I have never had that checked on any Android phone and I don't have problems with automatic connections to saved networks.
It's possible that it's an app conflict. You can also try starting in safe mode to rule out an app conflict. If you get automatic wifi connectivity in safe mode, more than likely it is an app conflict. If not, more than likely, Verizon is right - time to try the factory data reset.
Safe mode: long press power as usual to bring up the power off dialog, but rather than tapping power off, long-press the button until the safe mode instructions pop up.
If it is necessary, I should say that I FDR my phone at least once per year, and always a week or so at least after a major upgrade. It's only kind of a pain in the neck. Of course you will want to connect your phone to a PC to backup at least all of your photos and videos so that you can copy them back later. There are some apps that I use that allow me to also copy data back to avoid setting them up again (BeyondPod for podcasts is one; I believe that PocketCasts is another, and several twitter clients that I have used in the past allow me to export and then reimport their settings.) If you sync contacts with Google or with Verizon Backup Assistant, you should be all set, but, if not, you'd want to go into settings for the contacts app to backup to storage (and then also copy that file to a PC.)
Anyway, to me the time involved to set up my phone after an FDR (about an hour) is worth it if it would solve a problem like you are having.