Verizon Wireless

Greeted by someone who tells us within two minutes of our entering the store that it would take twenty to thirty minutes to be helped. No smiles or apology or commiseration at least? I stand and watch as four sales reps converge, talk and disperse. I am standing and glaring at the guy while my three children are running around and thinking– this store needs to be more friendly when the same guy walks up to me and offers a bottle of water. I get my work done after an hour and half and leave. What else to say.

I had been a longtime happy Verizon customer and set up my family mobile plan through their University Ave shop. One lady in particular was super helpful in this store (gack, I forgot her name, sorry) but then I GOT HOSED.
Over the holidays (2013) I tried to upgrade the family to iPhones. It was a somewhat convoluted process but I went to the store in advance to make sure in person with a manager, Jason, that I could manage it. He assured me they could do it and gave me pricing. I needed to bring in the old phones, of course.
Advance one week and I return with my kids (21, twins 18) to pick iPhone models, colors, etc… and before starting the process AGAIN I double check with the manager Jason I can do the upgrades I want. Yes, we’re good, hands me off to Brandon a sales guy, and it’s execution time.
We get two phones into the process and there’s a problem. One of the older Samsung phones works great but inside apparently there is some ‘problem’ not obvious to a mere mortal like me so that phone is not eligible now for the upgrade. What? I protest. Jason and Brandon back off.
Next phone, similar thing happens.
Then it takes half an hour to try and transfer contacts? Really? I work in tech. I should have done this myself offline. Grrrrrr. Next up, two more phones and we’ll finish, right?
Third phone, seems to be no problem except whoa, apparently we CAN’T do this now. What? We’re about one hour and 40 minutes into this nightmare and I lose my temper. I say, ‘We’re done.” No fourth phone. I stop at wherever we are in this horrible experience. I say I’ll pay for whatever damage we have done so far but I’m walking now.
I walk down the street to T-​Mobile and buy the final phone (new) in 5 minutes, transfer the contacts in seconds, and I whistled as I walked happily out of their store.
I will aggressively move to get my family plan AWAY from Verizon after this experience. Uggghhh.

Review for Hugo. Thank you Hugo for patiently helping me with the service ! He really took his time to explaine and calculate the new plan. Very professional and kind approach.

Can’t say enough good things about Felipe. Yesterday, the wrong number got ported over and couldn’t get ported back for 24 hours, and he was terrific and solved all problems. He and others couldn’t have been nicer, more helpful or more creative with solutions.

Hugo couldn’t have been a better person to help me! Some background: I am not into technology, don’t know a lot of the terms and how technology works. I get overwhelmed by the thought of it and, it can be embarrassing and intimidating to go into a tech store in the heart of silicon valley when you are in my position. I knew I had to get a tablet and make the leap. Thank goodness I got Hugo. I was able to really browse the products without anyone pressuring me about what I wanted. Hugo was so patient to help me get what I needed. He took the time to look at the package of service I already have with Verizon and make recommendations of saving money with some of the newer offers. Not only that, we were able to casually talk about our families, etc. Yes, I am very happy that I left with what I needed, but even more happy to have met such a genuine, kind, down to earth and professional man. Hugo, keep doing what you are doing! Thank you!

Generally I like Verizon, actually. And that isn’t changed. But my experience in this store screams avoid — actually I can only speak of one person: CHRIS EVERSON. If you walk in and are matched with Chris, smart move will be, ask for someone else.
TL;DR: Chris packaged together a great upgrade deal with phone, EDGE, iPad, the works. I didn’t really enjoy how he kept scribbling down confusing numbers all over a paper to explain how good the deal was, so I requested, before we agree, that he break down each and every explanation on the paper. Did that. Kept the paper for my proof — I just did not want the scenario to emerge downstream where the discounts didn’t appear as he said.
To his credit, many did, but a major mis-​charge also occurred contrary to the paper for what I was charged totaling $ 100+. I had explained to Chris my worry of an overcharge before buying and he constantly reassured us – call me, text me, email me if there’s any issue and I’ll take care of it.
After talking to the national Verizon rep, tried that. Days go by and Chris would reply with one sentence or just straight ignore. I work bad hours that I can’t really make it into the store but after two weeks, managed to get an hour. Found Chris there, asked why he wasn’t answering my messages («Uh, it seems empty now but its been really busy.»). Okay. We go over the bill. Long story short, caught up in his misrepresentations, he resorts to «Well, I got you a really good deal otherwise…»
Huh? As I explained to him, I only agreed to parts of the deal because of his representations, which were plainly false, deceptive, and overcharged me. He made a big deal about how he was going to need to get a manager override to refund the money… just a waste of time and negative energy. Finally got him to refund the money, said it would appear on a future bill. I asked him, «What if it doesn’t?» (i.e., I don’t have faith after this experience, why would I trust you now.) I took a picture of his piles of papers and new promise of the refund.
Sure enough, month+ later… two cycles… no refund! So the cycle will begin anew to get this overcharge back from a deceptive salesperson. Verizon National will say its an in-​store situation we know nothing about; Chris will not reply; will have to expend another hour with time I don’t really have. All for what? Chris Everson — scum. Avoid.

