Restocking Fee???

[albaby]

Used an upgrade and bought a new Tour, but Verizon has no Service at my 2nd home in Vermont (Stratton), so I want to return it and keep my old cheap phone and no contract.  Went back to the 3rd party store where I bought it.  I no longer have the box and they want to charge me a $75 restocking fee.  The phone is mint..Still has the protective plastic.  Verizon cust service says if I bought it from them, it would be $35.  So basically, I bought a phone, tried it for a month, there was no service one place I needed it, and it cost me $75 for the privilege.  $40 more than a Verizon-owned store.  Does this  sound like a good deal?  Anyone else have such problems with 3rd party sellers?   Store says it is a deal, that they should be a 30% restocking fee, or I can own the phone for $600.  Anyone else have similar problems? 

[bb-gismo]

Just a think..... Did you recieve a contract for the phone and service....... Did you sign it ........ Most important , Did you read it ???

If you read the contract and signed it, you are most likly bound by it.  Restocking and all. Nearly all returns ask for the orginal box and packing.

The fee does seem a bit high. 

[albaby]

Follow up.  Yes, I signed a contract, and it did say 30% restocking fee.  This is different than the Verizon advertised "No Hassle" plan, which to their credit says it may not be available at 3rd party retailers.  I got the merchant to agree to the Verizon restocking fee of $35 when I told him that Verizon customer service (who are very nice) said that was standard at their stores.  Moral of the story...keep you box, and buying from a Verizon-owned store can be less hassle.

[nmchileman]

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albaby wrote:

Follow up.  Yes, I signed a contract, and it did say 30% restocking fee.  This is different than the Verizon advertised "No Hassle" plan, which to their credit says it may not be available at 3rd party retailers.  I got the merchant to agree to the Verizon restocking fee of $35 when I told him that Verizon customer service (who are very nice) said that was standard at their stores.  Moral of the story...keep you box, and buying from a Verizon-owned store can be less hassle.

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This is a good post. Many times people are not aware of the differences or disadvantages of purchasing a phone from a 3rd party reseller.

Authorized resellers often have a phone for cheaper than a direct retail store does, but it comes at the expense of less than stellar experiences. Authorized resellers can not only set their own price, but also their own terms for the restocking fee, exchange fee and other return policies. Some can even restrict you to a certain plan for a specific number of months.

So this was definitely good information, thank you for sharing it with us.

[Zehan]

Heck, even what customer care said is wrong about the $35 restocking fee with Verizon directly. They only charge that for exchanges, not returns. In any case, even if you had bought the phone from Verizon direct and didn't have the box when you wanted to return it, they would still have to charge you the amount of the rebate for the phone because they have to assume you sent it in. In your case I believe it would have been a $100 dollar rebate.

[basspro]

" Heck, even what customer care said is wrong about the $35 restocking fee with Verizon directly. They only charge that for exchanges, not returns."

Have to disagree. I was going to return a Droid (not exchange), and the restocking fee was $35.00.

[nmchileman]

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basspro wrote:

" Heck, even what customer care said is wrong about the $35 restocking fee with Verizon directly. They only charge that for exchanges, not returns."

Have to disagree. I was going to return a Droid (not exchange), and the restocking fee was $35.00.

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And I have to disagree with you. The restocking fee only applies to different types of exchanges. For just a straight return there is NO restocking fee. That is the official policy.

If you were told there was a restocking fee for a return then you need to push back on that rep and tell him to check his facts because you know better.