[dkrhardy]

Originally Posted by getdul981

Chuck - I don't know if you want to still stay with Verizon or not, but if you do, call their Customer Retention Department. I have had those folks help me before when no one else could or would. It seems they have strings that can be pulled that others can't reach.

Yep, give them a chance ... if you want to. And be persistent.
Don

[Serenoa]

We've been Verizon customers for several years & have NEVER had anything but the BEST customer service. Have been to several different Verizon stores for service & upgrades & the sales/service reps have always been attentive, polite & professional.

I don't think one bad experience/misunderstanding warrants a "what a farce" comment.

[rubicon]

I have been with Verizon for a number of years now and as a company they are satisfactory. However with the advent of the smartphone competition has heated up and the government doesn't help by restricting broadband, etc.

I am one of those consumers who owns a dumb phone and that's all I want until one of the cable/telecoms bundle cable, internet and phones, cell and landlines into one package. I do not want to pay an additional monthly fee for a SMARTPHONE. Beside with the Apple debacle I am going to sit it out until the courts settle the dispute

[justjim]

Unfortunately, "The Customer is always right" policy almost never exists today with any of the large corporations such as Comcast, Verizion, AT&T, Walmart, GE, GM, Whirlpool or Best Buy to name just a few. For the most part, the customer Reps. just don't give a darn. Why, because they feel the Company doesn't really care about them and will/could downsize them any day. Currently we have a surplus of labor in this country and if corporate policy to reach the bottom line profit is not followed you will be replaced. Personally, if I wanted to continue the battle, I would go back to the local store and start all over again. You will get more satisfaction at the local level (as a general rule) than you will at the Corporate level. I know its very frustrating because we just completed a "round" with Comcast a few weeks ago. There are some "battles" that just aren't worth the time and effort and best to just move on because in a couple of weeks you pretty much forget about it anyway. FORE!

[Cantwaittoarrive]

We have Sprint and have been with them for so long I'm not sure when we became customers sometime early 90's I guess. My wife and I just upgraded to smartphones in June of this year. My wife had hers for 2 weeks and dropped it one night and broke the screen, we did not buy the insurance. The next morning we went to the Sprint store and the girl that sold us the phones 2 weeks earlier got the screen fixed for us free of charge and personally delivered the phone to us while we were shopping in another store two hours later. Over the years we have always received outstanding service from Sprint but this was totally unexpected

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by Cantwaittoarrive

We have Sprint and have been with them for so long I'm not sure when we became customers sometime early 90's I guess. My wife and I just upgraded to smartphones in June of this year. My wife had hers for 2 weeks and dropped it one night and broke the screen, we did not buy the insurance. The next morning we went to the Sprint store and the girl that sold us the phones 2 weeks earlier got the screen fixed for us free of charge and personally delivered the phone to us while we were shopping in another store two hours later. Over the years we have always received outstanding service from Sprint but this was totally unexpected

That is good to know that someone is happy with Sprint. I just switched to Sprint in April of this year because of their unlimited data plan -- just got my first smart phone in April also. I had been an AT&T (and it's predecessor companies) customer since 1992, and I had heard some not so great things about Sprint, but so far I have been pretty happy with their coverage. Fortunately I have not dropped my smart phone (yet), but I purchased the insurance just in case. When I stopped by the Sprint store a couple of months ago to ask some questions about my phone, the store clerk was very helpful.

[F16 1UB]

Yeah - That's my feelings with them. Walked into the store near Rolling Acres & 441/27 to obtain service 2 years ago. After 6 months of THEM not standing up to THEIR agreement I told THEM to stuff THEIR phones & contract. I gladly paid the three hundred something dollar penalty for getting out of THEIR contract. Because I'm retired military, I was told by THEM that I'd receive a monthly discount. I never inquired about it nor had any idea that it was available. It never showed up on ANY bills and after questioning THEM about it and providing documentation EACH time.....Honey it'll show up on the next bill....Honey I'm sorry about your inconvenience..... Honey BS.....I went with a "no contract carrier" & purchased a smart phone.....BTW did Verizon offer me this? Gee...it was available.... Sometimes bigger isn't always better. Verizon's excellent reception isn't the question here. Tell em to take a hike.

