Issues with Authorized Retailers

[LRosselot]

I would like to communicate my dissatisfaction with the service provided by two authorized retailer locations. They are operated by Victra  - Store A is the one on Del Obispo in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Store B is the one in the Los Cerritos Mall in Cerritos, CA

On 9/24 at 12:51 PM I placed an order with Verizon Telesales to pick up our upgraded phones from Store A. Around 3 PM we called the store and they said they had the order and it would be ready by the time we got there at 4 PM. We live in Lake Elsinore, CA which is about an hour away. When we arrived at the store (which was very run down and empty on the inside), the associate was busy with another customer. Told me his partner would be right back - he had left to pick up his car from the mechanic (unnecessary information that was relayed as an excuse). His partner had not returned so he asked what I needed help with. I told him no name tag. I was there to pick up my phones. He asked for my number and said the order couldn’t be completed because they had sold my husbands phone (iphone 11 pro max 256 GB silver). He proceeded to tell me that we shouldn’t have come down until we received a confirmation email (which I had, and I had called ahead). I asked him If i could at least upgrade my phone (Iphone pro max 256GB Gold) and he said no because the orders were in 1 so he couldn’t split it up. I asked if he could cancel the order (I already had paid the sales tax over the phone with telesales). He said no I needed to call customer service. I got on the phone with Telesales at 4:30 and spent 30 min on the phone with them. They said they couldn’t cancel the order and the store could. Store says they couldn’t because it was a telesales order. Telesales told me I could go to Store B - which had both phones that we wanted in stock. Telesales called the store and the manager Adrian set them aside for us as long as we picked them up right away. So we proceeded to drive another hour in another direction. Upon arriving at Store B, Adrian had gone home but Andrew was there. He said he was told it was an upgrade not new lines. (Telesales said because they couldn’t cancel the order so to add two new lines, purchase the phones and on 9/25 Verizon would make the switch and close the new lines). Andrew attempted to add the two new lines but because the order for Store A was still in “process” there was insufficient credit available to add 2 more new phones to my plan. We proceeded to get on the phone with Verizon again and spent 2 hours on the phone with them to cancel the order with Store A so we could proceed with the order with Store B. At 9:15 PM this was done successfully. Andrew proceeded to upgrade the phones. In that process he erroneously selected Cash Sale for my phone upgrade and had us sign everything (at this point we didn’t know thats what had happened.) As we went to the register to pay the sales tax - His computer populated a total based on the cash sale of the Gold Iphone. He went back to the tablet and found he couldn’t cancel the order. All departments were closed by then and nothing could be done. Again - because both phones were created on one order, we couldn’t finish the process on my husbands phone and take it home. Even though we had already signed a device payment agreement for my husbands phone. However, the phone lines had already been transferred to the new phones in the Verizon system so our personal phones were now disabled for the rest of the night. The next morning at 7 AM I got on the phone with Verizon who, after 3 hours was unable to cancel the agreement made since it originated with Store B, and couldn’t reconnect our original phone lines back to our original phones because they had been transferred by Store B. The only solution they could give was to call Store B and have them transfer back the phones and cancel the sale. Finally at 11:30 I was able to get a hold of someone at Store B (Saul and then Jasmine) who was able to successfully cancel the upgrade order that originated with store B and restore our phone lines back to the original phones. Jasmine was very helpful and courteous. Saul was not, he placed me on hold (with zero disclosure) after I told him what we needed help with and then Jasmine picked up the phone.

The lack of professionalism experienced at the hands of your two stores reflects poor training and even poorer management. It is appalling that these locations represent Verizon. We are supposed to be able to go to those stores with the same confidence and commitment to customer service as a Corporate Verizon Store. It is my hope, you will use this scenario as a training exercise for the future. All told my husband and I spent 8 hours each on 9/24 plus 180 miles round trip on 9/24 and I spent 4.5 hours on 9/25 to resolve this issue that could have been avoided if Store A had been more organized, professional and thorough.

[vzw_customer_support]

LRosselot, I am sorry to learn of the time and trouble that occurred when upgrading the lines of service. This is never the interaction we want any of our customers to have no matter what store location is visited. I'm glad to know the end result was what you wanted, which was new phones for you and your husband. Please know feedback will be lifted up regarding both store locations. Additionally, you can file feedback as well via the My Verizon application. (Open the app > tap the menu key > select feedback in lower right corner > tap store visit. We take and address feedback seriously thank you for taking the time to let us know of your experience. While an unfavorable experience, it will definitely be learned from. Your business is appreciated