4 New Lines - Verizon Online Agent Lied Multiple Times

[JRindt]

On January 7th, 2025 I went to Verizon's website to look at transferring my number from T-Mobile and my Wife and her parents from AT&T.  I was going with the Verizon Welcome plan at $40 per month ($30 after auto pay discount, the Netflix bundle for $10 per month, the Disney Bundle for $10 per month, and mobile hotspot for $10 per month). I added the Z Fold 6, the S24, and 2 S24 FEs. My total due was to be $340.02, my monthly bill was $216.66 ($176.66 after auto-pay), and a savings on $3299.98. I was trading in a S9 and an S7 and the website told me I would get a $200 Verizon gift card.  - I thought great deal!

I then messaged an agent (Olivia) to make sure my numbers would not port over until I activated my phone, she told me they would not, but she could give me 4, $200 gift cards! I thought great!

The agent told me she couldn't get the other trade in on the line for the S7 and I would still get the deal, but would have to call back after the account was set up. I questioned this profusely as the bill was now ~$242 ($202 after auto-pay), but was assured Verizon tech support would be able to take care of it. She told me I could even download the chat afterwards and she added notes to my account, so it shouldn't be a problem. 

I trusted her (Olivia) and completed the transaction. I continued the conversation asking who I would call to get the discount added and what I needed to do. Olivia once again assured me tech support would be able to do it and that she had added notes. She gave me the number to tech support and ended the chat.

I was concerned she ended the chat abruptly and tried to download the chat (which Verizon does not give you an option to download or have it emailed to you). Scared, I called customer service / tech support and they told me I would be able to get the discount once the account was set up. They also informed me Olivia could not add notes to the account as the account does not exist, only the order number. I wanted to cancel the whole order, but was told I could not do that until I receive it as there is no account to cancel. As I had already entered the S9 IMEI number into the system, I could not even replicate the purchase to verify and screenshot the $216.66 per month details. I was stuck and had to wait for the account to be set up. I received the phones on January 9th and now had an account set up.

I called customer support back on January 10th to request they add the trade in for the Samsung S7 and spoke to Jay in tech support. I explained the entire situation to Jay and was on the phone with him for ~1.5hours. He continued to repeat the same line of not being able to stack the promotional credit with the trade-in credit. I asked if they could review the chat with Olivia as tech support should have access to the chat the selling agent had with the customer (she gets paid commission they should be tracking these conversations - that I was lied to in multiple times). Jay could not see the chat I was told, but he would transfer me to his supervisor Paul who should be able to resolve the issue.  Jay asked if Paul could call me back within an hour and I said this was agreeable.

Paul called me back and I explained the whole situation to him. He again tried to explain they could not stack promotions, and I told him what I was promised by the agent and what the website was offering me when I went to do an online checkout. After about an hour, Paul said he was able to get the trade-in to go through and he was able to get the stacked promotions on the account. However, I had to send in both phones. I asked for a transcript of the conversation and was denied (Paul said he could not send me an email or confirmation that he was able to do this), which I thought was shady. I did receive a label to return the device. Paul asked when I could return them and I told him I would return them the next day (January 11) as I wanted this resolved as soon as possible. Paul said if I returned them on January 11th, he would call me on January 20th at 3pm EST to confirm the discounts are correct on the account. I agreed to proceed.

I returned both phones on January 11th and received confirmation they were received on January 17th. On January 20th I received no call back from Paul. I did receive an email showing the credit for the S9, but nothing for the S7. I called customer service on January 21 and spoke to Elenore. I explained the entire situation yet again to Elenore. She asked for the UPS tracking number for the S7 which I provided. She located the return in her system and said she would add the trade in to my account. I thought this was resolved.

While on the phone I received an email from Verizon stating my promotional credit has been removed! My bill had now gone up to ~$275 per month! I explained that was incorrect and the promotional credit should be on the account as well as the trade in amount. She then transferred me to Marge in tech. I explained the whole situation again and again dealt with the response of not being able to stack promotions. I asked if she could see the notes from my previous conversations with Jay and Paul, and she said she could. I told her Paul, the supervisor, told me he was able to get both promos on the account and that he would call back on January 20th (yet two more lies). Marge refused to listen and kept repeating the same lines over and over and eventually got her supervisor Ann on the phone. I explained the whole situation to Ann, yet again and the fact that I called about the trade in, and my phone bill has now gone up to ~$275 from ~242, when it is supposed to be ~$216.66.  Ann is beginning a case and opened a ticket which I received a reference number to. She is supposed to call me back within the hour and I will update once I receive her response. 

This is by far the worst customer service I have ever dealt with, the multiple lies, the needing to repeat myself, the lack of transparency in their chat features and apparently the conversations you have with their internal agents. If I would have known it was going to be this much of a pain I would have stayed with T-Mobile and my wife would have stayed with AT&T. I have spent over 8hrs on this and it is costing my more money than I would have ever agreed to.

How does my bill increase when calling about a trade in they admit they received and have my phone and removed the other discount!