Verizon’s stricter policy is making customers wait longer in stores

Verizon is facing fresh scrutiny as employees say the company is enforcing aggressive in-store sales tactics that are contributing to longer wait times and customer frustration, even as new CEO Dan Schulman pushes a wide-ranging turnaround. Schulman became Verizon’s chief executive in October 2025 and has described the carrier’s recent price increases and customer friction as key reasons for its loss of subscribers. Verizon has lost 2.25 million postpaid phone customers over the past three years, prompting a major restructuring effort.

In November 2025, Verizon laid off 13,000 employees as part of an effort to “simplify” operations, create new value for customers and build a faster, stronger and more proactive company. A second round of layoffs followed in May 2026, affecting hundreds of workers at Verizon’s New Jersey headquarters. The restructuring comes as the company tries to recover from years of weakening customer loyalty and increased competition.

The latest criticism centers on reports from Verizon workers on Reddit who say employees are required to pitch nearly every product to every customer, regardless of whether it fits their needs. According to one employee, staff must offer add-ons such as new lines, tablets, watches, home internet, insurance and device protection on nearly every interaction, including simple cancellations. The worker said employees must also check in with managers between quotes and are under pressure to meet sales targets while submitting customers as leads for follow-up calls.

Employees also claimed that sales goals have increased while commissions have been reduced, leaving them with “half the money for twice the work.” Some commenters on the post said the description matched their own experiences, with one worker saying the stores are heavily micromanaged and employees are routinely questioned about their performance.

Customers responding to the post said they had also been pushed into expensive upgrades and extra services when visiting Verizon stores for routine business such as picking up a phone or upgrading a device. In some cases, customers said they were presented with offers that added significant monthly costs to their bills.

Verizon defended its operations, with chief sales and service officer Kevin Zavaglia saying in a LinkedIn post on June 2 that most customers do not wait in stores and that the company’s average wait time is seven minutes, down year over year. He also said Verizon’s new compensation model is designed to reward premium performance and that top employees are seeing higher payouts than under previous plans.

The internal changes come against a backdrop of weaker consumer satisfaction. Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has said the company’s customer satisfaction scores are worse than those of competitors. A J.D. Power survey in January found that Verizon lagged behind both T-Mobile and MVNO rivals in postpaid phone satisfaction. While Verizon added 55,000 postpaid phone customers in the first quarter of 2026, churn remained elevated at 0.97%, showing the carrier still faces a difficult battle to retain users and improve the customer experience.