Verizon Customer Service and Local Store in Pinellas Park

[Casey82]

I emailed this letter to Verizon Customer Service January 4th and have no response.

I had been a loyal customer of AT&T
for over 10 years but started to experience several issues with coverage and service issues in the last year. In late September of 2017 I decided to switch to Verizon for my cell service.

The company I work for uses Verizon as their carrier and I had good coverage with the work phone at home and when traveling.
I was hopeful that my experience with Verizon would be a great one!

            I called the local store at 6898 Us Highway 19 N, Pinellas Park, FL and spoke with Jorge. I explained why I wanted to switch to Verizon and he was able to answer my questions about Verizon data plans and coverage. He took the info for my iPhone 7 and said that I was eligible to have Verizon pay off the contract on my current iPhone 7.

            Everything sounded good so we started the process of switching my cell service to Verizon. The promotional plan at the time, as explained by Jorge, was that I could either send my current iPhone 7 to Verizon when the new iPhone 8 came in and Verizon would pay off the AT&T contract or I could keep my current iPhone 7, switch the service to Verizon and pay off the AT&T contract on my own. I decided to upgrade to the iPhone 8 and send the iPhone 7 to Verizon when the 8 came in.

            During the process of setting everything up for the switch I asked what I would need to do once the iPhone 8 came in. He said just send the old iPhone 7 back to Verizon using the iPhone 8 box and that a shipping label would be in the box. That Verizon would handle the rest and get the final contract pay off from AT&T.

            All sounded good so I left satisfied that I had made the right decision in switching to Verizon but this is when my experience took a turn for the worse.

            A few weeks later the iPhone 8 arrived. I activated it and all seemed well.  However, there was no return label in the box as I was originally told there would be. I had to call Verizon to get them to email it to me. A day later the iPhone 7 was packaged and shipped to Verizon.

This interaction was the first indication that something was not right but certainly not the last

            About a month later I logged into AT&T’s website to see if the contract had been paid off and it was not. I called Verizon customer service and explained the situation. The rep explained that it takes 3 months for the process to complete and that I am responsible for the AT&T contract pay off. This was contraryto what had been shared before

             I told the rep what Jorge had said to me in the store and was then told by the rep that he was not correct in what he explained to me.  According to the rep that I spoke to, I had to pay off the AT&T contract. I could then either keep the AT&T iPhone 7 and sell it myself or send it to Verizon and they would send me a gift card for the amount it was worth.

            I expressed by frustration at this as this was nothing like what Jorge had told me. The rep apologized and said that she was surprised as the store I went to was a corporate store and they normally know the ins and outs of the process and promotions. Jorge was not correct in anything at this point except that I was getting an iPhone 8.

            This was the first of 9 calls to Verizon customer service. Each one was frustrating as I kept being told different information. Most of it contradicting the previous calls. On almost every call, I would speak to a rep and then be told they would not help and I had to call another number. I would call the number I was given and, after navigating a phone tree that had no options that applied to me, I would press zero to get an operator. I would explain the situation to whoever answered and the run-around continued.

            After a few more calls to customer service, I was told that I must provide the final AT&T bill to Verizon. I was able to get the final bill and email it to Verizon. Again, what Jorge told me at the store was not correct.

            I called the store a few times to speak with Jorge and each call to the store I was hung up on without ever speaking to Jorge.

            In late December I checked the Verizon switch site to check the status of the switch. It finally said everything was approved and that I would be receiving a gift card.

            I called customer service once again and after 3 or 4 transfers, I got someone that actually knew how to do their job.

            The answers she gave me to my concerns and frustrations completely contradicted what other reps had said.

            At this point I was ready to give the iPhone 8 back to Verizon and not have a phone. I was and am very frustrated at every interaction and engagement with Verizon and your employees

            No phone is worth the frustration and time I have had to put into and deal with Verizon on.

            In closing, here is a list of issues that I made me greatly unhappy with Verizon

• Being lied to in the store for the sake of a
  sale
• Not being to speak with the sales rep at the
  store where I got the iPhone, ie. being hung up on
• Customer service reps that contradict each other
• The constant transferring of calls to get
  information and results
• The amount of time I had to put in to follow up
  and get information to make sure that everything was on track
• The amount of money it cost me to make the
  switch to Verizon when Jorge said that Verizon would take of AT&T and
  the contract pay off
• The website only has supports options for chat
  or to talk to customer service. Is it so hard to put a customer service email
  address on the website?

[Ann154]

There isn't an email address for VZW customer service. You can call, chat, use Twitter, message through Facebook, or mail a letter to the correspondence address listed under the Contact Us link at the top of every Verizon Wireless web page.

[naansalad]

wish you had researched before switching .....

[vzw_customer_support]

This isn't the experience you deserved when joining our family, Casey82. We want nothing more than to turn things around. Please be on the lookout for a Private Message, so we can better assist.

LynnD_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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