This review concerns the Verizon Wireless store on Metacom Avenue in Bristol, RI 02809 (a Verizon authorized reseller)
Back in September 2021, my iPhone SE suddenly stopped working; conveniently the same week the IPhone 13 was released. My entire life and business are based off of my phone, so given the option of waiting for a replacement to be shipped or walking out of the store with a brand new phone, I reluctantly took the new phone. I knew they were going to get me by extending my contract for another 2 years, but I was prepared to pay the price. What a mistake
I was told that my bill wouldn't change/go up besides a surcharge the first month; in fact, I declined additional features precisely for this reason. The employee I primarily worked with was actually very nice and understanding, I wish I caught his name, because he was very helpful. However, the manager skipped out to get coffee or something, and the other employee I worked with definitely rubbed me the wrong way. He (employee 2) couldn't seem to wrap his head around why I was upset my phone broke the SAME week as the new model was released; given Apple's history of forced product obsolescence
Anyways, fast forward to January 2022. I get a notification from my auto-pay reminder that my bill will be paid in a few days. I notice that the amount has gone up; and given that we are 3+ months past my "upgrade", I thought there must be a mistake. I thought it might be easier to go back to the store to see what's going on, given they were the ones who sold me the phone & plan, and assured me my bill would not increase
I managed to get the same nice employee that helped me the first time, and we looked over my charges. When he couldn't find the reason why, the manager came over. Basically, he tried to feed me some BS; completely ignoring the fact that my bill HAD gone up from what it was before I upgraded, to my new bill. The way I see it, when they told me that my bill wouldn't go up, and I agreed to purchase a new phone & plan on that basis, a verbal contract was made. The manager seems to think he's not responsible, and after accusing me of being hostile (its called being upset because someone lied to your face repeatedly and stole your money, and now your upset because I didn't accept your BS excuse), I walked out. I went into this situation knowing very well that they were probably going to tell me there's nothing they could do about it and to suck it up; but I wanted to give them one last chance anyways for the sake of my own soul. I told them this when I walked in, AND when I walked out
The way I see it, now I'm paying another $10ish dollars a month to ride Verizon like a pony going forward; and man is it worth it. For the rest of my days, I'm going to bleed Verizon corporate (you authorized this fool, the extra charges are the principle and I charge interest); and I'm going to do my best to get the truth out there on as many review boards for the physical store as possible. Everything I'm telling you is personal experience. I am a business owner, I work incredibly hard to give people a product, and I never cheat them. This store, maybe even this entire industry, is based on a con. I don't think you are successful business (Verizon & the store) if you have to force people to buy your product when they don't want it and you trick them into higher charges; you're a crook waiting to get replaced
Shop here if you want; but you can't say I didn't warn you read more