Another day, another Verizon customer left hanging - what went wrong this time?

The carrier market is competitive, and carriers are all looking for ways to lure in customers from one another. The three big US carriers always have sweet promotions and deals if you switch from another carrier, just so they can have you tied with them.
However, things don't always go as planned. Unfortunately, one user has experienced a very unsettling switch following a Verizon buyout promotion and has taken to Reddit to express their frustration and ask for help.
Seemingly, it all went smoothly, but the fact I'm reporting on it should have you already guessing things didn't go as planned. At first, the customer got access to a secure document upload link where they uploaded their AT&T bills as proof of installment balance. Then, it seems there weren't problems.
Many Redditors have expressed their sympathy towards the customer, and have also insisted not to sign up via chat. Curiously enough, the amount of people who seem to think Verizon's chat service is terrible is frankly shocking:
The reason for the situation doesn't seem clear. A person, apparently a Verizon representative, posted this:
The affected user claims everything was filled in and the documents were submitted properly. They even had a rep that couldn't point out to any particular thing that was missing from the document, but still proceeded to tell them it was missing or incomplete.
Meanwhile, other people have shared similar experiences:
Other Redditors suggest to the user to contact Verizon's executive relations team.
However, things don't always go as planned. Unfortunately, one user has experienced a very unsettling switch following a Verizon buyout promotion and has taken to Reddit to express their frustration and ask for help.
User Jealous-Bit4872 says that on January 3, they switched to Verizon with the up to $800 promotion to buy you out of your carrier's installment plan. The user went to inquire about the promotion in a physical store (we know that's not always a good idea, at least, it wasn't in this AT&T case I reported on last week).
However, they found the representative there unable to answer their questions, so they went home... and switched via chat.
Seemingly, it all went smoothly, but the fact I'm reporting on it should have you already guessing things didn't go as planned. At first, the customer got access to a secure document upload link where they uploaded their AT&T bills as proof of installment balance. Then, it seems there weren't problems.
The user went on to trade in their AT&T phones... and then, silence. Over two months, the customer was trying to chat with customer support and was told they weren't eligible for the promo (all of a sudden?).
Chatted three times over two months and was just now told I wasn't eligible. They opened a ticket with an "investigation team" that I can't contact directly, and refused to give me chat logs.
-Jealous-Bit4872 on Reddit, March 2025
Many Redditors have expressed their sympathy towards the customer, and have also insisted not to sign up via chat. Curiously enough, the amount of people who seem to think Verizon's chat service is terrible is frankly shocking:
NEVER touch the live chats.
-DocVak on Reddit, March 2025
YOu need to call. Stay away from those chats they are awful. You should still be able to claim the promo. As long as 6 months hasnt gone by then you should be able to get a promo correction.
-crashbandit3 on Reddit, March 2025
The reason for the situation doesn't seem clear. A person, apparently a Verizon representative, posted this:
Should have done it in the store with the rep and the manager on duty. New lines are stores bread and butter. You may have gotten a newer rep who was unsure of themselves but a manager would have been all over it. I’m a veteran rep and top performer and I still have a manager or assistant manager assist with these promotions. I did 4 of them Tuesday and we walked them thru one by one, crossed every T and dotted every I. My customer texted me about an hour ago telling me her rebates showed up in My Verizon already and thanking me.If you uploaded a proper PDF of your bill, showing at least 4 payments made on the device matching the phone number you were porting in the order you should have received rebate redemption notice. If any of the steps were missed you will not unfortunately.
-BigBucs731 on Reddit, March 2025
The affected user claims everything was filled in and the documents were submitted properly. They even had a rep that couldn't point out to any particular thing that was missing from the document, but still proceeded to tell them it was missing or incomplete.
Meanwhile, other people have shared similar experiences:
Beware. This happened to me. Signed up via chat with customer service who claimed giving me the best deal there is for a new line. I was supposed to get $200 Visa Gift Card as part of welcome bonus and was told to wait 90 days. 90 days have gone by and followed it up apparently the guys who enrolled me didnt put the promo code in. Never got it. They said its too late to apply it.Never again will i apply via chat. Lost $200 worth of sign up bonus.
--PlatonicTide on Reddit, March 2025
Other Redditors suggest to the user to contact Verizon's executive relations team.
All in all, it's a messy situation and at this point, it's unclear whose fault it was (or if it's a fault at all or not some random bug), but it definitely seems to me it wasn't the customer's fault and they shouldn't have to be left without what they were promised. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved soon and they'll get the promotion they were initially qualified for.
Meanwhile, if you don't want to end up in a similar predicament: be confident about what you want, and if someone seems incapable of answering your questions, push them for a manager. Yep, I know it may seem like a Karen move to ask for a supervisor, but a Karen knows her rights, and so should we.
Things that are NOT allowed: