing account/phone number is higher than the price for a new phone that is attached to a brand new phone number. To offset that, Verizon offers a “new every two” program that gives certain eligible users a credit towards the cost of a new phone. They also charge a $35 activation fee for new lines of service, but not for upgrades.

   Solution: Get rid of the “new every two” deal. Don’t charge a $35 activation fee on new activations. Make the cost of a phone for a new line of service or an upgraded existing line the same. That may mean that the cost of a phone on a new account needs to go up slightly, while the cost of a phone upgrade needs to go down slightly. The end result should be consistent prices regardless of if you’re a brand new customer or if you’re upgrading your existing account.

3. The cost of a phone on verizonwireless.com is usually less than the cost of the same phone in a Verizon Wireless corporate store. Example: the Samsung Alias 2 is currently $50 online (after a $50 instant rebate), but it is $150 (after a $50 mail-in rebate) in-store.  I found this out the hard way by purchasing the Alias 2 in-store.  I now lost $100, and am not a happy customer.

   Solution: Make the online prices match the in-store prices. I don’t care if the stores have more overhead cost. Whether you buy in-store or online from Verizon Wireless, they are the same company. Raise your online prices and lower your in-store prices if you must….just make the prices consistent.

4. One corporate-owned Verizon Wireless store that I visited charges $10 to transfer contacts from an old phone to a newly purchased upgraded phone. This policy is non-negotiable. Two other Verizon Wireless stores that I visited (both old Alltel stores) clearly state that phonebook transfers are free if you purchased an upgraded phone.

   Solution: Come up with one policy and enforce it across all of your corporate-owned Verizon stores.

During my hour of time in the Verizon store, I saw 3-4 other customers come in. Every single one of them had similar pricing issues that were a direct result of the issues above. Every single one of them walked out of the store as unhappy Verizon Wireless customers. Each of them are now at risk to Verizon of leaving and going to another company. If Verizon wants to retain customers (and good employees), they need to make sure that all customers walk out of their stores happier than when they walked in. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make their pricing and policies more consistent.

• H&R Block Federal (don’t file your state return through H&R Block….they will charge you!) Instead, use the free Ohio I-File link below.
• Ohio I-File

I’ve been using GrandCentral for a while, and I love it. I have a virtual phone number that will forward to my various real phones. I can filter out spam calls. I can listen to my voicemail online. The list goes on.

Here are some of the new Google Voice features:

• SMS text message support: send and receive text messages via your Google Voice number. Messages are forwarded to the cell phones on your account. You can reply directly from any of your cell phones, or from your computer. This is the most important feature in my book!
• Voicemail transcriptions: your voicemail messages can be automatically transcribed, which will allow you to search through your messages easily from your inbox.
• Conference calling: up to 5 people can call your Google Voice number at the same time, and you can conference them all in together.

And now, the important info you need to know: Google Voice will only be available to existing GrandCentral users initially. HOWEVER, you can request an invitation when it becomes available by filling out a simple form!

This idea expands upon my original panoramic photo of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, OH:

Trinity Cathedral - Cleveland, OH

I want to take that single photo to the next level, which includes traveling to Europe to create similar interior photos of various cathedrals.  I will make large format prints available, and will also create a book with the pics that I take.  To support the churches I visit, I will donate photos, books, or some sales proceeds to the churches.

But I need your help to make this dream happen.  Please vote for my idea! The contest ends on 4/3/09 at 11:59:59 EST.  Thanks in advance!
Jon

Sure, Google will be happy to tell you about how secure their systems are.  I’m sure they’d be happy to point out that they will not share this confidential info with others under most circumstances.  However, if any organization were to subpoena Google for your records (insurance company, employer, etc.), Google may be required to hand it over.  Your usual HIPAA-provided legal protection would be non-existant at Google.

Here are pics of Mr. Jobs after and before his weight loss:

Image courtesy Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

My guess: Steve Jobs has Celiac disease.  The effects of Celiac disease are that villi in the intenstine are unable to absorb nutrients.  This happens when a person with Celiac disease has gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye (some doctors may also recommend avoiding oats and other grains).  There is no cure, though the effects can be reversed simply by avoiding foods with gluten in them.

If Mr. Jobs does have Celiac disease, he would be able to get back to a “normal” weight simply by avoiding bread, cereal, certain sauces, and other products that contain wheat, barley, and rye.  My guess is that he would get back to his usual weight by late spring, just like the letter says.

Disclaimer: this is pure speculation on my part, and this is only my opinion based on my limited knowledge of celiac disease.  I am not a doctor of any sort, and I am not disclosing any private information about Mr. Jobs’ health.

• “qes_x5″ circuit board (I’m guessing this is just the name they chose when designing the board)
• (6) CR2016 3V batteries (which appear to be lightly soldered in)
• QESA080713 display w/ 12-pin connector (this is the outside front cover display)
• QESA080718 display w/ 4-pin connector (this is the inside front cover display…aka the Ford ad)
• HEF4094BT 8-stage shift-and-store bus register
• 12F629 8-Pin FLASH-Based 8-bit CMOS microcontroller

This seems to operate at a very basic level.  Each display is separated into multiple sections (one display has 3 sections, the other has 11).  Each section is sent an on or off signal from the circuit board.  The display cannot show anything other than what it was designed to show.  So that means you can’t customize these to say whatever you want.  However, you could theoretically connect your own display to it, if you had one that would have either 4 or 12 inputs on it.

The power source also has potential to be modified.  Anyone care to remove the batteries and hook up some solar cells?

Even with the potential hackability, I’m having a hard time coming up with something useful for someone to make out of this.  Since the display screens currently operate in a serial manner (i.e. they have one wire per section that turns on/off), it’s not possible to make this into a real e-reader.  But only time will tell how people will try to hack these.  And…Esquire is encouraging people to hack them!

And see what Esquire has to say about recycling these magazines.

http://www.apple.com/retail/crockerpark/

Here is the address/phone number:
267 Crocker Park Blvd.
Westlake, OH 44145
(440) 788-2800

They’ll be giving out free t-shirts to the first 1,000 people. I’ll try to go and will post some pics here tomorrow