Verizon — Local services in Cambridge

This is the worst Verizon store ever. They turned my son away on his first visit because he was not a manager in the account – even though his brother was able to do so in Connecticut without being one either. On the second visit he tried to pre order a new phone and they told him not to bother because he could just come back on a different day when they were less busy and select it without having to preorder it (the store was full of people and they clearly were trying to get rid of customers). On the 3rd visit, after waiting for 2 hours, and when it was finally his turn, they "helped" him and other customers all at the same time, which means they kept everyone there for 2 hours each because they could never finish anything. Best of all is that they switched my son's line with his brother's and made all the changes to the wrong line, despite asking for his information several times. This meant that my other son, who lives in a different State ended up without service for 24 hours without knowing why, until he went to a store nearby the following day and asked for all this mess to be straightened out. Furthermore, they added services we did not want, without asking, such as the Verizon cloud back up and the Home services insurance. Now I have to call and delete those. BEWARE, they are super sneaky. You need to look at your receipt and your invoice online right then and there before you leave the store. They asked my son if he wanted to switch his line to a newer one for no additional cost because the new one "gave him 5G more in hotspot", but did not warn him that we would be losing the Disney bundle if he did so. They put on the wrong case and screen protector on his new phone (the iPhone 14 case/screen protector on an iPhone 15) and it was up to my son to realize that the buttons did not line up. Had he left and come back, he would have had to wait another hour in line just to be helped. They charged him $30 for helping him do the transfer to the new phone but they never charged any of the other family members for doing so at any other store (in other States) – and some worthless help he got! The list goes on. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. You will be better off simply calling customer service or traveling to a farther location. They are an...

Avoid and go to the Arsenal Mall Wireless Zone or Boylston store if you can.

I went in to replace my ailing Galaxy S3, and was referred to the in-store Samsung 'expert' named Tuanna. She was helpful in deciding between the S6 and Note4, but after that was pretty pushy about all the add-ons, accessories, and insurance. I had to tell her four times in a row that I was NOT interested in the $11.99/mo insurance, and she kept coming back with the standard VZW up-sell replies. She was also very subtle in pushing the accessories like a phone case, battery pack, screen protecor, etc. that I would be getting at a "discount" - when I got home and compared to prices on Amazon, I was still overpaying way too much (except for the Speck case, which did turn out to be a good discount).

Several days later I returned to the store to return all the accessories (minus the case) and to speak with someone about an issue I was having with the phone's location function. I was 'helped' by Michael, a fairly brusque individual who simply went through all the same motions to try and solve the issue that I had. Without solving anything, he blamed it on the phone and declared "This is why I hate Samsung." After searching online, it turned out to be an issue with the Android system itself, so not only did Michael misdiagnose the issue, offer no help, and blame it on the phone brand, he was ready to have me just swap out the phone for a new unit.

To their credit, I did get a new phone at a lower price than I initially thought, I got a decent case for less than market rate, and when I went to return all the added accessories I had no issue (save Michael's snide comment about returning and not using a screen protector). However, I was put off by the whole experience overall and would not recommend using this particular location if you need to head to a...

Upgraded my iPhone 5c to a 6s, taking advantage of my eligibility for an upgrade and a promotion. Very impressed with BRADEN at the Washington Street store in Boston. Decided my wife should do the same, but close to home at the Harvard Square location. BIG MISTAKE!!! Assigned a lazy incompetent named FRANCO. He failed to credit the promotion till we insisted; he brought out the wrong phone and started the installation until we insisted he had made a mistake; and he spent an interminable time in the back room for reasons unknown. After an hour my wife and I despaired and foolishly agreed that my wife would come back the next day to transfer all the files. ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE!!! What was promised to take twenty minutes took an hour. When it came time to install my wife's thumbprint, FRANCO said my wife should have me do it at home and when my wife came home, she realized not all the files had been transferred and the phone did not work! I said no way were we going back to Franco or the rest of the indifferent staff in The Harvard Square location. So off we went to the big Boylston Street store where we were met by WILL who proved totally first rate and personable. He replaced what was a defective SIM card and he installed my wife's thumbprint. He patiently and expertly answered all our questions.

My conclusion: it's like calling tech services in India or the Philippines and realizing the bozo on the other end of the line knows nothing but to read a scripted protocol and understands nothing! Best to hang up and call again in the hope of speaking with someone else who just may know what he's talking about! When local avoid FRANCO and Harvard Square at all costs and go see either BRADEN on Washington Street or WIILL...