I recently was working with a client and as sometimes happens, I could not get on their network. Not a problem, I understand in today’s day and age of security and not allowing shampoo on airplanes etc, that roving laptops on networks are not a good idea. I went to the Verizon store that night and purchased a new MiFi, one of their new wireless broadband devices and let me tell you, it works great. I had a bit of a problem with the device though, as happens in today’s electronic times, and it would not power on consistently with the battery in. I took it to the Verizon store in my local mall and they basically threw me out stating that since it was under 30 days and the store it bought it from was a Verizon "Authorized Reseller" I needed to take it back to them. Yes, even if it was 1800 miles away. I called customer support and also received little help and was told they could not help me for thirty days. They could also not take a return, I would need to mail it back to Verizon. (Which I was very close to doing).

On my way to another store I passed a freestanding Verizon retail outlet and decided to give them a try right before closing. I explained the problem and the previous services to the manager and she was more than helpful in trying different batteries and making any tweaks she could without actually replacing the device. She explained to me that she could not actually replace the device for 2 reasons for 30 days.

1. The systems between Verizon wireless and their authorized resellers don’t talk to each other so she could not access my account until it had been active for 30 days.
2. Their audit would penalize them for an unaccounted for unit since she could not assign it to my account.

   While these both frustrated me, I understand and since she had worked so hard to try and fix the device, I thanked her and left, feeling better about the company and the product.

   What a great example of how data integration technologies should be implemented properly. More from my travels soon !