I'm asking this question here because it's essentially a business question and lots of you seem to be well connected. I've been a Verizon customer for 20+ years and have remained so primarily because of their fairly good customer service.

Today I had an opposite experience. I went in to a Verizon company store to have them look at my phone because its back is bulging. They offered to sell me an older model Motorola phone for basically only the transfer fees (i.e., the phone itself would be free). I asked them if I could see the specs on that phone and a few others they had in the store. They refused! They told me to go home and look it up on google. They said that they did not have the capability to print out the specs of the display phones, and since the one they were trying to sell me wasn't a display phone, they had no specs on it at all.

It was the strangest experience in my life - to go into a store specializing in a narrow type of electronics and have them unable/refuse to provide specs on any of their products.

I cannot believe that the store manager's boss would approve of that refusal.

Do you really care about the actual specs? Just tell them hey I need a phone that can do x, y, and z. Do you really need to compare processing speed?

The Pilot said:

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Do you really care about the actual specs? Just tell them hey I need a phone that can do x, y, and z. Do you really need to compare processing speed?

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No, but I do care quite a bit about battery life and camera specs. My current phone has great battery life but a mediocre to poor camera.

I wanted to compare the phone they were offering to me to my existing phone and to others to see if the others' superiority was worth the difference in price.

What do you guys do, just go in and buy any old phone or simply the latest and most expensive one?

The Pilot said:

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Jabin said:

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The Pilot said:

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Do you really care about the actual specs? Just tell them hey I need a phone that can do x, y, and z. Do you really need to compare processing speed?

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No, but I do care quite a bit about battery life and camera specs. My current phone has great battery life but a mediocre to poor camera.

I wanted to compare the phone they were offering to me to my existing phone and to others to see if the others' superiority was worth the difference in price.

What do you guys do, just go in and buy any old phone or simply the latest and most expensive one?

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I haven't gone into a phone store in probably 10 years. I've been team iPhone for at least that long. Once my battery starts going to crap I just buy a new iPhone. Doesn't have to be the latest version but probably one that's been released in the last couple yrs.

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That was my thinking as well. When I called Verizon customer assistance about my battery problem, they told me to go to a store. I was more than willing to do that because, based on my past experiences, Verizon stores can cut some fantastic deals (better than you can find anywhere else) and were great in making the transition to the new phone easy.

That's why I was so surprised when these guys couldn't and wouldn't answer any basic questions about their phones.

The decision to buy a new phone usually only comes up every 3-4 years, so I do my research ahead of time. If I go in blindly, they are just going to try to sell me the most expensive phone.

Captain Winky said:

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The decision to buy a new phone usually only comes up every 3-4 years, so I do my research ahead of time. If I go in blindly, they are just going to try to sell me the most expensive phone.

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They were actually trying to give me an older model phone, one that I would not have considered for purchase. I wanted to see its specs to see if was even of interest.

The correct answer is go to another location. At least for me there are 3-5 Verizon stores within 5 minutes

I am not typically a patient person. I had the need to go to a Verizon store twice this month. Once to pick up a replacement phone for my granddaughter, once to do the same for my son. When I went to pick up the phone for my son, the case I had ordered was not in the bag. I showed them the receipt where I had paid online.

The young lady (very new at the job) called them, worked very hard to get the matter resolved, her manager coached her a little but let her handle it. They were both friendly. Verizon (not the store employees) wanted me to pay again then was going to refund the first purchase. The store manager said to heck with that, give him the case and let him take the phone and case to his son.

I think service varies a great deal from store to store and I got lucky. Delivering gift cards tomorrow.

Sometimes you get a survey (not sure if Verizon does it) but if not I'd send a snail mail to the corporate office if I wasn't pleased with the service I got.

And shop around your phone company every year or so. There are no rewards to loyalty anymore. If you have the same vendor (of any service) for 20+ years, then its a certainty they are hosing you on rates. Shop and save.

OMG! Going to a store and actually expecting service.
Have you been living in a cave? ;-)

That said-I believe there are two types of Verizon stores-a real one and one by a franchise. Service may vary.

IslandAg76 said:

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OMG! Going to a store and actually expecting service.
Have you been living in a cave? ;-)

That said-I believe there are two types of Verizon stores-a real one and one by a franchise. Service may vary.

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I went to the Verizon store on the south side of College Station. The store is run by another company and the guy told me they run more Verizon stores than Verizon. The guy was really helpful.

I was there to help my old soul daughter get a new Iphone. She had an Iphone7.

The guy also helped to save $70 per month on five phones.

I tried doing this on Verizon website chat and got nowhere.