One Month with Verizon - Total Disaster

[buddyds]

The following is a summary of my experience with Verizon Wireless during my three weeks as a customer.  At this point, I am unimpressed and can honestly say I have had more issues with Verizon Wireless in three weeks than I had as a customer of AT&T Wireless in the fifteen years.

We had four phones with AT&T, which we transferred to Verizon.  One phone each for my wife, our son (who lives in Texas), and our daughter (who attends college in Washington), and me.  My wife and I were purchasing two new iPhones from Verizon, which we were picking up at the Verizon Store at Tikahtnu Commons, in Anchorage, Alaska.  Our son and daughter were keeping their iPhones and I would mail their sim cards to them in order to complete the transition from AT&T to Verizon.

The problems began the day (02/18/19) we transferred our service from AT&T to Verizon.  I had two Verizon employees, the gentlemen who I worked with over the phone to transfer service and a Verizon Store employee at Tikahtnu Commons.  Both assured me that our daughter and son would not lose AT&T service until they installed the new sim cards into their phones.

As soon as I picked up the two new iPhones and two sim cards from the Verizon Store, at Tikahtnu Commons, our son and daughter lost service.  Our son depends on his phone for his career.  He uses the phone to stay in contact with his employer, keep track of meetings/events, and communicate with other employees.  In addition to having a seven month old child that he must coordinate daycare and babysitter scheduling with his wife.  Our daughter’s iPhone is her sole means of communication.  She also uses her phone to communicate with her employer.

After two calls to Verizon and one call AT&T a solution to the issue was given, which was quicker than mailing the sim cards to our daughter and son.  The solution to the problem was given to me by AT&T customer service and not Verizon.  The one bright spot for Verizon was because of the trouble we’d had up to this point was two of the four $30 activation fees were waved.  To fix the situation, I had to drive to the Verizon Store at the Dimond Mall, in Anchorage, at 8:30 PM.  I need to add our son and daughter to the account so they could pick up sim cards at a Verizon Store the following day.  The Verizon Store employee at the Dimond Mall was very friendly and helpful.

After I returned from the Dimond Mall, my wife an I realized our phone numbers had been transposed (my phone number had been assigned to my wife’s new iPhone and her phone number had been assigned to my new iPhone.)   This was evidently done by the young man who transferred our service from AT&T.  This required me to call Verizon customer service prior to going to work on 02/19/19.  The customer service agent was helpful and fixed the problem in short order.

Later the same day (02/19/19), our son went to a Verizon Store in Texas.  He ran into additional issues, which required me to speak to the Verizon Store employee he was working with.  According to the Verizon store employee the young man who had transferred our service from AT&T placed my wife and I on one account and our son and daughter on a second account.  At no point did I tell the young man I wanted two accounts and at no point during the conversation with him did he tell me two accounts were being created.  Luckily by the time our daughter made it to a Verizon Store she obtained a sim card with no issues.

The previous paragraphs all occurred in less than 24 hours of switching to Verizon.  The ongoing issue has been me trying to get the first responder discount.  I have submitted documents twice and called the first responder helpline three times. 

Frankly Verizon’s first responder program was the primary reason I switched from AT&T.   I have submitted documents three times and have been denied all three times.  To top it off I was denied the bring your own device rebate because I didn’t open a new line.  Even though the I brought two iPhone 6s’ from AT&T to Verizon and opened two new lines for those devices.  I have one BYOD rebate outstanding.  I’m sure it will get denied too. 

Waive the fees and let me go back to AT&T.  Verizon is a joke.  Spent more time denying the first responder discount and the rebates I’m entitled than just approving them.