Verizon Customer Service Rocks!

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Sarah and I are planning a trip abroad soon, and on my to-do list was to call Verizon and add international roaming to my iPhone. When I called the customer service line, I was incredibly impressed with how helpful they were, above and beyond what I had expected!

As soon as I explained the purpose of my call was to add international roaming, the customer service representative emailed me the Verizon rates for calls, texts, and data. She then waited until I confirmed I had it to review my options and move forwards adding a roaming plan, because she wanted to make sure I understood the cost structure. Even better, the email had dialing instructions with the country codes for where we are headed, so I could reference cost and instructions in writing, straight from Verizon. Not only does this help with budgeting costs, it also means if we have a billing problem, there is a paper trail showing the promised rates.

I was reluctant to add any roaming to my phone, but recognized that it was helpful for emergencies. It is a huge relief to see that Verizon was helpful in setting up the feature AND made sure we understood the costs up front. In past dealings with cell plans, everything has been done on a phone call with no paper trail. Then when there was an issue I was stuck arguing with reps over he said/she said, erroneous fees, broken promises, etc. Verizon is far from perfect, and I have had my issues with them before, but on the whole I continue to be impressed with their service and support. I had AT&T for close to ten years, and never experienced the level of support I receive from Verizon regularly. Both companies cost the same, but in terms of experience, one of them earns their relatively high prices, and it’s not the Death Star!

Have you come across a customer service rock star in an unlikely scenario? Let us know in the comments!

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

4 Comments on "Verizon Customer Service Rocks!"

  1. John Mayson | January 30, 2012 at 6:22 pm |

    Have you considered an unlocked GSM phone?  You can get a local SIM card (in pretty much any country except South Korea and Japan) and pay local rates for calls and data.  My US-based GSM carrier happily unlocked my phone when I explained I was traveling overseas.

    • I thought about it, but we are only going for a week, and part of it is on a cruise. If we were going for longer I’d be all over that option. 🙂

      • Thomas R. Hall | February 1, 2012 at 6:00 am |

        You also have the iPhone 4S, so you can unlock the GSM component on your iPhone by simply calling VZW. Then you get the best of both worlds: roaming on CDMA (which is what you signed up for based on your post) _and_ the ability to use any local SIM card if you need it.

        Best thing is you only have to unlock your phone once, and then you have the option to use a SIM if the need ever arises.

  2. Although I have had excellent service fromAT&T over the years (and had not so great service when I had Verizon before that), AT&T has a nasty policy of not unlocking iPhones.  They will unlock other devices for international use, but not iPhones.  If you want to take your iPhone overseas you are stuck with their idiotic rates, or you need a factory unlocked unit (or some other way of jail breaking/unlocking).  AT&T really ought to get with the program and unlock the phone after you have been with them a certain period – just like other GSM carriers do and like they do for the other non-iPhone devices.

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