In what's probably a surprising move to potential buyers, Verizon is now actively discouraging shoppers from buying an iPhone. A user on MacRumors says sales representatives pushed the Motorola Razr instead of the iPhone 4 or 4S.

"I walked into Verizon today to get the 4s ... he [the sales rep] tried saying the Razr was better tha[n] the 4s ... I explained I wasn't interested and he kept pushing for it and wouldn't leave it alone. He said he kept pushing to the point that I walked out not buying anything because I wasn't giving him my commission," a user wrote on the MacRumors forums.

David Goldman, of CNN, went into the Verizon stores to see if the policy was consistent. He has 10 conversations with Verizon sales reps in New York stores, over the phone and through online chat sessions and asked about options for a new smartphone.

"Here's what I found: Next time you walk into a Verizon store looking to buy a smartphone, expect the hard sell on a 4G Android device," he concluded.

In each conversations the reps tried to point Goldman towards the Droid Razr Maxx, the Droid Razr or the LG Lucid. All phone supports 4G LTE and are Android-based. Goldman asked why the phone was better than the iPhone, and the sales rep said the iPhone was an inferior device as it only supported 3G.

4G potentially offers ten times the download speed than 3G.

"The iPhone is a great phone, but it's on 3G," one sales rep said.

The change in policy has raised question over the companies, and whether they could be heading for a showdown. Verizon is trying to get more customers using 4G, though AT&T sales reps recommended the iPhone 4S. A Verizon statement didn't suggest aggravation was present between the companies.

"Our sales' force mission is to ensure customers are familiar with our product line and to match the customer with the right device to best meet their needs. At the end of the day, our goal is that eveyr customer is delighted with the device they have chosen," Verizon spokesman Tim Pica said in a written statement.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)