Verizon Wireless Stores

Vermont doesn't have many. In fact until recently there were practically no Verizon stores.

This creates havoc for those of us who have committed ourselves to Verizon Wireless Phones and Blackberries when we need service or we have even the most routine problems. Nancy opened our Verizon account in Rutland about six years ago. Originally I was on an AT&T phone and encouraged Nancy to go with Verizon cause we were under the impression, correct at the time, that the Verizon coverage was better in VT. My AT&T systems died as we came thru Troy, NY. The Verizon service has been mostly good and improving.

The account has been a frustrating because they still insist on getting Nancy's approval for all modifications or changes since she opened the relationship. We've jumped thru hoops trying to get me to be a fully authorized person and still it doesn't always happen. The trick is to know the last 4 digits of Nancy's SSN and then to know the password on the account. Armed with that information I am usually able to get them to take my instructions and requests.

I share all of this with you because today I drove to Manchester twice to visit the new Verizon store. I am having trouble "tethering" with my Blackberry. I can use it as a broadband modem for my laptop when and if it works which is very helpful. In the past week or so I had been experiencing delays in getting the system to connect and last night it finally became totally unresponsive. So this morning I visited the new store (two months old) in Manchester and they were able to help me some during the first visit but I had to go back a second time with my laptop in hand so they could analyze the total issue. They did and it seems to works somewhat better tonight. They didn't require any proof of purchase or account verification for this oversight which was extremely helpful.

They did put me thru hoops when I asked how much additional it would cost us if I gave Nancy a blackberry to take the place of her cell phone. You would have thought the world had come to an end. When I went this afternoon I had here SSN with me and that with the password allowed them to access our account. As it turns out Nancy is eligible for a new phone. To upgrade would add about $35 a month and a purchase cost of $120 plus the cost of an auto charger and a protective case. That would be on top of her existing cell phone charges. Frankly, I feel we are already paying too much for our Verizon services. Around $170 a month for three lines, two cell only and mine which is cell, web and tethering. Some how it only makes sense if you use it a huge amount. Then it's great. But if you don't use it it becomes a damn expensive toy.