Verizon — Local services in Mansfield

Beware of this place, especially if you have the misfortune of dealing with Chelsea, who apparently is the manager here. I don't think that I have ever been so blatantly and openly ripped off in any kind of business transaction in my life as I was here. (This was last May, sorry but just getting around to this review.) I went into the place on kind of a lark, and after hearing the deal that Chelsea was offering, decided to trade in my iPhone, a 14plus, for a new 15 Promax. I should have been more on guard from the start, when Chelsea started bragging about what a good salesperson she is, and how she plans on selling yachts someday. my 14plus was not paid off, but it was under a previous promotion in which I was only paying $11/month for it. Chelsea stated that I only needed to pay up to the halfway point, and turn it in, and I would get $820 off the 15 promax. Yes $820 off.. that was the exact amount CLEARLY articulated by Chelsea. So that's what I did.. I paid her $55, which was all I needed to get to halfway, and I ended up mailing my phone back to Verizon, and it was accepted. There was no damage or any problems, and I walked out with the new 15 Promax. As an aside, I should note that Chelsea did not mention that I would have to pay $170 in taxes until I was about to walk out the door.. but OK, that was far from the main problem here. Fast forward a couple months, when this transaction caught up with Verizon, and as it turns out, long story but cutting to the chase.. I not only had to pay the full remaining balance on the 14, but I am not getting a dime off the price of a new 15 promax, never mind $820. I'm paying the full $30-something every month now for three years. I'm not made of money, so this kinda hurts. I called the store and texted Chelsea and even went back in once, and she repeatedly said she would look into it, but she was never actually willing to do this. At one point I finally got a little rude, and basically told her that she is ripping me off, that this is fraud. This, I believe, gave her the excuse she wanted all along to not have to look into this matter, as she could now claim that I was rude or mean or whatever. The reality of course is that she really DID rip me off, and this very much was a fraudulent transaction. And she never spent one single minute looking into it with Verizon and trying to make it right. I am guessing this is because she knew what she was doing from the start, unfortunately. I tried talking to Verizon, but they were no help because this is not an authorized dealer. I dealt with Russell Cellular for a bit, but as it turns out I either never received or didn't keep the necessary paperwork that would prove my case. Caveat emptor. Now she might come on here and say that I'm lying, that this wasn't the deal we had arranged, but every word I've said here is true.. this is exactly what she promised, and she either has no idea what she's doing with this job, or, worse, she is just intentionally defrauding people. Stay far away from this business, or at least from Chelsea, if you don't want...

Store was empty except one employee when I entered looking to purchase Pixel 4a, who continued with what appeared to be a personal phone call for about 30 seconds before acknowledging me. I asked for information on the processors of the Pixel and competitors at similar price point. This information is easily accessible, but the employee took a while and could not find the information. I was patient and asked several different ways if she could look up the information on Google, etc, so I could make an informed purchase and avoid later regret at spending more than I wanted/not getting ideal device. She said she could not find the information, and suggested I look it up when I got home.

The employee told me there were no new 4a's in stock or available anywhere (??), and suggested my best bet was to look on facebook marketplace or other second hand markets. However, the Verizon store five minutes away in Windham has new Pixel 4s in stock, where they also offered to order a new 4a. So this employee suggested I buy a used device elsewhere which she could have ordered for me new through Verizon.

I then expressed impatience at the employee's ungelpfulness and she blew up on me. It was an absurd and stressful experience. On the other hand, the employees in the Windham store were respectful and helpful, quickly finding the information I was looking for (processing power was all I was asking about) and offering to order the device I was looking for.

The employee in Mansfield was disrespectful, unhelpful, ignorant of what a phone processor is and how to find this information for customer, gave me incorrect information of Verizon's offerings, and told me to buy used when Verizon stocks the device for which I was looking.

Additionally, the employee insulted my appearance (unbrushed hair); her judgment of me may be why she was slow to acknowledge me on entry and eminently unhelpful. Possibly she wanted to return to the personal call she was on when I entered the store, and fulfilling my purchase would have further delayed...

Customer service was pathetic. The lady on staff was bored and could hardly be bothered to understand, no less listen to what my phones issue was. I had previously researched the problem online and came in with a solution which involved upgrading my sim card (it was a voicemail issue). She kept saying she has no idea how to solve the problem and each time I asked about getting a new sim card she kept switching the conversation around (about how she did all she could do). After 20 minutes watching her fumble with my phone, and watching her on hold with Verizon Customer service, I finally said (again) I just want a new sim card.

To further waste my time, she then called yet another Verizon number to authorized the sim. Once she got authorized she told the phone agent she was all set and did not need anything else. Wait, what...I still need to authorize the sim card on my end, right? She told me I could do this at home. Hang on, even though you were just on the phone with Verizon (VERIZON!), the company that authorizes sim cards, you would still rather let (me) your customer deal with it on my end? In order to not see my life tick away any further in this black hole, I said, I will do it myself.

She then charged me for the card, which according to Verizon is supposed to be free. Honestly, the $6 was my ticket out of there. I will not be going back to this local Verizon store operated by Russell Cellular, it was a complete waste of time.

Also now, just reading the review below it sounds like it was possibly the...