I'd like to commend Cameron and Vanessa at the El Cerrito for the kind and compassionate manner in which they helped me work through a series of challenges when I came in to pick up my new phone yesterday. None of the (system?) issues surrounding this 3-hour ordeal had anything to do with them. They expertly diffused my articulated frustrations by keeping their cool, addressing my concerns and treating me like a valued customer. We all openly celebrated when things worked out and I finally got my new iPhone and case! I truly appreciate you, Cameron and Vanessa!! read more

This is an update to a previous review. We purchased a new Iphone recently. I began receiving text messages telling me set up my Advanced Device Protection. This was a surprise as we always decline this and definitely did not add this to our account with this most recent purchase. I called customer service and yes, this was added to our 3 devices at a monthly cost of $50.00/month. I can only assume that someone in the verizon store arbitrarily added this to our without our approval. The CS agent could even see that this added service was declined by us. This now makes me very suspect of verizon- what else are they charging customers for. Note to Management- train your store associates not to add unwanted services to customer's bills read more

This is a review for Darin, who is one of the most patient people I've seen! While waiting for over an hour (not Darin's fault, obviously - that's on Verizon), I watched as he skillfully dealt with nearly a dozen frustrated customers. He helped them with all questions, he empathized with their frustrations, and stayed calm even when a few super entitled men boiled over and cussed at him. Customer service is hard and Darin is a hard worker for sure! (And Verizon: staff your stores with more people! No way a 5 person wait should take over 2 hours. More props to Darin for dealing with crappy corporate policies.) read more

I'm kicking myself right now, because the wonderful woman that helped me, her name eludes me. I can tell you by appearance she is tall and has a friendly demeanor. While she doesn't always smile per se, her personality exudes friendliness and competency. I came in about 30 minutes before closing and I had to wait about 15 minutes, no biggie. I was there for a new phone and didn't much care about wait times. But I also spoke with a friendly security guard there as well, whose name also eludes me at the moment. She was extremely personable and made you feel welcome. She made the wait seem like a ride at Disneyland, you don't much care about the wait because you're spellbound by the magic of it all. When I was finally ready to get my new phone, she shook my hand and addressed all of my concerns. She got the phone, set it all up and in moments, my old phone was erased and everything transferred to my new one. She also provided a case and a screen protector, I didn't even have to ask! Why this store received three stars? I'm not sure. Everyone has their own perception I suppose, but from this gentleman's perspective? I found my new Verizon store! In the words of Ric Flair... Wooooooo! read more

Exceptional service. George, the store manager was knowledgeable, efficient and consistently able to preform excellent customer service not just with me, but all the while keeping his ear and eyes on the other customers. read more

Verizon - Mobile Phones Near Me - El Cerrito, California

If I could possibly give no stars I would! I came here for service, WRONG if you need any service be prepared to head back home with no customer service. The girl here really had no intention of helping she was too busy flirting; I was told I dropped my phone in water, I did not! my phone was in the bathroom when I was showering and probably got some steam from the hot water but it was never dropped in water. She did not even try to help me she just handed it to me and told me to call my insurance and get it replaced. expect No customer service unless you are a cute guy with this girl and expect no trouble shooting. I have been so extremely disappointed with VZ customer service here that I do my best at trouble shooting or asking friends for help. Expect no customer service unless you are willing to throw down $$$$ for a new phone or an upgrade. read more

Had an appointment yesterday Saturday March 13th for 6pm. I get an email at 540 saying I canceled my appointment. I was almost to the store so I continued on and got there 5 minutes later. When I get there a Black Man with a beard that kind of sounds like my Mother. He says they are closing at 6. I explain that my appointment was for 6. His face said it all and it was that I don't care look. Weird that Verizon sends me an email making it seem like I canceled my appointment but you all canceled it because you're closing at 6 instead of 7. Not once did he apologize. Or offer an appointment for the following day. He offered me one for three days out and didn't seem to care that I've been inconvenienced. This is so unacceptable. Then he accused me of yelling. He was just pissed that I redirected my attention to his coworker when he wasn't answering my questions with any type of concern. Shame on this location making it seem as if I canceled my own appointment. When in reality they canceled it because they were closing early. This has inconvenienced me tremendously. I arrived at 545 and their were no customers inside just staff. Even if you all were closing at 6. It was 545 when I got there and I could of been seen. read more

