Verizon — Local services in Berlin

Posting as Jessica, not Thomas: Advising people to find another location, everyone I tried to work with during this did not keep to their word to get back to me, and were entirely unhelpful, which is putting it nicely, seeing as I've had 4 months to cool down and write this in a calm manner. Had I written this right when it happened, this would have been a much harsher, more scathing review.

I upgraded my phone 7/4, and my initial interaction with the sales rep there was fine. I left my old phone there because I didn't need it, we reset the phone and logged out, and I assumed everything was fine. A week later I get a text at 9 PM from the sales rep I worked with asking for my Apple ID password because he had forgotten to perform one more step with my phone. Which I felt very sketchy about, because it was a late night text asking for a password that gives access to credit card/personal information and we had taken care of everything in re-setting the phone when I upgraded. I went back to the store the next day to tell them I was not happy with how it was handled, and they assured me it was indeed the wrong thing for this rep to do and assured me they would find out what was going on, because when I went in they had no record of the phone being there and couldn't get a hold of this rep to talk to him. Fast forward a week later and I haven't heard from the 2nd rep, so I call, and he's out of town, so I talk to another rep and explain the situation and he assures me he will call me the following day to let me know what's going on. Fast forward 4 days later and I haven't heard anything. So I call again and the person I talk to then assures me she will "shove the phone down the 3rd reps throat" when he got back from his lunch and have him call me back. The next day I haven't heard anything so I call to report the whole incident to Verizon, who assure me that everything they have done up to this point in handling this has been entirely inappropriate, but unfortunately they can't do anything beyond emailing the store supervisor to ask them why they have such a problem getting back to me like they keep promising. I check in with Verizon a few days later and of course the supervisor hasn't given them any update, so I stop back into the store to find out why I'm being ignored. I explain everything again to this 4th rep, who keeps insisting he understands why I'm upset, and then proceeds to ask me exactly what I expect him to do, in a condescending tone, and keeps talking to me like I'm being hysterical, which is entirely frustrating. Finally, after having been promised by all these other reps that they would contact the first rep, he calls the rep I originally worked with to ask what's going on, and the 1st rep apologizes for contacting me inappropriately and says he'll bring the phone in the next day so we can address the issue in the store. The next day, 3 hours into his shift that he's already been there for, then texts me again (somehow still doesn't understand that you do not text customers to their personal phone, you call them from the business phone???) to tell me that he couldn't find the phone and didn't know where it was. At which I point I threw my hands up and said "f' this", this is ridiculous, and no one there has been helpful and I am advising everyone to stay away from...

I went to add a phone to my plan and remove a tablet. They were not up front about the costs and how my next bill would appear, when I had to sign up for auto pay, and they never removed the tablet. I set up 3 appointments to discuss my bill with them via phone and was never called. I went to a different store who told me they cannot remove tablets in store and helped me get it off only to inform me that I still had to pay for the extra time it was on there. I went back to the original store to see if they could help me understand why my bill was not what they quoted and although the first person I talked to tried to help he called over someone else who was rude and basically didn’t care that I had not been told about being credited for my old plan or partially billed for the new one. They did not care that I had been given inaccurate information about when I had to sign up for autopay to get the discount. He did not care that I had to pay extra for the tablet because it had not been removed when I had been told it was. He told me to call customer service because they couldn’t help me in store and asked me what I expected them to do. I wanted to know why they were not up front about my bill and why they told me they took the tablet off when they did not. I said I wish they had a manager I could talk to. They again told me to call customer service but to try tomorrow because they have long hold times and I was not likely to get a real person. They did not want to look into my bill more, claiming they could not. They did not offer to call customer service with me like the other store had. They simply wanted an unhappy customer out of their store. I called customer service, waited less than 5 minutes on hold, learned that all of the bill was accurate and should have been explained to me to begin with when it was not. Customer service could not reduce my bill but they did file a corporate complaint about how I was treated in store. I would not recommend going here. You will not have an accurate representation of what you bill will be and the fees you will accrue and if you try to discuss with them they will not help you and they will tell you to call customer service. Don’t...

My cell phone, a Google Pixel, is less than 2 years old and wasn't holding a charge for very long. Dave at the Verizon store told me that they don't make phones anymore that allow just changing the battery - YOU HAVE TO BUY A WHOLE NEW PHONE!!! After muttering something about planned obsolescence, I asked him which window did he prefer I throw my phone through! I calmed down and listened to the options he gave me for purchasing a new phone. Bottom line, he would be able to give me a $300 discount on new phone and $40 loan credit since my phone was less than 2 years old and I still owed on it. The goal was to keep my monthly payment the same (it would be $6 more a month.). However, it would be necessary for me to drop around $300 to get new phone. Being a retired little old lady with a cord of wood being delivered and a repaired snowblower returning home in 2 days, dropping $300 right then was not feasible. When I shared that I would have to wait a bit on upgrading my phone, Dave tells me the $300 discount is only for the current week and I would probably pay more if I waited. I left the store without a new phone resolved to live with my current phone as it is for as long as necessary. So, upon sharing my tale of woe with my intelligent, savy daughter, she set me straight. Batteries for my phone sell for around $15 on Amazon, however installing the battery in my phone is impossible for the inexperienced. The good news is shops exist where techies will order and install your battery for less than $50. Thanks to Izzytech in Montpelier, my phone is back to operating perfectly. All I can say is: 1) Shame on phone manufacturers for their greedy design practices that require upgrading every two years. And 2) Shame on Verizon for being dishonest about the possibility of battery replacement and for trying to pressure customers into buying a new phone immediately. You can bet they won't see my...