14 Pro Max and Pro Pre-Order On HOLD

[Hawtbabe]

What a ridiculous experience I have had thus far.  Where should I begin? I started this process on September 9th with a pre-order of the IPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. I placed the order to add two additional lines to the 5G Wireless Home Internet that I already have with Verizon. I am currently an AT&T customer so I added the switcher rebate for porting both lines from AT&T and also the credits for trading our old phones in which brough the new IPhones to virtually nill over time. All is well... I received my receipt the charge was currently pending on my credit card and I was so excited. UNTIL September 16th rolls around and I check my app hoping to see a shipping date and tracking number only to be stunned to see that my payment method was not accepted and that it needed to be updated. I just knew in my mind this can't be the case because not only did I receive a receipt for my preorder I can see the charge pending on my credit card for the down payment and the taxes etc. Approx. $384.23. So I call Verizon to see what the issue is because surely it cannot be the payment because I see here that I the payment is currently pending and awaiting authorization by the merchant. I was told not by 1 but 3 different representatives, 3 different things. 1 representative told me "Oh ma'am it looks like your payment was declined" to which I answered the payment was not declined I have a transaction number and I can see the charge pending on my credit card account. "You should check with your bank because we have been trying to process the payment." I called my credit card company and they stated to me that there was no problem with the charge that they are just awaiting the final amount to be provided from the merchant so they can process the charge. I called back and spoke with rep #2 who was a bit brighter and was able to see that the initial pre-order payment that I made on September 9th was accepted and should have processed as they saw the receipt. They were unable to explain why the payment hadn't gone through but assured me that by tomorrow September 17th I should see the shipping confirmation. I was not happy with that answer because it seemed a little too good to be true and it just didn't seem to make sense with the current messages I was received on my app along with the fact that the payment  had never fully processed on my credit card. I asked to speak with a Supervisor to whom they referred to as "leadership" and I was by no surprise put on hold for 20 minutes just to be disconnected. I then called my bank again and explained that the authorization is not going through to Verizon and I wanted to know why. Again, they assured me that the problem was not the account or the bank but that the merchant (Verizon) was not processing the payment. So I go to sleep that evening very upset because I have no resolution and wake up bright and early Saturday morning September 17th to get this resolved. Amazingly, the payment that was once pending on my credit card account has now fallen off and the credit was returned to my availability. AMEN! I thought to myself, now I can simply reprocess my payment. To my horror,  I go through 2 more representatives that tell me that the payment was fine and it processed and that I should be receiving a tracking number by the end of the day only to never receive a confirmation email or a shipping email. I wait until about 3pm and I decide that is obviously more incorrect information and I call in and decide to ONLY speak with a supervisor or "Leadership". I am routed to a very nice gentleman by the same of Steve in Online Ordering and Support Leadership. Upon long review and listening and a ton of kindness he apologizes to me profusely because as he can see the order was not placed correctly from the beginning, and not on my end but on the computer/systems end. I was told that instead of the system treating these phones like they are going to be on an installment plan, I was being charged the full amounts for the phones. He told me this was completely incorrect and someone should have caught this issue by now. He asked me to hold and that he was going to have a conversation with a team of individuals that specializes in these "glitches" and hopefully get this worked out so that I can receive my devices. Unfortunately, Steve came back with the bad news tha there was nothing that could be done to rectify this issue. He told me that there was just some type of glitch happening with the system that was not allowing them to do much of anything to fix the problem. He told me that the only choice was to cancel the order and to call back on Monday (this is Saturday) and place the order with an agent directly. I asked him what was going to happen to aspect that this was a pre-order that I placed on September 9th, now I just lose my place in line because your system is faulty? Also, I need the money refunded back into my account because I am sure come Monday you will still want your $385 right? So he ensured me that it would be canceled and the funds would be returned as well as I would be able to "jump the line" due to the circumstances. He also said he put extensive notes for the representative because he would honestly redo the order himself but he is off on Monday's and he does not want me to have to wait for him in order to get the order back rolling. WELL I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU. It is Monday evening 8:30 pm and the payment is still pending, no refund, and they can't seem to figure out what is taking so long for the order to cancel so that it can be replaced.  This is the absolute most ridiculous situation I have ever been in with a telecommunications company. Honestly, how long have we been doing IPhone Pre-orders and roll-outs now?? Like you have got to be kidding me. I am about 10 seconds from contacting CNET, GADGET,  WIRED, THE VERGE, and any other tech news that will listen. Your staff is completely incompetent and I don't event believe it's their fault. I am not sure they have been properly trained or educated. This is not even laughable at this point and I usually could find humor in being on the phone trying to find a resolution for 4 days now with not a single bit of resolve in sight. What is going on here? Honestly. I hope you guys have a really good excuse about why you are putting people through situations where you are taking hundreds of dollars and not providing the goods or the services and just "can't" seem to find a way to resolve the issue or return the funds. This is ludicrous. 

[Hawtbabe]

@vzw_customer_support I need some answers. This is unacceptable. 

[peanutmuffin]

I hate to say it, but the glitch still isn’t fixed. I placed my order on September 20 for delivery today (September 22), and my order is stuck. I’ve repeatedly  done everything I’ve been asked to, chatted with four reps so far, and there are no answers to be had. 

[DaveLa]

I know what you are going through.  Same is happening to me.  A hold was placed on my order 9/20, I updated my CC info and the hold remained.  My CC has now been charged three times.  I have called at least 6 Customer Service Reps and a trip to the verizon store who can't help and they also can't cancel the order although they say they have.

Never ordering another phone or product through Verizon ever!  Its the Apple Store from now on.

[TomfromNY]

I preordered 4 iphones on the first day.  Credit card declined on day of shipping, verizon website locked me out so I couldn't re-submit.   Customer service rep, via chat re-inputs the order I made sure all was clear with the credit card company, day of shipping comes,  credit card declined, still locked out of website.  Next via telephone...customer rep re-inputs the order, says there will be no problem.  I tell her I'll believe it when I have the phones in hand.  Shipping date arrives (today), get an email from the CC company to approve the sale, I do so, go in to look at order it asks for but won't accept an update.  Try twice more - get locked out of the website.  Called this morning and made my to something like the fraud dept., they will investigates and get back to me by 3 PM.  No call.  Wait until after 4 and go back into chat.  Told them they either fix and ship the existing order today or I'm done with Verizon.  Between the phones, accessories and 3 years of service this is a sale of over $10,000.  Guarantees she will fix the problem and get it out.  After about an hour on chat there is a technical problem and I get kicked off.  The phone service has been quite good, the customer service has always been problematic but this takes the cake.  I'm done with them.