My complaint about our retail store.

Question

A copy of my complaint. I am still angry.
E-mail sent 08-21-2010
Dear Verizon Wireless,
I believe that you should always treat a customer with respect. I dealt with both your customer service representatives over the phone and your local retail store yesterday 8-20-2010. I am disgusted with how I was treated at your retail store in my city, Mount Pleasant, Texas. I was treated as if I was an annoyance for your sales associate, and I didn’t appreciate it. I have a contract with your company and have for years now. My bill is paid in full on or before it is due. I have been a loyal customer and have never been disrespectful to any of your employees. That being said I feel there was absolutely no reason I should have been treated with such disregard. Let me explain my day yesterday so that you can better understand my frustration.  I purchased the LG Ally last month. I was interested in the Droid or the Palm, but when I could not afford to purchase the Droid a sales representative sold me the Ally stating that it was as close as I could get without getting the Droid. So I did spend 150.00 dollars buying that phone in your retail store. On the day that I paid my last bill approximately 7-14 days after purchasing the Ally I went into the store to pay the bill and ask a question about the phone freezing every time I sent a text.  I was actually lucky enough to catch the female that sold me the phone. I asked her about the problem and she stated to me that “we have had issues with that phone freezing, and until you get a software update it cannot be fixed”.  She also said that Verizon was working on the issue that I should wait. She never stated to me that I was within my 30 days of return and could have switched phones.  She was not eager at all at assist with the issue and basically said I was stuck with it for 2 years. This is after she made a commission off me and took an hour to tell me how wonderful this phone was just a few weeks earlier. Right then I was upset and left the store that way believing that there was nothing that I could do. After a few more days of trying to text on the phone I finally became fed up with it and decided that I should call customer service for better answers. What they stated to me, after I was very adamant about how I was treated in the store, was that they would extend my 30 day grace period and I could exchange the phone. I then asked your customer service representative what phone would do what mine would and was told only the Droid. I absolutely could not spend another 100.00 dollars to upgrade again. Then I was told that even if I did spend the 100.00 dollars that they would still charge me for the Ally till it was received back. Now I understand that it was a temporary charge, but what that says to me is that you believe that I would have kept both.  This is ridiculous of you to assume when I have such a good payment history as well as how I have been treated from your end at this point. I was also told that the freezing is not a known issue with the phone and that they had no idea why the store representative would have told me that. At this point I am frustrated and confused about whether or not I should even ask for a new Ally or if it will do any good, because I don’t know if this is an issue all the phones are having or not. The phone line representative tells me no and the store is telling me yes.  So I go back to the store again,  and I ask to speak to a manager. After a sales clerk sits there and plays with my phone and tries to get it to freeze, he acts like I made it all up…. Why would I even bother? At this point if there wasn’t an issue I would have just said forget it, but my phone was not working correctly and I deserve one that does. I paid 150.00 dollars for one that does send a text message without freezing and then restarting every single time, right? Apparently I was very wrong to assume that. Your wireless consultant Jesse Summerlin approaches me and tells me again that the freezing is a known issue. He then tells me that if customer service is willing to give me the Droid for the difference then I should take that. He stated to me that if I tried to make that switch in the store then he could not give me credit for the Ally at all and that I would pay full price for the Droid. So knowing that I cannot afford to do that I ask him tom just give me a new Ally. I was hoping that I could walk out of the store with a phone that works. He states to me that he cannot do that, that he doesn’t have the Ally. I walk out of you store, wondering if I am ever going to have a phone that works right. I am at the end of my rope and have no idea what I should do. I am being told at the store that the Ally has problems and that getting it replaced is worthless. Yet when I call in they tell me the exact opposite.  So I go all the way home to Daingerfield, Texas. Daingerfield is about 20-25 minutes from Mount Pleasant, Texas. The Mount Pleasant store is your closest retail store to my residence. When I arrive home, for some reason I try the customer service line one more time. This time I reach a female that actually treats me decently. She transfers me to a male named Daniel. After Daniel hears my long and painful day of dealing with Verizon, he takes pity on me and helps. He tells me that since Verizon did extend my 30 days I can have the phone replaced. He tells me that I can have it mailed but that it would be Monday before it shipped and Wednesday before I received the phone. He actually took the time to find a way to have the phone replaced right then. Unfortunately, to do that I would have to drive all the way back to Mount Pleasant with a 15 month child in tow for a second time to do so. Wait a minute, your manager has just told me that I cannot do that because he does not have the phone in stock? After your customer service representative Daniel calls the store, we find out that Jesse Summerlin flat out lied to me. He had sent me all the way home without a working phone, and he didn’t have to. The phone was in stock in your retail store.  Now I am livid that he had the nerve to lie to me, to my face and send me away for absolutely no reason.  It was disrespectful and inappropriate of him to treat a paying customer that way. I am shocked that your company lets consultants decide what a customer can and cannot do on a whim. Is it Verizons policy to lie to a customer and then have to eventually settle the matter later? Is Verizon so arrogant that they let their employees treat people in this manner? This incident almost cost you our business altogether.  Here is what I would like to happen from this point on. I will be making a special trip at the request of your customer service line to speak with the store manager here in Mount Pleasant, Texas about these events. I expect that her better make this right after all that I have been through. I had to drive all the way back to Mount Pleasant after your employee lied to me and I expect that he fixes that. Then I am going to send this e-mail to your complaint department and also print copies of the e-mail and request to see you regional manager. One way or the other I expect that someone at Verizon makes sure that the next person that walks into Verizon Wireless in Mount Pleasant has a better experience.
Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

They hire fat computer nerds that were picked on in high school for years and this is their payback.  Dump Verizon... none of the others are this way to the customer.  Their sales are going down for this very reason and there are now a lot of better options to choose from.