[thamenacing1]

My wife's contract was up and she wanted to get a new phone so I suggested getting a Droid DNA. She wanted to buy it outright for the $600 price because a) she no longer wanted to be under a contract, and b) we both wanted to keep our "grandfathered" unlimited data plan. I stayed in the car because our daughter was asleep.

About 10 minutes later, my wife came out of the store mad and told me to go in and give my information. I learned later that the saleswoman that she was dealing with had a hard time believing that my wife just wanted to buy the Droid DNA outright and pay the full price instead of getting on another contract. I don't know what the sales incentive is for getting people to change their plans, but she tried very hard to the point of aggravation to convince my wife to change our plan. She also tried to convince my wife that it is very difficult to activate a phone on our own without their help.

When I went in the store, the saleswoman did not say a word. She was borderline pleasant and finished the transaction without doing what she did to my wife. The activation process went over successfully without a hitch. The Verizon Backup service transferred her contacts and the activation through vzw.com was pretty painless.

Has anyone who tried to buy a DNA outright come across indignant salespeople?

[Ry]

It probably has less to do with the phone and more to do with not wanting to change your plan.

[thamenacing1]

I believe that was the case too, but I don't understand if someone comes in and wants to pay for the phone at their listed price, why all of the trouble? Just sell the phone and keep moving...Also, the saleswoman found it hard to believe that we could afford a $600 phone. I'm not sure what that was about either...

[NotJustAPhone]

It's possible that Verizon's commission structure pays more for getting customers to renew their contracts, rather than selling the phone outright. Getting customers locked in for another two years is important to Verizon. Plus, I'm sure there's a big push to get people off unlimited data and on a tiered plan.

Sent from my SGSIII

[pingplayer01]

It's possible that Verizon's commission structure pays more for getting customers to renew their contracts, rather than selling the phone outright. Getting customers locked in for another two years is important to Verizon. Plus, I'm sure there's a big push to get people off unlimited data and on a tiered plan.

Sent from my SGSIII

Yes, that is very true. Verizon sales people don't make any money on a customer who buys a phone outright. They make their money on getting a customer to upgrade.

[Jude526]

That salesperson was rude. She should have done what the customer asked for. So she caused a woman aggravation to the point her husband had to deal with her. I would had been all over that saleswoman. I won't be walked on. She must had thought she wouldn't get anywhere with her husband. I always gave the customer what they wanted to buy whether contract or outright purchase. Its customer service. She should be written up for her lack of service. That's ridiculous

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[ddsdavid]

I activated mine on another line and had it transferred to my number to keep my unlimited data. The Verizon rep went so far as to say that it would void my warranty. I asked to see that in writing. He got his manager and the manager said "I cannot locate the document that say that, but you will NOT get warranty service in THIS corporate store". I replied, "I don't care, in six months you probably won't be employed here anyway".

[TvTechGuru]

A coworker of mine had the same exact problem with Sprint. He had a phone get damaged and instead of going through any insurance or replacement procedures he went into a Sprint store to buy a new phone outright. The salesperson had a hard time believing he actually wanted to buy it at full price.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727

[cowboys2000]

Touche...hit em with the truth !!

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[Johnly]

Never had issues buying phones outright. Purchased the sgs3 32g outright not long ago with zero issues. Only had to ask once to leave the activation to me as well. That employee needs to be written up. Uncalled for.

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[paulmike3]

You should have her name on the receipt. Call the store back, ask to talk to the store manager, then vent your frustration about how they salesperson was rude and treated your wife with no respect whatsoever. I would if that happened to my wife.

[Bowman53]

Imagine that....morons who work at Verizon. Sounds familiar

[Tunnelrunner]

Last year, I bought an iPhone 5 outright from a local VZW store. Over a month ago, I bought a Note II outright from another VZW store. Both times, the salespeople were nothing but helpful and accommodating. Mind you - I *don't* have an unlimited plan and am on a tiered 4G plan. So - and I'm just speculating like everyone else - my guess is that this was just to get you off the unlimited plan and onto a tiered data plan. After all, isn't this the eventual future that AT&T and Verizon are pushing us towards?

At any rate, the saleswoman was unprofessional and rude and I'm glad I've (knock on wood) never had to deal with bad VZW employees before.

[AustinTech]

How does anyone know that the sales person was rude?

Two sides to every story...



From my Galaxy Note 2

[PsychDoc]

The Verizon Backup service transferred her contacts and the activation through vzw.com was pretty painless.

Why did she have to use that archaic Vz Backup Asst? Did she come from a dumb phone before? If she had an android device all her contacts would've been synched to her gmail account, no?

[nDroid3]

This is why I buy from BestBuy and not from Verizon retail stores.
Verizon has always tried to get me to buy their whole store and a contract...I stopped buying phones from their stores about 5 years ago and the only reason why I actually had to go into their recently is to buy accessories for the DNA (screen protector).

Their phone customer support is awesome though.

[jcochran1977]

I bought it outright when it originally came out and the sales lady tried to figure out a way to make it so I didn't have to pay full price but realized I didn't have any upgrades available and continues the transaction without issue.

I did however take the phone back and exchanged it for the RAZR M because the DNA was just too large

I miss it though cause the camera was much better ;(

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

[thamenacing1]

Why did she have to use that archaic Vz Backup Asst? Did she come from a dumb phone before? If she had an android device all her contacts would've been synched to her gmail account, no?

If you go through the activation on VZW.com, the first step is to use Verizon Backup to backup the data from the original phone. Then when the Droid DNA was activated, I assumed it used the Verizon Backup app which is already installed to import the contacts. Pretty painless and my wife was happy with the process...

[thamenacing1]

This is why I buy from BestBuy and not from Verizon retail stores.
Verizon has always tried to get me to buy their whole store and a contract...I stopped buying phones from their stores about 5 years ago and the only reason why I actually had to go into their recently is to buy accessories for the DNA (screen protector).

Their phone customer support is awesome though.

I never had an issue with them before this whole data plan change mess. I actually wanted my wife to purchase the phone from Amazon Wireless instead of going to a Verizon store, but she wanted the phone at that instance (instead of waiting a day or two). Although I dislike Best Buy a little, I would suggest to her next time that we go there to purchase the phone. I remember she purchased her Palm Centro from them at full price with no issues at all.

[Lactose The Intolerant]

Why did she have to use that archaic Vz Backup Asst? Did she come from a dumb phone before? If she had an android device all her contacts would've been synched to her gmail account, no?

Not everyone knows to sync to Google rather than saving contacts to the phone... in fact, the default when inputting a new contact is to 'phone' -- you have to change it via the dropdown up top in order to save to Google account >.<

[Johnly]

Imagine that....morons who work at Verizon. Sounds familiar

Perfect. You can walk into any Verizon store and purchase any phone and walk out with them not even opening it. Doesn't matter what plan or even if you have service with them. If it is anything other than that easy, complain to corporate for not training said associate in customer service.

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[jreed2560]

Perfect. You can walk into any Verizon store and purchase any phone and walk out with them not even opening it. Doesn't matter what plan or even if you have service with them. If it is anything other than that easy, complain to corporate for not training said associate in customer service.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

True story.

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[creccaj1]

This is the reason why I buy the majority of my phones online. Granted, in store is quicker and sometimes easier but I do not trust the people working at Verizon. I have had multiple occasions where they argued with me about my plan (keeping unlimited data obviously) and when I drop the contract law card on them they clam up and do what I asked. I have also had multiple occasions where at the store, they are so clumsy with new phones it pains me to see them touch it. One guy even dropped a brand new GS3 on the desk before activating it and I demaded a different one. Even though there was probably no serious damage I just paid for a new phone, not a newly dropped phone...

Anyway... back on point. My guess is they get their commissions mainly on contract renewals and new contracts. They do get some for pushing phones, but the majority of their money would probably comes from locking in new 2 year contracts... that is how Verizon makes most of their money and therefore that is where salespeople will make most of theirs. Coming from a business perspective that would make the most sense. Verizon would make more money based on their plans and 2 year contracts. Selling phones for subsidized pricing is just a way to entice you to upgrade and get locked in for another 2 years so they can make their money. Basically they are using a modified version of "spend money to make money".

[nanachkh]

I think your issue with the employee had more to do with keeping the unlimited data and not resigning a contract than the phone itself.

When I got my DNA on release day the guy gave me a hard time. I was upgrading my mom's phone from a feature phone to the DNA then I was going to take the DNA and she could keep the feature phone. Just to keep unlimited data.

The Verizon employee told me I would lose unlimited data doing that and I reassured him I wasn't upgrading my line, just hers. He kept saying they're not allowed to do that but he would do me a favor by allowing it. He made me feel real uncomfortable like I was cheating the system.

Looking back, I should have just upgraded my mom's phone then did the phone swap on my own online. It's none of his damn business what I do with the phone once I purchase it.

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[gollum18]

That sounds a little sexist to me. For her to give your wife all that trouble and not give you any at all. Maybe she wasn't taking your wife seriously that she had the money or something.

We had a similar problem at our local sprint store when we tried to upgrade a line on our contract to just the viper. We stopped going to that store partly because of that and partly because I kinda got us banned from going there

Anyways we go to a new store now in a much nicer neighborhood where the employees are actually nice and know what they are doing. I would suggest you do the same.

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