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No two ways about it -- Verizon Wireless is far and away the nation's largest wireless carrier, with nearly 35 million total subscribers as of mid-2003.
It's also tops in network quality according to a J.D. Powers survey released Aug. 1, 2003. Verizon outpaced competitors in the four most important call quality problem areas: dropped calls, static, voice distortion and no connection on the first try. Nextel and Cingular also did well and AT&T Wireless was average.
Well, all that may be so but there are plenty of other problems plaguing at least some Verizon Wireless customers, including billing mix-ups, rate plan confusion, contracts that seem to renew at will and, to be polite, a less-than-evenhanded approach in dealing with consumer concerns.
In case you're interested, Verizon Communications owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group owning the rest.
A few sample complaints ...
Anna of Running Springs CA (07/03/08)
I discontinued ALL services with Verizon months ago, but they keep sending bills and late charges and shortfall charges. HELP!
The amount they say I now owe is up to $89.51. I've written letters and reported this matter, but they keep sending me a growing bill.
Carole of Sanbornton NH (07/03/08)
I entered into contract and was given a Verizon phone, which in most cases did not work. Phones, batteries were sent back multiple times with no good result. I am told they only send refurbished phones in replacement. I even paid $50 for a new phone from them and that didn't work either. Sent back multiple times so I was unable to use my service with Verizon. They not only kept billing me a monthly fee but charged me a termination fee for cancelling my service. I could not utilize their service without a phone and told them so.
I was without a cellphone necessary for my business and personal life. Spent hours going back and forth to pick up different phones they sent me as replacements. Their representative threatened to call me every day until I paid and for sometime, they did in fact call me daily. I have reported this dispute to credit bureau but Verizon is using that to put a black mark on my credit. In addition, they want over $300 for terminating the contract, when in fact they provided me with no phone to utlize the Verizon service. I am working on getting bills that will show large gaps in utlization of their services.
Ronald of Ny NY (06/30/08)
I received a flyer in mail without (expriation date) which promised 100 bonus minutes if I sign up for 2 years. Now I sign up and they only promise 50 bonus minutes verbally with out anything written on the contract. This is a typical bait and switch practice.
I will not be given the 100 bonus minutes promised orignally.
Richard of Fort Myers FL (06/30/08)
Slow degradation of the verizon network at my home over the last few years, even worse over last 6 months. This occurs with four different phones and one wireless broadband adapter at the same location. Repeated emails to Verizon result in red tape questions, which are sometimes even answered in the email, and basically no help except to go through several hoops at the consumers expense. Logically, the issue points to network. However, the standard operation procedure seems to be to always troubleshoot at the client end without regards to the information provided, history, background, etc.
I'm stuck w/ a service that is completely unreliable at my home. When the service was good, i cancelled my home phone service and now rely completely on my cell for all calls - including work and emergency. They insist on me calling from a landline phone which I cannot. I suggested them calling me at a certain time or sending someone to my house - no response.
I asked about cancellation due to poor reliability and they quoted me 120 for my broadband contract and 160 for each of my two lines. i'm not sure if this is prorated. I also just renewed my contract a few months back which came with new phones which i payed 300-400 to upgrade. All I want is there little army of people to test their network at my home and resolve the issue -- or -- refund my phones and give me a pro-rated cancellation fee (although i don't think this is fair since they are not providing a reliable service). i'm unsure what to do besides filing complaints online and w/ the FCC...I prefer that the issue be fixed.
Werner of Venice FL (06/24/08)
i signed another two year contract with verizon, so i get two new phones because of the contract for free, so my wife gets one andit works fine, my phone the primary phone doesnt, the batterie cover falls off, also i get calls from people on land lines that i dont know, i call them to tell them they said they dont even dial the number that is mine, they have there land lines checked by verizon and were told it the other guys problem, that would be me, so they dial a number but i get the call,
so now i get in touch with verizon and tell them the problem, i am still in the two week return the phone if you dont like it and there wont be a charge, so i ask for a phone of less value than the one i have that has all the problems, so now i get this phone and i can tell it is used, it had a old phone look, also the phone had the previous owners address book still in it,all calls recieved and sent all text messages were full as as everything else, i notified verizon and told them, they tell me just erase it, i was outraged i have this person whole life on his cell phone and they tell me just erase it,
i told them you erase it and give me a new phone,so on and on we went, finally i talked to a supervisor and he tells me yes we will send you a new phone, but he didnt tell me they were going to charge me 106.99 for it, i just signed a contract for two years and am supposed to get two new phones free, but thats not is whats happening, i get billeed 106.99 a month and am told to pay or get shut down, i refuse to pay, so i told them i will give you your phone back, they said to late, 106.99 you owe us, i had spent many hours being transfered from one department to another, it is so tireing that i just cant deal with it anymore, verizon are not telling the consumer the facts and are rippng us off, so i wont pay the 106.99 period,
i have been with that place for over ten years and never missed a payment, i still dont miss payments except for the 106.99, i am a 100% disabled veteran who has to travel 200 hundred miles to go to the veterans hospital and rely onthe phone in case of a emergency, i think they are wrong and also lied, but wont do nothing to help resolve this problem, they are just big business screwing the little guy. thanks
this has made me very nervous as i already suffer from PTSD and also agravates other symptom i have, it has made me take more medication and will be seeing a shrink because of the mental stress they have put me through.
Lorraine of Washington DC (06/24/08)
On June 24, 2008 I telephoned Verizon because I had not received my bill due July 1. First I had to wade through a complex telephone tree and shout my answers so the voice would transfer me to an agent. Then I had to wait 15 minutes. Then I was told you will receive a duplicate bill in a couple of days. I said, not good enough. I then asked for a supervisor, Stacey Green. She tried to divert me by directing me to their online site. I became very angry and asked to speak to her supervisor. That person was not available but I could leave my number and have them call me back in 24 hours. I am out on appointments for three days. I then demand to speak to the VP for Customer Service but she would not provide contact. I will pursue this.
I lost 40 minutes of billable time. I work from a home office and this disrupted my concentration. I have four services from Verizon but I might as well be a worthless animal in their view. They forget to send me the bill in a timely way but I am left advising Financial Dept that my payment may be late. I run the risk of being viewed as a slow pay.
Jennifer of Scarborough NY (06/23/08)
I can't figure out if I really owe VW what they say I do. Their literature says that I paid an extra month when I got my 2 year contract, and also, that they bill one month in advance, every month. This makes me think I have something like a 2 month 'security' downpayment. I want to end my contract on July 13th, as I can without penalty, and I want to pay my last bill but I can't get a clear response from them about what I actually owe.
aggravation - I don't have the time to deal with this. I'm a teacher.
James of Lompoc CA (06/19/08)
I purchased a cell phone plan for 3 phones for myself and my 2 daughters in late August, 2007. I recently became aware of the radiation danger and want to end service but I find I have a 2 year agreement and early termination costs me $375. Also, if I terminate today, it is the first day of the monthly billing cycle so they charge me for the whole month anyway! This is not fair. I've been paying them enough for them to make a good profit. They have no right to keep taking my money for a month when I want out now.
$375 + $130
Kwame of Elizabeth NJ (06/19/08)
in october 2007 i called to order services (phone, internet and televison special offer). at the time of ordering the services i was pressured by about four individuals that i had to deal with to purchase international long distance phone service which i repeatedly refused. about a month later i tested my phone line to make sure i do not have international toll service and i was bluntly confirmed by an automated machine.
my brother arrived from ghana (africa) on the 24th of april, 2008, the following morning i handed him two street phone cards to call friends and family, knowing that do not have international calling. when i received my phone bill in may 2008 i noticed verizon had my service open and that my brother had unknowingly managed to call ghana at $5.65 a minute for $500.00.
for disputing the charges verizon has interrupted my television service for reason of non payment and customer service representatives refuse to allow me to speak with a reasonable management personnel. i find this verizon's way of doing businness as tricky and unacceptable. please help me ressolve this matter. i am helpless. thank you.
Jennifer of Columbus IN (06/17/08)
My daughter (15) did not realize that even though she was following the call after 9pm rule; but she was also calling Canada from the United States. I end up with a $1500. cell phone bill. I talked with a young man through customer service who worked to add me to the international calling plan and change the ridiculous price of .49 cents a minute to .9 cents a minute which would take my cell phone bill down considerably. After all charges added for international calling plan and any other fees assessed, he was able to decrease my cellular bill from 1500. dollars down to 800.00 dollars.
