Do I have to go to a Verizon store to get a new phone battery, or can you

[raccoon]

get them at Office Depot, Kmart, etc?

I got my phone on New Year's Day 2014. Is that as long as the batteries
usually last?

[TexasProgresive]

1. That's not even an year which is too short

The battery in mine is about 3 years and the discharge rate is the same as when new. I think you could probably get a battery at Office Depot or perhaps Radio Shack since they seem to deal mostly in cell phones these days.

[easychoice]

2. Amazon vendors sell gobs of cel batteries.

Did you buy an old phone or something? 3+ years is pretty standard life.iPhones may be different,I don't know squat about them.

[blackcrowflies]

3. I have a Samsung

that's on its second decade with the original battery. Of course, I only use it to call AAA and the like, otherwise it's turned off, so that probably matters.

Less than a year seems too short. Is it under warranty?

I don't think the phone has any way of knowing where the battery came from.

[sarge43]

4. What easychoice said

Amazon has everything for cells from silly bling to absolute essentials and usually considerably cheaper than the company store's.

Sounds like you got one of the rare dud batteries.

[NewJeffCT]

5. Batteries tend to lose life as they age

but, 11 months is short.

Typically, you should not keep your phone plugged in if it's fully charged, as the battery heats up and becomes less effective. I learned that the hard way, as I used to plug it in at night and it would be fully charged when I woke up in the morning, but it likely had been sitting at 100% power for a few hours...

[MADem]

10. When will a genius invent a charger that is "smart" and stops sucking electricity out of the

outlet once the phone or other device is charged? Now that's a moneymaker....

[lastlib]

6. Verizon stores in my area don't even carry 'em

They sent me to a specialty battery store fifteen miles away. No, your battery should last MUCH longer! Mine lasted four years, and that seems to be about the norm.

[mackerel]

9. They told my mother she had to go to batteries plus to buy a new battery.

[raccoon]

7. Thank you everybody for your responses. Update: I'm going to watch

it a bit longer.

I was talking to someone and she mentioned if I was searching the Internet
on my iphone that uses up a lot of battery. I don't usually do that, but I was
yesterday, looking up "Bluetooth." ( see also http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018693298 )

[tabbycat31]

8. Not sure what kind of phone you have

But I can usually get my battery to last most of the day (bought my phone in May-- Samsung smartphone and it's my only phone).

Different apps (games, etc) drain the battery faster as do things that are constantly updating. GPS and Bluetooth also drain it in the background (I have a separate GPS unit in my car and never use bluetoot so I have those features shut off).

I also have a car charger and portable battery that I keep in my purse. My phone is my lifeline and I NEVER shut it off (unless I'm on a plane, then it goes to airplane mode).