Verizon — Local services in Fitchburg

I recently needed to upgrade my iPhone 6. I am out of state with an unreliable phone so was forced to visit a store that was unfamiliar to me. Because I am in Madison under some very difficult circumstances, I wanted to make the device transition as smooth as possible.I made an appointment through the Verizon app speaking to a representative to ensure timely assistance at a corporate store. My appointment was made at the store opening time of 11am on Sunday, September 20. I arrived at the store location at 10:55 when I noticed there were other customers waiting outside. I maintained social distancing until the store opened. I entered the store and was ignored. Again, to maintain social distancing, I sat at a bench near the door patiently awaiting service. After about 10 minutes I approached the self-reported manager, Natasha, and stated that I had an appointment at 11 am. She said it didn’t matter because I wasn’t first in line. I inquired if the other customers had appointments too and she said they did not and that there was no way to know that I had an appointment. I tried to explain the manner in which I had made the appointment. Natasha interrupted me and replied that since the store was just opening she could not know I had an appointment and I needed to leave the store immediately and wait my turn outside. Under normal circumstances I would have taken my business anywhere else, and was frankly considering even switching carriers at this point. However, given that I was somewhat desperate to have a reliable device as quickly as possible, I waited patiently outside for approximately 30 minutes before another associate, Alex, called me in to be helped. Alex served me with respect and courtesy attempting to make up for the disrespect and discourteous way he witnessed me being treated earlier. I was completely prepared knowing exactly which device I wanted and having already checked store stock the night before through customer service on the Verizon app. I had all my passwords handy and was expecting a quick transaction. I wanted to put some money down on the new device as well as trade in my old device. Alex did make two errors but he owned them and was more than apologetic when the errors occurred. First, he dropped my new device as he walked out from the store room. I asked for a different one. I can only hope that he did bring a different device when he returned. He was very apologetic. Second, as he was completing the transaction, he forgot to include my trade in device. Again, he was apologetic and offered to refund and repurchase the device with the trade in. For this to occur he called over another associate. Not only did the other associate reply that it would take too much time, but also said it would be too much trouble. I asked the manager if there was anything she could do to compensate for my loss of time and now credit towards my device. Perhaps discount the $40 activation fee that would have been $20 had I ordered online. (I certainly would’ve chosen this option had I known I’d have had this rude individual to deal with.) She assured me there was no way to do that in store. I asked if she could maybe discount the accessory I was buying. She replied, “I could LOSE my job for that!” And walked away rudely. When I asked for her card she snapped, “I don’t have one!” And left poor Alex standing there as speechless as I was. I was hoping for a smooth device transfer and had planned on doing that in store. I was encouraged to leave and complete that step at home assured that if I had all of my passwords that the process would go smoothly. Alex did offer me his work phone number if I had any problems. I returned to my hotel and followed all the prompts. Both devices continued to “spin” for FOUR HOURS! I now did not have access to either device and was unable to access Alex’s number and it was past closing on a Sunday anyway. I finally broke down and called Verizon tech support with a borrowed device. Felicia, in tech support helped me finish set up. Do not go...

Without a doubt the worst phone store I have ever had the great misfortune of using. Staff are rude, condescending and unhelpful, and will sell you items they do not have in stock, then 'discover' they are out of what you agreed to buy but conveniently they can sell you something that costs 5 times as much instead. Will lie to you about: phone details, plan details, warranties, insurance, service, prices... basically anything you can imagine. Will tell you literally anything to get you out the door, especially if it's near closing time, in the hopes that you will become someone else's problem. Have screwed up my phone on half a dozen occasions. Cannot install a simple screen protector. Awful, awful, awful store. Avoid at all costs.

Update: 1/28/2019

I unfortunately have a Pixel XL that has been nothing but trouble. I brought it in last July and this store let me file a warranty claim without telling me that Google had officially acknowledged the problem with my phone (dead speakerphone) was unfixable. Verizon's phone insurance sent me another of the exact same model, which started to fail a couple of weeks ago the exact same way. Last night it stopped charging too. I brought it in to the store today and they tried to claim it was moisture, and stick me with a $150 repair deductible.

Absolutely shocking, unbelievable bad service.

Update 2/6/2019

Verizon corporate, for what it is worth, has confirmed that the store misled me on how returns work, and tried to stick me with a $300 charge when at most I should, in theory, have had to pay $150. Of course they also confirmed that the woman who initially handled my complaint against this store lied too, and failed to cancel the replacement order (which would have resulted in the unnecessary charge), after this store lied and said they had cancelled it. Corporate tech support also apparently lied about being able to cancel either the $300 false charge, or the $150 'water damage' charge, or both.

On Monday I received two identical replacement phones of the same now-twice-recalled defective model, and had to send both back because there is no way to sort out this mess and get a working phone. Again, according to Verizon corporate.

Am cancelling account as soon as the phones have been returned. This is the sort of service you can expect if you go to Verizon Fitchburg.

Bonus: Have now confirmed at least two instances, and probably more, where employees from this store or nearby Verizon stores submit false positive reviews to Google. Have flagged them for review, but one apparently by the manager who screwed up my account is still up as of...

Upon My arrival at this particular Verizon owned and operated location I was met by Logan, the manager. He inquired about my visit and acquired Tariq to assist with my new phone upgrade.

At very first Tariq inquired about my current older plan, to which I mentioned I liked as I wanted to keep my bill as similar as possible as money is very tight. I was a little concerned that wouldn't be the case as the last few times I had gone to an authorized retailer I felt very pressured and my bill increased substantially. Obviously I didn't want to be pressured to switch to a plan that I didn't understand that costs more and so I repeatedly stated my concern. However I let Tariq continue to explain how if he allowed me to set up a new plan I would actually save money but receive a much better data plan that would also align better with my needs.

After a long and very careful consideration with time spent looking over the details I agreed and crossed my fingers. Since upgrading my plan and phone I must exclaim Tariq was correct and despite my original reservation I am very pleased to announce he was correct as my new bill that I have since received hasn't led to any surprises and was exactly as i hoped it would be. This is something I rarely experienced with other locations and as such strongly recommend both this location and Tariq as your sales consultant.

Moreover I had a completely unrelated issue with my old phone that left me in a real panic (I won't bore you with details). But long story short Logan truly went well above and beyond to remedy the situation and truly took the time required to assist me in this matter. I say this as someone who has spent a vast array of years in the retail sector both as a simple employee and as management, “I highly recommend Logan and Tariq”.

Moreover, for the first time ever, I am willing to openly exclaim this particular location be added to the IAM GHOST APPROVED BUSINESS LIST, for those unaware this is my official list of businesses that have met an extremely stringent set of requirements. As such I would like to personally thank Logan and Tariq for their unwavering commitment, honesty, and caring well helping me through this upgrade...