Tell us your buying experience!

[readhpr]

I got to the VZW store about an hour after they opened this morning. I told the greeter I was there to upgrade (from a flip phone!) to a Galaxy Nexus. She said there were 4 people ahead of me, but the Galaxy Nexus is over there, where the other people are. Three of us took turns with the demo unit while we waited, and showed each other different features. These were total strangers I will never see again, but we enjoyed a nice bit of geek bonding. "What else should we look at?" "Oh, try the camera." "Oh, good idea." Etc.

When a sales person got to me, I told him I'd like to buy a Galaxy Nexus, and he got right to business. He didn't offer any kind of demo or suggest comparing with other phones or anything. Customer wants a GN, great, sell her one! Perfect! Saved me lots of time not having to go through his spiel. He did try to sell me the accessory pack (case, screen covers, and charger), which I did not want. He went on and on about needing a case, but I held firm. I asked for the charger with spare battery that charges the phone and spare battery at the same time, which was not on display and he didn't seem to know about. He went and looked in back and found one, and seemed quite happy to sell me that plus the phone, and gave up on selling me other accessories. I did let him talk me into insurance, which I think is kind of a rip (and told him so). I did get the double data, and a $50 loyalty discount, and 15% off my plan through work (a discount that I should have had that all along but only recently found out about), and I got 25% off on the accessory that I did get (also through the work discount). I hate the insurance, but the 15% off more than makes up for the $6.99/month for the insurance, so I'm looking at it as getting the insurance sort of free. And it would suck to have to shell out full price if the phone dies in the middle of contract.

I emailed my sister this afternoon and told her about my new phone. She was also planning to get one, and did the Verizon email sign up but hadn't heard anything. (Yeah, I never got anything from the signup either.) I'm in a rural state, and my VZW store seems to have plenty of Nexi in stock. But my sister just emailed back to say they are sold out of Nexuses in Washington, DC! She went ahead and ordered online, next day shipping.

 

[edweb1]

So yea, still no buying experience yet! Same store that I visited at 0800 still isn't showing up in stock on their computers. I'm stuck at work so it's not like I can try another store. I'm partial to this store as I can buy it for $279 and there plans are a lil bit cheaper to. Grrrrrr

 

[trebores]

I got a good deal money wise, but the experience was pitiful.

I went arrived 20 minutes before opening - 10 people in line - 10 more before the store opened. Waited about 45 minutes, my turn came.

I'm on contract, so I was ready to pay full price. They wouldn't sell me one. They said the launch phones were only for new contracts or eligible upgrades. I wasn't happy, but I tried to stay calm and reason with them.. no go - I was told I could get the phone overnighted to me at new contract price - so $300 plus $50 for some accessories I didn't want. Fine, do that I said (the actual phone sitting a foot away). The rep couldn't get the order to go through. After a while, a manager approved the in store purchase.

I tried to use the Living Social $50. My rep couldn't get it to work so asked the A-hole rep next to him to help. This guy was lying to customers at an alarming rate (they were out of extended batteries, so he was telling customers he didn't recommend one because it was only 300mhz faster than stock ). The A-hole rep instantly said - "that coupon is only for accessories over $50" - my rep even said effectively "Well some of the junk we're forcing him to buy qualifies.." - I just said "That's not at all what the voucher says, but don't worry about the voucher and I'll pay cash.". Another 30 minutes or so, my money is taken and the phone is working - I'm escorted to another person to help me set up the phone. I asked "Can I just go" and the rep said ok.

What a POS operation. I saved $300+ and I'm still unhappy with the experience.

 

[molinap1]

ordered online thru VZW website at 1:03 am this morning..done inside 15 min , billed to account, free 2 day shipping,(not that big of a hurry)..just checked the order status a couple of minutes ago and has shipped out, no tracking number yet but check back with that at end of day...

I ordered it online last night at 10:30pm and was given free overnight shipping, but this morning when I went on chat to ask if it would ship, the order hadn't even processed and she couldn't promise it would ship today.
I cancelled and went to the VZW store down the street when it opened. There were 6 people in line and I pulled up as the doors were opening. Waited 30 minutes for my turn and was done with my purchase in 10 minutes. Told him just to do the minimum to make sure it was active, since unlocking the bootloader would reset everything.