[jannd228]

I am not sure if you know this but there is a lawsuit against Verizon for over charging seniors for data services never used. One consumer got $13K. I dropped them after I got a HUGE bill and never texted from my phone.

[Hancle704]

After reading all these posts all I can say is that I'm so happy we switched to Consumer Cellular. Their customer reps are great and all are located in the USA. They may not have as many choices as some of the bigger providers, but if you just want dependable economical wireless service with text messaging and some decent phones with no contracts you might consider checking them out.

I'm glad we did.

[mgman]

As soon as my contract is up, I will definitely check out Consumer Cellular

[dkrhardy]

That is the way to do it. Don't pass up a chance to change early and then blame the provider. Contract end time is the time to do it.

[Villages Kahuna]

I will be switching from AT&T to Verizon in a couple weeks when I buy a new iPhone. I knew that their service has to be better than AT&T, and both companies have substantially increased their rate plans for smart phone users. So when I visited the Verizon store on 441 yesterday, it was with some trepidation. I was expecting to have to wait, and then talk to some junior, uninformed salesperson who would send me home largely uninformed.

What a pleasant surprise. I was met at the door by sales person Jessie. I've never dealt with a wireless salesperson so knowledgeable, well informed and able to clearly and crisply answer each of my questions. I don't know whether Jessie is representative of a new level of training, or whether VZ Wireless will stand behind her. But my experience coming back to Verizon from AT&T, at least initially, was very positive.

[looneycat]

Originally Posted by getdul981

Chuck - I don't know if you want to still stay with Verizon or not, but if you do, call their Customer Retention Department. I have had those folks help me before when no one else could or would. It seems they have strings that can be pulled that others can't reach.

this appears to be the only true customer service given, the retention department. In a similar situation with century link I told them that a $40 jump in my bill, when my 'discounts' ran out, was unacceptable so they immediately ported me over to retention dept where they gave me new 'discounts' and now I pay less than I had before the price bump for even better service.

[looneycat]

Originally Posted by Schaumburger

That is good to know that someone is happy with Sprint. I just switched to Sprint in April of this year because of their unlimited data plan -- just got my first smart phone in April also. I had been an AT&T (and it's predecessor companies) customer since 1992, and I had heard some not so great things about Sprint, but so far I have been pretty happy with their coverage. Fortunately I have not dropped my smart phone (yet), but I purchased the insurance just in case. When I stopped by the Sprint store a couple of months ago to ask some questions about my phone, the store clerk was very helpful.

yirgin mobile uses the sprint network....$55 unlimited everything! just saying..... make sure, as with AT&T, that there is reception in your part of the villages

[NJblue]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

I will be switching from AT&T to Verizon in a couple weeks when I buy a new iPhone. I knew that their service has to be better than AT&T, and both companies have substantially increased their rate plans for smart phone users. So when I visited the Verizon store on 441 yesterday, it was with some trepidation. I was expecting to have to wait, and then talk to some junior, uninformed salesperson who would send me home largely uninformed.

What a pleasant surprise. I was met at the door by sales person Jessie. I've never dealt with a wireless salesperson so knowledgeable, well informed and able to clearly and crisply answer each of my questions. I don't know whether Jessie is representative of a new level of training, or whether VZ Wireless will stand behind her. But my experience coming back to Verizon from AT&T, at least initially, was very positive.

This is close to my recent experience at the Verizon store off Rolling Acres as well. I was very pleased with the professionalism of the staff during the sales process as well as the patience of them when I returned several times with what turned out to be "cockpit error" issues. As a former AT&T employee, I must admit that I am very happy with Verizon and only wish that they had the franchise down here for fiber optic to the house for TV, phone and Internet.