It depends on the retailer, and also whatever metric requirements are being pushed on the reps at the time. I work at a retailer, and we have goals to meet regarding accessories and all that good stuff. It really depends on who you end up working with at the counter; when the storm came out my boss made people get car chargers and other stuff with the phone and even told them it wasn't bundled in with the price. Personally, I don't give people stuff they don't want, even if I'm bundling it in with the price. I get a lot of crap from other reps in the company for not doing it, but I think it's kinda rude. Anyways, the point is they can't make you get anything extra, no matter what they tell you. From what I hear from people I know working at the corporate stores, there's a bit of that as well but it's much more structured and probably toned down.
As far as whether or not the direct stores are always better than authorized retailers, well, that's a matter of personal experience. Most of our customers like us better simply because we're not as busy and can spend more time with them. Many of them live around the store and know us. If we can match a price, we usually do (again, that depends on the rep selling the phone), so unless direct VZW is selling a product way below what we can do, we'll match it in a heartbeat. There's usually a way around some issue. I don't know how ATT retailers work, but that's a different story, I guess.
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