 

[telero]

Showed up at the store about 5 minutes before opening, there 6 people in front of me, 4 had appointments with one of the sales people that wasn't there yet. Only took about 10 minutes of waiting for it to be my turn. The girl that helped me didn't know much about the phone or accessories, but showed me what they had...screen protectors, car navigation mount, incipio 2 piece case, regular silicone case, extended battery, and spare battery with external charger. She said she thought all the 4G batteries were on sale for 50% off, and I asked if that included the external charger with spare battery, but she wasn't sure. I was interested in the two-piece case, screen protectors, and possibly the extended battery and battery/charger combo. She said if I went up to 5 accessories I could get 30% off, but the batteries wouldn't count since they should be 50% off. I also already get 25% off accessories because of the work/corporate discount attached to my account. She ended up putting all the stuff in the system, said I had the $30 loyalty discount, but that the batteries were showing up at 25% off because of my normal discount, not at 50% like she thought. When I told her I wasn't interested in them at that price she got her manager to approve 50% off the batteries if I bought both...that worked on me. She also got to the end of ringing everything up and said my work discount was actually better than loyalty at $40 instead of $30, but only one would work. Overall, I got the phone for $260, extended battery for $25, spare battery/charger combo for $20 (giving the extra regular battery to my girlfriend), screen protectors for $9, and case for $22...$336 out the door. I also added the lost/stolen/accidental damage insurance without the extended warranty ($5.18/mo.) since I bought it on my American Express that automatically gives me and extra year of warranty.

 

[davey11]

Just got out of my corporate store after 1 hour and 45 minutes. I would have to rate my experience as very poor. After getting approval from the manager to take the phone and do my own activation, the rep just opens the box and asks to put in the sim card while he is removing the cover!
I made it clear 15 minutes earlier that I didn't want for him to do that!! LAME!!
OK I am in my car now and have calmed down somewhat and am doing a last post on my charge. Also will activate the gn parked in the parking lot.
Next post will be on the Nexus.

Sent from my SCH-I510

 

[jhamilton3#CB]

Bought it off contract so my rep didn't even open the box..

 

[anon(525422)]

Following up to my own post from earlier, just so I'm not one of "those people" who only posts the negatives and not the positives...

To their credit:

• They were very apologetic. (If oddly surprised at having reached the end of the stock so suddenly.)
• They checked stock in the other local stores, but noted that they also looked low and probably had lines waiting so it would be worth calling ahead.
• The rep explained that they couldn't confirm when they'd receive in stock because they don't request shipments, they just receive drop shipments (seemingly at random), so they could potentially have more phones tomorrow or (outside chance) possibly even later today.
• The rep did also take my name and number without prompting, and offer to call and hold one for me if they did get more in stock today/tomorrow.

^^ that after standing in line for 90 minutes this morning, and being at the front of the line when they ran out.


I had little hope the store would get more stock or that I'd get a call. I spent a bunch of time during the day making Plan B: calling other stores, finding which may still have stock by 5pm, deciding if should place an online order by 4.30pm instead for next-day delivery (which would've had its own set of delivery issues). By around 3.45pm I was still aggravated and planning my final round of stock-checking calls and route home.

Just before 4pm my cell rang. Of course it dropped the $@&!ing call right as I went to pick up because it's bloody AT&T, but I saw it was the number of the VZW store from this morning. I called back. (Not on my AT&T cell!) It was the sales rep from before letting me know more stock had just arrived -- -- but not much. So he offered to take my info and begin setting up the order in their system so he could "officially" hold the phone for me.

And he did. Took my info and plan details. I planned to dump my old number and get a new one, so I mentioned in passing that I'd prefer a particular area code if possible (there are at least a half dozen in this area) simply because I have a horrible, horrible memory for numbers and a familiar code would be a good start.

