Wow - that really does stink! I'm a long time Verizon customer and I also have the Voyager, which I happen to love.

The location that you are going into - have you asked if it's a Corporate store, and not a franchisee? I only ask, because in my experience, I get much better service in a Corporate store.

Also, definitely sign up to manage your account on Verizonwireless.com. Once you register on there, you can download Backup Assistant. It's free if you are managing your account online. I make all my payments online, I order new phones online - I go into Corporate stores for technical help or to hold a phone I'm interested in, but I order my phone online (better prices, instant rebates vs. mail in rebates, etc).

The Backup Assistant saves all your contacts online. So if you ever lose your existing phone, or it's so dead nothing can be retrieved, you simply download Backup Assistant on your new phone, and it downloads all your contacts onto your new phone. Any time you add a new contact, it will back that up onto your account.

Again, sorry that you're having such a hard time. AT&T service absolutely stinks in my area. Verizon has always had the best coverage for me, and I've been lucky that my experiences with them have always been positive and any issues are quickly resolved when I do have any.