March 2023 by Jeff W.
This review is for the national 800 number, NOT the local store. I've had 2 interactions with Tracfone/Straight Talk/Verizon (all the same company) and neither were good. In fact, both were so dismal that I wish I could leave a NEGATIVE 5 star review, but unfortunately Yelp forces reviewers to give at least 1 positive star, so I guess Verizon gets a free rating boost that they don't even come close to deserving. First interaction was when I was trying to switch my mother's service from her old, locked Straight Talk phone to her new locked Straight Talk phone. So these phones are BOTH locked to Verizon's network, in other words they're THEIR PHONES. I had to call probably 2 dozen times over the course of a week, spending over 30 hours of my life on the phone with a small army of people I could barely understand, speaking to what seemed like a dozen or more supervisors, climbing the chain of command rung by rung, until they FINALLY figured out how to transfer service FROM THEIR PHONE TO THEIR PHONE. Yes, it took A WEEK, over 30 hours, and likely well over 25 people to finally figure out how to transfer service from one of THEIR OWN PHONES and put it on one of THEIR OWN PHONES. Now I'm trying to do the same thing with my locked Tracfone (same company, just a different name). I figured it was time for an upgrade rather than just fixing the phone (got an unlocked phone too). I'll tell ya, I'm about ready to upgrade to a different company. This time, I bought an UNLOCKED phone so I can take it to literally ANY company. I only got as far as giving the representatives the new phone's IMEI (like an ID number), mentioned that the old phone is a Motorola and so is the new one, and that the old phone is a locked Tracfone and the new phone is an unlocked phone. The INSTANT the words "unlocked phone" came out of my mouth, not one but TWO representatives said I needed to talk to a different department. I waited on hold for 45 minutes for the first rep, who mumbled her name. I asked her to repeat it and she mumbled it again. Every other word out of her mouth was clear as a bell, just not her name. Guess she didn't want to be identified. She said she had to transfer me to a different department, so I waited on hold for roughly 75 minutes the second time. The second rep, whose name was Jerry, went through the same song and dance as Mumble Lady and again the instant he heard "unlocked phone" he panicked and said he had to transfer me to ANOTHER department. I wasn't about to wait on hold for ANOTHER HOUR, so I admit I lost my temper and raised my voice, even cussed him out a bit. I think that's rather understandable however, given that I'd just waited on hold for 2 hours and was STILL not in the right department. His response? HE TALKED OVER ME, THEN HUNG UP ON ME. Not kidding, CLICK. I called back and asked for a supervisor right off the bat, telling the representative that she wasn't in trouble, but Jerry sure as hell was. I was told I would be transferred, but then got a message saying their office was closed. Called back my next day off and calmly explained the situation and why I was calling to a female rep, which is standard stuff so they know why you're calling. When I was about halfway done with my explanation she tried to interrupt me but I kept talking. Apparently she didn't like that, because she HUNG UP ON ME. I didn't cuss at her, didn't raise my voice, I just didn't let her interrupt me. I guess that's unacceptable at Verizon, the customer is always wrong and always has to let the rep talk. Asked to speak to a supervisor right off the bat on the next call, was told THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TRANSFER YOU TO A SUPERVISOR. What?! A supervisor has more experience, knows more, and can take customer complaints (like hangups), which is why they're supervisors! I guess there's zero accountability at Verizon (probably zero supervisors too), which explains a thing or two. Finally decided to go with T-Mobile