His supervisor denied the change to my bill which forces me to pay this absurdly priced phone bill! I've been a good customer with them for years and they refuse to work with me. They said that I already had a one time credit for international calls of approximately $57 dollars when this all started and can not help me. The $57.00 change in billing had NOTHING to do with the internatinal calls.
I'm trying to figure out how to pay this bill as a single Mom!
Randy of Cookeville TN (06/16/08)
My wife has had service with Verizon for almost ten years. She wanted to add our two sons phones that were 'pay-as-you-go' plans. They eagerly agreed. She left that store with the impression that all phones were equipped with 'unlimited' texting and picture text. But unbeknownst to her the 'unlimited' was Limited to their network. Our phone bill then jumped from $43 to $504! We're on a fixed income because of our disabilities. My wife paid the $504 with a Discover card that we are desparately trying to pay off, and without telling me. By phone then changed her 'plan' to accomadate this new usage. They tell her now that she really does have 'unlimited' texting regardless of the carrier.
We've tried to settle this with Customer Service, but their solution is to follow the letter of the contract. No refund on the $504 and she has found out the plan is over contract airtime minutes this billing cycle, but won't tell us how much. Futher, to cancel the three phones they want to charge us $175 x 3 for a total of $525. We feel that they shoudn't be so ready to charge all these exorbitant fees because the contract was obtained in a very deceptive manner. Unlimited should not have a limit applied to it. You would think that almost ten yeaars of customer loyalty would mean some thing.
We've argued over this at a high rate of emotional stress with each other and our children. My wife has MS and this could very well trigger another awful relapse!
Jong of Lakewood CA (06/14/08)
Our international phone carrier is Asiana because we make a lot of calls to Korea. Our regular carrier is Verizon. Recently they billed us for two calls to Korea on our Verizon Long Distance number and told us that we had direct dialed. They refused to show us a printout of all the numbers we had dialed. We never use international dialing.
14 minutes of phone charges or about 64 dollars
Steve of Buffalo MN (06/13/08)
Approximately 2 years ago, I Replaced my company's wireless service with Verizon Wireless. Coverage by wireless providers here in rural Minnesota has always had its issues. We opted for Verizon for its claims of wider coverage. To some extent that was a fair claim at the time. My business suddenly received fewer dropped calls and all the other things the marketers offered. All of us were thrilled to be able to use phones in places that never allowed it. Later, when it came time to replace/upgrade phones, we selected a superior Casio product in which nobody else offered a comparable product. We are a water well drilling company. We needed robust equipment. Lately everything has gone to the dogs. Dropped calls. Failing batteries. Weak and fluctuating tower signals. Broken conversations. Everything!
After numerous attempts to get Verizon's attention, we've now been told that our area has been reviewed and no further help can be provided. Their engineers report that the area has poor signals and Verizon has no further plans to improve anything. What the heck? We had awsome service just months ago! Right now I am sitting at my normal location viewing the Verizon cell tower about 2 1/2 miles away. If I have visual contact with a tower, I should expect the strongest signal possible. Kiddingly, I told Verizon that I would go over there and scare-off the chicken hawks and remove their nests in order to get our signal back. Dead air on the other end.
Over the years I have established three business locations using standard land lines. As we have moved about, we realized the importance of keeping those land lines active. Locals were accustomed to seeing our number in the phone directory. It makes a lot of sense to keep the numbers active. We simply relay the calls to my wireless, which is kept on my belt 24/7. Many of the calls can't be placed, or the voicemail isn't relaying or appearing for hours or days. Worse yet, every call that does make it through,is often lost or so garbled that we have to call the customer later. When we finally get to a land line, some of those customers have lost their patience and called somebody else.
Gordon of Jacksonville AR (06/13/08)
Each month I pay verizon for 450 cell peak minutes, if I don't use all the minutes, they are taken away from me and I don't get a refund for those unused minutes..At the same time if I use more than the 450 minutes I have paid for, they charge me 35 cents a minute for the extra minutes. That is an unfair practice and amounts to stealing from your customers.
Because of this practice, I am forced to buy a plan with more minutes than I need to avoid paying the hefty over minutes fees...
Sankha of Lowell MA (06/10/08)
The problems I faced through out my friendship with Verizon wireless- 1) Within 4 months of my connection I reported my phone has a poor battery. It lives at max 30mins.The customer representative(CR) advised me to go to the Verizon store(nearly10 miles from my place). I went there, they took my phone and said come back after 6 hrs. I went back to take my phone back, they mentioned the phone has no problem. Nothing improved in my side.
2) After 1 month, I called again and resetting of my phone is done wirelessly, and neither I realized what happened, nor my phone did.
3) After nearly 2 months later,I went to the store and bought a new battery, paid $30. But to my surprise, nothing changed.
4) I again reported about the problem, the CR said go and change your phone and She put something on my profile(which keeps tracking of individual customers) which will tell the person in the store to change my phone free of cost. I went there, the lady in the tech support said It's not the problem of the battery, it's the software. So She said return your new batter, and She changed the software(as she said). I came back and there was definitely improvement in the battery lifetime. But alas, after few days My phone stopped booting up and hanged up.
5) So I had to go to the store and this time they changed the phone. I was happy(As I had not checked the battery of the new phone).
6)After 4 months later the new phone started behaving the same way, but I knew I am bound by a 2yrs contract and so I preferred not to report, as nothing is going to change.
7) After 4 months, I was in the mall where the store is located, I went there and asked the tech support guy, why my new phone is behaving the same way as the old one. To my utter surprise, he said your phone is new, but your battery is from the old one. That's awesome! I nodded my head in disgrace and quietly left the store. Now a days I charge my phone twice a day, when I don't use it and I have to find a place where I can keep on charging while calling someone for 15mins, otherwise It dies.
My service started on 27th December 2006. I paid $105 for the phone itself. And both of my phones LG chocolate black(the old model) started having problem nearly after 2 months. I called the customer service 8-9 times, went to the store 5 times. Even if I forget about the time and money, I spent for the problem, I can not forget what they did with me. I believe when you change a phone under the warranty terms, they should give me a completely new one. Not a new phone with the old battery for which they are changing the phone.
Charron of Northampton MA (06/09/08)
I had my account for almost two years. I wanted to just upgrade my phone for a better phone. I have Multiple Sclerosis and vision problems I needed a phone I could see better with. I called verizon severall times to get help however I was told you must extented the contract for another 2 years. I did not wish to do that. I pay over $100 a month now and I hardly make or get calls.
FCC was not able to help instead I was told I had to keep it until July or Augus 08 my contract is up in Sept 09. Then if I call during the above months they will do a price scale. They offer no help for people with disibilities and I was told by a phone message it was not their problem I am disabled I signed a contact and must be stuck like everyone else. I got a new phone from another carrier now I pay two bills until the contract expires. I needed a phone I could see with I had no choice. Big business is allowed to mistreat the little guy.
None I will get a scaled down if satisfy $175 in 24 months I have done that aleady by my biling amounts. If call in two more months for it.
Michael of Port Ewen NY (06/07/08)
Aprox 2 yrs ago, I had an account with verizon wireless. My daughter was also on this account. VW sent me a bill for $4,000.00 stating my daughters phone had used up that much texting in 1 month, which seems to me, nearly impossible. I have been contacting VW for PROOF and tangibility of this claim, which they have never and are stating they cannot provide. Since then my credit has been adversely affected.
Last I heard, they would send me something--no guarentee--but I have yet to receive anything. One would think with that kind of 'usage' one would receive a courtesy call from VW? And now I have an accusation from them adversely affecting my credit with no proof from VW.
Rick of Harris MN (06/06/08)
I just renewed my cell phone contract with Verizon on my wifes phone. Shortly after that, I discovered that they had been billing her for a full year for VZ navigator @ 9.99 per month and for consumer reports at $3.99 per month for a year. Neither of the programs was ever downloaded or used on her phone. She had no knowledge of it because she thought those items must have related to my phone which does have the VZ navigator on it.
The customer service rep said that it may have been included as a free offering for 30 days and than just continued after that, however, it was never disclosed to us. They agreed to give me 3 months worth of credits and to cancel the service, but refused to credit any more. They said she must have downloaded it, even though is not now and never was on the phone. We were very happy with their service prior to this, and that is why we renewed the service.
