Switching to Verizon

[CanD0]

The exhausting saga of switching to Verizon…

For several months I have been receiving cards in the mail from Verizon offering me $800 towards a phone of my choice if I switch to them.

I did my research to see what phones I could get for free and what service plans I could get. It needed to be as good of a deal as the one I was getting or better for me to switch.

On 9/19/2023 I went into a local Verizon store and spoke with Cheyanne, one of the agents there. She told me I could get the iPhone 14 for free and do the Unlimited Welcome Plan for $65/mo. with auto pay. I was paying $63/mo. at my current carrier, so I thought a two dollar difference wasn’t bad. So I signed up and made the switch. We go through the whole process. I buy a case, I pay for the liquid glass for the screen, and I buy a charger, too. She then hands me my new free phone.

Did you know that they don’t activate the phone in the store for you anymore? Yeah, I didn’t know that either. She gives me verbal instructions on how to finish setup and activation. I hurry home and do what she says. Disaster. I spent three hours trying to activate that dang phone. No luck. I finally went to sleep and decided to get help from Verizon the next day. I was getting some texts on my old phone and some on my new phone, but I couldn’t send or receive calls or texts.

I call the Verizon store from my old phone and asked for their help. Apparently they forgot to do a step on their end. Whatever they did, I could now send and receive phone calls. BUT I still couldn’t send/receive texts or even FaceTime. I asked for their help with that, too, but they said they couldn’t help me with that and only Apple could. They gave me a phone number and so begins the next leg of the journey.

Let me tell you that Apple’s customer service was TOP NOTCH. They worked so hard to help me and even called me back whenever we got disconnected. They went as far as giving me a way to contact the representative who was help me so I wouldn’t have to repeat the whole saga again. By Wednesday night, it was resolved.

Thursday, 9/21/23, I decide to login to my Verizon account to view the upcoming bill. Of course I knew to expect a higher bill for my first one, but all the bills thereafter were much higher than $65/mo. Like I was told.

I get on Verizon chat and talk with a representative. I asked them to please explain why my bill is so high moving forward. He explains the taxes, surcharges, and then says “device payment.” I’m sorry! What? I explained to him that there shouldn’t be any device payments because the device was FREE. He says that there is no record of that on his end and I would have to go BACK to the store I got it from and they would have to fix the error.

Are you kidding me?

That evening after work I went back to the Verizon store. Cheyanne was there when I arrived and immediately apologized for an error she had made. Apparently she accidentally gave me the promotional deal two days before she was supposed to and that’s why Verizon corporate wasn’t recognizing my FREE phone in billing.

She proceeds to tell me she can fix it by adding a new line to my account that has all of the right promotional information. She will then switch my phone number to the new (promotional) line and switch the number from the new line to the old one and then delete the old line. Confusing, right? In that process, she had to call Verizon to have them help with the number switch and deletion of the old line. The man on the phone was so confused that he ended up deleting my phone number….my actual phone number. I was there for two and half hours, but at the end of it I was told everything was resolved.

I went on with my business, but with zero confidence that everything was truly fixed. This was 11 days ago.

Yesterday (10/2/23) I decided to go ahead and log in to my Verizon account to see the charges that were going to autopay.

But I couldn’t log in. It didn’t recognize my credentials. What the heck? Did I write it down wrong? I decided to click that button that lets you retrieve your info. It asked for my phone number and zip code. I put it in. It says that my information “doesn’t match Verizon’s” records. What?? You have to be kidding me. Ok, ok - I thought, “Maybe this happened when Cheyanne did the whole phone swap thing? Maybe I need to register again?”

So I tried to register my phone number again. Nope - it said the account already exists. I tried calling the 800 number for Verizon to get help, but every time I called I would just hear silence. I tried called *611 - same problem. I couldn’t even speak to an automated system let alone a human. I decided I would try Verizon chat again - I got a spinning wheel and repeated messages that said they were experiencing technical difficulties and to try again later.

So, I tried calling the store that signed me up. They answered and then told me to keep trying the number I had been calling. I did. Still no luck. I called back the store and the man said, “Let me get your number and I’ll call you back.” Guess what? He never called me back.

When I got off work, I went back to the same Verizon store. Yes, AGAIN. Apparently Cheyanne had transferred to a store in another state, so Kenan tried to help me by handing me their landline phone and having me call Verizon again. I’m at the verge of tears by this point. Finally a human comes on the line with Verizon - Nate. I explain to Nate what’s going on and he says, “There’s nothing I can do for you. I can’t even send you a password reset. Let me put you on hold.” So he puts me on hold…for a long time. Eventually I said, “hello? Is anyone there?” I heard the line pick up and then hang up. Are you kidding me?? Why is Verizon customer service SO bad? It shouldn’t be this difficult to get someone to help me.

I call Verizon from the landline again. I’m on hold for a very long time and then finally - David! David answers and begins a long process of trying to make sense of the mess that was made on my account. He was able to get me back into my account by resetting the registration. I was able to register my number again and log in to see my billing info. I asked him if he could stay on the line,   because I wanted to make sure everything looked good on the billing side. But I see that everything isn’t good and there is still a device payment charge on my account! Why?? How??

David and I spent almost two hours on the phone together while he tried to figure out what was going on with my account and “escalated” my ticket. He put me on hold for a while and then the store closed. When he finally got back on the line I asked me if he could please call me on my personal phone so the employees at the Verizon store could go home. He said he would call me right back on my cell phone. The Verizon employees were just kind of like, “yeah, that stinks. Sorry. Have a good night!”

And guess what. David never called me back. He never called back. You guys, when I got back to my car I just screamed. It is infuriating to feel like no one can or will help you when it is their job to do so.

So, since I had to advocate for myself, I jumped back on the Verizon chat. Hopeful it would work this time. It did work and I got connected with an agent who told me that everything look correct on my account. I asked them why the other phone line still showed up on my account and why there is a charge for it. They said the phone will come off the next bill and that Verizon will waive the fee, but I have to reach out to ask them to do that. Why? Why can’t Verizon just fix the problem right now? Why do I have to call again and again and again and again?

I’ll give David the benefit of the doubt that he kept working on my issue and that’s why he didn’t call me back. 

The agent in the chat said my bill moving forward will be $65/mo.

Honestly, I don’t have any faith in Verizon right now. I feel like I have to keep a close eye on everything because if I don’t then I will be charged for things I’m not supposed to be charged for.

Last night I truly regretted switching to Verizon.

[vzw_customer_support]

We are sorry to read that you had this negative experience, as this is never what we want for any of our customers. We will make sure to forward your feedback on, but if you still need assistance, let us know, and we'll be happy to help out.

~Freddy

[trilingually_iamatology]

Leave the forward here. I’m interested in what Verizon did/did not do as an electrical area.

[CanD0]

Hello Freddy,

Yes, a representative from Verizon can follow up with me personally to resolve issues I still see on my account.