PRESQUE ISLE — Verizon Wireless at 765 Main Street is now a privately-owned franchise with the new title of Wireless Zone. The cell sites remain Verizon’s, the phones remain Verizon’s and the varied phone plans remain Verizon’s. The biggest change is in ownership.
 |
|
Contributed photo/Shannon Kornachuk Wireless Zone is the new retail agent for Verizon wireless services in Aroostook County with a sales/service store in Presque Isle. Manager Dale Drost, left, greeted customers Friday with Sales Reps Kristen Fitzpatrick, Danielle Mowbray and Barbara Berube and owner Chad O’Leary in the 765 Main Street lobby. |
Chad O’Leary is the owner of the Wireless Zone. Presque Isle marks his fifth franchise with Verizon. He also operates stores in Bangor, Skowhegan, Newport and Ellsworth.
“One of the reasons I decided to become a franchise owner, years ago,” said O’Leary, “was because there were gaps in how we could take care of customers at the corporate level.”
The protocol before when a customer had an issue with their phone was to refer them to their insurance coverage or the warranty center. Both avenues could take a couple of days to resolve.
The Wireless Zone now boasts a repair department on site to help customers.
“As far as the repair center goes, we will fix anybody’s phone within reason – if it’s fixable,” said Dale Drost, manager. “It doesn’t matter if it was bought here, or U.S. Cellular, AT&T or Straight Talk. It may take us a couple of days to get the parts, but our repair technician will give it a 110 percent to get it fixed. Customer satisfaction is what we strive for.”
Wireless Zone strives to not only fix customers’ phones on site, but they also hope to gain the best deal for customers when they are ready to trade in their old models for newer phones. They act as a middle man between the customer and the best deals they can find online. O’Leary explained that Wireless Zone stores can have their own sales, but they will always be in line with Verizon promotions.
“For example, our tablets are on sale now for less than what you could get at a Verizon store,” O’Leary said. “And we’ll price match any Verizon price,” added Drost.
Verizon customers can still pay their bills at the Main Street location, and receive the same attention and help as before. Five former Verizon employees remain on staff at the Wireless Zone, including Drost, the manager. Other former employees took jobs with Verizon downstate.
“There’s no difference in what you can do here versus what you could do before,” explained O’Leary. “We’ve added some services – like the loaner program, which is a big deal.”
If a customer had a warranty issue with their phone, they would have had to wait a day or two for the warranty center or their insurance claim to take care of it. Wireless Zone will issue customers a loaner phone with a deposit. Once the loaner phone is returned, the deposit is refunded.
The transition from a corporate to a franchise store appears to have occurred seamlessly. O’Leary brought in Wireless Zone employees from Bangor to help in the training of Presque Isle employees. The strategy seems to have benefited his newest store.
“They’ve finished in the top 10 in Wireless Zone stores in the first month, right out of the gate,” O’Leary shared. “The staff here is very good. I’m proud of these guys.”
