Chris navigated Verizon Wireless’s troubled phone upgrade waters and came away with Droids for both himself and his wife, even though her upgrade date was still a ways off. Earlier, his wife had gotten a new Voyager with assurances that her contract renewal date wouldn’t be affected.

Turns out Verizon moved back her renewal date to 2011 anyway. Chris called to negotiate with Verizon, which reset the contracts and let the couple get a pair of new Droids. He writes:

On Thursday night, I went online to check her equipment renewal date, and was shocked to see that it was in January of 2011 which meant that her the Voyager Titanium had in fact change her upgrade date despite the previous CSR’s assurances to the contrary. I called Verizon, and the first CSR I spoke to told me that there was nothing she could do, as receiving a new phone as a replacement virtually guarantees that your upgrade date will be extended. I asked to speak to her manager, and she put me through to a guy named Roman.

I gave Roman a recap of my wife’s previous struggles with her Voyagers and made sure to reiterate that the CSR we spoke to assured us that her upgrade date wouldn’t change. He stated, rather matter-of-factly, that receiving a new phone as a replacement changes your upgrade date, and there wasn’t anything on the new phone replacement order that would indicate they should handle things any differently.

At this point, I’m getting upset. I’m telling him that we were lied to by one of their CSRs, and he’s telling me that there’s no reason he should believe anything I’m saying. After a bit of this kind of back and forth, I go on a tirade — I don’t remember what I said exactly, but there my observation that the situation was total bullshit, that I was a good customer that paid my bills in full and on time, and that I deserved better treatment.

He asks for a minute and places me on hold. At this point, I’m trying to become resigned to the fact that we’ve been screwed. We were hoping to get on the same contract renewal schedule and, if it all worked out, get the same phone. After a while, Roman comes back and told me that he would be changing my wife’s upgrade date back to the original date, which would make her eligible to sign a new contract.

I was a bit shocked. He had completely reversed his position and noted that I was a good customer and that he accepting my version of events as the truth. I thanked him for doing the right thing, and mentioned that we were looking forward to going out the next morning and checking out the DROID. At that point, he perked up and asked if we’d both be getting DROIDs. I told him we were hoping that would be the case, and he responded by telling me that he was changing my wife’s upgrade date to Friday (the next day – about four months earlier than the date he had just agreed to). I was shocked. This would mean that both my wife and I would get discounts on our phones and that we would finally be on the same contract schedule. I thanked Roman profusely, and told him that we’d tell people about how good we’d been treated by Verizon.

I’ve told my family, friends, coworkers, and just about anyone that would listen. And now, I’m telling you, Consumerist. Verizon kept their word without me having to do an EECB, and went beyond that to extend my wife and I a courtesy. I like to think they did just to treat a good customer nicely, but I’m not ignorant to the fact that they’ll be making an extra $60 per month from us in the form of data plans for our fancy new phones.

At this point, I don’t even care. Our new phones rule and we got everything we wanted. Hooray!

As Chris hints, this is just as much a happy ending for Verizon as it is for him. If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer who recently upgraded but are suffering from Droid envy, it wouldn’t hurt to give the company a ring to see if you could get Chris’s deal.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.