Site Totals

61164 Questions Answered 265 Categories

Empty Box delivered FedEx - Package contents stolen - Verizon denied the claim

Over the holidays I decided to take my service back to Verizon because they have a great promotion on the new iphone and signed up for 2 new lines. The first phone was delivered, not a problem. The second phone delivered the next day on December 24th after we missed the delivery by Fedex the first time. When I picked up the box I noticed it was really light, sure enough, when I opened the box, it was empty. - only a piece of paper and my service contract. I am going to suspect the phone was stolen when it got taken back to the warehouse. I have searched this on various forums and apparently, this happens a lot when you the delivery the first time and sent back to the warehouse.

Here is my saga, looking for any kind of advice.

December 24, 2020
Reported this to Verizon phone support, I was told to submit a ticket with FedEx and call back with the FedEx ticket number so they can start a ticket, the support person assured me that it would not be a problem to get a replacement. I just need to follow the process.

December 25, 2020
I called Verizon to try to get this issue resolved / update on Christmas day and I was given the run around for 3 hours. Finally, a support person said that this happens a lot in the holidays and not to worry, they will investigate and typically it will have an answer and likey a replacement in a couple of days.

Dec 31, 2020
Used online chat to get support, again explained the situation. The support person told me do not worry they are ordering a new phone and I will get a text the next day when they ship. - great!

Jan 5, 2021
Decided to check in because I didn't hear anything, ended up talking to Christine who re-assured me that the phone would be sent. She's been there for 13 years and said Verizon always support the customers and management cares about their customers. which made me feel great that was finally going to get this resolved. She just needed to have some people the next morning clear something off and will text me.

Jan 7, 2021
Decided to check in again talked to another support agent who is "Top of the support chain" very condescending and unsympathetic from the start. Basically, he said that my request was denied by the team because FedEx weighted the box at 2 lbs when it was delivered and I needed to check in with FedEx he can't help but submit another ticket, and told me to trust the process.

I have saved the last 2 conversions and have all the ticket numbers from all sides.

So here we are...

Am I just out of luck at this point? Does anyone have advice on dealing with a situation like this?

Is Verizon basically is saying that I have the phone, activated and took delivery? and I would commit grand theft over a $1200 phone Com'on these phones can be tracked very easily right? can they just run a trace on where the phone was activated? Do they not have insurance between these parties on such an expensive item?

It's saddening to think that Verizon would treat their customers this way. At this point, its almost not the empty box that I have to pay for for the next 30 months, it's the constant run around and empty promises by their support agents and the best mental roller coaster ride I have been on for a while.

Comments

Piscestg

Every cellular device has a unique identifying number. Once it is activated on a cellular system it can be identified by the service provider. Verizon should be able to check this very easily. They are giving you the run around.

9wood

You are getting the run-around for sure they will never accept responsibility

acraftylady2

One reason I have have fed ex packages rerouted to the local store after they ship. Then I can pick them up at my convience. Fed ex once left an expensive phone in a small package in the drive way by the car tire. Never even knocked for me to sign and it would have fit between the storm door and door.

jerstuper

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I had no idea the customer service was this bad would it not be faster just to HELP and get the issue resolved and get the constant run around?

A couple more updates .... I need to document

Jan 8, 2021
Just because I feel like wasting more of my time, I found the email addresses and Linked in profiles of Nancy Clark and Joan Bowyer SVP and VP of Customer Service. I wonder if they actually know how their agents treat people this way? I already see a few people complaining to them directly on Linkedin where it's visible to everyone. Interesting approach...

Jan 9, 2021
I was grocery shopping and decided to stop by an authorized Verizon retailer. One of the managers stated that the agents that you get on the phone do not have any power to do anything and some of them just want to open and close tickets for corporate reporting so they look good. The manager was appalled at my experience and suggested that I wait a few days for them to complete their "investigation" before contacting the upper management. He also updated the ticket for me since the notes that he sees on my account is not accurate to what I was telling him in person. *SIGH*

will have a few more updates in a few days I am sure

HighTechnology

First off, FedEx weighs boxes at drop-off, not delivery. There is no scale in the FedEx truck that the driver uses to weigh each package they deliver. So where the phone disappeared is anyone's guess -- did Verizon fail to put it in the box, did someone grab it before it got to FedEx, dis someone from FedEx steal it, etc. One thing that is nearly certain, we will never know...

