Is it possible to replace my phone?

Just go to a store like Wal-Mart or Ace Hardware, and you can pick up a phone for less than $20, then bring it home, plug it in and start using it.

No sweat.

August 29, 2008, 10:27 AM EDT

get an international calling card for a few bucks that lets you talk for hours.

It sounds like a cell phone, in which case that might not work.

If it is a cell phone, go to Verizon. Tell them what happened. They might try to repair it there (my old Verizon store had a repair center (mine = the one I went to)), otherwise if you have phone insurance they’ll replace it in a completely crappily way that will take a few days.

If you are on the account and it is time for an upgrade you can get a free phone. If you are not on the account, again, explain what happened and ask what you need to do to be able to get a replacement. My mom was the account holder for my phone, but made it so that I could do anything on the account. Even so, I often still needed the last four digits of her social to access the account.

@JackAdams :: I’m pretty sure we are talking about a cell phone here.

Also, when you talk to Verizon, be polite no matter how frustrating it gets. That will do a lot towards them wanting to help you.

@johnpowell: It would have helped, if the question poser had mentioned the kind of phone (landline vs. cellular).

August 29, 2008, 10:37 AM EDT

More on Verizon’s phone insurance: another company, not actually Verizon handles it. When you call them you need to be polite, but firm that they must overnight you a new phone. They’ll want to send it so it arrives in a few days, being without a phone that long is unacceptable. They must overnight it.

If you are polite and insistent, they will agree to it eventually. (When I needed a phone -that fell apart in my hands – replaced, they really dragged their feet but did the overnight in the end. Of course, I also had to drive 300 miles to my sister’s wedding in two days, and my mom found the idea of my being on the road and phoneless very unacceptable. She takes firm, but polite to a new level of getting what she wants out of people.)

I’ve done this multiple times before: Find a friend with an old Verizon phone (even if it’s really crappy) and ask them if you can have it. There’s probably no way they’ll ever use it again and if it actually is crappy, they won’t be able to sell it. Then you can go to the Verizon store and just have them activate this used phone.

Make sure to tell them that the phone is used so they don’t restart your 24 month rebate period (or whatever it is) until you can get a new phone.

If you have insurance, you’re golden. Replaced no problem. Otherwise they have ways of detecting water damage in a phone. There are these cute little strips in the phone which are originally white but turn a different color when peed on. This is so they can determine if you were careless with your device. Or in your case, if your pooch was.

And if my dog ever did that to my Blackberry it’s end up a permanent part of his bottom. Then he could excrete on it any time he wanted.