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Because of my experience with GoWireless, I AM NEVER GOING TO THEM AGAIN. But rest assured, Verizon Wireless itself helped me stick around as a wireless consumer with them. Just not this authorized reseller.
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Four years ago I went to this store to fix or deal with a battery issue and I came away with two new phones. I mean, hey, who would not want new phones if a good opportunity presented itself, right?
Let's fast forward to about a month ago, when my phone's battery started acting up. It's not a surprise, considering how planned or designed obsolescence works, but that consumer observation is for another day.
Let me relay my consumer experience with GoWireless.
First, it seems that every time I've been in this store, there is only one person serving the customers and there's always 2 to 5 customers waiting. And as you know, no one transaction is that fast, so it can be quite the wait.
With that said...
I went in to the store, having already picked the phone I want, a Samsung S10e. They only had once color, but that was not a problem. I kept my old phone because I was going to hot spot off the new phone for some things I wanted to do with the old phone.
{FYI: What I should have done was completely review the new phone I wanted. That way, I would have known it came with a screen protector, then I would not have been ripped off, due to my lack of information by buying an extra one..}
First, if it's been a long time since you bought a new phone, be prepared! It's amazingly easy. They hook up the new and old phones, and within half an hour (for me), everything was transferred over, from wireless connections to the exact (not new) version of the apps I had on my old phone.
During the process, the incredibly nice guy at the counter sold me an $80 screen protector, but don't worry, they discounted me so it only cost $60. Wow, "lucky" me!*
After I left the store, I was having a heck of a time trying to get my hotspot to work in connecting my old phone. I went back to the GoWireless store and they said I no longer had hotspot capability in my plan, but I could get it added to my contract for a mere $50/month.
{FYI: I should have reviewed my plan with Verizon before I went to the reseller so that I could have had better knowledge of my own contract and then been able to thwart the misinformation I had received to pitch me more services. }
I had decided to not add this suggested service to my contract and walked off. I then brashly tweeted the following frustrated note:
"So by being a longtime #Verizon consumer, my penalty for sticking with them when I bought a new phone, was to lose my hotspot capability because that was my "old plan." F* you."
They replied,
"Thank you for your tenure. Upgrading to a new phone should be an exciting time. I am concerned to read that there were some changes that left you feeling penalized. I'd like to help turn this around. Please Follow and DM for some detailed support. ^GSU"
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If there's one thing I've observed about Verizon Wireless, their customer service twitter team responds quickly to frustrated consumer tweets and reached out to me. (Unlike Taco Bell... but that's for another day too.)
After a few direct message exchanges with Verizon's twitter account, they told me the following:
My present plan does have hotspoting capability, I don't need to upgrade anything. They instructed me how to set/reset my new phone's settings and wallah, I was up and hotspoting away.
Thank you to Verizon Wireless CS.
But...
Now for my purely conjectured opinion about my consumer experience:
I have to conjecture that GoWireless in Morgan Hill was out to make an extra buck off me by trying to get me to up my wireless plan with them. I have no clue if they do this to other consumers, but I can presume such.
*That screen protector that GoWireless sold me for that discounted $60... turns out my Samsung S10e comes with a screen protector that it seems, they put on my phone, but still did not tell me they did that and sold me this extra screen protector. I can conjecture why they would let me buy one when I had one with the phone, but I can only conjecture that GoWireless definitely made an extra buck off me on this one.
I actually inquired with/informed the Verizon Wireless CS account about this location and they were very happy that I told them about my experience and suggested that I not go to resellers, but actual authorized Verizon stores themselves. There's some food for thought!
Lesson learned gang. So do your research, be prepared before you hit up any cell phone store. And for me, I don't believe I will hit up any resellers again. They tend to have better inventory available, better or more accurate connections to your account information and you probably won't be steered wrong.
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