AUTHORIZED RETAILER means you can do what ever you want to swindle customers.
(long story short, you have to purchase their ridiculous purchase plan on phones over $300 and no, you cannot decline this $129.99 option)
I went in to the store to purchase an Iphone 8, the salesman explained that it would be roughly be $180 for taxes and fees. after the activation process, he said that the phone comes with a screen protector and a warranty on the screen protector all included in the price. he then proceeded to throw in a keychain and said he managed to knock off a $20 activation fee and that the total was only $137.00. I, like many customers walked out happy thinking I received quite the deal.
Upon review of the receipt, i started to notice charges for items I didn't recognize to be verizon lingo.
1. $39.99 for screen protectors
2. $79.99 for goadvantage-smartphone
3. $14.99 for a key chain that holds credit cards and $19.99 for read 2 go set up smartphone (which i guess he discounted to zero like he mentioned)
Well i called verizon, and they explained that the only amount I would be liable for was the taxes 8.25% in Tracy, which was roughly $60. Well I paid a $137.00 so you could imagine how frustrated I was, especially since I told the salesman that I wanted to decline options for warranty ect.
I called the store to confirm that I was indeed paying for services that were not verizons. The salesman confirmed that I was paying for extras REQUIRED on all purchases made from go wireless on devices exceeding $300 in an effort to protect the devices that I own.
I asked him what the $79.99 I paid for was going to protect. He said that if the screen protector that I paid $39.99 was to get damaged, they would replace it with one of the other three protectors in the package free of charge. If I were to go through all four protectors in a year, each additional screen protector would be $10 more.
Essentially, the screen protector and labor put me out $120. HAHA WOW DID I GET SWINDLED... i'm actually sitting here laughing my tail off as I'm typing this.
I then proceeded to ask if these items were returnable, he basically said it was mandatory in any purchase of a device exceeding $300. I asked again, can I decline or return items I did not want, he said you can return everything, but if you want to buy our iphone, you would be required to pay the protection plan fee of $79.99. At this point he was being very vague and broad with his answers which is a tall tail sign of of a dishonest salesman. I then knew I had been swindled haha.
I will be returning everything including the screen protector and phone. I will most likely have to pay their ridiculous 25% restocking fee, which I have no problem paying to get the satisfaction of not doing business with them.
sorry for the long post, but if you do plan on conducting business with them, just keep in mind, verizon AUTHORIZED RETAILERS CAN ESSENTIALLY FORCE YOU TO BUY WHAT EVER PRODUCT THEY OFFER (per verizon rep phone conversation) so I suggest purchasing from corporate locations. read more