After 19 years and 10 months as a loyal Verizon customer, I’ve finally reached my breaking point. I’m leaving Verizon as soon as my new phone arrives from my new carrier, and I can’t wait.
Here’s the story: I had been on the 5G More plan for many years, which came with several perks like the Disney+ Bundle, Apple Music, and other features included “for free.” I recently decided to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro Max and take advantage of Verizon’s $1,000 trade-in promo, but what followed has been a total nightmare.
To qualify for the $1,000 off, I had to switch to their Unlimited Ultimate plan, follow all of their steps, and trade in my iPhone 12 Pro Max once my preorder arrived. I did everything by the book. The new phone arrived, I activated it, and I was ready to send back my 12 Pro Max for the trade-in. But then, Verizon hit me with an absurd issue—they told me that even though they could see my installment plan and that my new phone was on my account, they couldn’t “see” the actual order, meaning I wasn’t eligible for the $1,000 promo.
Instead, they offered me $210 for my trade-in, which wouldn’t even go towards my new phone—it would just be an account credit. This would have bumped my payments from $5.55 a month for 36 months (with the promo) to $33.33 a month. I asked if they could fix it or do anything to ensure I got the $1,000 credit I was supposed to receive, but all I heard from multiple associates was that the promotion couldn’t be applied until the order magically appeared in their system. Their solution? Return the iPhone 16 Pro Max and go through the process all over again.
I told them flat out: if I have to return this phone, I’m not doing this again, and you will lose me as a customer. They were still unwilling to help. So, I returned the phone and reactivated my old 12 Pro Max. Even then, Verizon messed up. My old phone wouldn’t work or activate on my account, and I had to get a new SIM card to fix the issue.
To make things even worse, since I switched my plan only to qualify for the upgrade, I tried to revert to my original 5G More plan, only to find out that it no longer exists. I worked with an associate to find a new plan that matched my old one as closely as possible, but it’s still $10 more than I was paying before. And because I had the Disney+ Bundle included with my old plan, I now have to pay extra for that too.
Of course, Verizon found a way to mess that up as well. The associate who helped enroll me in the Disney+ Bundle failed to add my email to the order, so now I’m stuck with an active Disney+ subscription I’m paying for but can’t even use. When I try to log in, it asks me to pay again. I’ve had to demand a $10 credit just to cover the service I couldn’t use this month.
I can’t wait for my new iPhone 16 Pro Max to arrive with my new carrier (though it’s backordered), because I’ll be leaving Verizon the moment it gets here. After all of this, I know Verizon doesn’t care—they’ve shown time and time again they prioritize profit over people—and it’s not shocking that they’re willing to lose a nearly 20-year customer over their incompetence and the terrible customer service I’ve experienced.
I wish I had never tried to upgrade my phone, because this entire experience has been one frustrating issue after another.
