I just got off an approximate 90 minute call regarding my "glitch" order over the weekend. It was very frustrating, but if you read to the end, you will pick up some tips and get the happy ending we all look for in life.
Prior to the call I had two orders. The first was on September 6th. It was not attached to any phone line and was put in as a special order as an accessory.
The second order was from the 29th during the "glitch" time. It was on my main line and got the subsidized price and kept unlimited data with a confirmation email.
My goals were simple: have a verbal and written confirmation to retain my unlimited data if the second contract was going to be honored and cancel one of the orders as I don't need two Note 3s.
So I call up and get the front line tech support guy. I explain the above and then he takes the second order's confirmation number and whatnot. He punches it up and he says the system is currently showing that as soon as I activate the phone, I will go to the default 2GB/month data plan. I asked him how could that possibly be when I have a confirmation email saying I have unlimited data confirmed and an official statement from Verizon headquarters to droid-life.com that the contracts will be honored He says he has never heard of this official statement and there's no news in the system regarding this weekend. I then proceed to read it verbatim to him. He repeats that there's nothing in the system regarding this, so my account will default to the 2GB plan. I'm really starting to hate this "system" at this point...
Wanting to retain my unlimited data, I then ask and give him all the info for the first order. He says he can't find it in the system (there goes that system again...) He continues to search for a couple minutes and says he can't find the order. He then puts me on hold saying he is contacting another department. After several minutes of being on hold, he comes back on line and says the other department told him they found the order, but since it was not attached to a phone number it was harder to find. The status of this order is processed, out to the warehouse, and can not be canceled. Wait. What? Does that mean it's being shipped today? He says he doesn't have that information. He can only go by the previous 10/10 date.
I realized at this point this guy was going to be no use to me. He cannot help me retain unlimited data on the second order and he can't cancel the second. I ask him to escalate the call and he does. So, I have to explain the whole situation to the new guy all over, of course...
He punches up the numbers for the second order and it comes right up in his system. He confirms that it is at the warehouse stage, but doesn't know when it's going to ship either. He sticks to the 10/10 date as well as that's what's official and on the order.
He then punches up the second order's numbers and he says the system shows I will retain unlimited, that it is not at the warehouse stage, and he's sticking to the 10/10 date on that order for shipping as well. I explain the droid-life statement and he's completely aware of it as he had many friends and colleagues ask him about it over the weekend. He even tried to place an order himself, but it wouldn't let him do it with his employee ID and there wasn't anybody working on the weekend to override the system. I tell him I'm a heavy data user and need to retain my unlimited. He said he was grandfathered in and was a heavy user as well. FINALLY, a sympathetic ear. He says he will do everything in his power keep the unlimited for me.
He then goes to droid-life.com and takes a screenshot of the official statement from Verizon. He then gives me his personal Verizon email address to forward the confirmation email I got from the second order. He gets it and takes a screenshot of it as well. He puts them both as attachments to the trouble ticket. He types for a couple more minutes and then says, "Okay, this is all the proof I need. I personally guarantee you will not lose your unlimited data when you activate this phone." A HUGE sigh of relief come out of my mouth.
I then give him this scenario: Let's go with the 10th as the shipping date and say I sign for it on the 12th. What next? He said activate the phone via verizonwireless.com. Do NOT call to activate or bring it to a local store to activate. This may cause the line to be manually reverted to the 2GB plan due to human error and interaction. Basically, he's saying let "the system" activate the phone since it currently says I'm supposed to have unlimited. After activating the phone, immediately log out of the verizonwireless.com website and log back in. If the data gets changed you'll know immediately. In my mind I envision a scenario in my head of calling on the 12th and having to go through this allllllll over again starting from scratch. I ask afraid to hear his next response, "what do I do if that happens?" He immediately responds, "Email me. I'll fix it within 10 minutes. I have access to the tools to revert you." I swore I heard a church choir hymn and saw a halo above this guy's head in that instant. He went on to further say, "In fact, I'm curious as to how the system handles your case. Please email me even if your unlimited is retained." For what this guy did for me, hell yeah I am.
End result, lessons learned and advice to all glitch order people:
1) Once the subsidized order was guaranteed intact, I had him cancel the first full retail price order. He said this would have to be a "manual order cancel" since my order was already in processing. It will take 12-24 hours to process this manual cancellation. He said if I don't have a cancel confirmation email by this time tomorrow to email him and he will track it down.
2) This Verizon "system" is HUGE and can be messed up at any time by any human. The front line call center people apparently have VERY limited access to this system. There's so many hands in this system that your orders and rights can be screwed up in an instant, sometimes through no fault of their own. If you talk to the right person with enough access to the system, it actually works. This second tier Verizon rep has reinvigorated my support for this company. I no longer just like the network; I like their service-- A LOT.
3) If you have a "glitch" order pending, call Verizon today as soon as you get home. Be prepared to go through the same struggle, but never waiver in your determination to keep your unlimited at the subsidized price. If you talk to the right person it will happen. Once you have your unlimited assured, if you're not told to by whomever you talk to activate by the website only, activate by the website only. If your unlimited goes away after activation, call or go to your local Verizon store immediately to have it fixed.
