Verizon Store Experience

[xrayeyes]

Newbie here! I've been lurking for a bit...probably will for a bit longer. Looking to buy a Droid of some sort.

So, I head in to a Verizon store today after visiting once before to look briefly at phones. Wanted to "feel out" what the reps had to say about the Incredible 2 soon to be release.

Incredible is what I got! Not only did they not know about the Incredible 2, they tried to tell me it had been discontinued and made into the Thunderbolt! I AM NOT KIDDING!

I then tactfully told them, no it wasn't...it should be out the end of the month or shortly thereafter. They asked me where I got that info. I said, that thing called the internet... (not really, but I wanted to).

Actually, I did point them to do a google on it, and low and behold almost every site they wanted to look at was BLOCKED by Verizon, including this forum! I was kinda shocked.

I think I'll be going to another store when I'm ready to order.

 

[Backnblack]

Was it a Corporate store or an Authorized Dealer?


Yes, I'm following you .....

 

[Martin030908]

Generally the in store reps are the last to know anything. Just an FYI

 

[xrayeyes]

I would have thought a corporate store, but not sure. How do you tell?

And yeah, I know they are the last to know stuff, but it was REALLY bad info. If I were a decent employee, I'd be lurking this site and others like crazy.

 

[him]

Typical. I am usually quite disappointed with sales reps. I had to activate my own xoom in store because rep couldnt find the settings. Than i set painfully and watch one chick struggle to get the back off my thunderbolt to put the battery in. I ended up just asking her to leave it and told her i would do it at home. And the icing on the cake...i watched a rep sell a guy a droid x and explain how he could video chat on it cause she users her phone to video chat with her deployed boyfriend...she hand an iphone 4.

I just do research before i go and prefer not to have a sales person talk to me.

 

[illmatic636]

I'm sure that the sites you tried to have then access are just blocked in general. They have a lot of younger teens working there and can't have their facebooks update throughout the day

 

[Beka27]

My general advice to OP and everyone... ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!! Whether you're buying a phone, a car, or a coffee maker... There is too much good info available to blindly make decisions based on the knowledge (or lack) of paid employees who will say anything to "make the sale".

(from Beka's DX)

 

[9wire]

Friend of mine is a Rep, packin' a rooted d1, is into phone Modding as much as I am. Prolly an exception to the rule though, most of them are entry level sales drones.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[phreek]

Ya the sales reps at any store are worthless...

Sent from my Droid

 

[xrayeyes]

When you said corporate store vs authorized dealer, I was thinking "main store" vs a little hole in the wall store in a strip mall. But, I guess you meant vs a Best Buy, etc.

Are there differences in Corporate stores as far as more knowledgeable staff, more phones to offer, etc.

I will have to ask my husband which store they use now that the Alltel store has closed. He has a very old phone (which he will not part with for now) and does most of the business with Verizon over the phone.

 

[takeshi]

I think I'll be going to another store when I'm ready to order.

Prepare for a similar experience. I'm not saying that there aren't knowledgeable reps out there but nothing in the OP should have been a surprise. If these people had the experience and knowledge they wouldn't be selling phones.

This type of thread is extremely common if you bother to look around on any phone forum site.

 

[Detonation]

The reps in Verizon stores are salesman. Phone enthusiasts or not, their job is to make you buy something. They would rather you buy a phone now and guarantee your business versus telling about something coming in the future, where in that time you could go with another carrier. Not to mention that they are public Verizon representatives, meaning that can't (shouldn't) be talking about rumors or anything unofficial, at least not while on the job or as a selling point.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Come on, who doesn't know these people are absolutely clueless (mostly) about things? Ever go with someone to buy a car? I'm a car enthusiast and I went with a friend to get a 2006 BMW M3 and it was just painful watching this salesman talk about a car he didn't even know. It was funny when I asked him if the oil was synthetic and what weight it was. When he saw me smiling and trying not to laugh he calmly looked at me and said : "You know more about this car than I do, don't you?" lol. At least he was smart.

Same thing about cell phones and pretty much everything else. If you don't do your own research, you're just asking for suffering. But I'm particularly surprised at how clueless Verizon reps are. I imagine they don't get paid that much, so you can't blame them. But still, you have a technical question, call 611, and each time you're very likely to get a different answer.

That said - Most of the reps I've talked to are really nice people and I get along with them well. Was just on the phone with a really nice lady this morning. She went out of the way to help (was removing my dead Droid 1 from a line so I didn't have to pay data).

 

[xrayeyes]

I agree with what you're saying...I wasn't clueless that they were going to be so clueless themselves. What I was surprised at though, was that they tried to pass the Thunderbolt off as the new version of Incredible.

I have been investigating these phones, and I do know how to buy a car....if you only knew...

I was also surprised at the extent of blocked sites on their internet. I was standing right there while he was trying to look stuff up.

 

[Mr.VZW]

Ya the sales reps at any store are worthless...

Sent from my Droid

lol thanks.

first off let me say i'm sorry for the bad experiance. i know the incredable 2 is coming out, just dont know when. hell i dont even know the specs on it. the fact of the matter is verizon DOES NOT let me repeat this, DOES NOT tell there reps whats coming out. the reps found out the iphone was coming the same day the rest of the world did. the thunderbolt they were told about 2 days before launch.

so in other words going into the stores and asking about future products wont get you far. the reps are simply not given that info to avoid the info getting to a little placed called the internet.

thats the simple truth of it.

also you guys have to understand what all the reps have to know on a day by day basis. all of verizon policys reguarding price plans, overages, return polices, warrenty info, insurance info, global traveling info, then throw on about 30 differnt devices. in other words there is A LOT for a rep to know. in my honest humble opinion there is no way that a rep can know everything about a phone or phones. there is just too much to know about them. sure basic features, memory, camera, that kind of thing they should know. but things they dont actually do in the store like sycing to a pc, or troubleshooting. . . . . . your better off just googleing (sp) it.

also most sites are NOT blocked from reps. i may or may not be on this site as a referance tool a lot while im at work. cause like i said one person cant know everything about these phones. when the rep told you that, he probably didnt want to because he would look dumb.

again sorry for the xp, let me know if there is anything i can do to help