The economic impact is just that I have paid several hundred dollars for services that were not received and were not even visibly available on the phone. We certainly would have used the VZ navigator had we known it was there. (That is their GPS system.) I am fine with an attorney contacting me, but I definitely do not want to spend money on this. I am more than fine with including my information in any class actions against the company.
Harry of Tarboro NC (06/05/08)
when I opened an account I had to pay a security deposit of $200.00. when I closed the account 8 years later and the ending bill was $159.00 they were supposed to refund me the balance. Instead they charged it off as not being paid and reported to the three credit bureaus destroying my credit score.
I called many times but they continue to this day to deny that I ever had a security deposit even after I have sent them copies of the receipt and original work order certified mail return receipt that they received it! Above and beyond that believe it or not I am still and always have been a verizon customer with account in good standing yet they treat me like scum and talk condescending to me when I call.
my credit score is destroyed even though I have proof that they are wrong
Karl of Whittier CA (06/02/08)
My bill for May 2008 contained several errors that need to be addressed. First, Verizon tried to show that I went over 1400 minutes for the month. I have never even come close, even with my three phones that I have. Verizon began to charge me for the camera on my cell phone and that doesn't make sense at all.
When I had bought another phone I was informed that it on the America's Family Plan and not another contract. Then I received mail to the effect that I was on a new 2 year contract with the extra phone which I got connected. The salesman lied to me to get the business and now they are adding more charges to my monthly bill. I also went to a Verizon store and asked them why my bill was full of taxes, excess charges and phone calls that I don't think I made. They looked it over and told me to call the 611 number for Verizon and get some answers. The person who answered the call did not see anything wrong with the bill and said that maybe I can get someone to take over the bill for the extra phone that I added on to my America's Family Plan.
Now the bill is larger and larger every month and now I must complain of these practices. Now I have to pay the bill and dispute it later to keep my phone service going and wait for help from those who can take Verizon to account for my bill.
Jerry of Pensacola FL (05/31/08)
I bought a phone through Verizon Wireless Online in December 2007. May 2008 the phone quit working. I checked the battery, the battery and the phone had corrosion from a faulty battery. I took it to the service center, Katrina documented the problem as water damage instead of a faulty battery voiding the factory warranty.
I am out of the cost of the phone $79.99 and cost of gas for a fourty mile round trip just to be cheated by Verizon.
Kevin of Northglenn, CO (05/28/08)
I opened an account with Verizon Wireless over 6 years ago. At the time of purchase I was never informed there was a $400.00 deposit required to open the account - I left the store that day paying ZERO. I paid my bill for 3 months straight, then I got a bill saying I owed over $400.00 (with a past due balance). It didn't sound right to me since I had paid in full for months so I contacted Verizon.
At that time they told me that they actually had been putting my Payments towards a deposit that I was never aware of. Therefore, they told me I had a past due balance for 3 months. I have contacted, disputed, and basically tolerated their credit abuse for years regarding something I was never informed about at the point of sale, nor did I think it was fair they would take monies I had been sending in towards my cell phone payment to go towards this Untold deposit allowing em to obtain a past due balance.
I asked Verizon to produce a contract that I signed that showed a deposit was required. They have been unable to do so for years, yet they do not take responsability for their actions regarding this situation.
John of Norfolk VA (05/23/08)
While purchasing a new laptop from Best Buy on or about 3/3/08, I agreed to start Verizon Wireless Internet anywhere service, paying $59.99 for unlimited monthly access. I am in the military and my schedule occasionally keeps me away from home for extended amounts of time. Upon returning home in May from a three week trip, my internet service was canceled.
After calling, I discovered I had missed two payments, however they reported my total balance as over $1,000. They claimed I had used more than my allotted 5 Gigabytes and the pay per each megabyte over had totaled approximately $900.00 dollars. They claimed I had transfered 6.3 Gigabytes. First of all, I understood unlimited monthly access to mean it was truly unlimited. I do not recall any limited data agreements. Secondly, my access log (part of the Verizon software) reports I have only transfered slightly over 2 Gigabytes since purchase. Lastly, I cannot fathom how 1.6 extra Giga (on a bogus plan) could cost over $900.00.
Obviously, the current impact is a temporary loss of internet (I intend to cancel my plan with Verizon) and frivolous charges of over $900.00.
Karen of Sebastian FL (05/23/08)
I started a new 2yr contract around Feb 21, monthly without overage the plan is around 100.00/mos with taxes. I got a bill in March for 300+, and have been calling monthly for the correction. Verizon admits I have never gone over on my minutes. On April 11, I spoke with Jasmine in Cust. Service and she told me I really only owed 49.80, which I then paid.
On 5/20 my phone is off and I am told I owe 290.00. I have paid them around 200+ since Feb start. This Math does not add up. I called from work 3 separate times on 5/21 to get this cleared up and each time a superisor was going to go thru each month and promised to call right back. I left work at 7pm central time with no calls. I told them I should have another month due and will pay that but I am not going to pay late fees and 30.00 to reconnect.As well as the wrong inflated bill. No one will go thru each statement to fix this.
I do not have a landline. I pay for my Mothers cell on my plan, I am in Tulsa and my Mother is is Sebastian, she now has a suspended phone as well, in an emergency she can't reach me by phone. She is 78 and lives alone. If I pay this inflated bill I don't think it will every be handled correctly, my credit is at risk, my 2 year contract is with Verizon. If I go to AT+T etal, I will have 2 contracts. I am not near my mother so I would need to Fed Ex the phone and she just finally got use to the Verizon phone. So here I sit without a phone. Please Help with Verizon. I need to get a phone for both of us ASAP for safety.
Terri of Londonderry NH (05/14/08)
In a nutshell, I signed my son and I up for unlimited texting and was only receiving 250 free apparently. Was charged $900 2 months in a row and now my phone and my sons phone are shut off since January!
My bill is still $1000 and I have spent almost 6 hours onthe phone with them trying to get this figured out, never getting a return phone call, getting disconnected, being put on hold for 25 minutes at a time. I have talked to 3 different people in the last month all with no return phone call, saying they were going to fix this for me!
Dikaios of Astoria NY (05/13/08)
I became a Verizon Wireless customer in January 2005 and purchased a plan that was $59.99 for $800 minutes. Before purchasing the plan I asked the sales associate if I would get any charge for changing my plan to a less expensive plan if I found that I wasn't using alot of minutes. He said no!
In August 2006 I looked through my previous bills and found that I wasn't using more than 300 minutes a month. I saw that Verizon had a 450 minute $39.99 plan so I called verizon and switched to that plan. They advised me that they would have to send me a contract to sign because the law now requires them to get a signed contract for any changes to wireless service. They sent me the contract and I signed it and sent it back.
On February 2008 I cancelled my Verizon Wireless service. When I received my final bill I was charged an early termination fee of $175. I called them to find out why I had been charged the fee since I signed a 2 year contract in January 2005 and now it is February 2008. They informed me that when I changed my plan to the 450 minute plan that I had signed a new 2 year contract which began on August 2006. This process of locking someone into a 2 year contract for changing their plan is rediculous and should be illegal. The only reason for ever signing a contract is for a discount on a new phone. They a greed to remove half of the $175 fee but that is not enough for me.
Waste of my valuable time with their operators & most likely a hit on my perfect credit because I will not be paying any part of that late fee. If possible I will be taking them to court for this.
Curtis of Grantham NH (05/12/08)
I got my first bill for my wireless account on my computer. 5GB is the plan Allowance. My bill stated that I went over by 1201 megabytes. At .49 cents per megabyte this cost me an extra $588.00 above my $59.00 plan. I certainly cannot afford this on a monthly basis. I called the verizon customer service and they offered a 20% discount. I had to argue for 15 minutes until the operator finally suggested I talk to their broadband department. I was on hold for quite a while before I talked to Ganeen who agreed to dismiss the charges because it was my first bill.
Now I am afraid to download anything until I do the math. They also charge for upload besides the download. I was told to make sure I disconnect all computers, as they will cause usage while being connected even if we arent web browsing. I was told to check with the software provided to see my ussage. I did, the total was much less than they billed for. I think this is ludicrous. It is well above normal and customary charges. Now im stuck, if I cancell I have to pay a fee.
