I owe my buddy Jim Lewis a huge thank you. He has saved me a lot of aggravation. I wrote in a blog a few days ago that we went to the Verizon store in Daytona Beach so Jim could upgrade his phone, and while he was there they told us about this great deal on the Verizon Hum, a nifty little gadget that will monitor your car as you are driving, let you summon roadside assistance if you need it, and also works as a hands-free speaker for your smart phone. Verizon’s special was just $10 for the device, with a two-year contract for service at just $7.50 a month. Not bad at all. I said then that I was going to see how it worked out for Jim, and might even get one for myself.
Well, as it turns out, the darned thing has not worked right since Jim got it. It would not connect to his cell phone through the Bluetooth and nothing we tried did any good. The sales rep at Verizon had assured us that if Jim didn’t like it for any reason he could return it within 14 days. So yesterday we took it back to Verizon.
And guess what? While he can return it, he has to pay a $35 restocking fee. That’s right, $35 to return a $10 item. Or he can keep the piece of junk and pay $7.50 a month for the next 24 months. Can you say screwed? Obviously, I won’t be buying a Hum, or recommending it to anyone. Again, thank you, Jim.
A couple of years ago when we visited Jim and our friends Ron and Brenda Speidel at Pleasant Valley RV Resort in Mission, Texas, we discovered that they were all into playing darts. It’s a big thing down there and the park has a dedicated dart room and organized dart tournaments. Back there, Jim throws darts every day, and he was wondering if there is any place around here to do it. As it turns out, it’s just as popular here as it is in the Rio Grande Valley. Strokers Billard Parlor, the VFW, American Legion, Elks, and a bunch of bars and pubs all have dartboards and dart tournaments going on.
During that visit to Pleasant Valley, Ron and Jim introduced me to the sport and I really enjoyed it for the short time we were there. Since then a few of the RV parks we have visited have had dart boards, but I didn’t get around to playing. But while he has been here Jim kind of re-sparked my interest in it, and now we have a Unicorn Eclipse Pro dart board hanging in our garage, along with some darts.
We did some throwing last night, and Jim really knows what he’s doing. He’s got it down to a science.
Me, on the other hand, I’m lucky if the dart doesn’t bounce back and stick in my forehead.
Miss Terry tried it and was hooked in a hurry. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun as we learn and try to improve our technique.
I did get lucky one time, zapping all three darts right into the bull’s-eye. The only problem was, it was about five hours after we stopped playing, and then I woke up from that pleasant dream.
Speaking of Pleasant Valley RV Resort, if you would like to have your own winter hideaway there, check out this very clean one bedroom, one bath park model. All appliances and furniture included, and move-in ready. It has hardwood floors, a carport, a new metal roof, a new air conditioner, and the low annual lot rent is paid through April. All this for just $23,000. For more information, call (928) 367-4336.
A lot of you did some of your Christmas shopping online by clicking this Amazon link or the Amazon Search box at the top right sidebar of this blog. We appreciate that, because when you purchase an item on Amazon any time of the year from one of our links, we earn a small commission, which helps us offset the cost of publishing the blog.
Thought For The Day – The first rule of mule training is you must know more than the mule!
Check Out Nick’s E-Books In Our Online Store
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Why am I not surprised hat Verizon threw the screws to you, Jim or anyone else. They do not have any problem breaking there contract with you. Last year our contract was up and we walked away from them with big smiles on our face and more money in our pocket.
Wow what a scam the Verizon Hum is, give you a piece of #$@% and when it doesn’t work, as Verizon expected, they make their money with an outrageous re-stocking fee. Another corporate process designed to separate us from our hard earned money.
Same with the Verizon Hotspot gadget. We both had our iPhones in our hands, and the salesman never mentioned that they each have their own hotspot, no gadget needed. He also didn’t mention the $40 activation fee or the $175 restocking fee! So we are hooked into paying $10/month for the next two years! We are about ready to switch to AT&T.
Hey Nick,
The restocking fee for a product is based on its actual sales price $120 not the price paid in the Verizon store. In looking on the web the up front cost ranges from $0.00 to $29.95 depending on who you purchase the Hum from. To determine the actual cost without the up front chargesl look at the ETF or early termination fee. That fee is the amount of money that Verizon is paying to subsidize the Hum for the 2 year contract period. It also means the service should be available for $5 per month without subsidies.
The other point is that not all Verizon stores are actually owned by Verizon., for example, the Verizon store in Titusville is not going by Verizon and is actually a reseller . The resellers are far more likely to charge a restocking fee then the actual company owned stores .
This is a company store Keith.
Let’s see if I get this right $35 restocking fee, trumps $180 for 24 months
If you keep that app for 24 months ,,make Verizon make it work
Make them live up to their agreement
And last but not least the Better Business Bureau how wonderful they are at resolving issues
We’re beginning to think that Greg White is right? the garage queen ain’t going nowhere Past the blue line on the floor
Yeah I fell for the BS about the Hum. Started out planning to get one, then was told I could not switch between our two cars and got two of them. JUNK!!! One never would connect except sitting in the parking lot at Verizon. Other one worked about 1/3 of the time and they always said it was something I was doing wrong. I finally ate the $70 restocking fee on the two of them and gave them back. And next month when the contract runs out on our two phones we will no longer be Verizon customers. Worst business I have ever dealt with. And for the person commenting above, we were dealing with a company store, not a franchise. The employees are a bunch of smug young asshats.
I got suckered by the guys at Verizon too and got a Hum. It will not work and I have to reset it every time I use it, and by the time I get where I’m going it dies again. Any time you are in a poor service it quite working and you have to start al over and reset it when you get to an area with a signal.
My Hum worked exactly 3 days and then died. According to Verizon its my fault and apparently I need to learn to be a computer programmer to make it work.
Used to work retail, Nick…not sure the “bait and switch” phrase would help your friend get his money back…but would not hurt…sounds like the small print was not mentioned…uh huh…that phrase has helped me numerous times in problems with businesses NOT doing as promised!! Thanks for keeping folks informed!!
We had a dart board for several years and enjoyed learning the tricks. The most important one is to not overdo it. Caused the recurring tendonitis in my right elbow to flare up.
Looking up on Google play all the apps that your friend paid for are free.
+100 more,, And even after you upload them you don’t like them you could uninstall them free with no restocking fee,, and you could download them on any application or phone provider .
remember free free is always good
Has anyone thought of contacting the Better Business Bureau. The product is only days old and does not live up to its advertised function it should be replaced or refunded without any financial loss to the investor.
The BBB has helped me on a number of problems. I very highly recommend them.
It’s about time.
About that park model for sale in your park, Bev suggested that we might want to pick it up as a rental. Would you be interested in being our property manager? 8^)
Just kidding….