If I could give them lower than one star, I would. Their customer service totally sucks. Had a rep come out, very unprofessional. Ended up cursing and threatened to fight with me, actually invited me to come back after his shift was over to continue this off the clock. read more

My husband and I had the pleasure of experiencing a new brand of bad customer service from Verizon. We wanted to close a phone account on autopay and Jeramy told us that only way to do it was to call them. Really? A giant corporation wants to have the right to choose to give customer service ONLY via the telephone? Why not from their face to face employees? Wow.. Call me old school but personally, "I would never choose to do business with a corporation that doesn't want to give me face-to-face service." The Solutions Manager, Jeramy, referred to me being "salty" when I declared the above statement. Rude. My husband is an Italian immigrant and speaking a second language is a lot easier when face to face. This policy is corporate entitlement at its best. Maybe if Verizon looses enough customers who care about this old school way of handling business (in person) they will change their policies. read more

I went to exchange a phone and had an appointment. I was working with a person the day previously and had a followup scheduled for the following day. The store was permanently closed when I tried to go. Then I tried online services with customer service. They dropped my call twice. I waited for 40 minutes and all I was trying to do was set up an in person appointment with the Emeryville store. Dropped my calls and never got back to me. Verizon is disappointing and on a steep decline. What a mess. read more

TOTAL indifference. There is maybe one customer, 3 sales staff. One comes over and makes an appointment instead of helping. I ask about Apple products, she points to the wall wordlessly. The wall also has no information to impart. We all stand around, one staff maybe waiting on the phone for customer service manager, the other 2 staff talk with each other. After half an hour, I ask whether we should come back another time. The manager (?) says, "we expect you to make an appointment ahead of time. We had a theft earlier today so well will be dealing with the police now." As in stand around with no interest whatsoever in making a sale, just waiting and chatting with EACH OTHER. Verizon stores are always slow, but this! Verizon needs NEW MANAGEMENT! read more

New cell phone plan was so confusing, and although they appear to have a great deal, it's all a shell game. Wanted to sign up for their Edge plan, but apparently the $160 plan (4 shared smart phones plan) you can only sign up for this plan if you buy the phones at full retail price (Imagine buying 4 iPhone 6 at $650 each)! It not, the plan is $260 a month! What if you bring your own device? According to the rep, It's still $260 a month for 4 shared smart phones. I think I'm going to another Verizon store and ask again Verizon is not the cheapest out there (in fact, it's the most expensive plan), but in my opinion they are more reliable than A T & T at least where I primarily use cell service. (My work phone is Verizon and personal phone is A T & T). read more

Milan strikes again! My wife and I stopped in to update my phone. We were lucky enough to get helped by him. He is patient, methodical and friendly. What a treat so glad he is still at the El Cerrito location. read more

I highly doubt these people know what they are doing. Vanessa made several mistakes while trying to switch us over from T-Mobile. Had she just stopped rambling about her life, we wouldn't have had to wait two hours for her to get us switched. Oh wait, she didn't...because she neglected to tell us that we had to have our phones unlocked before switching. Vanessa also tried to up sell us. My partner also wanted to move his Apple Watch over but she said we wouldn't be able to because it's locked to T-Mobile. She suggested to sell the watch and buy new watches since they were having a promotion. She was WRONG. We called Apple and they said Apple Watches aren't locked. We also confirmed using the IMEI number with Apple. I should've gone with my gut and done the whole process myself online in the comfort of my own home. Unfortunately I spent almost an entire afternoon listening to Vanessa's sad life story for nothing. read more

Wow! Just wanted to thank Cameron for the stellar customer service today. Cameron took the time to answer my questions and walk me through my options, going the extra mile to double check everything was in order and getting my new phone set up. He really made me feel appreciated as a long-time Verizon customer and overall, it was just a great experience. Thank you Cameron! read more

