Verizon Store Employees (VSE)

[detroitwilly]

I'd like there to be a place where we can share our experiences with the infamous Verizon store employees.

I know it can't be just me. I have so many things to say that I don't know where to start.

I guess I'll start by saying that the only people that know anything inside of a Verizon store are the managers and half of the customers. It's unbelievable how the sales people just don't know a thing about the phones that they are selling. I really seems like the they couldn't care less about what they are selling and they are just winging it. When I go to the store even if it is just to try out a new phone, I like to listen to what is going on around me. Each time I am amazed at the things that come out of the sales peoples mouths. Sometimes I strike up conversations with them just to see how unfamiliar they are with their product.

Last week, for kicks, my brother asked an employee what the difference between a Razr and a Razr Maxx was. Do you know what he said?

An hour of battery life.

I remember when there was such thing as WebOS and I thought the OS had a real good shot at going somewhere. Verizon employees in my opinion played a huge role in sinking that ship. They had no clue what the Palm Pre even was. So how were they supposed to sell it.

I once witnessed a VSE selling an iphone to a teenage girl who was with her mother. The young girl did not know what size iphone to get so the VSE asked her how much music she had, when the girl said "about 40 gbs worth". The VSE said, "well you should get the 64 gb then, because you are gonna probably continue downloading music, right?" Done deal, now this wasn't slick sales tactic this was an ignorant sales person doing math in her head and trying to figure out herself what size iphone this poor girl should get.

Please share your stories.

 

[tgyberg]

I've always had really good luck. Many times the guy I worked with had the same phone I was buying so I got some tips and tricks. That was huge for me on the OG Droid because it saved me some trial and error in the early days! My local Best Buy has been really good also.

 

[UrbanBounca]

I once witnessed a VSE selling an iphone to a teenage girl who was with her mother. The young girl did not know what size iphone to get so the VSE asked her how much music she had, when the girl said "about 40 gbs worth". The VSE said, "well you should get the 64 gb then, because you are gonna probably continue downloading music, right?" Done deal, now this wasn't slick sales tactic this was an ignorant sales person doing math in her head and trying to figure out herself what size iphone this poor girl should get.

I really don't understand the problem with what this representative suggested.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

 

[detroitwilly]

Personally I wanted to step in and say, "listen young lady and your mother, you don't need to spend all that money on a 64gb iphone just because youre going to continue to download music. It's not an external hard drive, its a phone. There is an option for you to only select a few thousand of your songs to take along on your telephone and you could save a couple hundred bucks"

I didn't step in because I wouldn't do that in a place of business, but I thought it might be nice for the VSE to let her know that this is an option instead of misleading a customer that will be paying $100 a month for a data package. What if the girls answer was, " I have 80 gb of music" what would she have said then, "maybe you should buy 2 iphones" ?????

But like I said, I never thought that this was a sales trick, it was clearly the fact that as usual, the idiot Verizon salesperson had no clue what they were talking about.

 

[dezymond]

They're just doing their job, trying to make sales. They don't necessarily have to be knowledgeable in what they're selling (though it would help wouldn't it lol). Alot of people in retail, in my experience, don't really know the products that they're selling. This ends up turning the "more knowledgeable" customers away. Though they do benefit by sometimes suckering people to buying extras they don't need.

I personally do my research online before going to the store (if I can't find a good enough deal online, which is rare). If you go into the store with some knowledge about what you want, then you won't get hounded or suckered into something you don't need. Yes the employees should be there to help, but their main goal is a sale, so they can get their commission, or however it works. I always say it's as much the customer's fault as it is the employee's for not knowing what they're looking at. This goes for any item you're looking to purchase, not just phones.

 

[dzone67]

This reminds of the time I went to a Verizon Wireless Corporate Store and I overheard a conversation in which the employee pointed out to every smartphone (except iPhone) and stated they are all "Droids. "
Hahaha. Funny.

Sent from a Rezound!

