REBATE NEVER RECEIVED ALTHOUGH MEETING ALL REQUIREMENTS

[gustavostor]

Hi, my name is Gustavo and own a Verizon phone line ending in (XXX) XXX-3683.

My previous mobile carrier provider was AT&T. I requested a number transfer on July 15th from AT&T to Verizon. The problem started when they asked my account number on AT&T. Since my account number on AT&T was bundled with AT&T Internet and AT&T Wireless, everywhere I looked there was a single account ID for both services. I presumed, obviously, that that account ID was the one Verizon was asking me for when porting the number, and only later I came to find that there was an account ID unique to the Wireless Plan in which I had to call AT&T to get that information. It wasn't even in my bill statement. So I provided that account ID, the one that actually was related to the Internet Service and not to the Wireless plan, but that were bundled together.

When I requested the number transfer, I received an e-mail with the following content:

JULY 15TH, 2021

GTO 4G 5G Interim DFILL SIM	
Order number: 39125760699	
Line Number: XXX-XXX-3683	
Phone number you're transferring: XXX-XXX-3683	
Retail price	
$0.00	
Special Promotion
This device is eligible for a $650 BYOD Rebate - Online and Telesales Only
Redeem your rebate via My Notifications in My Verizon.
Must submit by: 08/14/2021
One-time activation fee: $35.00
(charge and credit appears on first bill)

When receiving this message I submitted the rebate on July 17th 2021. This is the e-mail that I got:

JULY 17TH, 2021

Submission Status
Hi GUSTAVO STOR, 

We've received your submission for the Bring your own device to Verizon and get a $650 Verizon eGift Card promotion. Your tracking number is 967125419. 

Based on the purchase date provided, you can expect us to validate your rebate around September 28, 2021. 

Go to Check My Status* for an easy way to check your status, or Contact Us if you have any questions about your submission. 

* Check My Status 

Meanwhile, I still had no access to the Verizon cellular plan because they were unable to port the number due to the incorrect account ID I provided. After a couple of days without cellular plan from neither carrier, I decided to give up on the number transfer and get a new number instead, while I worked on this issue with both carrier providers. On that same day, I got in touch with AT&T and they provided me the correct account ID belonging to my AT&T Wireless Plan. I got in touch with Verizon to start the number port and after about 3 to 4 hours on the phone and they were able to successfully cancel the previous port request which had a wrong account ID on to allow me to create a new port request with the correct account ID from AT&T this time. I immediately got cellular signal from Verizon after that.

About three weeks later I received an e-mail with the following content:

AUGUST 10TH, 2021

Submission Status
Hi GUSTAVO STOR,

We've reviewed your submission with tracking number 967125419 for the Bring your own device to Verizon and get a $650 Verizon eGift Card offer.

We're having trouble processing your rebate. For more details and resubmission instructions, please go to Check My Status* or Contact Us if you have any questions.

Thanks for choosing Verizon Wireless.

* Check My Status

Upon checking the reason for the trouble processing my rebate, the reason was "This offer requires bringing your number from your previous carrier to Verizon.". The PROMO CODE is PREMBYOD650 and tracking status is 967125419. You can see that the mobile number on that submission ends with (XXX) XXX-3683, which is exactly the number I was porting from AT&T. But I immediately assumed the reason for it being declined. By the time it was processed, it must likely used the temporary number I got from Verizon while I was trying to get my number port working, since the number porting from AT&T was filled with a wrong account ID belonging to my bundled service there and actually was the account ID of my Internet plan. But I had fixed it, as I said before, on July 17th, when I first got the rebate declined, in which I contacted AT&T and they provided me the correct account ID for my AT&T Wireless plan. The thing is that they most likely processed the rebate before the number port got into the system and processed the claim using the temporary Verizon number. No worries, I still had until August 14th 2021 to make a second attempt, this time with the number correctly ported and no obstacles or requirements not being met. So, on August 12th 2021, I got in touch with Verizon and was able to initiate a new rebate, since they understood what happened and explicitly said I met all the requirements and sent me this following e-mail:

AUGUST 12TH, 2021

Hi GUSTAVO STOR,

We've received your submission for the Bring your own device to Verizon and get a $650 Verizon eGift Card promotion. Here are the tracking number(s) for the mobile number(s) you provided:

(XXX) XXX-3683: 
970270696

Based on the purchase date provided, you can expect us to validate your rebate around September 28, 2021.