I have never been treated so rudely in my life; I am still in shock. I went in to deal with a recently deceased loved one's phone and was treated like garbage. It was a young man who was so awful and he was inpatient, mean, uncaring and never even acknowledged that this is an extremely difficult and sad situation. I rarely feel like this but I do think he should go through some kind of training so he can learn to talk to people and be civil. This was literally the worst customer service I have even experienced. Be aware- do NOT go to Verizon Wireless in El Cerrito Plaza or you'll have a negative and upsetting experience. read more

I went to Verizon store in El Cerrito on the weekend to upgrade my android and go back to an iPhone. I'm pretty tech and had already investigated different option and decided I wanted an IPhone 8 Plus. The store was fairly busy being a Saturday, so had wait a little but gave me time to observe the professional behavior of the Employees. Cameron at this location was the employee who served me. Cameron was extremely professional to me and took time to explain the various options available. I very much recommend this El Cerrito location and very much recommend Cameron although all others people seemed good as well. Getting a new phone is a fairly large investment so you want to you you have knowledgeable people that are there to help you. I very much recommend coming to this location. read more

Arrived well before closing, stood in line and was later informed that the person in front of me would be the last person they would help for the day. No mention of other options (online or telephone assistance) just "you are not getting helped today." read more

Terrible customer service I arrived 17 minutes prior to closing and the manager Hector would not let me in the store he explained to me that I could come back the following day and that he would help me exchange my iPhone 11. I explain to him that I was late to my appointment due to a for Fatality on the 80 freeway I also explain to him that I'm very far away 43 miles round trip. Hector actually had two customers in the being helped. The manager Hector simply closed the door. The remaining customers stayed until 7:23. So he stayed and extra 23 minutes for the white customers and the black customer he closed the store early on. read more

I needed to activate my daughter's new watch phone after she broke her other one, I took the new one that I bought online from Verizon to the El Cerrito store, and in the process of trying to activate it, they turned off service to my phone and did not actually activate the watch. I had to ho yo a different Verizon store in order to get the watch activated and an apology for the service being turned off on my phone. read more

Bought a new phone through MyVerizon on a trade-in offer. They found it in stock at the El Cerrito Store, so I made the first available appointment. When I arrived, they didn't seem to understand the situation, despite an order number, so my worker consulted his manager who said the order had been cancelled (Order had been placed on Thursday and first available appointment was Monday--exceeding 3 day policy).. . Okay..they could do that in 15 minutes, fine. Everyone was completely unfriendly and hostile.. Never a smile. My worker fumbled with the transfer procedure, and kept giving me my phone back to unlock (there was a checkbox to keep the screen open he didn't seem to see). While transferring apps, etc., my worker sat there looking at his phone; had no idea how long it would take. Also, there was nothing further for him to do. When I asked if I needed to stay there, he gave me a hostile ("that's up to you"), so I finally just went home. Never a smile, explanation, etc.; said he had worked there for a year. read more

Scary experience in Verizon... I went to the Verizon Store in El Cerrito, planning to move my phone service from T-mobile to Verizon. I was happily talking to the salesperson when this second Verizon employee crossed our conversation, overwhelming me with information. I asked him to speak slowly because I could not understand his English, and I preferred to continue my conversation with the first Verizon employee I was talking to. The guy reacted in such a rude and violent way that freaked me out! He raised his voice and said he was the store's manager, and if I could not talk to him, I must leave the store. Like that! I shuddered and could not process what was going on, and I still did not. Maybe because I was a woman, or not a native English speaker, or both. Or maybe because the Verizon system was off, he did not want to spend time providing customer service information. I was scared by his brutality. If this "manager" represents the quality of services provided by Verizon, I feel sorry for the company. I will never go back to this store. Samira Otto, PhD in Law. read more

The associate was very helpful and responsive to my purchase of a basic phone. Because I didn't have the account info from the other phone carrier, he offered to help me after my appointment by texting him. Good job. read more

This place stinks. I got a good deal on a phone via Verizon online, and when I went in to pick up my new phone, all went smoothly. But when I went back a week later to turn in my old phone (necessary to the deal), things went haywire. It turns out the Verizon person online had screwed up and offered me more than I should have gotten for my old phone--but the "manager" here, who basically farms out the work to a cadre of people who have no clue what they're doing--made no effort to try to help, to believe me, any of it, insisting that the deal didn't exist and being pedantic and lame. The wait times are stupid long, too, which is funny since Mr. Manager puts you on a waitlist (for which you get a text) and then hangs out and appears to do nothing while his lackeys try and fail to figure out the online system, making everything take an hour. Blerg. What a headache. read more

Rude and condescending.... They act like they really Don't want to help you and I have to say as a business owner, I would fire most of them. Not a single SMILE in the bunch... I also Didn't see one white person working there. Diverse much? Never going back read more

People here were more interested in watching a game than helping customers. After spending hours over the Phone with phone representatives we wanted to give a try to this store and was totally a mistake since they told us we needed an appointment because they didn't have enough people to help when they only had two customers in the store. read more

Twice over last 3 months I have had to visit this store to solve a phone problem. Twice I had sales person Darin who seems incapable or unwilling to assist us. My husband's and my interactions with him were so bad, I almost felt as if I was being punked. First visit was after I accidently destroyed my Iphone in the washing machine. Darin was on duty at the door and said there was nothing they could do for us. Needed an appointment and oh there were no appointments until 4 or 5 days later. His attitude was like, too bad long time Verizon customer - please just go away. I ignored his advice (I swear he appeared to be enjoying the fact he couldn't assist us) and showed up at the store as soon as it opened the following morning. Luckily the manager (don't remember his name), helped me immediately. Turns out we have an insurance plan on our phones, (not that Darin had even bothered to confirm this for us) and so I got a new phone right than and there. I almost told the manager about our bad interaction with Darin from the day before but decided to just let it go. Well yesterday my husband I showed up for a scheduled appointment only to discovered it was with Darin. We are having problems with making phone calls within our home in Albany. But once again, Darin didn't seemed interested in our problem or have any real solution for us - other than suggest upgrading to 5G. Not that he could explain why we needed to do this. He just stared at us and we looked back at him in exasperation. So after a few minutes we left disappointed and dismayed. How can anyone be this bad at their job? He clearly has NO IDEA how to interact with customers. I get the feeling that he resents being asked questions because he doesn't know the answers. He needs extensive customer service training or be shown the door. Meantime my husband and I are investigating switching phone plans. read more

THE WORST customer service I have ever had. There were 4 employees there on their cell phones, and I was the only customer. And they ALL refused to help me. It was horrendous,. I think it was racial, I hate to say, but it was kind of obvious. I am an older white woman. NEVER will go back there again. And previously I had always had reasonable service there. I did contact Verizon (I've been a customer for nearly 20 years) and they did NOTHING. very upsetting. read more

So impressed by the team at this Verizon store. So friendly, helpful, and patient. Definitely recommend making an appointment as wait times were long for walk-ins. Even with my appointment I had to wait a bit but the team apologized and got to me as soon as they could. read more

After going to 2 different Verizon stores having a hard time upgrading my phone I came to the el cerrito location and was helped by a young man name malan He was Patient And friendly Gave us many options in many ways On how to upgrade my phone Was quick. I am so happy I went to this location because the service read more

New manager and helpful, knowledgeable and pleasant staff -- a big change from my interactions there about 2 years ago.

Very poor performance, rude customer service, arrogant, and incompetent! After explaining to them that even though I am paying for an international calling plan, I am not able to call my family in Germany. He assured me it must be the phone of my family phone that is the problem. As I tried another number in the store, the same fail message from Verizon came on. Then he said that on their end everything works perfectly, there is nothing he could do. I should call "technical support." Well....shit! That is why I came here! For technical support!!! But the worst part is that he kept on trying to blame me, the phone, or my use of it, instead of actually trying to find out what the problem is. He was being rude about it, even arrogant. This store and the people working there are an embarrassment to Humanity!! read more

I would have gone to the Verizon in Pinole, CA but it went out of business. So I had to go out of my way to this location because my phone wasn't working. I think VERIZON is a bad deal... much more expensive than it should be. However, the employee here did fix my phone quickly. Friendly staff but I think Verizon is overpriced. read more

Emmy is great, she made everything I needed quick and easy while being very kind and personable. Plus she's a cutie. Thanks Emmy!

It's really nice that there are so many Verizon stores that you can pay your bills at (I do auto-pay), receive technical support, and oogle the newest gadgets. However, the price of convenience is not always worth it. Training may suffer or there is a lack of qualified personnel. Both or apathetic drones counting the hours until they can close the store. After standing in line for 20 minutes, I was finally "helped." But Customer Service guy had to ask Customer Service gal if my phone could be replaced on the spot. He was told that I had to call Tech Support. Sadly, I had to call (from a land line, which I do not have) Tech Support for a hardware issue that I could have shown them in person. Did they offer to call or help me? No, but in the past at other stores they have. Thanks to Chris at (800) 922-0204, I spent 10 minutes on the phone (at work) and have a replacement en route. Chris was helpful, empathetic, and immediately set the ball rolling to replace my phone while doing his due diligence over the phone. kevo: The little nub thingie doesn't work and it won't let me align the screen. Chris: Erm... kevo: Yeah, the erasure head is always depressed. It doesn't spring back up... Chris: It's a sad button. kevo: Haha! That it is. Somebody owes my boss 10 minutes of my paycheck. read more

I highly recommend this store if you enjoy waiting 1.5 hours to talk to someone. They're really good at that. Clearly not a well managed story if they only have three people helping customers on a weekend. And then what does the greeter tell me when I'm visibly irritated? "We have people signing up for big accounts. Like five new devices..." Really? And I'm supposed to care?! Why don't they have customer service people AND sales people working?! What a novel idea! Phew, I feel better already. I'm going to have to start reviewing places "in the moment" more often! read more

I know that Verizon could be criticized for being un-PC but I've been very happy with their reception everywhere I've gone to--even atop Mt Haleakala in Maui! Today the wonderful Sabrina helped me. She has helped me in the past and I love her friendly and patient manner and sense of humor. She remembered me and I always worry a little when staff remember me--either they liked me or couldn't stand me--hopefully it is always the former. She asked if my son was with me today. People may or may not remember me but they ALWAYS remember my son---ah the "curse" of being cute. I'm more like the "face that SUNK a thousand ships." Oh but I digress. Despite having a crappy day due to too many mean or rude people Sabrina took a lot of time to help me resolve my issues with my phone. I have worked MANY years with the public and I completely understand how draining it is to have people be rude to you no matter how nice or patient you are to them. Some people can be so unreasonable that there is NOTHING you can do to please them. So today Sabrina helped me: Fiigure out why my data usage was so high. Our recent trip to Alaska plus slightly excessive use of Google and the Internet were the culprits. Find the navigator icon that I thought I had deleted. During a recent update the icon changed it's name and symbol. Delete some pesky apps that I NEVER plan on using. Thanks so much Sabrina for helping me again. It is always a pleasure to see you! read more

Clueless, poorly trained, arrogant customer support staff. Service provided does not come close to matching the size of the check I write them every month Tried to resolve a blank screen on my less than 6 month old iphone 6 - got told by rude guy named Carlos that I must have damaged it in some way and would have to pay for the repair read more

Lost my iPhone. My kid's Crackberry got washed by his mom. I was expecting at least a $1000 trip to Verizon, but no. We got hooked up with new phones and a 4G wi-fi for $367. The manager (whom I for gotten his name) and Vanessa (who you couldn't ever forget) got us set up and out the door before you could say yelp! Many thanks to the crew there (Brenda too). read more

Poorly trained customer support staff mostly interested in quickly getting at more of your money not realizing that when you come in, they already have it. Service provided does not come close to matching the size of the check I write them every month. You are better off calling the support line as they seem more interested in helping you. read more