Spectrum Store — Local services in Strongsville

On Saturday, April 15, 2023, I entered the brick & mortar location at 17818 Royalton Rd. in Strongsville, Ohio for an appointment regarding my new iPhone 14. To give a little background, as the terrible customer service truly started then - I went to the Strongsville Spectrum location the week prior (either April 5, 6, or 7th) to obtain a new iPhone 14 in Violet with 256 GB storage. When entering the store - we (my daughter & I) did not feel welcomed, we felt more like an inconvenience, but we continued on. Vinny did assist us but with no proper customer service. She had a chip on her shoulder, was not pleasant, and basically just ordered the phone for us and sent us on our way. Please note, this is important that she did not explain any warranty with the phone (14-day policy) or any additional features - she just sold us the phone, told us when we were going to expect it, and let us leave. The phone arrived - we activated it, and we were satisfied with the phone until the next day the phone kept getting extremely hot - I ensured the phone was in a cool place, out of the sun and it was still boiling - also, it did not keep a charge, and being a brand new model phone I was taken aback and waited for my daughter and son to see if they could understand why it was happening, which then my daughter decided I should make an appointment and go into the Strongsville Spectrum location, which sold me the phone in the first place. My appointment came and as I entered the store I was not greeted with any type of friendly assistance, I was abruptly met with a heavier-set man (I did not catch his name) with glasses, who asked me my problem and once explained that I purchased the phone with Vinny and that there was a 14-day warrant on the phone and that there was an issue with the phone, he defiantly informed me that there was “absolutely nothing they could do in store since we purchased the phone online.” But I was discouraged because we didn’t purchase it online, we purchased the phone, in-store, with Vinny - and the heavy-set man with glasses was there that day when we purchased the phone - 2 podiums down assisting another customer but gladly glaring and listening to us purchase this device while assisting this customer. Flustered and upset, I left the store - confused as I didn’t understand why this man didn’t want to assist me, and why he kept pushing going through Assurant when the phone was just received on Monday (04/10/23) and was well within the 14-day warrant. This heavy-set man treated me like I was incompetent and provided me with the worst customer service I have ever experienced. He basically told me there was absolutely nothing he could do for me, and turned it around to be my fault - even though I explained and he was present the day the phone was purchased through the store. Towards the end of the debate, and yes I am not a perfect person and may have raised my voice due to confusion, but I am also elderly and am not well versed in this world, as I am a retired nurse, I don’t believe the way he treated me, the smirk he kept on his face, and the lack of professionalism aligns with Spectrum customer...

Was a completely average experience in the beginning. Nothing says gonna be a bad day when you have to do an emergency mobile phone replacement. Screen was absolutely destroyed on my 5 year old Galaxy. Still a very serviceable device, until last Saturday night (June 15th) when my Golden Retriever got hold of it.

So for Fathers Day I trek down to the store to get a cheap replacement. Was very appreciative to get at the minimum 100 USD trade in with a new phone purchase. As I was being "walked through" setting up my new device, a procedure I really didn't want, eventually ended up at my home doing an emergency account recovery - don't help unless it's helpful lesson could be learned.

Was finally all set and was into next steps - wipe the old phone and than drop off to store. Within two days, Tuesday morning I dropped off old wiped phone and was kinda over the whole experience. Nothing to write home about.

Than got a call from the customer service representative - went to a voicemail, stating I took too long to return my phone and would be responsible for the remainder of the cost. Okay it was hot, I was upset, so I did the adult thing. I waited a day trekked on down to get my broke phone and just decided lifes just to short for me to be a Karen!

Well as luck would have it I was helped by the store manager Akram (so sorry I am spelling this wrong I think), he asked for my name as he had the phone ready. I had it in my hand an d than asked what he thought a reasonable amount of time was to wipe a phone a return it. He asked me If I was still wanting to send it back to get the credit - Of course I did! Just like that this became a 5 Star review.

People you may not like the service (cell coverage, cable channel line-ups) or the product (phone or tablet modeum-roter etc) BUT when someone goes that little extra with some polite and professional follow-up and courtesy you earned a 5 start...

I had a surprisingly easy and helpful experience! I recently moved and needed to start a new cable/wifi package, and I tried online but it wasn't working, so I went into the store knowing what the price should be, but based on my previous experiences I was wary that the prices would be consistent between online and the store.

I went to the representative working (Erika) and explained the exact bundle I wanted, explained the process I tried to do online, and she was such a good help and pleasant person! She was transparent with me through every step of the process, even showing me the line by line price breakdown of the new plan I was going to have, which matched exactly what was shown online.

There was even an issue with my account that I had to fix and come back later for, and she was so understanding with helping me fix it and staying in touch with me even after I left the store!

She answered all my questions, and I really was just pleasantly surprised by the whole experience, because I expected it to be a hassle with the employee in the store just saying "I can't do anything to help you have to call", so this experience was a relief.

I highly recommend Erika to anyone who goes into the store for any reason whatsoever. She knew her stuff, and understood my needs and my frustrations.

I'm glad to have this store nearby so I can have peace of mind about consistent quality help if I ever need any with my cable or internet.

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