I get to the store an hour later after work, the guy recognizes me and greets me grinning, and already has the phone and order ready to go as far as possible. And not only has he used the area code I asked for, he's specifically set up a ridiculously easy-to-remember number for me. Little bit of "extra mile" that I really appreciated. The guy is super-efficient, "de-virginizes" my phone as little as possible in the process (asks if I want to fit the case and screen protectors myself [yes, thanks] so he leaves the original screen protector in place and actually even touches the phone as little as possible), doesn't get pushy with selling accessories, and I'm in and out with my new phone within about 10 minutes.


Long story short: Day started out very poorly, ended up on a really good note thanks to VZW's store reps. Nice way to start a new contract.

 

[Smitty_82]

I went to the kiosk (corp) in one of the malls cause I knew the Corp stores would be packed. Got there 30 minutes before they opened and there was only one other person there. As soon as they opened got everything activated and was out the door. It would have been quick but there was some issues with the SIM on my Tbolt when I had it put on a different line, lol.

 

[fightfan]

I was trying to do the legwork for my wife who had to work until 1:30. I live in Silicon Valley and had to work myself until noon. I periodically checked this forum for updates, and I saw that stores in the east coast were selling out quickly. I didn't have much hope. Nevertheless, I wandered into our corporate store at about 1, and sure enough, they were sold out.

I already had plans to meet my wife there at 1:30, so I just browsed around. They still had a demo unit, and she needed to try it to make sure it was what she wanted (still used a feature phone!). In that time, maybe 15 other people came in looking for that phone too. All put their names on a list and had to walk away empty-handed. I also called Costco (sold out) and Best Buy (couldn't get through).

My wife finally arrived, and we had to wait maybe 5 minutes to get our hands on the demo unit. She said it was good, so we decided to wait in the next line to put our name on the list. While we were exchanging some friendly banter with the rep, low and behold, the manager comes by to drop a Nexus in front of us with a smile.

I don't know what happened for sure, but the rep said sometimes phones become available if someone who put one on hold never shows up. The phone still had the plastic on the front, the battery was not installed, and everything looked pristine. Needless to say, we thanked our lucky stars and took it!

It is my wife's first smartphone, so she decided to get an OtterBox Defender case. She might downgrade in a few months as more cases become available and gets some familiarity with using it. I'm super envious right now as I will have to wait until it's closer to $150 before I can afford to upgrade my Incredible. All in all it was a great and incredibly fortunate day for us. Believe it or not though, she's not even playing with it right now! She's doing pottery!

 

[acousticgtarist#AC]

Got into the office later than I wanted in Philly this morning, so the convenience of buying at the corp. VZW store on Market St. was gone. I went over on my lunch break and they were already sold out..
So after I got off the train back in the burbs I called up the nearest corp store (about 20 mins away) and they had 1 left!! The guy I spoke with held it for me, given I would be there in 30 minutes.
Got to the store, it was packed and probably 85 degrees if not hotter. Signed in, and finally got things going..but...while the phone was physically there, ready for me to purchase, it was showing in the system that they were sold out...So, 90 minutes later, the issue in the system was resolved and I walked out with my Nexus. I hope it was worth it!

 

[qnet]

My experience was not the greatest. My rep wasn't there and, another rep helped. I waited what seemed like a hour while he was helping someone else. When he did get to me he was acting like I couldn't buy the phone because, I had returned the Bionic two months ago. He explained that Verizon was getting stricter letting because people keep trying out phones and then returning them over and over. I can understand were he was coming from but, I hadn't done that. In fact the Bionic was the only phone I've ever returned.

He also did the test email but, I used a secondary email and not my main one.

Long story short, everything got straightened out and I was able to add $400.00 of the full price to my account, which has a -300 credit. This will probably be the last time I purchase at the store, I know it won't be that store.

 

[davey11]

I have bought my 2 previous smartphones online (wirefly and amazon) and after going through the corporate experience, I am buying any future phones online again. Can do away with dealing with agonizing long waits and clueless csrs.

