I stopped by Costco after work on my way home to pick up some pants. I was walking past the wireless kiosk and seen that they had the droid razr for a discounted price. I've been researching this phone and was going to go to the Verizon store to get it the next day.
Out of curiosity I asked the girl there what the catch was buying the phone at Costco. She said no catch, it's just that they sell the phones at a discount for Costo members. She said I get all the accessories with the phone and that they could process my upgrade.
I said let's do it, save myself a trip and some money. I bought one for myself and my son. Usually I went to the Verizon store, but I said it shouldn't make a difference... Wrong
2 employees there and I was the only customer. Total process took 2 hours! They pulled up my account to start my upgrade. (By the way I had the $50 credit, they DO NOT apply this to the price they offer)
They filled out slips and I had to take them through the checkout line. Then after waiting in line and paying, I had to pick up the phones at the pickup window. After waiting in that line, the Costco employee escorted me back to the phone booth.
I had an old plan and just wanted to add the internet onto the plan. She said my plan was too old and needed to be changed for the phone to work. I told her Verizon said that I can keep my old plan and just add the data, but she insisted they were mistaken.
I believed her mainly because I've shopped at Costco for YEARS and know they are reputable. After inputting my phone she said there was an error in her system again and that she needed to call in to Verizon. I then stood there for an hour while she was fixing the issue over the phone. I remained patient.
She finally got my phones working. After going over the paperwork I asked if she could transfer my info from my old phone. She said no problem... Duplicate contacts and my photos didn't budge from my old phone.By this time I said that's good enough and thanked the girl and left.
When I got home I checked out the extra accessories that came with the phone. I had to cut the screen protector to fit, on top of that it was junk. I couldn't get the bubbles out and neither could my son. The free car charger that came with it was also junk. Every time I plugged it into my phone, it said non authorized charge please remove.
After all this hassle I called it a day. I unplugged my phone from my charger and it wouldn't turn back on. I tried the other chargers and got nothing. So I decided to bring the phone back to exchange it out.
Went back to the kiosk and exchanged my phone. The guy there took my phone like he was mad that it was defective and filled out 2 slips this time. One for the returns desk and then I had another for the regular checkout line. I had to wait in both lines then had to go back to the kiosk to activate my phone. Another hour long process.
Got home and out of curiosity, called Verizon and wanted to double check about my plan. Turned out that I could keep my old plan, but I could only do it at the Verizon store... Furious now, I took the phones back the next day.
When I got there this time there was a big guy working. I told him I was unhappy with my phones and needed to return them because they screwed up my plan. I said I was just going to go to the Verizon store. What a hassell again.
He tried everything to try to get me to keep the phones and the new plan. After arguing for 30 mins he finally gave me my returns slips to get my money back.
I went over to the Verizon store to get my phones again. The guy pulled up my account and told me that I was eligible anymore for my upgrade. I told him what happened at Costco and he told me the guy there never reversed the contract. (I was within my 14 day trial period)
So now I had to go back to Costco. This time I got Alex (Great Guy) the store manager for Costco to help me. He got my contract reversed after having a talk with the phone kiosk manager Albert (The big guy that didn't process my return)
I headed back over to the Verizon store and got my phones. They transferred my contacts, photos, calender, and even helped me setup my email for my phone. 30 mins... 30 mins. Not only that, I got back on to my old plan and got my $50 credit.
Me wanting to save a little money off the phones ended up costing me 2 days of hassle. Not worth it. I love Costco still, but I will never buy phones there again. I asked about that company that sells the phones there after all this and found out that they are a vendor and are not a Costco company. Wireless Advocates is the name and there are many horror stories like mine because of them
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