Michael of Ellenton FL (05/12/08)
Stay productive, responsive and connected while on the go, right from your laptop at average download speeds of 600 Kbps 1.4 Mbps and at average upload speeds of 500 Kbps 800 Kbps.* right off their web page
As verizon customer, I have found what they advertise and what they deliver is 2 different things. I pay average 60.00 per month for their wireless service and have to call them every week because of speed issues per contract in first paragraph. I have just got off the phone with them and they are trying to tell me that they can not deliver what is in the contract because of a marginal area. My signal strength is in what they call very good range -72DBM and I use an external antenna. Some days I reach speeds of over 1 Meg but most of the time it is below 300kdownload and 100k uploads.
After the last conversation I was told that they would waive the cancellation fees fees they created if I wanted to move to another provider. I feel that they should not only reimburse for the time that the service was not working properly, but also reimburse for the useless equipment that they sold me with great expectations. On most cases this would be considered breech of contract. As a tech myself I have determined testing with them as well as my own testing that the issues are not with anything on my end. As an added note I was also told in the verizon store as well as with their phone service that this USB720 wireless modem can also be used to send faxes with no additional charges. I have had this account since January with no charges until the past 2 months, last month they credited back the fees.
Now I am stuck in a 2 year contract that I am not happy with or I can cancel it, they waive the fees and I still will have to purchase new devices from another provider.$150.00 If there is an ongoing class action lawsuit against them for this whom do I need to speak with? Verizon should not only be made liable for false advertising, but also be made to reimburse all billed fees since activation as well as the cost of this device... Note: this device is a mobile device but I currently do not use it as such, it is attached to a fixed workstation and does not move.
loss of jobs recieved by internet bidding of Onforce
Mitch of Saginaw MI (05/10/08)
In my Verizon Wireless contract there is a clause allowing me to cancel my contract without incurring an early termination fee (ETF) if a change is made to the contract/agreement and I do not accept it. A change has been made in a Verizon monthly fee and I called to state I did not accept the change was was exercising my right to end the contract without an ETF.
Through several calls I was was repeatedly denied the right that is clearly stated in my contract. Some support representatives claimed there was nothing of the sort in my contract, others said this change did not apply, and all said according to their information they are never to grant any cancellation without an ETF. Most acted surprised to see anything of the sort in the standard contract when was able to get them to check. The supervisor I spoke to at one point (andrea) offered me a $1.80 credit in responce to the rising fee. She said because of the offer and my refusal of it she did not have to waive the ETF.
While there are no large economic damages resulting from this it is made clear that Verizon Wireless refuses to honor their contracts, which they would use in an instant to attack to me if I were to breach it in any way. I only wish to be able to use the rights granted to me in my contract.
Kim of Brooklyn NY (05/07/08)
I was signed up the verizon double play December 2007. There was a reward of $50 gift card which is suppose to receive within six weeks after I declare receive the letter which is end of December 2007. So, I waited and my card did not arrive on the time which is promised. I called up the customer service on the number given in the letter many times, 5 crews and 3 supervisors were giving difference answers. Its Mid of May now but I still did not receive my gift card yet. I emailed to verizon but nobody answer my email. I have no choice, but to file a complaint letter.
Donald of Leesburg FL (05/07/08)
I have developed heaches, facial pain, neck pain as a result of the use of a cell phone. Dr. tell me that eardrum irritated and filled with fluid.
constant headache and facial pain all only on the right right side of my head.
Gary of Wabasso MN (05/07/08)
Three years ago we were sold cell phones (2) that we were told had digital circuits and digital capablility. The phones, in fact, have digital printed on them in large letters. For the last year we have been hounded by Verizon that we need to replace them.
Now, suddenly and without warning, they have blocked our cell phone service by routing all of our dialed calls to their company representatives who explain, at length, that we need to replace the phones by the end of June. We have no phone service! When we finish talking to Verizon representative, hang up and try to make our other calls we are again routed to Verizon. Aggravating!
Maruquel of Piscataway NJ (05/05/08)
During christmas time i went to the mall and Verizon was promoting a flat screen TV when you signed up for the triple play (phone line, cable tv, and internet), or a digital camera when you signed up just for two services. In order to get either one you had to request an account before December 31st, 2007. I requested the service online on December 29th, and i signed up for the triple play.
Services were not installed till after the holidays, but i did request it before the period they had promoted. The time for you to actually get your TV was 6-10 weeks after accounts were activated. It is now May and i still have not received anything or heard from anyone in regards to my TV. I received a letter in February in which they were ofering me a camera for signing up for the double play. I called the above # and spoke to Ciara, and she verified in the system that i signed up for the triple play in fact, and that the letter was incorrect. She informed that she was going to enter a request in the system and she told me that i should receive a new letter within 4-6 weeks.
Today, may 5th i called that # again and i was bounced back and forth between departments as everyone was clueless. I also tried to get help online via the verizon chat, and i spoke to Lynette and the first thing she informed me is that Verizon was not handling the TV promotions anymore due to problems.
Economic consequences are that i ended up switching from an economic plan with another company, just because i thought they had a comparable price and also because they were oferring the 19 inch flat screen plasma tv. I think this is very unprofessional to advertise things to draw customers to open accounts with your company, and then when they are already signed up and cant get out (will have to pay a fee for cancelling before contract ends)then they give you excuses.
It is also very unprofessional to keep on trasfering people back and forth because you are clueless, and also keep on telling people you have to wait another 4-6 weeks. It has been 5 months since i signed up with verizon and the TV that they promissed me and other customers that signed up with them, has not arrived yet. Total fiasco
Dale of Salem MA (05/02/08)
i have a home phone,cell phone and dsl internet with verizon. all up to date i received a bill one day for 150.22 under a 508 area code # i am in a 978 area code with the same # for 8 years one guy said it was for my internet service which is wrong i have had it for 2 months at 14.99 a month. plus it comes through as a 978 area code. then another person told me that a fake account was created for a past due amount so my phone wouldnt be shut off so i looked and could not find what they where talking about at all
As far as i am concerned this is fraud and i will be forced to go with another service provider because i have no trust in this company whatsoever at all if they can tell me that they can just create a number that never existed and attach a 150.22 bill to it then give multiple explanations with no resolution then its time for them to have to be regulated or something they have lost a long time good customer to thier dishonest business practices.
i am stuck with a 150.22 bill that is attached to a phone # that never existed not to mention the time wasted on these verizon representatives that had to make up 2 different stories to try to justify thier unprofessional business practices.
Randall of Manvel TX (05/01/08)
I purchased a V9M razor cell phone about a month ago and had a lot of problems with it, the one thing that I could not get to work at all was the voice activation software feature, and replacing it with another new phone and same model did not change the problem, I have 340 contacts in my contact list, no ringtones, not downloads and hardly any memory used yet the problem presists, the error message that comes up is that I need to delete unused contacts from my list, but Motorola and Verizon advertise that you can have up to 1,000 contacts in your contact list, unfortunately for me the stores I been to and there have been several I've been to all same that to exchange the phone I have to have the box it came in, but I have lost the box, so I am doomed to use that flauded phone,
Verizon has a terible return policy, they require the piece of cardboard, or box it was packaged in to be returned or else they will not exchange the razon I have for a different model, I have spent hours on the phone with verizon wireless tech support and at the various stores in my area with no help, I had a huge issue with the 30 day return policy too because the problem ran over past the 30 days, Verizon doesn't treat their customers very well and they are totally nflexible with their return policies,
I have been a customer for over 10 years and currently have 5 phones on my plan and this is how they treat me, I even uploaded my contact list to the internet site and then back down on a brand new phone and it still did not work, I've had Verizon tech support look at the naming comvention and they reported no obvious problems, I call motorola directly about the problem but their answer was for me to send my phone in and they would look into it, yet right, I'm going to do that. the phone does still work and I'm not going to be without it so that they can try to fix the issue, I'm pretty such it's a software issue
I have wasted a lot of time
Taylor of Cullman AL (04/29/08)
I Called To Get 15.00$ On My Account and the they cursed at me saying that they will add that 15.00$ to my account and they never did i want my 15.00$ on my account please.
I was so upset and my feelings were hurt all i ask is that my 15.00 dollars get's back onto my account please.
Taylor of Cullman AL (04/29/08)
I Called To Get 15.00$ On My Account and the they cursed at me saying that they will add that 15.00$ to my account and they never did i want my 15.00$ on my account please.
