Went in looking for a screen protector replacement & wanting Verizon to replace/apply a new one…read more They did not have one available. I asked about what I would have to do to get that done. I thought it was part of the protection plan & pointed out that I went to that location specifically due to it being a corporate store, as opposed to a TCC location.
One man (black) was confrontational, making a demand that I show him where I was reading that information online. His counterpart, a white guy, simply said that I could buy one from Verizon.com, bring it to their store & that they'd replace it.
The black guy spoke up again, in which I said (paraphrase) "hold on, I'm talking to him now", & the black guy pulled "the racist card", & I called him out on that. I then demanded to speak with the manager, in which the black guy became more confrontational. Eventually, the manager (a black woman) came out and asked me to tell her about the problem. As I was speaking to her, the black guy interrupted & made a demand that I "tell the whole story", in which I was. (With all due respect, he needed to see his way out of that conversation, & allow me to speak with the manager)
He became more confrontational and referred to me as "boy" in a statement of "listen here, boy". I looked right at him and said "who the f*** are you calling boy". The manager spoke up, saying that she wasn't comfortable with confrontation & said she wanted to de-escalate the employee & situation, & asked that I step outside while she does so. I agreed.
She came out later & apologized, stating that he would be escalated to HR, provided me a number, & said to expect a call.
I have escalated this incident to corporate & filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
With respect, although the 2 guys involved have different skin colors, 1 used "active listening" and got me to a "yes answer" while the other remained confrontational, blamed it on racism, and then proceeded to refer to me as "boy".
I went to a different location & got my screen protector replaced. While speaking with an associate there in regards to the issue at the Apalachee location, they stated that this store is known for being rude/mean-spirited at times... and I wholeheartedly agree at this point.
I understand that "bad apples" exist, so I try not to blame Verizon as a whole, but from someone who worked for TeleperformanceUSA in a billing department, the "bad apple" at this store was certainly "out of line", & provided an inappropriate response to the wrong person.
I hope that this gets addressed in an appropriate manner.
Edit:
In addition to this review, I would like to add that at one point in our "spat", another black man confronted the problematic employee by stepping up to him & pushing him back towards the office as though the employee was going to confront me "face-to-face". Assuming your cameras work, this is all on video.