For the general buyer I guess they are ok but I made it clear what I wanted and did not need handholding. The guy tried his hardest to push a $20 case several times after I said NO. I got pissed and tried to hold back when he dialed the phone to get activation. I mean I specifically told him, I wanted to take the unopened box out the door and do everything myself, which had all been agreed upon before the transaction started.

All this in itself is not really a big deal but just how my wishes were totally disregarded.

I really have not fussed too much with the phone but am charging both batteries to full power and am transfering about 22 gigs of stuff from my old sd card onto the phone. I agree with others about how soft the speaker seems to be, hope an update can fix it soon. I got a couple of calls though and the earpiece volume and clarity seemed really good.

Uh the joy of setting a new device up to my liking will take a few hours...so over and out

 

[Each3]

Sadly I had my girlfriend do everything since I had to work early

She waited outside the store before the store opened for 30 minutes. She was the second one there

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[SassyPenguin]

I was waiting with my husband so that we could both get the Galaxy Nexus.

It was taking a little longer than we had hoped, so the girl says to us "I'm so sorry, I was trying to do you and another customer at the same time. I thought I could squeeze him in between!"

 

[joeyandrade123]

I ordered mine online to avoid the reps fondling it lol. I got free overnight shipping so I don't have to wait too long.

 

[Droid800]

Got to my store at about 9:15 am. There were 4 or so people there already, and all were getting Nexii. The store was short-handed because, lo and behold, Verizon gave them little to no warning about the launch and they didn't have payroll to add anyone else for the day. Took about an hour for me to get helped, then 15 or so to get everything set up. Then I had to go to work and have a miserable day waiting to go home to play with my new toy!

Kicker: When I got my phone, the manager came over and told my rep that they now only had three left. Meaning that the store got 8 total. (and this is a large store, in a very busy area) I'm glad I didn't wait until tonight or I would have been disappointed.

 

[edweb1]

So yea, still no buying experience yet! Same store that I visited at 0800 still isn't showing up in stock on their computers. I'm stuck at work so it's not like I can try another store. I'm partial to this store as I can buy it for $279 and there plans are a lil bit cheaper to. Grrrrrr

Wound up getting my GN from another location b/c the other store was still having computer/inventory issues which wouldn't allow them to sell the phone. Got my GN @ $269 and 25% off of my accessories. Oh yea, got 15% off my plan to...sometimes it's good being military....sometimes. This phone is awesome!!

 

[Nageki]

Probably the worst in store experience I have ever had. I show up just after 10 and there was no line at all, I had just went to the ATM and withdrew cash to buy full retail as I have no upgrades and 5 lines for my family. Rep laughs at me asking why anyone would pay that much for a phone and proceeds to go get his manager. He comes back and says we can't sell them without a contract, knowing this is false I ask to speak to the manager. He tells me that the manager doesn't have time but he will go ask for me. He comes back with an open box and says I can sell you "this" one. I ask him why he said it like that and he proceeds to tell me it was their demo phone they were showing people for the last week before they got their actual demo kit. At this point I am furious but still keeping my cool I demanded to speak with the manager and he finally took the hint. Manager comes over and very harshly tells me you can buy a new phone with a contract or take the "new" demo phone off contract, while the rep is standing behind him laughing and even goes as far as telling the customer standing next to me that "some people" are unreasonable trying to make fun of the situation. At that point I told him he can keep it. I called customer service and the lady was very nice and helpful and apologized big time. Gave me free overnight by 8AM shipping and a credit on my bill for the trouble. She also got her supervisor to get in touch with that store's district manager so hopefully those guys learn they can't treat people like that. Anyways glad to hear this wasn't the normal experience and glad I can at least join the club soon

 

[booboolala2000]

Went up at nine had an appointment but didn't use it I was third in line of about ten. Ten people still in line when I left. Was returning my rent a razr. Thought there would be some attitude but none at all. The sales manager even said she might dump her iPhone and get one. Now its just me and my nexus waiting for the first big update and more to follow. Bittersweet not chasing the update train anymore by buying a phone all the time. Love it and glad I got the extra battery and charger. Car dock should be here tomorrow.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk