populargadgetNerd posted Yesterday 05:44 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
populargadgetNerd posted Yesterday 05:44 PM
Unlocked Pixel 9a 128 GB | Activation with Verizon required
$249
$499
50% offBest Buy
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- Ordered the phone for store pickup
- Picked up the phone immediately when it was available for pickup (which was the next day after placing the order)
- Contacted Verizon for immediately cancelling the line the same day after pickup (2nd day, technically).
And that's when the ordeal started.
The first red flag was that Verizon postpaid customer care reps were not even able to identify/locate my account to start with. After transferring me over to various teams like 6 times across reps, finally one rep was able to locate my account (or at least see the details around my order in their system). Then
I had to convince them to cancel my line and also make sure that I am not charged the activation fee and any future bill. The rep assured me of completing all the steps in the system to cancel and also not to send any future bills or pro-rated charges. Now just based on my intuition (and I believe some good luck) I insisted on the rep to send me a confirmation on email that the line has been cancelled and the activation fee and pro-rated changes have also been reverted. After a lot of persistences and to and fro discussion, the rep did send that email to me finally (which proved to be my savior at the end). After this, starting the next week, I kept getting emails from Verizon asking for me to activate the line which was pending activation. The rep had told me that I might get emails requesting activation but I can safely ignore those since my line was cancelled already. So I kept ignoring (and the emails kept flowing in). Then after 2 months, one find day I saw an email from Experian indicating that one of my account (from Verizon) has been reported to be PAST DUE and sent to collection authorities and cited on my credit report (causing my score to crash by over 250 points).
I was aghast … I called Verizon and tried to understand what has happened and to my surprise, I was told that I have the line active still and have not paid the balance from past 2 months and around $250 is pending which has been reported to collection agencies now and they can't do anything about it. Then I contact Experian and have them challenge the reported account and as a proof submitted the email confirmation from Verizon. Finally after a follow up of over 2 months, the case was decided in my favor and the account was dropped from my report. But this was a 4 months ordeal with unnecessary stress and pain.
Having said that, there could be others with better experiences and possibly I got the wrong rep on call or missed a step or something, but I will never do this kind of deal again. I am just sharing my story to make others aware and your experience could be better/different, not denying that. YMMV
- Ordered the phone for store pickup
- Picked up the phone immediately when it was available for pickup (which was the next day after placing the order)
- Contacted Verizon for immediately cancelling the line the same day after pickup (2nd day, technically).
And that's when the ordeal started.
The first red flag was that Verizon postpaid customer care reps were not even able to identify/locate my account to start with. After transferring me over to various teams like 6 times across reps, finally one rep was able to locate my account (or at least see the details around my order in their system). Then
I had to convince them to cancel my line and also make sure that I am not charged the activation fee and any future bill. The rep assured me of completing all the steps in the system to cancel and also not to send any future bills or pro-rated charges. Now just based on my intuition (and I believe some good luck) I insisted on the rep to send me a confirmation on email that the line has been cancelled and the activation fee and pro-rated changes have also been reverted. After a lot of persistences and to and fro discussion, the rep did send that email to me finally (which proved to be my savior at the end). After this, starting the next week, I kept getting emails from Verizon asking for me to activate the line which was pending activation. The rep had told me that I might get emails requesting activation but I can safely ignore those since my line was cancelled already. So I kept ignoring (and the emails kept flowing in). Then after 2 months, one find day I saw an email from Experian indicating that one of my account (from Verizon) has been reported to be PAST DUE and sent to collection authorities and cited on my credit report (causing my score to crash by over 250 points).
I was aghast … I called Verizon and tried to understand what has happened and to my surprise, I was told that I have the line active still and have not paid the balance from past 2 months and around $250 is pending which has been reported to collection agencies now and they can't do anything about it. Then I contact Experian and have them challenge the reported account and as a proof submitted the email confirmation from Verizon. Finally after a follow up of over 2 months, the case was decided in my favor and the account was dropped from my report. But this was a 4 months ordeal with unnecessary stress and pain.
Having said that, there could be others with better experiences and possibly I got the wrong rep on call or missed a step or something, but I will never do this kind of deal again. I am just sharing my story to make others aware and your experience could be better/different, not denying that. YMMV
Questions from the previous threads
1. Is Verizon credit check hard or soft pull?
Soft pull, it will also show that during checkout.
2. Can I use the phone with any provider?
Yeah, these are unlocked phones.
3. When is the line activated i.e. from when does the 3-day counter starts?
This I'm not quite sure of but I'm going to pick my phone soon so I can update but it seems according to some the line is activated right during ordering. If that's the case your counter starts from then. You will still be saving even if you need to pay the activation fee of $35.
4. Does the phone come sealed? How about the verizon SIM
The phone will be sealed with verizon SIM taped onto it.
5. How do we cancel?
The best way is to setup verizon account, you need the phone number which you can get by popping in the SIM that you get from best buy onto any unlocked phone or pixel 9 pro XL and then chat with CS to cancel the line.
6. Is there anything during cancellation that needs attention?
Yes, the CS reps are trained to cancel the line at the billing cycle instead of right away. Be polite but insist on getting the line cancelled right away to avoid activation fee/extra day charges. Note that you are cancelling under buyers remorse policy, this is not mid-cycle cancellation for which you have to pay the whole cycle anyway. Use the term buyers remorse when you talk to CS about bills too.
Also don't talk about the phone you got at a discount. You are just canceling the line here, the device you are using on the line does not matter.
7. Is Verizon going to send me a bill even after cancellation?
In all likelihood, they will. You will have to chat with CS (and again mention the line was cancelled under buyers remorse) to get the charges waived.
8. What are the different activations? Do I need to activate my phone in verizon?
So there are three things that happen from Verizon when you buy a phone from them or best buy. 1. An account is created if you don't have one. 2. A line is created in that account and activated. (if you are porting a number then porting happens first on that line). 3. You put the SIM that comes with the phone in your phone and activate the phone in the network.
You don't need to activate your phone, once the line is created and you picked up the phone you can and cancel the line. You might need to know the phone number of the line for which you might need to pop in the SIM but apart from that you should only be cancelling your line.
9. Can bestbuy charge me back the discount when I cancel the line with Verizon?
No, your transaction with BB is done once you picked up the phone. They can't charge you anything after that. You only remaining task is to cancel the line.
Wonder what the 11a or 12a will look like? Hopefully, an ounce or two lighter, which is my big complaint with all cellphones these days. Would also love it if they brought back the rear FP sensor.
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