As a Father's Day gift we gave my in-laws a cash gift so that they could upgrade their television service. My mother-in-law contacted Verizon FiOS and a salesperson told her about a Triple Play offer that included a $300 Prepaid Visa Card and a free LG tablet. My mother-in-law thought it sounded like a good offer and agreed to order the Triple Play plan and in doing so asked the salesperson to confirm that the LG tablet would be free with no other commitments and he confirmed it on a recorded line. She was so looking forward to the FiOS service and the new tablet that she could play around with.
However, after FiOS had been installed she was now told by Customer Service that there were strings attached to the "free" tablet and that a 2-year Verizon Wireless activation was required in order to get it. My mother-in-law countered that the salesperson who sold her the plan clearly stated on a recorded line that there were no other commitments required. The Customer Service representative said it didn't matter and that she should check the confirmation email which my mother-in-law had not looked at carefully.
Deflated, my mother-in-law who is a senior citizen and not the most technologically sophisticated person contacted me for help. In reviewing the confirmation email, it does say that a 2-year Verizon Wireless activation is required for the free tablet but that was contrary to what the salesperson had told her so it sounded to me like a misleading sales practice. I then called Customer Service myself and the representative that I talked to assured me that the tablet was indeed free and that Verizon Wireless activation was not required and to just wait for the coupon to arrive.
The coupon then arrived and it does state that a 2-year Verizon Wireless activation is required for the tablet. My mother-in-law and my wife contacted Customer Service again and the first representative they talked to was actually unaware of the Verizon Wireless activation requirement but she then transferred them to another representative to take care of them. The second representative then did another about face and said that activation was indeed required. He kept on saying the tablet is indeed free but requires a 2-year wireless agreements and that there was nothing he could do.
Has anyone else had an issue like this with the "free" tablet? It seems like some representatives are clearly promising something, whether intentionally or ignorantly, which Verizon then is not following through on. We are planning to file a complaint with the NY Attorney General's office and with the BBB but wanted to see if others have had a similar problem.
Being a long-time Verizon Residential and Wireless customer myself (and also a Verizon shareholder), this is very disappointing.
