Verizon Wireless Store
825 Williston Rd
South Burlington, VT 05403

I have been a Verizon Wireless customer since the fall of 2001 when I moved to Vermont. At that time, there was Cellular One (now known as Unicell) and Verizon. I first got a Cellular One phone, but the reception was poor in my area, so I switched over to Verizon. I have had multiple phones over the past 6 years and now have my wife on my plan too.

Last fall (October 2006) I upgraded my phone to the LG VX8300. Since that time, I have had to have the phone replaced THREE times due to some software/hardware issue. When I would delete a text message, the phone would reboot on its own. The first time I had to have it replaced was April 30, 2007. I then had to re-add all my contact groups and assign the contacts to them (family, friends, co-workers, businesses, etc), re-assign some of my contacts to the 'speed-dial' numbers and then re-download all my ring-tones. VZW was kind enough to reimburse me the ring-tone cost. I have almost 300 contacts in my phone, so the setup process took me several hours.

ONE DAY LATER, on May 1st, the phone failed. It wouldn't take a charge and just died. They had to replace it for the SECOND TIME. Again, re-add all my contact groups, re-assign my contacts to the speed-dial numbers, and re-download all my ring tones. This took me another several hours. Now just this past week, my 3rd phone died on me again... would just reboot on its own, and the right column pf keys (3,6,9,# keys) would not work. So they had to replace my phone now for the THIRD time. So now I am on my FOURTH phone in 9 months.

I discussed my concern with the store manager, Joe. He said there is nothing he can do because the phone is under warranty. I mentioned to him that if this were a car, there would be lemon law. He agreed, but said that his phone works just fine. His best offer is an upgrade to the LG VX8700 for $150. I asked him if having to replace a phone 4 times in a year is normal for Verizon, he agreed that it was not. I told him want some sort of compensation for the new LG VX8700 and a better deal. The retail cost is only $100 different between my phone (LG VX8300) and the new phone (LG VX8700). He would not budge... not take my current phone in trade. He told me I could use my current phone as a back-up just in case the new phone gets damaged or something. I told him I already have a back-up phone and I would like to trade in my LG VX8300 for the new LG VX8700 and get some money towards the new phone. He said that if I want money for my new phone, sell it to one of my friends. This is the point where he started getting very rude and condescending. He said there is nothing more he can do as the store manager and if I wanted better results to call VZW directly. At this point I walked out of his store and called VZW customer service.

I spoke with a CSR and he completely understood where I was coming from and assured me that my conversation with the store manager is out of the ordinary. The CSR on the phone offered me the LG VX8700 FREE and is going to ship it to me FedEx 2-day air. It was a simple and short conversation that I think should have taken place in the store.

The store is obviously more focused on sales and not keeping their existing clients happy. It is apparent that if you want good quality customer service, don't go to a Verizon store, call the 800#. That's too bad.

Roger H.
New Haven, VT