I've always avoided authorized cell phone retailers like my life depended on it, choosing instead to go to a legit Verizon store. My experience here is a perfect example of why I avoid authorized retailers.
Allow me to paint you a picture:
My partner & I arrived Saturday afternoon at this place under the following circumstances: I have my own account with Verizon with one line, the 5GB plan (not unlimited) and an iPhone 11 Pro (not a 5G capable) that I bought about 6 months ago. My partner wanted to switch from T-Mobile and upgrade from her iPhone 7. She called and set an appointment to check her options and get a new iPhone 12 Mini.
We arrive.
After looking at her options and weighing them against opening a new line on my own account, and being repeatedly hard sold by the rep on the full size iPhone 12 (despite us telling him multiple times she wanted the mini) we/she decides to go with her own line under her own name. We probably had to tell the rep about 4 times that she did not want the full size iPhone 12, but he kept on asking and almost insisting. The fact that this guy would not leave it alone left a sour taste in our mouths right off the bat. If you're told 4 times that we don't want something you're trying to sell, do NOT ask me again.
Anyway, one hour in, we get 90% through the transaction and upon the suggestion/pressure from the rep telling us it'll be cheaper if we put my partners line under my account (since I get a discount from work), we decide to pivot and put her phone, an iPhone 12 (5G capable) under my account. We asked the rep, and he even asked his manager who confirmed, that I could keep my phone and my plan, and simply add a new line to my account with the same 5GB limited plan and the new iPhone 12.
So we begin this process.
We run into an issue at one point because the system is not allowing her phone to be added. The rep fumbled around on the phone trying to figure out why it wasn't going through. Come to find out, you actually can NOT have a 5G capable phone on non-unlimited plan. In other words, if you have a 5G phone, you HAVE to have an unlimited plan, because the unlimited plans are the ones you need with a 5G phone. This meant that despite being told we could, we could not add the iPhone 12 with the cheaper 5GB plan. So we decide to make my partners plan the unlimited one.
The rep proceeds to try to add the phone again with the unlimited plan. You guessed it... another issue. At this point we've been in the store for about an hour and a half. After making another phone call (no doubt to actual Verizon), the rep goes back and forth trying to figure out the problem. As it turns out, the rep was wrong again. You in fact can NOT add a new line with a 5G phone and an unlimited plan to an account with a non-unlimited plan; the plans have to match even though I don't have 5G phone and don't need an unlimited plan. So now, not only can my partner not get the plan she initially wanted and has to pay more than she wanted, now I have to as well.
Let's recap- Rep was pushy and unprofessional, ignoring being told repeatedly we weren't interested in his upsells.
Rep was wrong about using the non-unlimited 5GB plan with the iPhone 12.
The the rep was wrong about adding a new line with the unlimited plan and an iPhone 12 while keeping the existing line on the account with a non-unlimited plan.
At about 2 hours in, we're almost home, and I'm getting frustrated. To keep the review a reasonable length, I'll keep the rest of it brief: Along this whole process, he promised my partner a free case & a discounted pop socket then at the end proceeded to try and charge $60 dollars for an accessory bundle; the guy gave us a phone that he already opened and apparently already put a screen protector on it. Why? Because he was about to have the phone sold before, but the customer changed their mind last minute (wouldn't be surprised after having this experience at the store.)
To boot, he tried getting smart with us & made it seem like he was doing us a favor by giving us the phone with a screen protector... give me a break. In addition, he had us reset & delete the old phone before the new one was fully set up- This meant my partner couldn't finish setup in store because she couldn't get her Two-Factor Authentication code.
I think the rep sensed that we were fed up, and ended up throwing in some accessories at the end to try and salvage whatever he could from the dumpster fire that took place over the last 2 hours & 15 minutes.
But wait there's more...
He didn't even give me my receipt. I called them today, asked them to email it to me. The dude on the phone said no problem and he'd have the receipt sent within the hour. Two hours go by... nothing. So I call back again, get the same guy who apologizes and says they got busy & would send now. 6 hours later, nothing.
This place is a joke, there's a a VW store right down the 210. Go there. read more