I am a VZW customer since 2003. 6 months into a 2 year contract my iPhone 5S was stolen. In early October I called VZW to advise I was in a T-Mobile store and that T-Mobile offered to pay my VZW early termination fee and sell me a 6 Plus. After some discussion a very helpful T-Mobile rep processed an order for a 6 Plus on the Edge plan. I was told the phone would be shipped by November 14.
Today I received an e-mail notifying me the order was cancelled. When I called VZW I spoke with a rep ("Rep. No. 1") told VZW did not receive my last payment but that the order would be restored and would not be delayed if I paid the bill on the phone. He referred to this as a "jump the Line" provision. So, I was transferred to a bill pay rep who took my credit card info. When I was transferred back to customer service another rep ("Rep. No. 2") was on the line. He told me he knew nothing about a Jump the Line policy. I told him to look at the notes made by Rep. No. 1 only minutes earlier. Over the next twenty minutes he told me that VZW would only sell me a Droid, following which he relented and acknowledged I could get the 6 Plus, but shipment would be delayed until November 21. For twenty minutes I waited for and was refused escalation to a manager because I saw no reason the shipment should be further delayed.
Finally after 48 minutes a manager named Brandon in Lacey, Washington called me. He told me that VZW only offered to let me purchase the iPhone as a courtesy but that since my payment was late I was no longer entitled to any such courtesy. Despite the representations by Rep. No. 1 and Rep. No. 2 he refused to sell me the 6 Plus at all. I reminded him that T-Mobile would sell me the phone and cover my VZW termination fees. He told me "T-Mobile needs customers." I then asked him if I could construe that as suggesting that VZW did not need me as a customer and he told me I was free to leave after many years. Indeed, he essentially dared me to do so and said, in substance, that everyone knows VZW is the best carrier. I asked him if that was consistent with the poor customer service evidenced by our confrontational conversation. I also reminded him that over the 24 moths of a contract (or the Edge program) I would be paying something in the order of $7,500. and didn't think that his driving my family away was good business. He would not back down and now VZW has lost me.
Consider whether you want to pay VZW's premium prices for this abject institutional arrogance.