I was so upset and my feelings were hurt all i ask is that my 15.00 dollars get's back onto my account please.
Catherine of Brooklyn NY (04/29/08)
fAILURE TO REMOVE OLD POST FROM MY FENSE AND CONTINUE WORK ON BROKEN WIRES.
Potential damage to my fense due to the weight of the posts leaning on it.
Danny of St. Petersburg FL (04/28/08)
I called Verizon inquiring about the package deal for phone, internet and cable. I spoke with Jeremiah and was on the phone for over an hour asking questions and setting up new services. It was also explained by Jeremiah that the billing date would be April first and that I would receive a bill for the $99.99 package deal that I was agreeing to. I Asked if there were any hidden fees or anything that I would need to know about before I completed the deal and was told no? I summarized it to him in order to be sure: I was getting a long distance phone plan, I was being mailed a DSL modem for the internet, I was signing up with direct TV and had thirty days in order to decide whether or not I was to keep it without incurring any charges or fees and I was going to have all of this without any hidden fees or charges whatsoever with my billing date of April 1st with the 99.99 plus tax bill to be sent. How I wish this was all true..
Everything seemed great! My DSL modem had arrived, my phone was working and I had DirecTV come out on March 6, 2008 to install my new cable. To my surprise I receive my credit card bill that Saturday and there is a $21.35 charge to my account under DirecTV hardware. I proceeded to call DirecTV right away in order to find out the cause for this. I was explained that this is a shipping charge that is always charged to new customers. I explained that I was not told this and demanded that something be done about it. The cust serv rep told me that Verizon uses the same system that direct TV does in order to process new services and that this charge always comes up and has to authorize for it to be charged. She said that when you order through DirecTV it is always asked if it is ok before they proceed. I was transferred to the correct department which proceeded to tell me that it is Verizons fault and would have to be taken up with them. I could not call Verizon until that following Monday due to their offices being closed over weekends. I call Verizon on Monday in an attempt to have my charge taken care.
I was transferred- of course- and spoke to a cust serv rep who told me many interesting things that were not explained to me by Jeremiah and that I was not aware of..such as the leasing fee for all extra rooms which would be 4.99 extra a month on top of the full 99.00 plus tax bill that I was suppose to receive with nothing extra? added to my bill. So now I have a $115.00 plus tax bill. Also interestingly enough I would not receive one bill of $99.00 plus tax, rather I would receive everything separate because they could not get everything on one bill that soon and of course all of these bills had no discounts since applied because they were not under a package yet per the computer, so my $99.00 bill turned into 3 separate bills- all at full price (of course that explained the $60 bill that I had now received by Verizon that morning). The customer service rep told me that this is always how it has been and never has it been able to be put on one bill and that it usually takes at least 1 or 2 bill cycles in order for it to process correctly. The representative said that this should have been explained. At no point in my conversation with Jeremiah was I explained the lease fee? for the extra receivers provided by DirecTV per additional room, the billing process, and the cancellation fee which is at the heart of my fury.
Per Jeremiah I was allowed up to 4 rooms to be added at no cost. I was asked to provide a credit card just in case I was to terminate early, this being 30 days per Jeremiah at Verizon and not the 24 hours as stated by DirecTV which I of course found out at a later time. It was also further explained that nothing would be charged unless I canceled (within thirty days) so I agreed and provided him my card number which led up to my credit card charge as I explained earlier in this letter.. I was told by Verizon that they would take 10 off my monthly bill in order to make up for the leasing fees, so I left that 21.35 charge alone, but that is were I draw the line. I went and cancelled my services with Verizon in order to switch to bright house because I was fed up with all of the problems that I had to deal with.
Once I cancelled with Verizon I was transferred to DirecTV in order to cancel with them and I was astonished to hear that I was going to be charged $480 dollars for an early cancellation fee, when I was told by Verizon who was soliciting DirecTV services, that I had 30 days. I was told by DirecTV that the information was wrong and that I only had 24 hours. My wife called back visibly upset and spoke to John at DirecTV and was told we were not under any obligation and that there was no early cancellation fee. He transferred us to the department that handles cancellations and she spoke to another rep called Crystal.now we were inquiring about canceling and my wife asks whether or not there is a cancellation fee and her response is as a matter of fact there is? (Apparently it was a surprise to all of us) and now it goes from $480 dollars to none to $320! Can we have some standardization please?
Who in their right mind can make an educated decision about cable TV in 24 hours?! Who is to say that within those 24 hours the service is perfect and that it is horrible the next year? Why would I have a company waste their time, money and manpower, not to mention my time! In order for them to come and spend hours installing just for me to tell them in 24 hours that I dont want it anymore.how does that even make sense! I am furious that no one wants to take responsibility for their actions or employees. I was clearly told that I had 30 days in order to make my decision. I not once spoke to DirecTV in order to set up my services and yet Verizon cant acknowledge this huge mistake? That little bit of information would have been the deciding factor on whether or not I changed my services. (Or perhaps thats why I wasnt told)
This needs to be dealt with and not ignored and I am no longer going to play phone tag? with either company. If these services are being provided there needs to be a very detailed explanation on the charges and fees that will be incurred, due to these issues I will never be another Verizon or DirecTV customer and this information will be relayed to everyone that I speak to, known to me or otherwise. During this time, I also received a phone call from Verizon stating that I no longer qualified for the package, with no further explanations. All of the sudden I have Verizon refusing to pay DirecTVs portion.
My bill is now $413.50 and growingit seems that every time Verizon refuses to pay- Im stuck with the charge. This needs to be resolved immediately.
Mary of Spring Hill FL (04/28/08)
Had Verizon DSL installed 14 days later service was knocked out. For 7 days tried to get them to fix service talked to at least 20 people and 12 hours on phone and never was resolved. I disconnected service on the 8th day
Lost work time on internet
Irene of Honesdale PA (04/25/08)
I have been with Verizon for over 5 years. I have the Verizon Freedom Essentials plan with them and my phone bill (land line) averages $60.00 per month. My April phone bill arrives, I open it to find I owe $181.00. I also notice that 5 long distance calls to Florida was on the bill. My plan allows for free long distance calls, so I was quite surprised to see the listed calls to Florida. I called Verizon today and was told by the initial operator that the increase billing was because the Florida calls were operator assisted. She further explained that she could not help me, but she would transfer me to the long distance billing department. All the while I believed that surely they would allow a one time grace for my ignorance.
How wrong I was. I never experienced such a brick wall with this company. Not only did they charge me $4.50 for the operator, but they charged the phone call by the minute and charged me for the talk time. I would resign myself to paying the $4.50 per call, but why did they charge for the long distance? I supposedly have free long distance. I am outraged over the rudeness of the supervisor I spoke to. I'm in the banking industry and I am well aware of disclosure. I feel that these charges were not properly disclosed.
Furthermore, in the banking industry we do allow a one time grace and reverse Overdraft charges for our good customers. After I threatened to leave the company if they refused to resolve the matter, the supervisor's response was, You have to do, what you have to do. What kind of customer service is this?
Alan of Ilion NY (04/25/08)
On Dec. 4 2007 I signed up for the Verizon Triple Bundle Promotion of all 3 services on an internet based offer. The offer was on the main verizon web page and was emailed to me. At the time I already had verizon DSL services, 1 verizon cell phone through verizon wireless, DirectTV services from Direct TV and a Verizon calling plan which was for local/long distance however billed at .35cents per minute. As the offer read, you would receive VerizonDSL, upgrade to two verizon wireless cell phones, convert from DirectTV to DirecTV from Verizon (One Bill) system and upgrade from local/long distance billed at .35cents per miniute to an unlimited plan for calling. The plan costs about $135 per month supposedly and also, as part of this sign up I was supposed to recieve a 19 color hd LCD flat screen tv made by Sharp (Aquos). So I signed up thinking my average bill will decrease from around $260 a month to about $135.
To date, its now April 24th, I've called, emailed and sent two letters to Verizon informing them that I have yet to recieve my promotional letter for the free TV. My bill also has never decreased from $260... its more like $230 - $250 monthly.. so dont see the savings and what is more upsetting, never got the promotional letter and the free item promised. I kept full copies of the online transaction.. printed hard copies which show the free promotional item and the plan costs and decreases I signed up for. To date, I have printed and kept all correspondence with Verizon which shows lack of service on their part and me asking in every way possible for assistance. I have reviewed numerous others online on complaint web sites who are in the same situation as me and also have the exact, letter for letter complaint. I am wondering if any lawyers have initiated a class action law suite to date and if not if anyone out there has in fact received the promotional letter and actually received teh free gift (LCD TV) as promised by Verizon. I am also wondering if anyone has a solid address for Verizon for consumer complaints that actually respondes.
Also if anyone has report such failure by Verizon to BBB, Consumer Affairs Bureaus, and or trade commissions based on inadequacies Verizon is telling its customers. TO this date, I have been a loyal and satisfied consumer of Verizon services, however since 12/4/2007 I am stuck in an agreement that will cost me well over $500 to break out of due to service contracts and thusly dissatisfied enough to take Verizon to court to settle the matter. So if anyone has the same issue with Verizon as me, I would be interested in hearing from you or consulting with a lawyer to possbily pursue.
Paying now more then what was advertised for monthly services. About $80 a month for services more then what was agreed to. I also have not received the free gift (promotional LCD TV) as promised, something that I did desire to offset the large costs for this plan I signed up for. Also, many hours and grief dealing with Verizon customer service through email, phone, and letter and getting no where.
Morally this is wrong to have happened and now I am paying for it by being in service agreement contracts I can not get out of because of fees and or break clauses. If known, I would be billed higher then what I signed up for and would not recieve all items as agreed to, I would have never signed the contract. I did so in good faith, sure wish Verizon would settle the issue with me as well.
Wilfredo of Oxnard CA (04/24/08)
I called vz wireless several times to block download applications from my son's cell , i was never informed that some cell phones may already have vz application downloaded and you can download ringtones or music that way, i called vz wireless numerous times to remove chrgs from past bills, i called on April 24th 2008, and requested $60.00 worth of ringtones chareges be remmove from acct, escalated the call to a supervisor who only offer half of 60.00 and refused to credit the whole thing, and after i said i would consider a different wireless provider, he still did not issue full credit, it showed me the they don't care for their customers even though they say they do.
Bridget of Beaumont TX (04/24/08)
I am a Verizon Wireless customer and I am a faithful customer and pay my bill on time.My question is that I'M not sure if Verizon can legally charge us for a megabyte use kilobyte usage when you send a text message and you have unlimited text i'm just confused and I have called them and they give the same runaround answers it depends on the picture size.
Kathryn of Alpharetta GA (04/23/08)
'Cell phone company should admit when they incorrectly ported a number. I requested that a number be ported from out of my area but that I wanted it on a family plan billing. I was called by Cingular porting BEFORE my phone was sent advising me that it could not be done and would I like a new number or continue with a separate billing. Since porting the number was not doing what I wanted, I told them to give me a new # and to forget the porting. When I got the phone, they had ported my number. They did not tell me that they could port it back but asked me if I wanted to keep the number out there for me or cancel it...I wasn''t going to use it so I cancelled it. I
n the meantime, I was 7 days shy of my contract cancellation date with Verizon...stupid me..I had been with them over 10 years and just missed the date. This would not have been a problem if Cingular had not ported the number as they were advised. I have tried to get into my Verizon account for the last 3 weeks but it said that the information was unavailable and to try again at another time. WRONG..they don''t tell you that once you port your number you have no access to your account history, etc. I finally called them today and ..lo and behold...I missed the porting back time to reinstate my number by 3 days....
I NOW HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR 1 FULL YEAR OF CONTRACT IN ORDER NOT TO PAY THE $175 CANCELLATION FEE. IMAGINE THAT! And what did Cingular do about the porting of my number after being told not to? I was told that there were no notes..that is not what happened...it is not true...I was very offended to be called (oh, sorry...to have it implied that I was) a liar and stated so emphatically...absolutely no movement from either company....hmm, maybe letters to all members of both boards might be in line?.
have to pay Verizon Wireless a cancellation fee..this complaint is in conjunction with another I just filed against AT&T
Joretta of Olympia Fields IL (04/22/08)
Approximately January 2008 I received a replacement phone from Verizon Wireless Store and was told I had to mail in the inoperable phone. I had a envelope from Asurion which I had previously mailed a phone to when I dealt with Verizon.
It's now April 2008 and I'm being billed for the replaced phone. When I spoke to the supervisor I was told I should have left the inoperable phone at the store instead of mailing it back to the Asurion who handles their claims. I told her in the past I have mailed phones back to Asurion. I also told her that the person at the store should have accepted the phone when I tried returning it to him. I do not know their policies and I was instructed on who I should mail it to. I assumed that since he worked for verizon and wouldn't take the phone that I had to mail it to the other company which was Asurion. The supervisor stated she would call me back but it has been 2 days and I haven't heard from her.
I called customer service today and I was on hold for 20 minutes waiting for a supervisor. The worker stated she emailed someone of authority to call me back. I am very upset that I have to go through this. If you can assist, it would be greatly appreciated thank you
Jenny of Los Angeles CA (04/16/08)
I bought a phone for my 12-year-old son. It was a more sophisticated phone than my razr, and no one explained any of the special features, notably the data download capacity, and the costs associated with data downloads. Very importantly, considering I was obviously buying the phone for a child, no one explained that these services could be blocked.
My son's phone was promptly lost or stolen at school. We replaced it, and he managed to lose the 2d one as well. Someone made $75 worth of data downloads on the 1st phone, and then $170 worth on the 2d phone, all before I even got the first bill that included the $75 data download charge, which alerted me to what was going on, and to the fact that the phone had these capacities, that Verizon charged these whopping fees, and that these services could have been blocked. So this makes $145 worth of charges I have to pay, which would not have happened had Verizon clearly explained the fee system upfront.
Dick of Rio Rancho NM (04/06/08)
Signed up for Verizon Broadband, cell customer also. Speed rates were to be: download 600kps to 1.4 mbps. Upload 500 to 800 kbps. Using their recommended speed tester, my upload is 200 to 300, download as low as 75, normal 250. Little more than dial up, but we pay $60/mo for hi-speed.
Complained to Verizon, they advised their equipment was not in place to get higher speeds. Verizon will not cancel account as agreement is 2 year, it is now my problem because I did not see problem in 1st month. But during the 1st month they replaced my equipment. Told me their equipemnt was now in place, but it still is not.
Gregory of Tampa Fl FL (03/28/08)
I got two bills where they said I used many more minutes than I think I have possible used. I paid one and didn't pay the second, but instead requested a detailed report on all my calls to prove to me that I used all those minutes. I have not received the bill yet but they have cut off my service while the bill is still in dispute. They also charged me five dollars for a detailed bill, which should be provided to me as a customer for free.
I am a substitute teacher and free lance writer who loses work on a daily basis when I do not have a phone on hand.
Malgorzata of Bialystok OTHER (03/16/08)
On December the 28th of 2007 I closed my account with Verizon, which resulted with early termination fee. Actually I moved over 600 miles away from my previous address from San Francisco to Poland (Europe). Previously I had a contract with Verizon for over 3 years, then while changing, a phone sales person convinced me to sign a new 2-year agreement. Even though I wasn't sure about it- planning my trip back eventually- the sales person assured me that 600 miles distance cleared early termination fee. When closing my account I was asked to send a proof of my address change. Well, today is the 17th of March 2008, and my record is not cleared. As soon as I got back to Poland I sent a fax to Verizon: one page with 3 listings of my address (bank letters and an insurance letter). Two weeks later a letter from Verizon arrived to Poland saying that the submitted fax wasn't sufficient and that Verizon doesn't accept bank letters. I was asked to send another fax. So I did. I sent them copies of my hospital bills (was actually treated for cancer ever since I came back home), money wire to my address and also my new EU ID card. There was no answer from Verizon for over 1 month, so I assumed that everything was OK.
Yesterday my boyfriend called me saying that there's a letter from Verizon- a collection bill for almost $170 for early termination fee. I was speechless. Nobody sent me a warning letter to Poland. I was lucky that my boyfriend was still living in San Francisco so he received the collection bill. There was a number to call: 18662661445. So I called, and the person in charge of my bill--James--wasn't helping at all. He wasn't listening to me. I asked his last name but didn't want to disclose it. James told me that the only acceptable forms of proof of my new address is a mortgage letter, leasing agreement, new employer's information, or utility bill. I explained that those documents were not possible for me to get: I live with my parents now who pay the bills, their house is all paid, and I have no job yet since I moved to Poland in order to get a cancer treatment first.
