2016 Black Friday Experience - iPhone/iPad "deal"

[MICKIL16]

Hello All,

I'm not sure if anyone else has had a similar experience with this deal from last month, but I had waited for a good holiday promotion to switch back to Verizon from AT&T, whom I've been with for years. My new apartment doesn't get an AT&T signal on my iPhone, so I figured I'd jump on one of the holiday promotions to move back to Vzw and also get a new iPhone 7. The promotions running on Black Friday weekend for a new device, plus the $200 rebate for switching to Vzw seemed pretty good, so I went into the store and spoke with a salesperson. We went through the usual sales pitch, and he crunched some numbers on two different options for plans, and also if I was going to port over my girlfriend's line as well. Long story short, my girlfriend decided to stick with AT&T for the time being because she still had a significant balance to pay on her current phone, so I was the only one switching over to Vzw on Black Friday.

The promotion was for a "free" or reduced cost iPhone with the trade-in of an eligible model. I was trading in my iPhone 6+, so this worked out good for me. Getting to the point,  I was offered an iPad Mini 2 for $50 as part of the promotions going on that weekend for those buying a new iPhone. I was on the fence about taking the deal, but I figured my girlfriend had wanted an iPad so this was a good Christmas gift at a significantly reduced cost. Before agreeing to this, I asked the salesperson twice if $50 is the only fee I would have to pay, in order to ensure there wasn't a hidden monthly charge for line access that wasn't being mentioned. He assured me that $50 was the only thing I would be paying as part of the promotion, and that the billing may show the $10 access fee, but there would be a $10 credit to negate it, which he said was only done for billing purposes. So I went ahead with the deal, but did not receive the devices until about a week later since the items were not in stock at the store and on back order.

I went back to the same store to activate the devices and trade in my old iPhone, which seemed pretty painless. Upon receiving notification of my first bill, which apparently charges you for two months, I noticed the $10 line access fee for the iPad Mini 2 that I was assured would not be costing me a monthly payment.

My question to the community is, do these "credits" take a couple months to kick in, like the credit for the device trade-in, or should they be showing up right away? Do I need to speak with the manager at that particular store? I'm hoping I wasn't tricked, like some of the others on here who posted experiences from similar deals offered in the past!

-Mike

[Ann154]

You will have to pay the access fee. It sounds like you purchased the iPad on contract. You could have read about the deals and the terms and conditions of the deal online.

[vzw_customer_support]

Welcome back to our family, Mike. I am happy to hear that you were able to take advantage of our Black Friday deals. Getting $250.00 off an iPad with your new iPhone sounds like quite the bargain. I have combed through all of our ads and circulars, and found that all tablet promotions required a two year contract and a $10.00 a month access fee on the New Verizon Plan. Integrity is at the core of who we are. We want to make sure that you are fully versed on what you are getting.
Since you did purchase this within the holiday period, you are still able to return your tablet to your place of purchase. Do you still have your receipts? If not you can pull your receipts up online by logging into
MyVerizon
MyBilling
MyDocument and Receipts. Scroll down to your Black Friday purchase and click on your receipt. Please feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. I will also send you a private message in case you have account specific questions.

AllisonC_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!!

[MICKIL16]

Ann,

This isn't helpful. I'm sure all the fine print is there somewhere in cyberspace, but like I mentioned in my original post, I went in to get a phone. I went after what seemed to be a good deal, as it was presented to me by the salesperson. Am I to assume Verizon employees are all going to be less than forthright with me to make a sale?

[Ann154]

You could have said no. You can still return the device. Or you can accept the terms of the purchase and learn to be more educated about your options before walking into the store.