Never received my $200 gift cards

[JELL39]

     We switched over to Verizon on cyber monday, 2016. We saw an advertisement on the verizon website for the iphone se for $5 a month, so we went to our nearest verizon store. While we were there, the verizon rep told us we could also receive $200 visa gift cards for each new line that we switched over to verizon. That sounded like a great deal, so we switched our 4 lines over from AT&T. We were told the gift cards usually take a couple of month to show up, so we got our phones and started waiting.

     After a couple of month we called to get an update on our gift cards, which led a stream of back and forth with customer service over the phone, and heading back to the store where we bought our phones. The customer service couldn't find our promotion from cyber monday, saying gift cards were handled through the store where they were purchased, and they would need to file the proper paperwork. But when we went back to the store, we were assured again that our promotion from cyber monday was correct and that the gift cards were on the way. When we just contacted the store again to check on the gift cards, we were told now 6 months after purchase that a trade in was required. How can we get this issue resolved so that we can receive the 4 $200 gift cards we were promised for switching our service over to Verizon?

[vzw_customer_support]

Jell39, this is certainly not the experience we would want you to have while joining our Verizon family. We always want to do our best to ensure you have the proper expectations prior to any purchase. It's important to know all the ins and outs of a promotion in order to make the right decision and we certainly wouldn't want you to have to wait 6 months before getting an answer. We want to help get to the bottom of this for you and in order to do so, we'd like to ask for more information to help us obtain the full picture here. Can you tell us the store address that you visited when you made the switch? What expectations were originally set when the gift card offer was presented? May we ask what happened with your old AT&T phones after all?

SamanthaT_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[JELL39]

It was the store at 699 Baltimore Pike, Bel Air MD 21014. When we went to the sto​re ​I knew that trade ins were often required for certain promotions, so I specifically asked if we needed to trade in phones to receive the gift cards and was told no, that you received a $200 gift card just for switching new lines to verizon. We went to the store just to check out the cyber monday deals, and it was the gift cards that sold us on switching, otherwise we wouldn't have. We still have our old phones, they're just sitting in a cabinet.

[justin1239]

I have the same issue. I purchased my phones and switched from AT&T and was told I would be receiving my promotional $200 gift cards in the mail shortly after. The representatives NEVER told me I needed to submit a formal request myself, I was told it was done in my behalf. After 45 days I called to see if they had been sent only to find out not only that they hadn't been sent but that "I was outside the window of submitting a request" so I have now lost $400 in gift cards because a Verizon representative told me it would be sent.....

[Rosesandbread]

Funny because I am experiencing THE SAME issue. My family and I switched over from T-mobile 6 months ago have been to the original store twice talked to several customer service representatives (after being put on hold for nearly 30mins each time). And we still haven't received our gift cards. I feel like this issue needs to be brought to light because they are literally scamming people into joining their TRASH service

[vzw_customer_support]

Rosesandbread, we want to welcome you and your family to Verizon Wireless but are sorry to learn of the gift card issue. What is the current status after stopping by the store location and speaking with Customer Service? Were any proactive steps taken to have this issue resolved? What promotion were you advised of and what qualifications were set? Looking forward to hearing back and helping find a final resolution to this matter.

ChrisM_VZW

[Rosesandbread]

Hello,

I plan on going in there again today for the third time because your store manager was supposed to call me yesterday after speaking to one of your twitter customer service representatives. The STORE MANAGER took full responsibility for the matter but has yet to resolve the issue. I don't trust him to call me back (we have been going back and forth for 6 months) so I will go there. 

Your twitter representative informed us that THERE WAS NO PROMOTION GOING ON DURING THAT TIME and tried to give us a $200 credit to our line but we switched 3 phones expecting to receive $600 after your store manager sold us that promotion?!!! We don't even get good reception (on the 36th floor) and your customer service representatives (minus the lady on twitter) are TRASH!!!!

SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIX THIS AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF COMPANY YOU ARE!

[Bitten_By_Verizon]

This story keeps repeating. Verizon knows good and well most consumers will forget about it or give up fighting them on it. I spent no less than 6 hours on phone calls trying to simply get what I was told I would get when I switch over after 15 years with an ethical carrier. I brought 5 lines over and was assured on multiple ocassions that I would have no issue getting the rebates ($1000).  One rebate came in and the rest were denied. I contacted them again and again they said they would fix it and it would be honored. They then closed the case withouth contacting me back as promised. Only after I contacted them for a third time and spent another 2 hours on the phone with them did they offer a reduced credit on my account for me to go away HAPPY! They stole $300 from me and want me to be happy about it? I made it clear that I could accept a slightly reduced credit and would go away at least not angry - but they would not honor their commitment anyway. So, here I am - stuck with Verizon, not trusting them, out $300. Think before you switch, they will tell you what you want to hear to get you switch over - don't count on it. If it makes sense to switch without the rebates, then switch. Otherwise, you are counting on empty promises.

[Rosesandbread]

They finally resolved the issue after I kept bugging the customer service representatives on Twitter...if you signed up thinking you were going to receive a promotion YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THAT PROMOTION and should not back down until you get what you were promised. If you don't that is a SCAM.

My family and I plan on paying off our phones and canceling our services with them (no contract thank god!) because this whole experience was a hot mess that should've been dealt with accordingly in the beginning NOT 6 MONTHS LATER. I also talked to about 10 different people and had to explain myself and situation over and over again. One time I talked to 4 different people in 1 day...the correct way to handle the situation was to provide one customer service rep who could tackle the issue and do a follow up...no one checked up on me after the matter was resolved I HAD TO ASK THEM.

My advice to anyone wanting to switch over to verizon...DONT. The customer service is so trash, their employees seem to have no idea what is going on (in-store associates and managers) no one cares (online reps) so you will either get lied to or scammed and you don't get signal!!!! Their old main commercial "can you hear me now" guy is living his best life with Sprint and now I know why. AVOID THE GIFTCARD SCHEME and most importantly AVOID THIS PROVIDER!! They don't care about the customer they just want money(:

[Wideopen48]

I'm going through the same thing as we speak, I'm owed $600 in gift cards and keep getting the run around!! I've spoke to 3 different people today, and everyone of them act like they have no idea what I'm  talking about! Ive spoke with 3 different departments, Fraud, Customer Care, and rebate center. Its ridiculous! I switched from Sprint back in September, big mistake! If this doesn't get resolved soon I'm contacting BBB and also filing in small claims court!