Attached is proof I emailed him my "glitch" confirmation email and his reply acknowledgement.
Hope this helps some of you out there,
Doc
Prior to the call I had two orders. The first was on September 6th. It was not attached to any phone line and was put in as a special order as an accessory.
The second order was from the 29th during the "glitch" time. It was on my main line and got the subsidized price and kept unlimited data with a confirmation email.
My goals were simple: have a verbal and written confirmation to retain my unlimited data if the second contract was going to be honored and cancel one of the orders as I don't need two Note 3s.
So I call up and get the front line tech support guy. I explain the above and then he takes the second order's confirmation number and whatnot. He punches it up and he says the system is currently showing that as soon as I activate the phone, I will go to the default 2GB/month data plan. I asked him how could that possibly be when I have a confirmation email saying I have unlimited data confirmed and an official statement from Verizon headquarters to droid-life.com that the contracts will be honored He says he has never heard of this official statement and there's no news in the system regarding this weekend. I then proceed to read it verbatim to him. He repeats that there's nothing in the system regarding this, so my account will default to the 2GB plan. I'm really starting to hate this "system" at this point...
Wanting to retain my unlimited data, I then ask and give him all the info for the first order. He says he can't find it in the system (there goes that system again...) He continues to search for a couple minutes and says he can't find the order. He then puts me on hold saying he is contacting another department. After several minutes of being on hold, he comes back on line and says the other department told him they found the order, but since it was not attached to a phone number it was harder to find. The status of this order is processed, out to the warehouse, and can not be canceled. Wait. What? Does that mean it's being shipped today? He says he doesn't have that information. He can only go by the previous 10/10 date.
I realized at this point this guy was going to be no use to me. He cannot help me retain unlimited data on the second order and he can't cancel the second. I ask him to escalate the call and he does. So, I have to explain the whole situation to the new guy all over, of course...
He punches up the numbers for the second order and it comes right up in his system. He confirms that it is at the warehouse stage, but doesn't know when it's going to ship either. He sticks to the 10/10 date as well as that's what's official and on the order.
He then punches up the second order's numbers and he says the system shows I will retain unlimited, that it is not at the warehouse stage, and he's sticking to the 10/10 date on that order for shipping as well. I explain the droid-life statement and he's completely aware of it as he had many friends and colleagues ask him about it over the weekend. He even tried to place an order himself, but it wouldn't let him do it with his employee ID and there wasn't anybody working on the weekend to override the system. I tell him I'm a heavy data user and need to retain my unlimited. He said he was grandfathered in and was a heavy user as well. FINALLY, a sympathetic ear. He says he will do everything in his power keep the unlimited for me.
He then goes to droid-life.com and takes a screenshot of the official statement from Verizon. He then gives me his personal Verizon email address to forward the confirmation email I got from the second order. He gets it and takes a screenshot of it as well. He puts them both as attachments to the trouble ticket. He types for a couple more minutes and then says, "Okay, this is all the proof I need. I personally guarantee you will not lose your unlimited data when you activate this phone." A HUGE sigh of relief come out of my mouth.
I then give him this scenario: Let's go with the 10th as the shipping date and say I sign for it on the 12th. What next? He said activate the phone via verizonwireless.com. Do NOT call to activate or bring it to a local store to activate. This may cause the line to be manually reverted to the 2GB plan due to human error and interaction. Basically, he's saying let "the system" activate the phone since it currently says I'm supposed to have unlimited. After activating the phone, immediately log out of the verizonwireless.com website and log back in. If the data gets changed you'll know immediately. In my mind I envision a scenario in my head of calling on the 12th and having to go through this allllllll over again starting from scratch. I ask afraid to hear his next response, "what do I do if that happens?" He immediately responds, "Email me. I'll fix it within 10 minutes. I have access to the tools to revert you." I swore I heard a church choir hymn and saw a halo above this guy's head in that instant. He went on to further say, "In fact, I'm curious as to how the system handles your case. Please email me even if your unlimited is retained." For what this guy did for me, hell yeah I am.
End result, lessons learned and advice to all glitch order people:
1) Once the subsidized order was guaranteed intact, I had him cancel the first full retail price order. He said this would have to be a "manual order cancel" since my order was already in processing. It will take 12-24 hours to process this manual cancellation. He said if I don't have a cancel confirmation email by this time tomorrow to email him and he will track it down.
2) This Verizon "system" is HUGE and can be messed up at any time by any human. The front line call center people apparently have VERY limited access to this system. There's so many hands in this system that your orders and rights can be screwed up in an instant, sometimes through no fault of their own. If you talk to the right person with enough access to the system, it actually works. This second tier Verizon rep has reinvigorated my support for this company. I no longer just like the network; I like their service-- A LOT.
3) If you have a "glitch" order pending, call Verizon today as soon as you get home. Be prepared to go through the same struggle, but never waiver in your determination to keep your unlimited at the subsidized price. If you talk to the right person it will happen. Once you have your unlimited assured, if you're not told to by whomever you talk to activate by the website only, activate by the website only. If your unlimited goes away after activation, call or go to your local Verizon store immediately to have it fixed.
Attached is proof I emailed him my "glitch" confirmation email and his reply acknowledgement.
Hope this helps some of you out there,
Doc
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