James said he was sorry, and he still wanted me to get the mortgage bill. He also offered to reopen my closed account in order to continue it until the end of the 2-year contract ending sometimes this year (think it is May). I thought that was ridiculous since I have been living in another country. I asked James if the land ownership would be fine, more hospital bills, internet bill--he said all those bills would not work. At the end he asked me again "can I help you with something else?" I thought that it sounded more like an insult than sincere offer to help. A couple of years ago, I had a big problem with MCI Worldcom. Remember their customer service as willing to help on the phone--in reality creating fake bills. That situation with James feels like deja vu. The real fact that I have been living in Poland--that's more than 600 miles.
Well, I am hoping to recover from that situation and settle an agreement, however switching my calls from customer service representative over to another--sounds fishy. I feel that somebody wanted to take an advantage of me in order to sign a 2-year agreement. Even though my previous contract lasted much longer than 2 years, nobody cared for my customer rights. Can't this person understand that in such a situation, I will never again open any account with Verizon, nor anybody from my family or friends. I will spread the bad news to 10 people, those 10 people to another 10 people, etc. That's a simple rule. I would prevent my friends from situations like this. It's a nightmare.
Luz of Las Vegas NV (03/12/08)
I had an account with Verizon Wireless that went to collections. On October 2006, this account was settled with Verizon Wireless. Several months after I started getting collection notices from Midland Funding LLC. I called Verizon and was told to disregard notice. After speaking to Midland, I found out that Verizon Wireless sold the account after it had been settled.
For the past year and a half I have been receiving calls and notices demanding payment. I have called both agencies several times and every time, this case is supposedly solved. I have been dealing with so much stress. Every time I try to finance something I always have to pay outrageous interest rates because of this collection that doesn't go away. I have spent numerous hours on my cell phone, calling back and forth trying to get this account close. According to a Midland representative I am pretty much screwed! I am asking for help in trying to solve this account that was erroneously sold to a collection agency after I had already paid what Verizon Wireless asked me to pay.
James of Seminole FL (03/12/08)
Spoke with a debt collector with this collection company to discuss payments I would be sending in for very ancient collection accounts held by this company. I discovered 2 more accounts Verizon Wireless claimed were past due. I asked for telephone numbers for these accounts and was given telephone numbers that were basically paid off and the contracts were fulfilled. Verizon Wireless erroneously reported these two accounts to collections for amounts supposedly due on these accounts which are false. I do claim responsibility for two of the accounts but NOT a total of 4. I would love nothing more than to see this company get shut down and ran out. These are very deceptive billing business practices and need to be stopped. I have been with 7 yrs with Nextel and have never had the billing issues I have with Verizon.
Needlessly paying for charges that are erroneous and not due.
Guy of Jamestown, PA (03/11/08)
Explain the methodology for charging on text messages. How do they get away with charging the receiver of a text message? It's a racket and should be stopped. The sender should incur all charges and the receiver can then decide to call or text back.
Our daughter had a $700 text messaging bill before I knew about it.
Gerard of North East PA (03/09/08)
I am writing about a potential problem for every cell phone user in America. I recently found out that every person who owns a cell phone could fall victim to the whims of any person wishing the cell phone owner ill will. I was informed that when a text message is sent, whether wanted or not, whether read or not, the owner of the phone that received the message is charged a fee.
I came upon this problem by accident, as my son had an unusual bill. We pay extra money so he can have unlimited texting within his provider's network, but it does not cover text messages sent from other networks. An ex-girlfriend sent him more than 500 messages in one month, though my son did not want them. As a result, we had to pay for the messages, though he was purposely deleting them. When I asked Verizon (our provider) I was shocked to find cell phone providers all charge for text messages, whether the recipient opens them or not. Imagine if a person wanted to cause financial problems for another individual. That person need only send text message after text message to the disliked individual, and that person would be liable to pay for receipt of these unwanted, unsolicited messages. Certainly this cannot remain legal. I would really like to seen an investigation launched. I believe our government needs to intervene on behalf of the American consumer, and I have written my representative and senators accordingly.
Pat of Wilbraham MA (03/08/08)
I had a sprint plan back in 2000-2002, they never mounted a repeater on the tower they leased in town. I completed my contract (rather than fight for early termination). After almost 2 years collections started for a $175 termination fee - and I just received another collection request - after 5 years!
Christine of New York NY (03/06/08)
Verizon made a mistake with my bill and paid my sept 22, 2007 bill of $187.49 and Oct 23, 2007 bill of $91.79 with one bill which I never enrolled in. This was a mistake and I never knew about it as I never received the bills. They realized their mistake and reversed the amount on 2/28/08. They terminated my cell phone and are asking for a payment of $338.13. I pay this, but not in one shot.
I cannot afford to pay it at once. My concern is can they just shut off my phone without my knowlegde? I work for elderly people and I need my phone at all times. What are my consumer rights regarding their mistake?
Nicole of Franklin NC (03/04/08)
I have been trying to get my $125.00 deposit refunded for over 9 months. I have been told many different reasons for this not being sent from many different customer no-serve representatives at a different call center each time I call. I have sent proof of payment at their request on at least four occasions. As of this date, this matter remains unresolved.
Shelley of Ferrum VA (03/02/08)
In October 2007 I purchased Verizon Wireless National Access and Broadband service. I was not informed at that time that there was a restriction on the usage. I play an online game and specifically asked if I would be able to play with this service. I was assured that it would be no problems once the service switched in our area from National Access to Broadband access. The day the service changed to Broadband in December I am no longer able to log into the online game. I am very upset with this service. My bill still shows that I have Unlimited Service. The first time I contacted Verizon on this matter in early January I was told that it the the Game server that was not working properly. I called Verizon again Yesterday 02/29/08 and was then informed that my broadband usage is not unlimited but has a restriction and that is why I am unable to play the game. It is not fair for Verizon to promote an Unlimited product get people to sign a 2 year contract and then Limit their usage.
Alba of Lakewood WA (03/01/08)
I added a line to my phone service for my sister. I paid for the phone full price out of my pocket and 3 days later my sister left without letting me know. I had to cancel her line and I asked verizon to waive my early termination fee and they didn't. They said I needed to return the phone in order for them to do that. I have been with the company for so long and they didn't waive this charge and it is simply too much for me to pay. I had an emergency and they should consider that I have paid them so much over the years, even when they charge me minutes for using my voicemail. I don't think it is fair for them to charge extra for everything all the time.
I was told that I will pay the early termination fee for the new line. I desire to cancel all my services with them because they simply overcharge every month. I never get the service I ask for. They continue to mess up my account. This puts a financial strain on me because I get paid $9.00/hour and I go to school full time. I can't afford over $100.00 cell phone bills every month.
Renee of Bear DE (02/27/08)
I am currently a Verizon communications employee but not wireless. My service was suspended in December of 2007 for non-payment, and I was given a certain amount of time to pay it. I filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy a couple years ago, and I have been struggling with the payments--but they have been paid. I was told in order to keep the same number and to prevent paying termination fees, that I have to pay before March 12 the balance. The balance is $600, and that would have been paid.
When I made arrangements with an employee on Feb 13, she was getting smart, and I went to her supervisor. When I checked on my acct. yesterday, they told me that made my acct. inactive before March 12, and they added termination fees along with a security deposit of $375.00 which is $125 for each number. I have 3 (includes my broadband number). I was upset and the supervisor hung up on me after telling me if I don't pay the balance yesterday (which is before March 12), they would not waive the fee. I asked her if they can wait until Friday (3 days later), but by me calling yesterday and getting upset with them, they told me it was yesterday or nothing. I told her I would seek a lawyer and tell my 2nd level of my employer, and she said "Do what you have to do". Well, I have to be quiet in what I do because I am a Verizon Communications employee of which wireless is our subsidiary.
The damage is I agreed to pay my $600 balance, but they hiked up prices and are not giving me proper discounts for being a Verizon employee, but since I reported them they jacked up my fees an extra $800. I need to do something about this.
William of Tampa FL (02/25/08)
I purchased a new LG-9400 and had problems with an echo of my voice and the person I was talking within the first 30 days of the new contract. It was replaced with another 9400 and still had the same problems on receive. After three replacements, they turned out to be refurbished phones. I was told by Lana that I could buy a totally different phone at full cost with the no contract option that I would have had prior to signing a new two year contract and receive credit for the purchase of the 9400. Anyways, I have tried to institute this and have not had any calls returned from Lana. Current info from Verizon reps is that I cannot do anything for another year plus when my contract is up. I would like to receive credit for this phone and go back to my old expired contract status. Thanks for any help as I am no longer using this phone and have gone back to my old Samsung phone.