But, we do know you didn't receive it, it's locked to Verizon and will be blacklisted so it can never be activated/used, so it's value is basically now just for parts. This case is EXACTLY why Verizon claims they need to lock phones that are shipped.

That said, the fact that VERIZON IS GIVING YOU THE RUNAROUND is absolutely despicable. If not resolved in the next few days, just bring the other phone back to the closest CORPORATE store, and cancel within the initial period. Find the store manager and let them read the info in the account, and if it can't now be fixed on the spot (i.e., provide you a replacement phone on the spot), INSIST that they waive the return fee, cancel out the missing phone and be done with Verizon.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but the current corporate way of doing business is make the customer jump through hoops to prove they were not provided something the were supposed to get (an item, a promotion, a rebate, etc.) and the customer ha s to spend hours and hours fixing the mistakes made by the company. After you spend hours, get frustrated and invest tons of time, the best you can hope for is to get what you were supposed to get originally --> NOTHING MORE. So there is absolutely NO INCENTIVE for them to do things correctly / fix their systems since there is no "return on investment" to the company --> which is absolutely wrong.

You've clearly posted more than enough here over the past week or so for someone here on the forum to have taken charge on getting this resolved for you.

acraftylady2

Good catch that FedEx doesn't weigh stuff on delivery. Maybe there could be a system where upon receiving the phone you can't activate it until you call into Verizon with your account number or something. I own my own cable modem/router and when evervi buy a new one after I hook it up can't do anything until I call spectrum and they have to activate the service on their end and register it. Something like that i am thinking.

jerstuper

Update

Jan 13, 2021
I have reached out to the Verizon community support team for help. They contacted me right back last night, lets see if this can be resolved soon. It has now been 3 weeks since I have reported this issue, not even close to a solution. Thank you all for the clarity and support, I really don't know how shipping and delivery works. Agree on how corporate America is treating its customers. The exceptions are Apple and Amazon - only positive experiences with them.

vzw_customer_support

We're still here working on a solution. The ticket has not been updated yet, but we'll reach out as soon as there's any changes. We want to make sure this gets resolved and you get your original BOGO offer.

JesusG_VZW

jerstuper

Here is an update for those that may be seeing some issues in the future.

I finally got this resolved over the weekend. I made an appointment for an in-store visit to figure this out.

To my surprise, the store person called me back and explained to me that my issue was resolved on Jan 21 in an entry on my account that detailed everything correctly so they can give me proper credit. I am going to assume that this was a manager that put the note in? I picked up my phone from the store and called Verizon support on the phone and referenced the Jan 21 note and it was taken care of on the spot. I see the credit in my account as of this morning!!

This took almost exactly 1 month from the time I reported the phone stolen to having a replacement phone in my hand and properly credited.

In short, I must have called Verizon 8-10 times on the phone, 5-6 times on chat. 2 times with an instore authorized distributor, and once with Verizon corporate store person. I wish it would of been taken care of the first time instead of telling these reps over and over.

The Verizon staff that I have talked to over the last week seem much more aware of the processes than the people I was talking to first 3 weeks.

My only advice to dealing with this is persistence and I guess luck. I am not sure how it actually got resolved but it would not take a month.

Good luck all, thanks for all that chimed in and listened to this adventure!

vzw_customer_support

Hello, jerstuper. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experience with getting your inquiry addressed and resolved. We deeply apologize for the amount of time that it took to get this resolved and we appreciate your patience during that time frame. We're happy to hear that this is finally taken care of for you and we appreciate your feedback so that we can continue to improve our customer service practices across all of our channels. If there are any additional concerns, we are always happy to help here. BrettA_VZW

Shultzee

I just had this happen today. I called Verizon and they said they are checking into it. I also called fed ex and they say I have to file claim with Verizon. They wouldn't go any farther. I also called police and filed a report.

Child Item