Verizon Customer Service & Deceitful Advertising
kel_collison
Newbie

Like any Apple fan, the release of the iPhone 6 has been something I've been looking forward to for about a year. My contract ended in July, and I was being patient & resourceful - prepped and ready for my new pocket buddy, in all it's shiny glory! Finally the phone is released, and to be honest, it was not what I was expecting. I really loved the iPhone 5's professional and bold design, so I was sad to see the more "square" design go. But none-the-less, the camera was better, the display was better - for the most part, it's an awesome phone. And I REALLY needed more space than my 16GB can handle (deleting pictures and apps every day is not my idea of fun)!

I decided I was going to just wait out the craze of the new phone, maybe even wait for the price to go down. Changing carriers wasn't even an option, let alone thought. I have had a couple hiccups with Verizon, but they had been taken care of for the most part. I had one problem with a HTC phone probably four years ago that they just could not resolve (after 10+ phone calls & eventually an email with them). I've used AT&T and Sprint before, but I just really liked the convenience Verizon brought to the table. I advocate for Verizon, telling all my friends and family that it's the only provider they should even be considering switching to. I have my boss checking into switching, but alas, I may be taking back that suggestion (which means 3 iPods & 3 iPhone users may not be switching now). Why, you may ask?

1. Verizon is advertising "iPhone 6 for $0 with upgrade or new contract". Really? SWEET! Let's do this! I go to start the process online, only to realize that I have to pay for the phone (not get it for $0), but I'm not even going to be getting my money back. I'm going to be getting a Verizon gift card back. Essentially, Verizon wins - this isn't something special or helpful for me. Maybe for some people, like the middle class, upper middle class, and wealthy - this may be a super deal. But for the working class - the people who work hard, pay their bills, and wait years to upgrade their phone with an exciting promotion that screams "we care about you, you sexy verizon customer, you". But really, they are screaming "How foolish can we make you feel?" My heart did break a little bit when I realized my excitement over getting a $400 phone for $200 was never going to happen.

2. Then I find out the reason they make you pay the full price and give you a gift card (eventually) is so they can "appraise" your phone (that may be in perfectly good condition), and possibly give you less than that $200 (that you can only spend at Verizon, by the way).

3. So to verify all this craziness, and clear any doubt & wishful thinking, I press that little chat button at the top. I talk to a friendly bloke named Hans (or something equally Frozen-esque). He informs me that I am correct in my findings, and there truly is nothing he can do to help me with any of my frustrations, because he is from the Sales Department. I asked how I talk to Customer Service (because there's a department for that, not all Verizon employees can help their customers), and he said I'd need to call them during business hours. Wait a second, you sneaky Verizon, you. Sales department is open 24/7 to make sure you can get people to buy things, but for your poor, contract imprisoned customers, they are restricted to a time frame designed for the lifeless?

So I sit here at 1:21am, knowing my morning starts in 4 hours, asking myself - is it worth staying? My contract is up, and I'm really ashamed of the deceit Verizon is using between the false/misleading advertising, the lack of customer service, the corrupt trade-in program, and I won't even start on how we were upgraded from 6GB to 10GB of data for being long time customers (Alltel days?), then as soon as I go to upgrade, they won't allow us to keep the plan, but actually want us to pay more for 4GB than we were paying for 10GB. It's really disheartening.

Any suggestions on a better network? I've been looking into some interesting plans, especially companies with unlimited everything for $50. Any experiences and advice would be appreciated. Or if someone from Verizon would like to assist in giving me some kind of hope back into the company, I can be reached via email (but in 2014 - the age of technology, apparently there is no system for that anymore here).

Labels (1)
Re: Verizon Customer Service & Deceitful Advertising
LRBrown
Enthusiast - Level 3

Another thing I just thought about, it clearly states free overnight shipping on the front page.  My Iphone 6 was sent ground.  I got it 3 days later, and sent my Iphone 5 to the verizon trade in that same day.  2 weeks later and they still haven't gotten my device.