I was hopeful that things would work out fine this time. But less than a month later I received the same e-mail again regarding the trouble processing my rebate, but with another message. Here it is:

SEPTEMBER 4th, 2021Now, as you can see, they say the date received for this second rebate attempt was 08/12/2021. Now look again on the first e-mail I've ever got regarding this special rebate promotion: "Must submit by: 08/14/2021". The date I talked to Verizon after getting my first rebate declined and explained the situation and with their help initiated a second rebate to fix this issue was 08/12/2021, which is before 08/14/2021. I was WITHIN the eligible dates. So how can the error message be that the date of my purchase, my initial purchase, on July 15th 2021, which I had until the August 14th 2021 to claim the rebate, say that it wasn't within the eligible dates?

The number port was completed on August 4th. Looking at both old AT&T bills and current Verizon bills, this is what I get:

"Play more unlimited 5G UW - partial-month (Aug 4 - Aug 15)"

The information matches on both sides. So the number port was successfully completed on August 4th. As I said in the initial post, it was supposed to be completed earlier, but I provided a wrong account ID from AT&T which prevented me from having access to the Verizon cellular plan.

For me to making this post instead of attempting to call or chat is because I've tried everything already. I call Verizon at least three times a week. One of my last calls with Verizon gave me hope when the costumer support told me that I was right and I met the criteria and they were escalating this to the rebates team, and I should receive a response through e-mail within 10 days. 3 weeks have passed and nothing.

The reason I decided to switch from AT&T to Verizon was mainly because of this rebate, because the price I paid/pay on both providers is less than $10 difference and I already have the perks of Hulu/Disney+ through my family subscription. So if nothing, this was a false advertising. I'm not able to get in touch with the rebates team. I'm not able to ask why they are declining my rebate directly to them. I have to rely on Help Chat + being redirected to the wrong department (ALWAYS the wrong department) + being redirected again at which point I'm in a redirect loop for hours where NOBODY knows what to do. But my hope is that here someone will read this here and treat it and help me this time. THERE IS a rebates team. THERE IS a team dedicated to that. And I should be able to contact them and understand WHAT IS HAPPENING! And they are violating the contract I signed by giving me invalid reasons to decline my rebate.

Consumer protection laws exist to prevent dangerous or unethical business practices, such as false advertising or faulty products.

As someone coming from a background of lawyers in my family, this qualifies as an unethical business practice. You lured me into moving my services from AT&T to Verizon, made me pay an early termination fee to AT&T, promised me a rebate of $650 if I ported my number from AT&T, which I did, and now NOBODY is able to help. NOBODY. I don't even know what else number to call anymore because I've exhausted every single number in the Verizon help center. All it happens is I get redirected, over and over again. The person I'm talking to doesn't know what to do and redirects me to a random department where they also don't know what to do. And this doesn't go anywhere.

So please, help me, because I have everything documented and I'm willing to go after my consumer rights for negligence towards misleading advertising.

Finally, these are the requirements for getting your rebate accepted:

• Bring your own 4G or 5G smartphone
• New Line Required
• Port-In Required
• Play, Beyond, Do, Get, Above Unlimited Plan Required
• Consumer Accounts only

I meet all of them. I brought my smartphone. I'm a new costumer to Verizon and have a new line. I ported my number from AT&T to Verizon. My plan is Play More Unlimited 5G UW. And obviously I'm a consumer account. Last, but not least, when I filed both the rebates, even the second one with the account ID correction, it was before the expiration date for filing a rebate.

[vzw_customer_support]

We always want you to get every promotion you qualify for. We'd like to see what's going on. Let's get to the bottom of this. Please send us a Private Note for assistance.*Melissa

[gustavostor]

I sent a private note to @vzw_customer_support. Is this the correct user I should send the private note to?

[gustavostor]

I've sent a private message to @vzw_customer_support. It took 2 days for someone to reply. The response was:

"We certainly want to look into any concerns you may have. To get started please provide your full name as it appears on the account. -Dolores"

Honestly, what kind of support is this? On this post I quote all the e-mails I've received from Verizon regarding my rebate and they all starting by greeting me with my full name as it appears on my account: "Hi GUSTAVO STOR, [...]".

If you do want to get me every promotion I qualify for and see what's going on and get to the bottom of this, please reply my message with all the information you need from me instead of making me wait 2 days to ask for a piece of information that I had already provided. It just shows that the person that responded to my message didn't read it fully or didn't understand it. I need help from someone willing to not treat my case with template answers but actually care and give me a proper explanation as to why the rebate I was entitled to and met all the requirements was rejected twice, or at least redirect me to someone who can actually solve this problem.

