Asked to pay $30 for setting up phone and retrieving contacts, photos and etc.

[L61]

I lost my phone and had a replacement phone sent to me through my insurance. I made an appointment at a Verizon store for setting up the phone and retrieving contacts, photos and etc... I was asked to pay $30 for this service. I have been a customer through my employer for 22 years and have never paid for customer service that I thought was a convince for a paying Verizon customer. Verizon is providing me a service that I pay for every month and when I need help because I can't do it, they made it like a tipping service. They wanted me to pay them $30 but couldn't guarantee that they could retrieve my information. I tried to chat with customer service and got no where. They didn't accommodate me either. What is the $30 for? Why inconvenience your paying customers and be so unsympathetic to their needs.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello, being on top of your account is vital, especially is you are managing a device replacement activation and transfer of media.

Verizon offers great back up options such as Verizon Cloud, that will simplify the saving and moving over of data. For more details click on this link: https://www.verizon.com/support/verizon-cloud-faqs/.

We sent you a Private Note. Please review at your earliest convenience.

~Gilbert

[vzw_customer_support]

We're still here to help. Let us know if you need assistance. ~Peter

[bethwilder]

I got a brand new phone and couldn’t pay my phone to my Apple Watch. So I went to Verizon and they told me that it would be $30 to pair it. I said  no way and walked out. I  attempted to pair it one more time And boom right outside the Verizon store it paired simply in a couple of minutes. What kind of service won’t even help you if you can’t figure out some things on your phone? Ridiculous

[Scott5337]

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@bethwilder wrote:

I got a brand new phone and couldn’t pay my phone to my Apple Watch. So I went to Verizon and they told me that it would be $30 to pair it. I said  no way and walked out. I  attempted to pair it one more time And boom right outside the Verizon store it paired simply in a couple of minutes. What kind of service won’t even help you if you can’t figure out some things on your phone? Ridiculous

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Did you go to a Verizon corporate store or one of those "authorized reseller" stores that are allowed to use the Verizon logo? A corporate store should never charge a customer for basic things like help pairing a Bluetooth accessory. Yes, they do charge a device activation fee as described in the original post, but not for basic customer support. Now...an authorized reseller store where they are not truly Verizon employees (but are allowed to use the Verizon name on the building) they will charge you for even walking through the door.  If you don't know the difference  about the store you are entering, always ask.

[SynthpopAddict]

I don't know if it's always been that way with the charges for setting up a new device in store or for transferring data, or if this is a new thing.  But at least you were told about the fees.  Have seen other threads where the charges were not mentioned and someone got a nasty surprise on their next bill.

[SynthpopAddict]

I would hope the "authorized resellers" or whatever the 3rd party stores are called have it indicated somewhere on the property.  I'll give Pink Logo Place credit for clearly stating on the front doors of their 3rd party stores that said store is run by a 3rd party.  Because otherwise, the 3rd party stores look exactly like the corporate ones.

There have been threads in recent months where people were saying they've been charged not just for setting up a new device, but also charges for data transfer and something else, not sure.  One person reported when they bought a new phone and asked how much it would be to get it set up and data transferred from old phone to new, were quoted nearly $100 in service charges.  So they declined and did the setup on their own.