Overpriced. With mega-tips. Please read.
This is about the store as much as Verizon in general and the particulars of using the services here, with other options.
Verizon: Overpriced. The costs associated with the per megabyte transfer are negliable. A gig should cost a couple of bucks. So therefore the sales and support agents should be amazing. Too often their training and quality of service is lacking. That means when we pay $$$ for our bills, they invest 0.$$ in employees while it costs 0.0$ to provide us with the service. My first clerk seemed like it was her first day, but had been working there for a year. She made a careless mistake on the address which caused me to miss the first bill.
Go with SpeedConnect if you need a 2 year contract wireless hotspot plan. Serves only the city area though. Maybe some surrounding cities also, check. They put up new towers recently. 50 bucks for 100gigs at 2/gig over. Not 10 or 15 as with Verizon. {You'll have to ask for the mobile hotspot device specifically. They run three different kinds of wireless.}
America is so economically bankrupt with runaway inflation, no one can afford to set-up a grassroots competitor to the current indifferent collective of 'ma bell', with their phoney appearance of competition all the while charging clients through the nose. TMobile has no towers in Montana; your 3 gig plan will drop to 50 MEGS statewide over ATT roaming! Verizon drops out on the main highway between Coeur D'Alene and Missoula (tested) several times, while ATT provides consistent call coverage but lower data rates.
For a phone, you can get a SIM from StraightTalk for $6.99, put it in your existing phone, and have unlimited talk and text plus a semi-unlimited 3gig package for 45$ a month (refill cards at Walmart). It uses the ATT towers in montana so the call quality should be better than Verizon. Tip: You can usually tether tablets and laptops to unlocked android-based phones, but be sure to check the advanced settings on Chrome etc on your tethered tablet and laptop, so you do not use up the 3gig plan much more rapidly than you thought. {This SIM tip is good for international travellers, as most have GSM phones with one or two SIM slots, and usually don't know where to get a local SIM.}
There are a few clerks who have a proportional amount of professionalism, courtesy, friendliness and knowledge of the product (shout out to Jason Simonetti) at the Verizon store. But really, unless you are a wheeler-dealer with money to burn through a hole in your pocket, I would go with a fully-purchased mainstream phone (Samsung, LG) and StraightTalk. You don't get extra for the more than double you pay with Verizon, either through having the local Verizon store or from the level of service. read more
