I was a loyal AT&T customer for over 30 years before switching to Verizon. In less than one month, this experience has been an absolute nightmare, and I deeply regret bringing my entire family plan over.
I was persuaded to switch based on a promotion that included brand-new iPhone 17s and an Apple Watch for changing carriers. Additionally, Verizon agreed to pay off the remaining balances on my iPhone 16 Pro Max devices from AT&T and provide trade-in credits for turning in those phones. On paper, this sounded like a great deal.
Based on these promises, I ended a decades-long relationship with AT&T and transferred my entire family plan to Verizon.
My story
Shortly after my service with Verizon began, I was reviewing my account in the Verizon app and noticed that my Apple Watch had its own phone number. I was confused because I wanted my Apple Watch and iPhone to operate under the same number, I contacted Verizon for help and clarification.
During that call, the Verizon representative I spoke with told me that the only way to fix this was to cancel the Apple Watch line and set it up again so it would match my phone number. I relied on the information provided by the Verizon employee, and the Apple Watch line was canceled as part of that process. I was also told the representative would follow up with me within two days to complete the fix, but that follow-up never happened.
It later became clear that this guidance was incorrect. Having a separate phone number for an Apple Watch is standard practice, and Verizon uses a call forwarding process so that calls made to my phone number would still ring on my watch even though a different number appears. This was never explained to me before the Verizon rep wrongfully canceled my apple watch line.
About a week later, I attempted to submit my form for the phone payoff promotion. At that point, I received an email stating that my submission was invalid and could not be processed. I contacted Verizon to get my clarification on the situation and after about a 2 hour phone call myself and the supervisor "Mike" came to the conclusion that the Verizon representative wrongfully cancelling my Apple watch line due to her lack of education may have caused this issue.
I later learned that one of the requirements of the promotion was that all new lines remain in good standing for 30 days. Because the Apple Watch line had now been canceled at the direction of a Verizon representative, my phone pay off promotion was now not being honored.
I still don't have service on my Apple Watch and I still don't have my phones paid off. This is unbelievable. I have made several phone calls and spent several hours trying to get this situation handled to no avail.
I followed Verizon’s instructions in good faith and made decisions based solely on the guidance I was given by Verizon employees. I did not intentionally violate any terms of the promotion, yet I am now being denied the Visa gift cards that were promised to pay off my AT&T devices due to an error that was not caused by me.
I am requesting that Verizon review this situation, acknowledge that the issue resulted from a lack of education and incorrect guidance provided by its representative, and honor the original phone payoff promotion as it was offered.
I am reaching out on this forum because I don't know what else to do or where else to turn. I have been through so many representatives over the phone, been promised so many calls back that have never happened. My experience with Verizon has thus far been HORRIFIC.
