Verizon — Local services in Grass Valley

To list all of my complaints would make this post way too long so I will list a few. Verizon is a master at bait and switch.

As an example, I had discovered that the hot spot that connected directly to my phone with ATT was very expensive to use and asked what their hotspot was like. The salesman said, “this device is so much better, you will love it!” and, it was FREE with the purchase of...well, I agreed to the required gadget, along with new phones that I had planned to buy. (The plan was to use the hotspot device at my office where I had no phone service, I was assured that this could replace the need for a WiFi connection at work. Pretty cool, huh?

I trusted him to know and I followed his assurance that I would be much happier, I purchased one hotspot for me and one for hubby.

I also purchased a boatload of stuff that they said I needed, or didn’t know that I wanted, and would only cost small amounts or free with my purchases. Again, cool!

At checkout, they took me to an electronic device to sign for my purchases.

I was presented with a copy of the contract, tucked inside my purchases and I was on my way outta get to know my new phones.

Got home, read the signed contract and found out that EACH item received, free or discounted, came with a large, unreasonable, fee to establish the account (service fee) ANDin addition to this hook up fee, the “free” hot spots required $20 per month for use PER device! Yep, I was paying more than $50 and an extra $40 per month for my free and really great new hotspot service! Okay, as long as I was getting WiFi for my internet service at work, it was worth it, I thought.

However, I discovered that not only was I required to carry this hotspot device with me, I had to dial the number to activate it whe I used it. This was anything BUT better than my ATT hotspot! I contacted verizon to say I wanted to return and discontinue the hotspot service and was told I would owe an early disconnect fee PLUS over $300 on EACH device, because I had signed up for 2 years.

Remember that this was touted as a much better option to the hotspot included in my ATT account; but I could not get internet service on them where I needed it! Totally worthless device and program and I was stuck paying $40 per month for two hotspots with a device that never was taken from the box after I tried to make it work, because using it increased the fee even further.

Yes, I was stupid to not ask more questions or demanding to read the contract before signing, but the salesman really took advantage of my trust and technical innocence to grab himself a hefty paycheck, I am sure!

So much more to this but, trust me, he never cared about helping me, he just wanted to pad the bill. I am sure that they all had a huge laugh at my expense, heck, I would have laughed had I not been so terribly misled!

After 3 years of paying Verizon almost $200 a month, I am finally happy to be switching to another provider and putting their unconscionable business practice behind me!

If I could, I would set up a booth in front of this store and warn everyone entering about how their tricks and false/misleading promises making them sign an unread contract to bind them to a long, expensive and unwanted service...

Basically, I have a Jetpack hotspot from Verizon, and I needed to add another month of service. All I needed was a prepaid Verizon card with a 'pin', since, apparently I can't pay the bill in person without having the phone number, which, the associate couldn't find, even though I had the physical device with me. That might not have been their fault, but, at the end of the day, if I couldn't pay directly in person, in cash there, they could have sold me a pre-paid card which I could use by phone once I had the number. To get the number, BTW, all you have to do is open up the my.jetpack page after connecting to the device's WiFi, it is displayed on the status page. For whatever reason, we tried this on a demo iPad they had there, and I missed the phone number, they did too. The problem is, they didn't even recognize my Jetpack when I brought it in, and they weren't familiar with my plan type and actually tried to tell me it didn't exist. They aren't knowledgeable, and they don't have the tools they need to resolve my issues, or the creativity (that would make them worth more, and therefore, more expensive to you) to solve the seemingly simple problem I came in with.

Here's what I would improve: Give your associates the tools and strategies they need to resolve common customer issues. I seriously doubt I'm the first person to come in with the desire to add time to a pre-paid Verizon device. Also, hiring young people is great, but make sure they know how to use the tools available, and that they are engaged enough to try to find creative ways to solve problems. If that's asking too much, I understand, and maybe I'm judging you too harshly. Maybe if all I wanted was a new phone, and I had a few hours to sit around while they figured out how to set it up, I might have given a higher rating. In my situation, I just found this to be a 1-star type of place.

For a real-world comparison, I would rate the Verizon service I received at Best Buy a 5/5. They went over and above to help me, and when I expressed interest in a lap-top bag, they offered me 15% off, making the trip well worth it. There isn't any reason to go to your store aside from saving some time in transit. The only reason I can see to go there is paying a bill, and, if that's a hassle, what's the point?

RESPONSE TO OWNER: I explained, in detail, what the problems were, don't be lazy and ask me to contact you to explain them further! My time is valuable. If you'd like to hire me as a consultant, I can provide you with the...

Staff was friendly. Right up until I noticed I was given the wrong phone and tablet. I was told they would have to order what I actually wanted, which they apparently knew. A phone call from them was expected, never received. I finally had to go there where I found they had been sitting for a week. At this point I was just about at the end of the return window, I was told that my actual purchase date was when they gave me the wrong equipment, and they had no way to start it the day of receipt. I asked them to go ahead and take back the tablet,which they would happily do for $80 to mail it back. I offered to go ahead and mail it for them.. you can finish the rest of that sentence. Since I was effectively saddled with it, I applied for the rebate using their handwritten instructions, it was a bad link. Today, I took it to Auburn and they confirmed it was a bad link and not a problem on my end, they were able to get it done in about five minutes. I prefer to shop local, but... Auburn also informed me that they could have processed it on the spot and they seemed confused about why they didn't. I won't be back, since they are really the only good service in the area, I guess it's the treatment you too can expect. Looking forward to when they actually have to compete. To be completely fair, the whole office does not need to be fired. Megan and the other rep were more than nice, and the only thing keeping this...