Verizon Wireless USED TO MAKE US RIP OFF CUSTOMERS TO GET THEM TO 'BUY' ACCESSORIES New York New York

I sold phones for Verizon Wireless (their corporate retail store in New York on 34th Street in Herald Square across from Macy's) - All wireless companies have a quota of a 3.0 for accessories. This means that for EVERY phone sold, you must sell at least 3 accessories. Now, this is far more challenging than it sounds.

Verizon has always been clever by bundling their accessories with the cost of the phone. So basically they put an accessory bundle in the big print and make you think the phone is just $49.99 more and comes with the phone. This is of course not true and you 100% have the option to just buy the phone. The basic strategy was just to tell people they had no choice and that they had to buy the bundle. Almost everyone did. Our assistant manager, Andre, would not give us a phone unless we sold them 3 accessories. Mind you, in NYC very few people drive, but we still had to sell them a car charger. We would have to go back out onto the floor and not go back into the back room to get the phone until we sold the accessories.

**This wasn't the worst part. **

When all else failed, Andre would go to where the customer would pay for the phone, and put (3) $2.99 plastic ear buds into their bag and charge them for it so they would take the 3 accessories. This practice happened numerous times each day throughout the year or so that I was employed there. No one ever noticed. There is also a feature quota so for each phone you have to sell 2 features (text messaging, pictures, etc...) Users would have features automatically put onto their plan in order to hit this quota. This practice is known as feature f***ing. It happens across all wireless carriers. I had formerly worked at Cingular wireless, and because they always paid high commissions on features, virtually no one could leave without features on their plans.

Greensportaz
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.