Annoyed. My First Vent of the New Year

[Skywalker]

As someone who has worked customer service for a long time, I will keep my comments to myself.

Why? I'd be interested in your take. What should the customer have done?

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

It stinks when its their mistake and they cannot come up with a solution to please you.

However first I'm guessing the employee was chatting with several people so I wouldn't get too upset about that.
Second... so its really THAT much of a hassle for you to drive 7 miles to hand it to someone? Its probably less of a hassle than the rest of your chat was.
Third when I arrived at the Verizon store I would inquire about a potential discount for the hassle. Doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Second... so its really THAT much of a hassle for you to drive 7 miles to hand it to someone? Its probably less of a hassle than the rest of your chat was.

Absolutely a hassle. It's not just the 14 mile drive. It's the waiting in line for my turn. It's dealing with horrible employees in a bad part of town. This is why I ordered the phone online to begin with.

I should not be inconvenienced because a multi billion dollar company doesn't have a better solution than me driving 14 miles and waiting in a line to right their wrongs. This same company will not send me a pre-paid box to ship their product back.

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

Absolutely a hassle. It's not just the 14 mile drive. It's the waiting in line for my turn. It's dealing with horrible employees in a bad part of town. This is why I ordered the phone online to begin with.

I should not be inconvenienced because a multi billion dollar company doesn't have a better solution than me driving 14 miles and waiting in a line to right their wrongs. This same company will not send me a pre-paid box to ship their product back.

I'd say its time for you to find a new phone company then...

 

[1GoldenSun]

I have several times received the same item twice for Amazon orders. The first time it happened I tried to return the extra but it was next to impossible. They don't have an option for it. I ended up getting my money returned to me and still having one of the product, which made me feel like worse of a thief than if I'd just kept the duplicate.

Now I just keep it, but I'm talking about something like a foam roller or a yoga mat, not a phone. I also would feel obligated to return an extra phone. But if I ever order one from Verizon I'll keep this story in mind...

 

[Pink Partridge]

The IMEI number should be on the box, at least it has been for every phone I've ever bought. Not the shipping box but the actual phone box.

I found it. I had to take a picture and blow it up to read. But I found it. My eyes are getting worse with age

 

[Pink Partridge]

I also would feel obligated to return an extra phone. But if I ever order one from Verizon I'll keep this story in mind...

Yes. I felt badly. But never again. I wouldn't use it, but tuck it away until they came for it.

 

[AgentMama]

Legally, stores can't charge you for items they accidentally shipped you. Violates the fair trade act...

 

[Princessclab]

Legally, stores can't charge you for items they accidentally shipped you. Violates the fair trade act...

This. You tried to work with the company.
Document your call and what was said.
If you do get charged dispute the charge with the CC company, let them handle it.
If they want their phone back they should make accomodations but you certainly should not be charged for it.
I would be very surprised if the phone service was cut off for this. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Good luck!

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

OP, they made the mistake and turned it into your problem. Your suggestions to resolve the issue were very reasonable imo. Telling you to drive 14 miles is certainly not. What if there is no driver in your household or no car? Telling you to "find a way to return it or you will be charged" sounds illegal. No company should hold someone hostage with the threat of making them pay more to iron out the company's own mistake. Good luck.

 

[emer95]

OP, you have been more than reasonable. This is their mistake. You were being an honest person. I agree with the others who said you’re done at this point. If they want that phone back so badly, they need to make it right and come get it. It is beyond ridiculous to claim that they don’t have a box, come on!
Any time we’ve dealt with a phone company (Sprint or Verizon) it has been a colossal pain. You’d think their customer service would be better since they are utilized by just about everyone.
You are 100% in the right on this.

 

[Miffy]

OP: Although they are apparently completely different companies, I've had a year of unbelievably bad customer service from Verizon Fios, the internet provider.

For month after month they continued to charge us for a service we didn't order, and, worse, had already paid for through another venue--that service is Disney+, btw, where I have a 2-year subscription through D+, not thru Verizon.

I cannot tell you how many reps I chatted with or spoke with on the phone. The problem would seem to be solved, we'd be promised a refund and an end to the charges, the refund would appear on our online account, and then the next month we would be charged for D+ yet again and the refund would have disappeared.

This problem has been eliminated only because we moved and canceled our Verizon Fios service. That's another almost laughable scenario there, too, which I won't go into.

My point is that if your experience with Verizon wireless customer support was anything at all like the customer support at Fios, I have tremendous empathy for you. I hope they send you the label and that you're able to return the phone. Word of advice here: keep a copy of the label for yourself, get a tracking number, and track the package. It will probably be the only proof you have that you returned the phone.

You did the right thing to begin with--something not everyone would have done--and there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have been able to accommodate your preference to begin with, no matter what their usual policy is.

 

[GreatLakes]

If you guys think Verizon is bad to work with as a consumer you should try it on the enterprise side. Most telcos are bad but Verizon is the worst I've ever dealt with.