Let’s start out with the admission that most of us love to hate our phone companies.
My daughter and I went into the Verizon store in Palo Alto this morning. Due to very poor customer service and reception, my daughter wanted to switch from AT&T to Verizon. I was already a Verizon customer (having switched from AT&T two years ago) and I wanted to upgrade from my iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6.
We were greeted by Meena who introduced us to Ali. They both took care of us.
We had a coupon for a significant discount when we added new service and upgraded. Meena walked us through all of our options with great patience and explained the costs in very easy to understand terms. She did everything possible to maximize our discounts and reduce our costs. We were VERY happy customers when we left with our new iPhone 6’s.
These two people could singlehandedly reverse any negative perceptions you might have about Verizon. They were absolutely terrific and Verizon is lucky to have these two on their staff!
Thank you Meena and Ali.

You can get lucky there. Once in a rare while.
Usually all phone companies are terrible.
Especially wireless.
This one isn’t the worst — that’s the only positive feedback I can give.
This particular review is for just one incident there.
Story:
Came to the store to pay off outstanding phones.
Got lucky.
No waiting time.
Many employees and no customers — such luck. The first time like this.
Was helped by a knowledgeable employee.
Wanted to do *something* good for the store — such a rare occasion with both — no wait and a knowledgeable help.
My wife noticed a device, like a watch, for kids, $ 80.
We thought may work for our granddaughter, but couldn’t reach our daughter to ask if she will let her use it.
Employee said — you can return within 14 days, and to activate you need to download an app on one of the smart phones.
I also signed on their pad something, I don’t think that there was something there regarding restocking fee.
Later received a message, that device should be activated within 3 days.
Fortunately I didn’t. If I did — then there would have been $ 35 deduction on refund.
Then I came to the store and asked to help to activate the device.
Waited as usual about 30 min and then while employee was helping to activate, and download the app, I asked specifically to show what access this app will have. Once I saw that — I couldn’t agree. I have special interest in protecting my privacy.
Since I couldn’t load the app, I have decided to return the device, since there was nothing I could do with it.
And then, I’ve learned that there is a $ 35 restocking fee for the device I haven’t opened, and fees I was told nothing about.
No arguing helped.
They wanted me to sign yet another document on their pad which I refused and asked for printed receipt.
Once I got the receipt — I marked «$ 35» as «disagree» and signed.
They didn’t want to accept.
There was more commotion, but the bottom line — I wanted to mark their helpfulness and ended up been cheated, and I was upset enough with that fact to write this review.
My advice is:
— if you decide to go to that store,
* NEVER sign on their pads ANYTHINGS.*
* NEVER buy ANYTHING that you are do NOT absolutely need.*
*Take ANYTHING they say with a grain of salt.*

I was recently visiting my son who attends Stanford university and visited the Palo Alto store to upgrade my phone and purchase some accessories. Being that I’m from out of town, I wasn’t sure how my experience would be but I must say that after being a Verizon Wireless customer for over 20 years it was the absolute best experience I have ever had in a verizon store. I was greeted by Ali who helped me find exactly what I needed. He was extremely helpful and courteous. i can’t say enough about the great customer service I received. Thanks to the Palo Alto store and to Ali!!!

We had the BEST experience with Diego yesterday. Diego was professional, super helpful, polite and patient.
My sister has a flip phone and did not want or was ready for a smart phone. Diego gave us all of our options after we told him our goal was to not part with any money to upgrade to a new phone. He was AMAZING and my sister got the phone she wanted.
He lowered our bill, recognized our 10+ year loyalty with Verizon and gave us a better plan!
I believe that if you go into it with a good attitude and clear intentions are expressed you will get great customer service and exactly what you want.
Find him — Diego is awesome, thank you!

I came here to sell a phone to a guy I met off Craigslist. They told us we couldn’t put his plan on the phone. After my mother arguing with the salesperson and us arguing with another one for 20 minutes, we found out that wasn’t true – he’d just lose his unlimited data, for whatever reason. I explained to the representative that I needed the money for food, gas, and bills, as a broke college student trying to support herself, and asked if there was anything AT ALL we could do, and they refused. The guy who wanted to buy my phone and I began to leave, and as we did, the jerk representative walked up to us and said to him «So I hear you want to buy an S5, yes?» After telling us he couldn’t buy my phone when I desperately needed the money, he has the gal to walk over and try to steal my by. I can’t express my anger at these selfish people. Never go here.

