Only screens and no stores make Verizon customers angry
We asked our readers if they would be fine if Verizon shuttered stores. Of the 2445 readers who responded, 1733 (71 percent) said it would be the last straw for them. 393 (16 percent) do everything online, so it wouldn’t make a difference to them. 318 (13 percent) would rather that the stores remain open, but are open to the idea of using AI tools.
Verizon isn’t exactly closing stores, but it’s taking a step back
Verizon has introduced AI tools to handle queries, but many customers think they aren’t up to the task. They fear that if stores go away, customer service will degrade further. The carrier isn’t doing that for now. According to reports, the company might lay off as many as 20,000 employees and convert nearly 200 stores into franchises. This means that while stores will still be there, they won’t be run by Verizon.While this isn’t as severe as permanent closure, this change does nothing to improve the customer experience. Many customers have already complained about the level of poor support received from store staff. Since third-party stores won’t be run by Verizon, the existing issues might worsen. That’s because retail locations will now be governed by rules set by their owner and may prioritize profits over customer satisfaction.
How will customers react?
Verizon is going all in on promotions to retain and attract customers and needs cash to fund the offers. Reducing costs is one way to do that, and that’s just what the company is trying to achieve by letting up to 20 percent of its workforce go. The terminations will reportedly affect all parts of the company, so it’s not just retail that will be impacted.
However, given that one of the chief grievances subscribers have with Verizon is its customer service, letting third-party owners dictate the experience is a high-risk gamble. Whether customers will react as aggressively to this new franchising model as they did to the report about outright store closures remains to be seen.