I repeat: when porting my number from AT&T to Verizon and changing carriers, I met all the requirements, when I submitted my rebate, I met all the requirements, I was within the rebate expiration date. I was told by a costumer care assistant over the phone that indeed I met all the requirements and there was an error that she was going to escalate. This is recorded. It never got escalated. I am a victim of false advertising and I want Verizon to take responsibility over this and stop neglecting my several attempts to get what was promised to me when I moved to your service.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you for sending us these details. Please meet us in a Private Note so we can assist. *Cecile

[SadTiredCustomer]

I am having a very similar issue right now.  It is beyond frustrating and honestly not worth it for me anymore.  Even if the rebate comes through for the 4 lines I signed up its not worth dealing with this.  Its not incompetence its intentional.

[kathypearson]

same here I am getting ahold of private attorney , BBB and some other places that will deal with Verizon spent over 50 hours on the phone with them March

[vzw_customer_support]

This issue has gone on for far too long and want it fully resolved.  A new Private message is being sent now to assist you further.-Sean

[lafolielogique]

I have been having a similar issue. 6 months and still missing $1400 in rebates. Have they ever actually dealt with your problem? This is ridiculous and certainly appears to be intentional.

[vzw_customer_support]

We want you to receive the promotions you qualify for. Check how to redeem your rebate in the link below:

https://www.verizon.com/support/device-rebate-faqs/

~Maria

[MDiF]

Submit all this conversations as a complaint to the FCC. 

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

Once submitted and “served” Verizon will have 30 days to fix and submit an answer to your complaint.

Cheers

[Bathala-_-]

Hi! did yours get solved? im in the same boat, its been a year now and i still didn’t get my rebate.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi, Bathala. I am going to send you a private message so we can address all your concerns. >Fer

[haifasaid]

Have u resolved this
i havent gotten my rebate its been months i contacted live chat they say i shouldve receive a code and put it in 30 days
never received a code before on email or anything and even signed up in person and asked about it nobody told me anything they just said u have to wait a few months and now i dont have it unbelievable this is the reason i switch and this is how im treated 

[vzw_customer_support]

To resolve all you doubts and inquiries about this case, I will send you a private note so that I can continue to provide you with the corresponding information safely.

>Steven

[vzw_customer_support]

At this moment my system don't allow me to start the conversation in a private note, please send me a private note to continue with this.

>Steven

[CaliSac]

I had the same issue with the BYOD rebate not being honored despite meeting all of the requirements, except I was never told I had to input a code with 30 days.

In May 2022, I switched from AT&T to Verizon under the Bring Your Own Device promotion and joined my husband's family plan with other members of his family. It was emphatically explained to me that I would not be eligible for the $500 rebate unless I continued to use the device for one year. I never received any paperwork (in person or electronically) stating that I had to register for the rebate within 30 days, but instead was told to keep the code they told me to write down because after a year, I'd be eligible for the rebate. When a year came and I could not apply for the rebate online and we hadn't received credit to our account, we went to the same store at which we'd transferred my phone to Verizon. I was hoping to resolve the rebate issue and upgrade my phone in the same trip.

They weren't able to assist in the store, but they assured me that customer service could help. I would hardly call what I received customer service. They confirmed that I had signed up under the BYOD promo, that I kept the same device for a year, that I had not received the gift card or device credit, and that I never received any communication from Verizon about the promotion conditions including the 30-day registartion requirement. Despite all of this, they "apologized" for any misunderstanding but stated that simply because I didn't register for the promotion within 30 days —which I reiterated I was not informed I had to do and had, in fact, been told I didn't qualify for the rebate unless I used the device for a full year — they would not honor the rebate.

Instead, they offered me a $250 statement credit only after I said my family and I would be taking our business elsewhere, when our family has been customers for over 20 years. It's an asinine offer in light of the fact that Verizon acknowledges I satisfied all of the substantive requirements, didn't receive any form or portion of the rebate, that the rebate is still an active promotion, and that the $500 can only be spent at Verizon.

This is an underhanded marketing technique. The onus shouldn't be on customers to figure out all of the correct conditions for a promotion when they're told something different in store and the company knows it provided no information to the contrary to the customer. I did my due diligence. I asked questions in store and asked for documents related to our transactions that day, which they said there were none that couldn't be found on our account online. I kept every piece of paper we were given, which consisted only of a quote sheet and my handwritten notes of what to do to transfer my phone number from AT&T  to Verizon and my notes about the $500 rebate. Instead of taking responsibility for what was clearly a deficient explanation by a sales representative, Verizon is holding the customer responsible.

There's an incentive for Verizon to mislead customers by failing to accurately explain all requirements of the promotion, including that while the device has to be in use for a year, the promotion has to be registered for within 30 days. If Verizon fails to explain the 30-day piece, they get a customer for at least a year and don't have to pay the $500 rebate. 

#BYOD