I always have gone to corporate stores for Verizon, but since this new authorized retailer opened up recently and it is 2 blocks from me I decided to give them a try. Here is my experience:
* I call 30 minutes before to verify if they have a Samsung S10+ phone in WHITE in stock, I was told that they did have it available.
* I then proceed to leave during my lunch break to go to the store to get the phone. The person who attended me was either a new employee or simply is in the wrong field of work because I happened to know more than him. Not to get into details, but certain things I said he stated it was not correct and then when he would double check with his Manager, he would say that I was right and he was wrong.
* One example: he said the $7 phone insurance does not cover Damage, it only covers Theft and a phone being Lost. WRONG!! It does cover damage, the difference between the $7 and $13 insurance is that the $13 one includes higher end tech support from a on-call agent. BUT, he was trying to sell me into a more expensive insurance because he had mentioned he did not have the ability to offer me the $7 one. I declined, of course. But the misinformation he gave me was laughable.
* After 30 minutes of accessing my account information, upgrading my phone on one of my lines and waiting for everything to be finalized...when he opens the box of the phone it was a BLACK version and not a White one. So pretty much, he tied that specific phone to my account and then he finds out that there is NO WHITE available. So guess what? Now everything needed to be cancelled, refunded and the phone financing withdrawn from my account once again. This was another 30-45 minutes of waiting....as this was happening, another customer that was waiting all along to be helped, got tired of waiting and walked out of the store, because there was ONE employee only which was the one attending me.
The other employee that was there, the manager, would disappear from time to time. The employee helping me out, in the most unprofessional way I have ever witnessed, ran out of the store and went up to the customer's car saying "Hey I am done now, I can help you"....never seen that in my life, ever..
* I was in that store for over 1 hour and it was all literally for nothing. The only thing I accomplished was wasting my lunch break from work.
So after I left, I called an actual corporate store nearby and this is how it went: (by the way I did not mention my recent experience at the authorized retail store to them)
* They confirmed the phone was available, and the store rep mentioned he would hold it for me
* When I arrived to the store, he shows me the box, and points a finger at the specs of the phone clearly stating PRISM WHITE model.
* He adds the phone to my account within 10 minutes, I make the payment of the phone, he puts the phone in a bag and walks me out.
DONE....I was in and out in less than 20 minutes, and mind you, the store was PACKED with customers at the time I went.
PLEASE STAY AWAY from this authorized retail store and only go to Corporate stores. read more
