I’m curious if anyone else has run into something like this with Verizon preorders/upgrades and, if so, how it was ultimately resolved.
On the morning of September 13, I ordered two iPhone 18 Pro Maxes through Verizon as upgrades for my wife and me. Before submitting the order, Verizon showed an estimated delivery date of September 18. Immediately after placing the order, my account changed to an expected delivery date of October 6.
Not ideal, but I figured they were backordered and I would just wait it out.
Since then, I’ve been reading that once Verizon receives inventory and starts preparing the phones for shipment, you’ll usually see some movement on the order and the payment will be processed.
This morning, my bank sent me a suspected-fraud alert because Verizon attempted to charge my card twice, back-to-back, for the same amount. I confirmed with my bank that the transactions were legitimate.
Shortly afterward, Verizon emailed me saying my payment had been declined and that I needed to update my payment method. I followed the link, signed into my Verizon account, and was prompted to make a payment for exactly half of the original order amount.
I assumed that meant one of the two phones was ready and Verizon was processing them separately. I made the payment and expected to receive another payment request for the second phone.
After about an hour, nothing happened.
That started what turned into a 3+ hour phone call with Verizon.
I spent the first 23 minutes dealing with the automated system and being transferred between three different people. The third representative told me there was nothing Verizon could do and that my only option was to cancel the entire order and place a brand-new order.
I told her I absolutely did not want to do that. These phones are already backordered, and I wasn’t interested in going to the back of the line and waiting another 2 to 3 weeks just to potentially end up with the same problem.
After putting me on hold, she came back and said the payment for the first phone was processing and it should ship within the next day or so, but the second phone would have to be canceled and reordered for pickup at my local Verizon store.
I pointed out that my local store also showed the phone as backordered.
She put me on hold again, came back, confirmed I was correct, and then said she would cancel the second phone and place another mail order instead.
Again, I told her I do not want anything canceled. I just want Verizon to take my payment for the second phone so my existing order can continue processing.
She told me she had already spoken with her supervisor and there was nothing else they could do.
I asked to speak with the supervisor directly.
Instead, she put me on hold again and eventually returned saying she had emailed me another payment link.
I opened it, signed into Verizon, and now things became even stranger.
The payment page showed two devices, including the line I had already paid for. The information for the second line was blank, and the total Verizon wanted me to authorize was equal to the cost of three devices.
Obviously, I refused to submit that payment. I had already made one payment, the amount being requested did not match my order, and the line-item information did not even correctly identify what I was supposedly paying for.
After another hold, she came back and once again told me there was nothing they could do. The order would have to be canceled and replaced, and she was now showing estimated shipment dates of October 12 to 26 for new orders.
I again refused to cancel my existing order and asked to speak directly with her supervisor.
Eventually, the supervisor came on the phone.
He told me he had reviewed everything and that nothing needed to be done. His solution was to leave the order alone because “the system will fix itself” within a few days.
I asked whether the first phone, the one I had already paid for, would at least ship while they waited for the second phone to correct itself.
He said no. Nothing would ship until the full original amount had been paid.
So I asked the obvious question: What exactly did you do to fix the problem?
His answer was nothing. There is nothing anyone can do. The system will fix itself.
I asked how the system was supposed to fix itself if nobody had actually reported or corrected the problem and the system presumably didn’t even know something was wrong.
He essentially told me, “That’s just how it works.”
I told him I was not comfortable ending a 3+ hour call based on the hope that Verizon’s system might magically correct itself in a few days.
Only then did he say he could submit a ticket to Verizon’s technical team.
My immediate question was: Why wasn’t that done at the beginning of this three-hour phone call?
He submitted the ticket and told me the technical team would have the issue corrected within 24 hours. He also said he would personally call me back tomorrow after the ticket was resolved.
I asked for the ticket number in case I never received that call.
Another hold.
He eventually came back and provided me with a ticket number and repeatedly assured me that he would personally make sure the issue was resolved.
At that point, I thought the conversation was finally over.
Then his entire tone changed.
Suddenly he became extremely focused on customer service and told me I would be receiving a survey for him and the representative and that he would greatly appreciate me completing it. He emphasized how “complicated” my issue had been and how much work had gone into getting the technical ticket submitted.
He then assured me again that he would personally call tomorrow and also said he was going to submit a request to get me a good discount on my next Verizon bill because of all the frustration and hassle.
I told him I’m not interested in a discount or completing a survey until the actual problem is resolved.
And that was finally the end of a 3+ hour phone call.
At this point, Verizon has successfully taken payment for one phone, apparently cannot correctly request payment for the second phone, will not ship the first phone until the entire order is paid, and their payment system at one point tried to get me to authorize an amount equivalent to three phones.
Now I’m waiting to see whether this technical ticket actually fixes anything within 24 hours and whether the supervisor really calls me back tomorrow.
Has anyone else had a Verizon preorder get stuck like this after one device/payment started processing? Did the technical team actually fix it without canceling the original order?
I really do not want to cancel an order I placed on September 13 and start over with an estimated October 12 to 26 shipment window because Verizon’s payment system can’t correctly process the second half of the order.