‘I can tell he’s getting very irritated’: Woman has 2-hour call with Verizon that includes 5 customer service reps. Then she gets a tip

Paging Verizon Wireless: It may be time to reassess the current customer service approach. Erica Kate, a beauty content creator turned reluctant investigative journalist, took to the platform to expose what she described as the worst customer service experience of her life.

Along the journey, she learned reader DIY tips for how to prevent this from happening again.

Here's what happened.

The case of the missing phone

Erica and her husband ordered three phones from Verizon, but when the package arrived, one was missing. There were no signs of tampering, no suspicious activity, just a box that should have contained three phones but only held two. When they contacted Verizon, they assumed a quick resolution was in order. They were woefully mistaken.

Instead of offering a simple fix, Verizon reps allegedly insisted that, since the package was marked as delivered, the phone must be there. Erica’s husband, frustrated by the circular logic, asked, “Do you want me to send you a picture of my empty hand to prove to you I don’t have that third phone?” To be fair, this is what I do when my food deliveries fail to arrive, and it works.

Verizon… can you hear me now?

After being passed around to a slew of different representatives over the course of a five-hour call, Erica was in tears. Each time she explained the issue, she had to start from scratch because no one seemed to have any record of her ordeal. Despite asking for a manager early on, one never materialized.

“I can tell he’s getting very irritated because he’s starting to interrupt me as I’m talking,” Erica recalled, describing the moment she realized she was getting nowhere. “At this point, my husband is just like, ‘She’s literally crying on the phone, dude, can you please just send us the phone we paid for?’” The were loyal customers of 14 years, they said.

Instead of resolving the issue, Verizon insisted on filing a ticket with UPS—even though the box itself was completely intact. Costco would never. This bureaucratic runaround led Erica to call out Verizon publicly to her 42,000 followers, hoping that someone, somewhere, would take accountability.

The internet weighs in

Commenters were quick to relate to Erica’s pain. One commenter simply stated, “Verizon is the worst!” without providing any context. A viewer warned, “FYI—for anyone watching, TAKE VIDEO OF THE ENTIRE PACKAGE BEFORE opening, and as you open it!” Wild how the simple act of opening a package has to become a filmed unboxing. Another shared, “Same thing happened to us. We ordered one phone, got an empty box with nothing in it. We had to file a police report to get them to send another phone.” I’ll be keeping this tip in my back pocket for research purposes.

Others speculated that Verizon might have a more systemic issue. “Someone at that company is pocketing these phones for extra money,” one person suggested. Another, who claimed to have worked in the industry, pointed out that Verizon could have flagged the missing phone’s electronic serial number (ESN) so it would be useless to whoever took it. But, apparently, that was never even considered.

This ain’t it

Verizon isn’t the only company catching heat for questionable customer service. Horror stories about missing orders, unexplained charges, and endless call transfers are common across consumer industries. A quick search on social media reveals countless customers voicing similar frustrations.

Despite Erica’s viral plea, Verizon has yet to resolve her issue or publicly address her allegations. Erica, Verizon, and UPS did not respond to the Daily Dot for comment.

In the meantime, Erica’s advice is simple: If you’re shopping for a new carrier, “Verizon is not it.”

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