Carrier Verizon sent me an iPhone, arrived empty

[Deacon-Blues]

I signed up with Verizon, had them send me a new iPhone 11 Pro Max and a sim card for our other phone. The box arrived today. Driver made me sign before he would hand me the box. Once I got it, I saw it had been cut open and re-taped. Opened it up, sim card was there, along with an opened iPhone box. The phone was gone. Earphones and power cord are there, but the phone is gone.

So I called Verizon, a helpful person told me to go to the local Verizon store to get a replacement. Once we got there, the guys said we have to file a claim with UPS. In the meantime, they offered to add a line to my account and another iPhone. So now I would be on the hook for two iPhones.

I tried calling Verizon again and since my account hasn't been activated, they needed to send me a verification email. Well the email took ten minutes to arrive, and the verification times out in 5 minutes. So after trying to send the email 3 times, now the account is locked and they can't even get into it for another 24 hours.

Is this a joke? Are they just messing with me? Trying to give me the absolute worst experience as a new customer? Because if that is their aim, let me just say congrats Verizon, mission accomplished!

Why is it my responsibility to file a claim with UPS? I am not UPS's customer, Verizon is. I don't understand this, but I predict each company will point the finger at one another and I'll be stuck in the middle owing money on a phone I never got.

Has anyone ever filed a claim with UPS? Do they really ever pay? I also plan to follow up with my credit card company, but I don't know what they can do, since I haven't fully paid for the phone yet. One thing is for damn sure. When this is all sorted out I am cancelling Verizon.

 

[DiCaprioAngel]

Believe it or not, a lot of packages are being tampered with and stolen - by UPS and USPS that I know of. I know as I work at an e-commerce company and customers tend to complain about packages going missing/stolen but all that can be done is a claim needs to be filed to prove that it is actually missing. Another thing that is usually recommended is filing a police report, but I don‘t know how successful that will be in getting the product back. The reason for the UPS claim is because a lot of customers try to pull the “I received an empty package” type of thing and in order to prove that as true, a claim needs to be made - however, at least with my experience in my company, the seller is usually the one that is allowed to make a claim as the customer does not know the details of the company (like the address, account holder name, etc).

I would be livid if that had happened to me. Honestly, I’m apprehensive about getting packages in the mail nowadays - especially if it’s with something as expensive as an iPhone. Hell, I ordered my iPad Pro online and picked it up at the Apple Store. I think when I upgrade to the iPhone 12, I’m going to do the same. I keep hearing all these stories of missing phones and tampered with packages, I don’t want to take the risk.

I am sorry you have to go through this. I can only imagine the frustration of having to deal with this. Phones don’t come cheap nowadays and finding that it was gone I would have been furious. For future reference, if you receive a package that has been tampered with - always refuse it. It will be sent back to the seller and they will have to deal with it because that’s proof enough that you did not do the tampering as no delivery driver would accept a refused package if the receiver was the one to tamper with the package.

 

[DevinNj]

The sad part is that once you signed for it, it became your problem. It’s not right but unfortunately at that point it’s on you to take the appropriate steps and jump through the hoops now. Like said above I never sign for anything that looks like it was messed with and I look my packages over quite well. My delivery drivers love me ?

 

[absprb]

The sad part is that once you signed for it, it became your problem. It’s not right but unfortunately at that point it’s on you to take the appropriate steps and jump through the hoops now. Like said above I never sign for anything that looks like it was messed with and I look my packages over quite well. My delivery drivers love me

A (very) long time ago Verizon used to have the best in store customer service.
They are MAYBE okay on the phone, but that’s after waiting...an hour!
I think they have just about tanked

now! Any time I have gone into they’re store over the past few years,
and patiently waited I repeatedly would hear them tell customers to CALL customer service, after the poor customer took the time to drive there, wait, and then be told to call customer service! I don’t blame you for being upset!
They should have given you or shipped you the device in question and then they can deal with UPS or USPS.
I don’t know why they didn’t use FedEx?
I usually get my orders FedEx’d, especially from VZW.
The only reason our family stays with VZW is because they have great cell reception. That’s it. They should be ashamed of themselves!
You are a customer that pays them your hard earned dollars!
Give the h*ll!
Best of luck and don’t let them get away with crappy customer service!!

Okay. I’ll get off my “soap box” now!

 

[aue123]

i’m curious why you didn’t just sign up at the store instead of online?

 

[Apple_Robert]

The UPS driver screwed you over. You have the right to inspect the outside of the package before signing for it. More than likely, he knew it had been damaged or tampered with before you got it.

Did you take pictures of the box before opening it?

In the future, never sign for a high dollar item without inspection of the box. Record the opening of the box as well, so you can protect yourself.

It is not your duty to file claim. As sender, that falls on Verizon. Verizon is shirking responsibly.

Since you did sign, it makes it easier for Verizon to say file a claim, because they don’t want to deal with the loss.

 

[Deacon-Blues]

I actually have the Ring door bell video where you can see the driver holds the package back and only hands it to me after I signed for it. Once I closed the door I saw the underside and could see that it had been cut open and retaped shut. I had a really bad feeling when I opened it and saw the iPhone box was not sealed. I thought well maybe they opened it and activated it for me. Then when I opened the box I just stared for a moment, it took a few seconds to sink in, there was actually no phone there.

I ordered online because I’m trying to avoid going out as much as possible. The wutang flu is circulating around San Diego now. We did end up going to the Verizon store last night to try to sort it out but they are limited in what they can do compared to customer service at Verizon.

I called Verizon this morning absolutely loaded for bear but the representative I spoke to was really on top of her game. She immediately set up a no cost replacement for me shipping out next day air. She asked me to file a claim anyway with UPS but for good reason. She said she filed it with their own loss department as an incomplete order and they will investigate on their own. But because I have the box (the evidence) I was in a position to provide information to UPS that Verizon could not.

So I called UPS and filed a claim and she wanted to know about the original tape on the box and some markings on the bottom of the box. Someone from UPS may ask to see it but she said they would be talking to Verizon for the rest of the process and my part was done unless they wanted to inspect the box.

Lastly, I said I was going to want to open the new package in front of the driver. The woman I spoke to said she would contact the delivery department about that. Sure enough 15 minutes later I got a call from the local UPS delivery center and they told us the driver would be instructed to allow me to open the package prior to signing.

So it was an extremely infuriating incident, but ultimately Verizon did the right thing and UPS was very helpful as well. It could have been a lot worse. Last night it was a lot worse. Today it was much better.

 

[DevinNj]

A (very) long time ago Verizon used to have the best in store customer service.
They are MAYBE okay on the phone, but that’s after waiting...an hour!
I think they have just about tanked

now! Any time I have gone into they’re store over the past few years,
and patiently waited I repeatedly would hear them tell customers to CALL customer service, after the poor customer took the time to drive there, wait, and then be told to call customer service! I don’t blame you for being upset!
They should have given you or shipped you the device in question and then they can deal with UPS or USPS.
I don’t know why they didn’t use FedEx?
I usually get my orders FedEx’d, especially from VZW.
The only reason our family stays with VZW is because they have great cell reception. That’s it. They should be ashamed of themselves!
You are a customer that pays them your hard earned dollars!
Give the h*ll!
Best of luck and don’t let them get away with crappy customer service!!

Okay. I’ll get off my “soap box” now!

I have to agree Verizon’s customer service has been on a constant downhill for years now. Each and every time I have to contact them it’s just awful. Seriously takes forever to get to a human, and if you ask 3 different reps the same question, you get 3 entirely different answers. Horrible. The only reason we still use them is they’re the only one that works where I live too. So for now, we’re kinda stuck.
[automerge]1583615142[/automerge]

i’m curious why you didn’t just sign up at the store instead of online?

Not sure if this is the situation here but a lot of times Verizon offers deals and/or discounts only available online.

 

[chscag]

So it was an extremely infuriating incident, but ultimately Verizon did the right thing and UPS was very helpful as well. It could have been a lot worse. Last night it was a lot worse. Today it was much better.

Glad to hear things worked out for you. The package was likely broken into at one of the UPS distribution centers. UPS drivers are usually on a tight time schedule and really have to hustle to get all their deliveries done for the day. So it's unlikely the driver is the one who pilfered your package.

 

[Tsepz]

I actually have the Ring door bell video where you can see the driver holds the package back and only hands it to me after I signed for it. Once I closed the door I saw the underside and could see that it had been cut open and retaped shut. I had a really bad feeling when I opened it and saw the iPhone box was not sealed. I thought well maybe they opened it and activated it for me. Then when I opened the box I just stared for a moment, it took a few seconds to sink in, there was actually no phone there.

I ordered online because I’m trying to avoid going out as much as possible. The wutang flu is circulating around San Diego now. We did end up going to the Verizon store last night to try to sort it out but they are limited in what they can do compared to customer service at Verizon.

I called Verizon this morning absolutely loaded for bear but the representative I spoke to was really on top of her game. She immediately set up a no cost replacement for me shipping out next day air. She asked me to file a claim anyway with UPS but for good reason. She said she filed it with their own loss department as an incomplete order and they will investigate on their own. But because I have the box (the evidence) I was in a position to provide information to UPS that Verizon could not.

So I called UPS and filed a claim and she wanted to know about the original tape on the box and some markings on the bottom of the box. Someone from UPS may ask to see it but she said they would be talking to Verizon for the rest of the process and my part was done unless they wanted to inspect the box.

Lastly, I said I was going to want to open the new package in front of the driver. The woman I spoke to said she would contact the delivery department about that. Sure enough 15 minutes later I got a call from the local UPS delivery center and they told us the driver would be instructed to allow me to open the package prior to signing.

So it was an extremely infuriating incident, but ultimately Verizon did the right thing and UPS was very helpful as well. It could have been a lot worse. Last night it was a lot worse. Today it was much better.

Huge sigh of relief for you, WOW! That must have been so awful opening the box and finding nothing, glad it will all be sorted.

Now let’s speak about that “wutang flu”

The wutang flu is circulating around San Diego

On a scale of RZA to ODB, how bad is it?

 

[I7guy]

That’s a valuable lesson to learn about inspecting high value packages. Could have made the UPS driver turn it over so you could visually inspect the packaging.

 

[Nhomer24]

Huge sigh of relief for you, WOW! That must have been so awful opening the box and finding nothing, glad it will all be sorted.

Now let’s speak about that “wutang flu”


On a scale of RZA to ODB, how bad is it?

Right now still in the Shyheim stage of things.

 

[absprb]

Right now still in the Shyheim stage of things.

Yes. Stay well and take it easy.