 

[White Cat]

Absolutely a hassle. It's not just the 14 mile drive. It's the waiting in line for my turn. It's dealing with horrible employees in a bad part of town. This is why I ordered the phone online to begin with.

I should not be inconvenienced because a multi billion dollar company doesn't have a better solution than me driving 14 miles and waiting in a line to right their wrongs. This same company will not send me a pre-paid box to ship their product back.

I would have just physically returned the thing. A 7 mile drive is nothing. Life is full of things that we should not have to do. But that’s life. The time you spent on here talking about it it could be done. Probably would cost you $1.50 in gas.

 

[prairie_girl]

I agree 1000% with you. They should have apologized for the inconvenience of this mistake and tried to solve it on their end vs expecting you to be inconvenienced.

I do see a problem getting a chat rep to send you a box though: unfortunately, things are ridiculously siloed these days at mega corps. Call center reps just don't have the authority to solve problems that deviate off their specific scripts - like knowing who to call to get a box or bag from the company's warehouse or DC (distribution center) mailed to you.

BUT maybe asking for a supervisor could help? They can arrange a fed ex or UPS pickup right at your home with a note for driver to bring a shipping bag or box with them to pack it up. Other companies do this when it's their mistake - because it happened to me in the past.

Better yet - get a supervisor on the chat or phone and YOU suggest this. Often, when I suggest a reasonable solution, they actually agree to it. Sometimes they just didn't think of that solution.

When one rep is unable or unwilling to help, I just try again hours or days later and get someone different who often is much better. Or I ask to escalate to a supervisor. That often works.

For anyone interested, this is a step by step guide on how things are not done (except the apologizing part, which op hasn’t said one way or another if they were offered an apology).

 

[RedAngie]

OMG he must be related to DH. Sometimes you need to keep the box for a week or two to be sure it works okay. Drives me bananas!

My DH wants to keep boxes like forever. Not just things that are shipped, but items purchased in a store. The boxes the TV, laptops, even my cookware set came in. We have the space, but DH offers no logical reason other than we might need them in 15 years. It’s not a hill worth dying over.

OP, if Verizon wants the extra phone back, THEY need to get off their butts and arrange a pickup at your house at a time convenient to YOU. Asking you to return it, even if the closest store is a block away, is unacceptable.

Ignore their threats to charge you for it.

 

[Karin1984]

Exactly, this was not your mistake. You don't have to agree to their solutions. A box and return label in this situation is really the only acceptable solution from them. They cannot ship you a product you didn't order and charge you for it. It's not legal. Not sure why other people can't understand this.

Because it's very likely that the company didn't even know there were two phones send. And second, companies nowadays do not care about returns. Because handling returns is more annoying, time consuming and costly. The phone doesn't cost $900 to make, that's just what they charge you. The OP wasn't charged twice, was she? I might have missed a post.

An acceptable solution for the customer is not the same as workable solution for the company.

I agree with prairie_girl to a certain degree (though I only have 12 years customer experience ;-) ) whether the OP was difficult or just perceived as difficult by the agent will have resulted in how the agent reacted. If a customer declines all the options you have to help, you just roll your eyes, say some generic stuff, and hang up whenever you can. Especially with this case, I really think that if the agent went to the supervisor and asked how it could be done (or maybe the supervisor already knows about it when the OP was on hold, the supervisor would have said something like: "Just log the call and take the next one. Let her have the phone, and hope she won't call back."

Perfect service? No definitely not, but large companies do not work the same as a local shop when you come for a return. A store probably has the exact amount of boxes on hand for the amount of phones in the store. The customer service center is on one side of the country, the factory where the packaging happens on the other side. Usually you can't walk down to storage and ask 'hey, do you have a box I can use?'

Even if you return it, likely it will get destroyed. That's happens with most used/opened returns from Amazon, I think?

 

[White Cat]

Again, lie that I am returning the wrong phone is a solution?

Drive 14 miles on my own dime and time and return their mistake is a solution?

They aren't good solutions for me. Why would I agree to them?

To get it over with.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Of all days, it was recycling. And the truck was coming.

My husband keeps asking, don't you have the box it came in? No. You ran it out to the bin like you were in a race Heaven forbid we have a box laying around.

My husband is always nagging at me for keeping boxes of stuff but I always keep the box something comes in until enough time has passed or I know I'm not going to need it like I know the store if I have to make a return doesn't care (like Costco, etc). This one is on your husband

 

[Pink Partridge]

Life is full of things that we should not have to do. But that’s life.

I am not about to do something I shouldn't have to do for a company that can't even help me return their mistake. That is not life. At least not for me.

The time you spent on here talking about it it could be done.

I am a passenger in a car driving my child back to college. I have all the time in the world right now

You see, for your child, you will drive to the ends of earth. For a multi billion dollar company that wants me to fix their mistake? Not so much.

Thanks everyone for allowing me to vent. I appreciate all of the responses, even the ones I don't see eye to eye with.