I second this point. That's the way I did my last NE2 and I saved BIG
bucks over going to a store.

 Drum--

My experience has been just the opposite. Recently I attempted to upgrade to
the VX8300. Being 2 months short of my NE2 deal I agreed to pony up the $50
& ordered online. I sent my order in & left for work. I drive truck & am
gone 1-2 weeks at a time so I had it shipped to my daughters house. Called
her a few days later to see if my phone came. No go. Odd, usually they
arrive in 2 days. Called Verizon & was told it was shipped 4 days earlier &
was transferred to FedEx who informed me they attempted 4 times to deliver &
no one  home. They then told me if I wanted my phone I had to drive 75 miles
to their terminal to pick it up. I told him to stick it where the sun don't
shine & would report it lost it transit. Verizon said they'd deal with FedEx
& would send one to the correct address(they sent the first one to my
billing address rather than myshipping address & I wasn't home for
delivery). The rub came when she said I would have to pay $100 & apply for a
rebate rather than the instant rebate you get online. Scratch that idea.
I stopped at "Wireless World" by my daughters house & picked it up there. I
not only received instant gratification on my purchase but the sales lady
talked Verizon into giving me my NE2 plan early so after rebate(Received 2
weeks after submission) I got the phone for free. I also bought their
insurance plan with better coverage & less money than Verizons.
All in all a satisfying experience, better than the online purchase I
attempted..

It IS a Verizon store- just not a company-owned one.  They sell Verizon
phones and Verizon service, and they have to meet minimum policy
standards set by Verizon.  How is that not a "Verizon store?"  Is a Big
Mac any more or less of a Big Mac if you buy it from a McDonald's
corporate-owned location or a franchisee?  

Reusing the McDonald's example, independent McD franchises don't indicate
their "real" owner on the signage at all.

Oh please.  It's not like they're buying phones on eBay and selling them
nder a stolen Verizon sign- they have a business relationship with Verizon
to sell Verizon products, akin to a car dealer's relationship with a car
manufacturer.  They are a Verizon-authorized retailer.

So, after declaring this store "a rotten trick" you now say they're
actually more honest than a Verizon company store by not misrepresenting
the quality of service?

This one hits a little close to home for me- I was an independent
exclusive Cingular dealer in Kansas City for several years in the late
90's and early aughts.  I prided myself on providing lower prices, better
service, and a wider handset selection than Cingular corporate stores (I
used to source handsets outside of Cingular's distribution system to
offer better deals or a better selection.  When Cingular- then still SBMS-
first went digital, they offered two TDMA phones.  I had four, the two
steaming loads SBMS chose to carry, and two better, cheaper models I
sourced from an independent distributor.  (Ahh, the good old days when
any phone worked on any compatible system- no custom firmware or crippled
features!)

Sure, some resellers are pushy and not customer-service oriented, but the
same can be said for some corporate stores.  Plus, some indies will often
offer better deals than their corporate cousins, and in the case of GSM
carriers, who are less restrictive of what handsets are allowed on their
network, indies often offer a selection of handsets not offered by the
carrier itself, including interesting, or even radical imports.
 
Several years ago, for example, I ran across a T-Mo indie that, in
addition to the typical T-Mo offerings, sold a variety of imported
unlocked handsets, including the Panasonic "compact" phone ("compact" as
in a woman's tiny makeup case, complete with mirror in the upper lid!)
and whatever model of Nokia Communicator was current at the time- two
neat "niche" phones that were never released by US carriers. The
Panasonic was probably one of, if not THE, smallest cellphone available
at that time, and the Nokia was one of the original line of PDA phones
before Treos and Blackberries made PDA phones ubiquitous.  (If you
remember the clamshell QWERTY-keyboarded phone Val Kilmer used in that
wretched "The Saint" remake a decade ago- that was a Communicator.)

So don't pick on an indie just because it's an indie.  Pick on it if
it's a BAD indie.  If it's a good one, you'll probably get a better deal
on a new handset from them than from a "real" Verizon store.