Customer Service

[cherylc4319]

Dear Verizon:

I am a tourist visiting the US for three weeks.  I went to a Verizon store in Sunnyvale to inquire about a prepaid sim I can use for the time I am here.  

This is my Verizon experience -

1.  I asked the store clerks how much will it cost me to use prepaid service for three weeks. The store clerks said it will cost $30 for a month’s service. They did not disclose that there were additional costs until they rang me up. My understanding was that the $20 for set up and $10 for sim was the breakdown of the $30 they mentioned. Had they said the total cost would be $30 exclusive of set-up fee and sim fee (waived) and that the total cost will be more than $50, I would not have pursued with the transaction. 

May I suggest to have a written sign showing all costs to be paid by customer so we can decide accordingly and not be misled by sales tactics. 

2. Store clerk encountered connection issues (No Signal would appear after every few seconds) after Verizon sim was installed on my phone.  Store clerk reformatted  my phone without letting me know of the consequences and didn’t ask for my permissionto do so.  I was just asked to enter my password repeatedly which I assumed was part of the installation procedure. 

3. After my phone was rendered disabled because I didn’t know my appleID log in off hand, they refused to give me a refund (Verizon policy) on the prepaid sim I couldn’t use. (They assumed that it should work on another phone. How can they be sure of that if they were having connection issues on my phone that’s why they resorted to reformatting it). I see no reason why they couldn’t give me a refund since I haven’t even used the service yet.   

When store clerk called customer support for help, in less than five seconds connection issue was resolved. Had she done that in the first place I wouldn’t have lost all my important information and downloaded apps for my email, bank and credit card.

(Reformatting should’ve been last resort according to Verizon customer service supervisor)

Store clerk didn’t even apologize for the consequences of her actions.

4. Customer service supervisor  is saying they can’t give me a refund because it’s a cash purchase. They did offer $30 worth of service towards the next month but does not apply to my situation since I’m only staying for 3 weeks.

I asked if there was another way to give me a full refund but I was told that it was not possible. I asked to put it in writing and send me an email but I was told that she is unable to do that. If it’s a policy of Verizon then i should be shown proof of it.

I have rights as a consumer even if I’m just a tourist. I felt that I was taken advantaged of because they knew I was only here for a short time.

For the sake of others who may encounter the same unfortunate experience as I have, I would like to ask Verizon how they can do better in finding solutions for their customers instead of creating problems for them as they have in my situation. 

Looking forward to getting clarification from Verizon management on the issues that I have raised.

[Ann154]

What was the address of the store?