Phone

Many of you know that I do not have a cell phone. I realize that I might be the only 20-something year old in the states without one. I had one in Benin, but when I returned didn't want to pay $70 a month for a phone I would only use when going to and from work. My message would probably be "hey it's melissa, call me at home. or leave a message and i might get back to you in three days during hours that really aren't convenient for you" really useful. But since I'm not going to be living in Belmont for very much longer I figured it might be time.

So I looked online. I decided verizon was a good plan to go with. I picked out a plan included text messaging bundle and also a free phone off their webpage. Funny how I decided on the least expensive option out of all the plans and phone combinations I could have picked. I then decided before I went ahead and got this plan online that I should probably go to the store and see what they have there, maybe they have some great deal that I don't already know about.

And so I went into the verizon store in Rutland before work. They had this little kiosk where you 'sign into' the store. Then people help you as your name comes up. A glorified version of the number system at the deli counter. I was the only one waiting and a guy comes up peaks his head around a display and goes 'melissa?' looks at me continues to look around. I knew right then, this was going to be fun.

I then wave and go up to the counter. He definitely had a work face on. Anyone who has worked in customer service knows that face, the face the person just painted on. Sometimes the fake nice face is an easy thing to keep up, other times you just don't have the energy. I begin by saying that I went online and I wanted this plan with this text messaging bundle and this phone. I was wondering if there was a better deal in the store or maybe he could suggest another type of plan I might be interested in based on what he had just heard. He suggested that I get the plan I had asked for, and then he suggested a phone for me. I asked if they had any free phones at the store, they did not. I knew that the phone that I wanted was online for free with free shipping. I asked what the phone was in the store that was the cheapest they had, it was a $20 phone. I then asked if they were going to waive the activation fee for me, which was another promotion online. His painted nice face was quickly melting away to the 'you're wasting my time' face. I would have bought the $20 phone if they had waived the activation fee for me just so that I knew I had a working phone in my hand when I left. I then point blank asked him "So if I can get the same plan online, free phone with free one day shipping, a waived activation fee, which if I went with your plan in the store I'd be paying approximately $75 more than online, what's the incentive for coming in the store other than to look at your phones that you've put on display?" Note there were only about 4 phones on display. His nice face was gone, replaced with the angry 'not only are you wasting my time but I might now have lost any commission I might have made on anyone who's in ear shot.' he gave me some lame excuse about competing and how they compete with other verizon stores and blah blah blah about the only thing I caught was "you're going to get a much better deal online" The guy literally gave me no reason why coming to the store was better than not. Even speaking to a person was unhelpful. All the information was online!

I went home and ordered the package, phone, and text message plan that I wanted in under 10 minutes (I did actually time myself). So for anyone asking themselves if the store gives them a better deal than online in the case of cell phones, no it does not. It only gives you the same deal or worse. And you might have to watch the nice melt off someones face.