I saw the commercial on TV and realized I bought my HTC Eris 25 days ago. I called them up on Sunday and talked to their account representative. I told them I saw the ad and wanted a credit. She checked my account and credited me $117.00.

I purchased my phones with a 2 year renewal, which gives you and extra $50 off. My total purchase for the 2 phones was $167. With my recent credit, I paid a grand total of $25 per phone. That’s phenomenal.

Buy this phone. If you already did, call Verizon immediately and get your credit.

• Step 1:  Get a Verizon phone with the Android OS, currently only 2 available: the DROID and the HTC Eris (HTC Touch Clone.)

• Step 2: Sign up for a plan that includes Verizon’s ‘Friends & Family’ (5 numbers that you can call an unlimited amount without using your minutes)

• Step 3: Sign up for a Google Voice account. You will need to wait 2 weeks for an invitation. Anyone who doesn’t have one of these, I suggest you sign up immediately.
  

• Step 4: IMPORTANT!!! Add your Google Voice number to your Friends & Family Plan on your Verizon webpage.
  
  
• Step 5: Configure your Google Voice account online.

• 5-1: Click on the Phones tab and add your cell number. Verify your number by having Google Voice call it and entering your pin.

• 5-2: Click the check-mark making your Google Voice account forward to your cell phone.

• 5-3:  Click the Calls tab, turn off Call Presentation, make sure Do Not Disturb is unchecked.

• 5-4: Setup your voicemail via the Voicemail & SMS tab, otherwise all calls will use your cell phone’s voicemail.

• Step 6: Google Voice should come pre-installed on your Android phone. If not, use the Android Market on your phone to download and install it.

• Step 7: Load up the Google Voice app and set your Google Voice number in the options, make sure all your config options are set correctly.
  

*From this application you can set your calling preferences from 4 different GV options: ON, OFF, ASK before each call, and only use it for international calls. Set this to ASK for the time being.

• Step 8: Make a test call to your friend or other phone. Call should be completed, however the Caller ID is your new Google Voice number.

If you have any troubles with this, I will pay attention to the comments here and hopefully be able to help you out. This will also work with T-Mobile phones using Android OS, seeing as they have a similar calling plan.

The more complicated way will be explained in a later post, but can be used on any phone running Android OS.