I purchased two Verizon Gift Cards totaling $300 on July 2nd. They arrived July 5th and I tried to use them the next day. Both cards gave me messages that the cards were invalid. At that point I started down an incredibly long and frustrating path of trying to deal with Verizon "Customer Service" to get a resolution to this problem. It has led me here in one final effort to resolve this issue before I start taking the steps to just leave Verizon and never look back.
To date I have:
1) Called the customer service line on both the back of the cards and on my Verizon accounts. Both avenues led me to some chat bot that ultimately took me in circles where it could not understand what I needed and once it had satisfied itself, would simply hang up on me. I did some research on a Reddit forum to find how to bypass this nightmare and eventually talked to humans.
2) Talking to humans has led to multiple days and hours of wasted time. I have answered the exact same questions multiple times, been told by my reps they are "Taking notes" on my account yet no one ever seems to find any record or data related to my problem, had them tell me they can't find a record of my order only to have me give them back the order number and location code (how terrible is it that I now know to always include the location code), told some circular logic about how the cards didn't need to be activated but now the problem is that the cards weren't activated and only someone at some other mythical department can help me. And from that point the phone transfer wheel turns again, and I end up somewhere else who asks me the same questions ultimately to tell me that someone else will be able to help.
3) After days and hours of trying to crack the code on customer service over the phone, I went to a Verizon store. The people in the store were very welcoming and did their best to help, but obviously the problem is not resolved. The sales rep called their customer service line and for roughly five hours we talked on the speaker phone to various agents who asked us the same questions, took copious notes, and then passed us on to someone else who would magically help us. The best part was when someone who was supposedly a supervisor spent 30 minutes lecturing us on how limited they were on their ability to help and how unhelpful we were being, only to then transfer us to the Verizon Credit Card division because his department was closing. At some point the store was closing so I left.
4) I then decided to try the Verizon chat line. After navigating multiple chatbots and being told numerous times that I was speaking to a live agent only to have them ask me the same weird chat bot questions I finally talked to a person. From there I explained everything again, had to provide them with proof of purchase because they couldn't find my order even though it is on my account (good old order number and location code again to the rescue), and some weird circular logic about how I needed to go into a store to activate the card that didn't need to be activated despite me telling the rep I had already tried this. I finally gave up when I was given another lecture about how they had done everything they could to help, that my expectations weren't realistic and that the only hope was for me to go to a Verizon store to get the issue resolved.
So here I am now on a Verizon Message board. At this point, I would estimate that I have spent well over 20 hours trying to navigate an issue with "Customer Service" where they can see there is a problem from Verzon's end, the company has accepted my money, but cannot fathom a possible way to provide me with any form of restitution. I need someone to either activate the gift cards, refund my money or give me a credit on my bill. Any of the three are acceptable outcomes. If anyone can reach out to me to address this problem I would appreciate it. I have my order number and location code at the ready!