 

[zomnomnombie]

This reminds of the time I went to a Verizon Wireless Corporate Store and I overheard a conversation in which the employee pointed out to every smartphone (except iPhone) and stated they are all "Droids. "
Hahaha. Funny.

Sent from a Rezound!

Perhaps the customer was referring to them as Droids and to not confuse the customer with irrelevant information (as the majority of consumers do not really care about trademarks and their differences, hence genericized trademarks: kleenex, photoshop, iPod/mp3 players) and just getting to the point.

That's what I would do even knowing the correct terminology unless it was pertinent to distinguish between the OS and a trademark with nearly identical spelling.

Sent from my R2 unit using DroidForums

 

[aaf709]

It's hit and miss with Verizon employees, even at the same store.

Before I had my OG Droid, I had an LG Voyager. One of its features was V Cast TV, which was a separate TV service with a small selection of channels. It also added $10 a month to the bill. It wasn't available in San Diego when I got the phone, but I knew it was coming. There was another data plan which added several things, including V Cast TV, which would discount the cost. I inquired at the Verizon store that if I activated the service on my phone would I automatically be enrolled in the other data plan. I was told yes. They were wrong. I was able to get that corrected, but you can't assume they know everything.

On the same token, when the Prius was coming out in the US in 2005, people would ask a dealer what the "B" stood for (the shift for a Prius is D, R and B). He told them it was for Battery, meaning they could drive it on on the battery alone (In 2005 the Battery Mode wasn't approved for the US). It actually meant Brake. You'd use that when going down a long hill, like shifting to a lower gear.

 

[alboboy10]

When I got my first android...d1 I had a Bb storm before that and everyone who had that phone knows it absolutely sucked and that u couldn't download more than 3 apps. Anyway I went to the store complained about having to reset ten times a day to bring up the ram and that I had no room to download apps and he told me that the d1 would be the same thing.

If you guys go see my first post in this forum you'll see the topic I opened about it cause it made me wonder what the hell this guy was talking about.


Another funny one is how a representative told me that getting 10 hours of battery life on 3g with absolutely no use at all of the phone was great and that my phone was doing better than it was supposed to.


They're very slow. And every time they try to treat me like I'm an idiot when I go in the store I make them look dumb and walk out. I can't deal with them at all.

 

[detroitwilly]

This reminds of the time I went to a Verizon Wireless Corporate Store and I overheard a conversation in which the employee pointed out to every smartphone (except iPhone) tand stated they are all "Droids. "
Hahaha. Funny.

Sent from a Rezound!

Exactly the kind of stuff I was talking about
that IS funny

 

[FunN4Lo]

I've never seen the same person twice in my VZW store. By the time they know what they are doing, they probably move on

 

[MissionImprobable]

Rarely do I meet employees who know the down and dirty technical aspects of our phones, but for the most part they have a basic understanding. I can't really blame them. The only reason that I run into Best Buy employees who know anything is likely because they do extra training there and offer prizes for learning more about what products are being offered.

Anyway, back on the VZ tip, they're decently knowledgeable and I can't recall any instances in which I've heard them quoting something blatantly wrong to customers or intentionally leading them astray, though I do know of several posts here where they have or have attempted to dissuade people from buying a certain phone in favor of another with less-than-intelligent reasoning. I certainly do think VZ could increase their training when it comes to specs and functionality so I won't argue otherwise.

 

[dzone67]

Just felt like throwing it out there. I'm a (HOPEFULLY) soon to be Verizon Wireless Employee.

Sent from a Rezound!

 

[thaDroidz]

Buddy from work got iphone (octoberish) He was asking about monthly data. He was told he had 16g a month and he didn't need to worry about going over.

I was wtf, that's your internal storage. And yes you could easily fill 16g's.

"No he said monthly"

I had to pull up his my Verizon to show him, that indeed he's only got 2g a month.

A non techy getting swindled by a Verizon rep?

I hooked wifi up at work for him!

----posted maxx'ed out----

 

[JSM9872]

Sorry guys but on DF we try to stray from flaming or bashing of any type. This is no different.

This thread is going to be :closed_2: