...rather than a “corporate store” last December to move my landline and internet from Comcast to Verizon. My advice: Find out what the store really is, and NEVER walk into an “authorized dealer,” such as Victra. If they treat you unfairly or unethically, corporate Verizon will NOT intervene and back you up.

Here are the details of my experience: I signed a 2-year contract to change my landline and internet from Comcast to Verizon (our cell phones were already with Verizon). They showed how I would save lots of money every month, and they kept telling me how wonderful the portable “jetpacks” would be for taking trips. I was told emphatically, several times, to wait until Dec. 22 to activate the portable jetpacks to avoid being charged by both Verizon and Comcast. That made sense, so I dutifully waited until Dec. 22 to charge up the jetpacks. I assumed that the effective date of this deal would be the date I started using their equipment (Dec. 22). Wrong!

I did my best to follow directions: I charged the jetpacks, but neither our landline nor the internet would work. I was already starting to have misgivings about this deal and noticed that every time the rep tallied up my estimated savings, they became less and less (about 1/4 of what he initially had said). Also, the rep said I couldn’t just conveniently leave the jetpacks plugged in all the time, as that would eventually drain the battery (which, as the store manager told me later, was totally untrue). Based on this false information, it seemed like a big hassle to have to recharge all 5 jetpacks and then leave them unconnected for a couple of days—rather than just plug them in and forget about it.

So I decided to scrap the whole thing and return the jetpacks. But I was told that I had gone past the 14-day free buy-back policy—that the 14-day buy-back policy began the day I signed the contract. It didn’t matter that I was told to wait about 16 days to start up everything! So in addition to the $200 cancellation fee, I would pay $250 to “re-stock” the 5 devices—which were not new and clearly had been opened several times before. In addition, I would lose all the money I’d already paid. All told, if I cancelled, I figured I’d be out ~$1,700. My argument that I was advised to wait until Dec. 22 to activate—which was *already* after their free cancellation policy!—made no difference.

I called corporate Verizon and spoke to a supervisor, who said I had been treated unfairly and that the matter could easily have been resolved (in my favor) if I’d dealt with the “corporate store” across town. But since I’d dealt only with an ”authorized dealer,” corporate Verizon could not help. Despite several subsequent trips to the “bad” store and talking with the salesman (very nice, despite telling me several incorrect things), the store manager (who left a few weeks later), and the new store manager, nobody would budge. As they’d been taught, they were polite to a fault and seemingly sympathetic—but I’d signed the contract, and it didn’t matter what I’d been told orally about starting up. And it didn’t matter that I couldn’t get the jetpacks to work where my house is located. I asked if one of them could just come to my house 2 miles away and help...maybe I was doing something wrong? No—they said they used to do that, but it was now against company policy.

At this point, I just wanted to wash my hands of this Verizon “authorized dealer.” I should point out that, even though the building said “Verizon” on the outside, all paperwork said “Victra.” So beware, and make sure you know whom you’re dealing with! I’m embarrassed to have been so gullible, and I’m angry about wasting all that money.