I’ll be honest– I hate phone stores. It seems like the clone of that one same salesperson is always hustling you and making things more complicated the they have to be. I went in for a new pay as you go SIM for an existing phone and worked with Mo. I really appreciated his down to earth attitude and good nature. He’s a genuine guy who just worked with me on what I needed, was courteous and presented the information without any of the salesy BS. So if you’re in Palo Alto and need anything Verizon related, GO SEE MO!

I would give this place negative 10 if possible. There were several employees and only 3 customers but they still made us wait for nearly an hour after having told us initially that wait time is 10 minutes. Only 2 employees were servicing customers while the rest were hanging around and chatting among themselves. We kept asking how much more time it would take for our turn and all we got from them was that they did not know. I do not understand why Verizon is paying for so many employees to just hang out and chit chat while customers are waiting!!!
Oh yes and I would like to make special mention of Ali who was incredibly rude and unhelpful and also gave us incorrect information. We eventually ended up going to the Apple store next door to get my Verizon iPhone and that was an incredibly great experience compared to this crappy store!!!

heir jet pack service is a complete rip off. My bill was much higher than what they said it would be. $ 100 more each month. I did not use the service more than I had when I had the AT&T DSL service. Their service is unhelpful. STAY AWAY if you want a fair deal!!! I think their technology overstated my useage, but there is no way to dig into what I actually used.

Pros: The store is vast and the displays are nice.
Cons: «Did you come to buy a phone today.» If not, you will be ignored, treated rudely, and dismissed.
My lone interaction with a salesperson resulted in being ridiculed for my preferences (nobody buys a phone for Skype. Google is what people are using.” The assumption being that I am an idiot for not going with the herd.
Will not go back, and will not buy a phone here.

They are not helpful at all. I went in with a question about my plan and all the lady had to say was call customer care.

Larissa is a nice person, but clearly having a bad day. I came in to ask for help with my malfunctioning phone, but before even looking at it she made it seem like she wanted me to go away, then proceeded to take my phone apart and looking for damage to report to insurance. She didn’t at all seem to care about helping me with my actual question, or address the fact that I didn’t want a new phone, but just wanted the phone I have to be troubleshooted and made to work more efficiently. Bummer.
Before you start questioning my sanity for the number of stars given… I want to say that the reason I came back to this store is because there are amazing people like Chris B who work there. He not only listened to me but answered my question before I even got a chance to formulate it. He made my phone work great. Fixed the glitches with my contacts and got me a replacement charger that has been invaluable because it is also a spare battery for when my phone runs out. It is because of people like Chris I will come back to this store, and Larissa can only claim one spoiled Sunday, and the fact that I will fix my phone elsewhere and she will not sell me a new phone.

So far I have not experienced a Verizon store that would not waste my time. Every time I go there they take down my name and telephone number and tell me to wait.
Usually, when I am in a good mood I wait for the obligatory 30 — 45 minutes before talking to anyone. When I am not, I leave within 20 minutes or so.
The Palo Alto location is no exception to this Verizon-​enforced rule, so after waiting for about 20 minutes I left.

This place is something. Every time I come, I have disappointing experience here.
Here is the last one. I walked in and was welcomed right away by the host. They asked me about my issue and I said that I am getting upgraded phone. They put me in the wait list and said someone will be shortly with me. Notice, I was first and only one in the list. 30 minutes pass, nothing happens, still waiting. Finally, one hour after, I get to see the store assistant. They tried to make me buy the package (all additional accessories), to get my upgrade but after my husband warned them about this being illegal, they agreed to give me my upgrade. So they asked me to turn off my phone and I was ready the get new one and we happened to ask if my plan is going to remain the same.
Here it comes! My unlimited data plan would be turned off as that plan is not offered anymore and that rep did not even mention until last second. So we asked what is the best plan I can get to keep it closer to what I have and she offers me 6GB plan for $ 25 dollars more, are you serious? I am switching from unlimited to only 6GB and have to pay extra???
We said, it is not working for us and walked away with nothing. Not to mention that we have been there before and our friends were trying to get the plan and after 2 hours of waiting, walked away disappointed too.
Never again.

It’s the best Verizon store in the area, but that doesn’t make it *good* necessarily.
They always have a crappier, second-​best solution to any problem you have– and if you go somewhere else (like call customer service… or visit the Apple store for an iphone issue), you’ll almost certainly get a more satisfying solution.
You can’t fool me with your friendly greeters and their fancy tablets, Verizon– when you tell me I need to buy a new phone for retail price, while I can go down the street and get a new phone from the Apple store for half that, you’ve lost some trust, pal.