Verizon: Complete and Utter #customerservicefail

3 days ago, I walk in to the storefront at 139 5th Ave. (Manhattan) to buy a headset for a friend’s phone. No one pays attention to me. I eventually flag someone down. He goes off and retrieves three headsets (Why are they not on display?) for me to choose from that should fit the model phone. I choose one. $20. The register won’t open, and the printer doesn’t want to print the receipt. 30 minutes later, I leave the store. I take it home. It does not fit.

I go back yesterday. There is someone behind the counter exasperated because the printer is printing out reams of paper. Someone complains that they were told that it had been fixed. Clearly, they have hardware issues at the store.

I tell the somber person greeting me of my wasted effort and time and the fact that the headset I was sold didn’t even fit. He is not moved. No apology, no words. He goes off and comes back with a headset that should fit the phone. He asks me for another $10. I wonder out loud if that $10 would pay for the 1/2 hour of my life wasted, and the extra effort to come into the store again to fix their mistake. He is not moved, offers no sympathy, and in fact says, “That doesn’t change the price of this headset.” The correct response would have been, “I’m very sorry, sir. Let me see if there is any way we can fix this situation.” … then talk to a manager … even if the final response would be … “I’m very sorry. I tried, but there is nothing we can do. I’m afraid the price is what it is.”

Even an attempt at rising the absolute lowest level of customer service would have been appreciated. Clearly, Verizon doesn’t care enough to hire good retail people or support them with working hardware.

And to top it off, the second headset I took home doesn’t work either.

Complete and utter #customerservicefail