Port Arthur, TX store bad customer service experience

[chwjking]

First of all this is a review of my experiences and I will try to be reasonable and keep my emotions out of it and I would ask those who post on this discussion to not be emotional either. My experience with the Verizon Wireless store could have ended very poorly for me had I not been extremely careful. I will try to give my experience as close to the way things happened as I can remember.

The goal of my trip to the store was to finally have my own smart phone and my own data plan. I have recently graduated from college and for years have been under my parents' family plan with a flip phone. My parents aren't into smart phones so they don't have a data plan. This means I would have to completely switch off of their plan and start my own contract with my own smart phone. I also recently started working a stable job and my current flip phone and phone number are the only means of contacting me so my company has the flip phone number in all of its records. So my plan was to try and keep my same phone number. Throughout my experience I tried very hard to make this goal understood by the Verizon Wireless employees I was in contact with.

When I first walked into the store I was greeted very politely by a VW employee who asked how he could help me. I gave him an explanation similar to the one I gave above. He said it would be no problem, and first I should have my parents authorize the release of my phone number to me by calling customer service. I call my dad and he authorizes an Agreement of Liability (AOL) to switch the number to me. He calls me back and says that he was told I will likely have to do the same at the store. I get in line to be serviced again and finally get paired up with a new VW solutions specialist. I once again explain my goal very similar to the paragraph above. The employee asked me for some information and the phone number. I give him all my information and my driver's license and the number. The employee says my name is not on my dad's account (my phone I use was originally my brother's so it was under his name) at all so he will have to check if everything is still possible. He returns and assures me that everything should be fine.

He then asks me if I am eligible for the upgrade. I tell him I am not sure and he says he can check later. He then sets up my account with more personal information and eventually asks me what plan I would like. I tell him I would like the 1GB data plan. He puts the plan in the system and crunches some numbers and tells me that I should expect about a $100 per month bill and breaks it down for me. 40 for the smartphone access, 30 for the 1GB data plan, and then taxes and a little bit of an overestimation. I say that sounds about right and that price is acceptable (keep in mind that we are discussing a plan for a smartphone). Next the VW employee does something on his tablet and says that I am not eligible for an upgrade until this September and therefore I can't get a smartphone. At this point he shakes my hand and says that is all he can do for me until September. I felt like it ended abruptly, but just assumed he was trying to get to the next customers who were waiting. I left the store a little confused, but having signed nothing, agreeing to nothing, and not purchasing a smart phone I assumed that essentially nothing had changed compared to what happened before I walked in the store. I figured since I could not accomplish what I wanted and did not agree to anything that I was still under my dad's plan. Now remember that my dad had told me that I would have to agree to an AOL to have my own plan, which I did not do in the store at any point either verbally or written.

I leave the store and call my parents and have a conversation about what happened in the store. My dad asked me if that means I had my own account now and would be billed monthly. I told him I didn't think so since I didn't agree to any type of flip phone plan or sign anything. He said he would call Verizon Customer service and ask them about it for me. My dad then calls me back and says that I am no longer on his plan and that I will be billed monthly for my flip phone. I go back to the same VW store and ask the same VW solutions specialist if I have to pay any monthly bill. He looks at his tablet and tells me that I will have to pay a 60$ monthly bill for my flip phone. I ask him what plan am I paying for and he said I am paying for the 1GB data plan. I ask him why am I paying for a data plan if I don't have a smart phone like I wanted to get in the first place? Then I do admit I was getting a little frustrated but I do believe I controlled my emotions and was still acting in a calm collected manner. I asked him if I could just transfer back to my dad's plan (my dad was only paying 10$ a month for my phone). The VW employee said he did not believe I could rejoin back to my parent's plan. So then I asked if I could simple cancel my phone service since it had just been created today. He said I could but there would be a $70 cancellation fee. I said that was not fair because I did not ask nor agree to get on my own plan with this flip phone and that the plan we had discussed before was with the assumption that I would have a smart phone. At this point an employee next to us told the solutions specialist that he could simply switch back to my parent's plan with another AOL. However, my dad would first have to add my name to the account as an account manager and then we would both have to agree to AOL's. So I call my dad and he contacts customer service. I get a phone call from a VW AOL specialist who on the phone verbally has me confirm my identity and verbally agree to the AOL after explaining to me the changes that would happen. I want to emphasize this next part through capitalization THAT I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY PHONE CALL OR IN STORE INSTRUCTION TO AGREE TO AN AOL BEFORE. Overall I finally checked back in with the VW solutions specialist who finally confirmed that I was back to normal under my parent's plan.

After all of this I would like to point out that I almost unknowingly was charged $60 for a smartphone plan after being denied upgrading to a smart phone and with the VW employee knowing that I only had a flip phone. At no point before I left during the first store visit did the employee inform me that I had my own account and would be paying $60 a month. I never signed or verbally agreed to paying for a smart phone plan without a smart phone. Throughout the entire process I tried to be clear about the reason I wanted my own plan was so I could have a smart phone. This happened today and it does not appear that I have been charged any extra fees yet. However, I wanted this to be known because if I was not so careful then this definitely could have ended worse for me and Verizon Wireless. I hope that a VW customer service representative can read this and get back to me. Hopefully they improve their system because I feel like what transpired today was definitely sketchy as far as legality. At this point I am considering filing a complaint since I feel like I was trying to be scammed out of my money.

[vzw_customer_support]

chwjking,

We appreciate the time you have take to let us know about your experience. We want all our customers to receive a stellar customer service experience.  I would can definitely understand your frastratuon after having to have had explained yourself various time.  We appreciate your feedback and help sumbit feedback on your behalf to help avoid this in the future. What store location did you visit?

YareliM_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!!

[chwjking]

Port Arthur, Texas as stated in the title.

8565 Memorial Blvd

Suite 300, Park Central Crossing, Port Arthur, TX

I understand mistakes can happen. I guess I will have to wait until September to be able to upgrade and keep my number. This is a bit disappointing since my parents have been Verizon customers for 5+ years I think. I just wish I didn't feel so tricked.