Prepaid problems… poor customer service from Verizon but an all-star staff at one of the authorized retailers. Too bad there wasn’t an email address to send concerns to……
On 3/16/15, I ordered the 4G SIM activation kit, with $45 prepaid plan, from Verizon.com. Total was $52 and some odd cents. I had my own smartphone and thought it would be easier to just order the kit from Verizon.com. The first issue is that I did not receive the overnight shipping that was advertised on http://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/. I chatted with a representative about the issue but did not make any headway “It says two day shipping” to which I felt like saying really, I think I can read, and that’s not what it says on my end! I have a screenshot that clearly shows that it says “Free Overnight Shipping.” That should’ve been my first notion to not order this kit from Verizon.com
I received the activation kit two days later and decide that day to activate my phone. My number was transferred from a different post-paid plan and the initial number transfer went smoothly. Great, I thought. In a half hour or so I’ll have a smartphone!
Wrong. Then, as I was transferred to prepaid to get my phone activated, things got hairy. I was informed that my SIM card was not properly scanned when purchased, was therefore locked, and that I would need to go back to the place of purchase. Well, I bought it from Verizon.com, so nice try. Then it was that I needed to go to a corporate store to get it fixed. There is not a corporate store within 60 miles of my residence and I was not going on a wild goose chase for one. With my luck, I'd end up there after it had closed or they still wouldn't be able to do anything for me. My other option was to send everything back and wait for a new one to be shipped (and hopefully it would be scanned correctly), and in the process be out of a cell phone for about a week since I had already cancelled my previous service. My phone is integral for my job so that couldn't happen. No phone= no money. Somehow, a problem created by Verizon was made into my problem by all of the reps I spoke to! It’s not my fault that they did not correctly scan the SIM card. I was advised to NOT go to the nearest authorized retailer, about 30 miles away. I was on the phone for over an hour and a half that time and the only thing accomplished was ending up with a smartphone that didn’t work and a standard phone that didn’t have service anymore. There was “nothing else they could do for me.” They also said that I would lose the month of service from activation kit I purchased. Really? Really?! Honestly, it seemed like no one I talked to knew what they were doing. I was transferred amongst many reps.
I packed everything up that I had from Verizon and went to my nearest authorized retailer. I walked in just before closing time and just said “can you help me??” They took over the process of activating my phone and making sure that my month of service… that I had already purchased… was correctly applied to the correct phone. They spent about an hour helping me when they clearly were not making much money on me. Now why can’t the customer support be as helpful as those people?
I spent a whole afternoon, plus 60 miles of driving, to get this issue resolved. I would say a good resolution to this would be a credit to my account to acknowledge that I wasted time and gas to fix a problem that Verizon caused. If I was really feeling lucky, perhaps a free month of my $45 per month service? Am I counting on either of those…heck no. Unfortunately Verizon doesn’t really seem to care about its customers. There really aren’t many alternatives in my area, but this experience really made me think about switching providers.