Kendrick of Fullerton CA (02/20/08)
I wanted to find out why they have the wrong contact information number. I have never given them this number as my contact and they were insistent it was on my record since the time I opened the account in 2005. This was not the case, and I tried to explain that and the bill of over $330 is a mistake. The customer service representative would not listen and insisted that this bill and contact information is correct. And that they are willing to change the number. The manager had the same attitude. He also stated to me not to used that tone and not to go there with him. The very first thing they should do is investigate and definitely see if their website or security has been compromised. They refused! I called the number myself and it is a disconnected number. Verizon customer is no longer valid. I do not know what this means and I hope you will investigate this and resolve this.
They would not do anything and continued to tell me to pay that bill that will be due in March.
William of Conroe TX (02/20/08)
I purchased a Verizon Wireless plan on 12/28/07 and was told by the sales person Lisa at extension 2100 if I sign up with her online she would waive all my activation fees and give me 30 day FREE trial on the broadband service, which I was also charged for as soon as I received my first bill. I called her back per her instructions about a month later, on the same day I received my first bill for $438.00. The plan was for two phones on a basic family plan and a Verizon Broadband service. The total activation fees were $105.50. She claimed she had credited my account and for me to send in payment for $105.50 less the actual bill. Yesterday I received a call from Verizon saying I owed $105.50 from my last payment being short. I called back several times and all I got was a run around and passed on to voice mails which were not returned. I guess I'll have to pay the activation fees but I want others to know they use fraudulent promises of waiving fees to get you to sign up and then your locked into a 2 year contract. Buyer-Beware of Verizon false advertising ploys.
I am a paraplegic on Social Security Disability Income and would not have signed up with them if they had not made fraudulent claims to waive activation fees.
Jessica of Jacksonville FL (02/15/08)
I have been a Verizon customer for many years. I am financially conservative. Recently, because my son is moving out of state, I decided to upgrade our cell phones to a newer model with photo ability and unlimited text messages. After consulting with the salesman, I decided that the best package for me would be approximately $100 a month for 700 anytime minutes and unlimited text messaging (including picture messaging). I bought new phones and signed a new 2-year contract reflecting the upgrades.
Fast forward to my first bill. My son asked my permission to download a few ringtones, so I was not at all surprised by the extra $20.00 charge for the downloads. However, I was completely shocked by the more than $130.00 EXTRA charges for megabyte usage. Of course, I called the company to dispute the charges. As it turns out, any time you connect to the web, you are charged $1.99 per megabyte of information that you see. Not download--just view. So any time you check your account balances, or browse through new ringtones or other activity, you are charged. Excessively, and sneakily.
I told the customer service rep that the original salesman specifically told me that there would be no charge until you downloaded something (at which point the charges are quite clear, and I as a consumer can make an informed decision). I was told on the phone that they would waive the $130.00 + fee on the condition that I either (1) block any and all usage of the webbrowser, or (2) agree to pay an additional $30.00 per month (15 per line) for unlimited megabye usage. This feels like extortion! Option 1 would disable many of the features on the new phones I purchased, and would leave me unable to send pictures to my son (one of the reasons I purchased the phones). Option 2 would cost me an additional $30.00 per month!
Jamie of Pittsburgh, PA (02/08/08)
I went to a Verizon Wireless store to pay my bill. They had a man there who was taking orders for Verizon's bundle pkg so I signed up and my nightmare began.
I have been over-charged on everything, given the run around, had charges put on my credit card illegally because they were never authorized to use my credit card, treated very nasty, told I had a security code on my phone service I knew I never did, double charged in Dec.07 and I was told that I would be able to call the Verizon Wireless phones from my home phone and it would be in minutes. That was a lie and it made me go over in cell minutes and incur a large cell bill.
It is 4 months later and I am still being overcharged on the $99.99 bundle.
Sarah of Issaquah WA (02/03/08)
I have had a pre-pay wireless plan with Verizon Wireless and paid to have my minutes updated. Two days later, I changed to another provider as I was given an iPhone. Verizon Wireless informed me that I would not get a refund for the money I had paid, in cash, two days before. The representative stated that the minutes were lost as the number was disconnected. I asked if I had talked to them before I changed my service if I would have gotten my money back and he again stated, No. On Pre-Pay accounts there are no refunds. Why and where does this money go?
I lost $30.00, which isn't the real issue. Folks who use a pre-pay plans already pay more than the standard fees probably because they can't afford the cost of a contract. THEN, they are penalized further by not having any recourse to be refunded money already spent for services not received.
Harry of Newark DE (01/24/08)
Every time I tried to get a date for after my two year contract was fullfilled, I got no answer I finally just canceled my service.
then got a bill for 1750 dollars I only owe them 248.00 dollars no one has resources to fight corporate lawyers!!!
THIS IS A CORPORATE SCAM AND SHOULD #1
on your scam list.
Will damage my credit.
Art of El Segundo CA (01/23/08)
Called Verizon Wireless over 12 times since Nov 2007 about a billing error. My other phone on the same company and plan has auto pay that works fine on American Express. No corporate response.
Lost of $326.01 and no use of my phone. Charges on my American Express ending for a duplicate phone go through every month. My first call was 25 Nov regarding the lost balance $326.01. I called 10 times in December. I called 23 Jan. They tried tried to remove and reinstall auto in Nov and 1 Dec, 28 Dec. I requested a phone call and the balance restore. If more than a day would like to have an inconvenience restoration of $20, immediately. I have emailed Corporate 12 times, with no results.
Robert of Magnolia DE (01/23/08)
I use a Verizon prepaid cell phone. My plan is set up that I pay $50/mo. On 1/22/08, I made a call and the pre-conversation recording states that I have a balance of $133. Last time I used my phone, it was only $33. I did not authorize a single payment, yet was charged for two! I called customer service and first confirmed that I wasn't set up for autopay. I informed Candace that I make my payments online, using my debit card, but have not made a payment since the end of December. She suggested that I must have dialed *611 from my cell phone to pay. Again, I told her I did NOT make any payments. I was then told they could reimburse one payment of $50, and as her supervisor was gone for the day, she would send him/her an email about it.
The following day, I called and was told by Erica that her boss was in a meeting, but that she would reimburse the full $100 and have her boss call me back in an hour. I said that would be fine, because I needed to discuss the matter of overdrafts this caused in my checking account. 2 1/2 hours later, I called AGAIN and immediately asked to speak with a supervisor. I was put on the phone with Tanei who told me, We can't do anything for you, because a DEBIT card was used. You'll have to take it up with your bank. I asked to speak with his supervisor, Pam, who basically just backed up what I was just told. I explained that, according to my phone record online, there were no calls made using *611 and no evidence of a payment received, just a sudden increase in available airtime. I suggested a possible glitch in their system and was told, Our system didn't mess up. Someone probably called the 1-800 number and made the payment. And, Our system isn't set up to refund on debit cards. The system had no problem TAKING my money with the debit card.
So,now I am getting nothing. This has caused 6 different overdraft fees at $32 each. This, along with the initial $100 has Verizon owing me a total of $292.
Nelson of Kendall Park NJ (01/23/08)
I mailed out a payment (money gram money order) on 1/12/08 to Verizon Wireless, Baltimore. I called on Mon, 1/21/08 and spoke with Humberto. He told me he would forward my inquiry to the Collection/Payment Depts and call me back w/in 72 hours. No one got back to me. I called now and spoke with Will Hiller and he said that they do not have the money order. That the information that Humberto gave me was incorrect. I said how could it be incorrect? He emailed that dept and took down all of the money order info. Will also added that they do not key in the money order numbers in their system. I don't know what kind of business practice that is. Someone has the money order, I have not received the money order back from the post office. They must have it and it may be floating around in their building somewhere. I need someone to trace the money order as I have already provided sufficient information. Money gram states that it has not been cashed yet, it is probably sitting on someone's desk.
I was told that it takes 2 weeks for a payment to be processed, and it has been two weeks already.
Peter of Phillipsburg NJ (01/23/08)
I went to end my service with Verizon to switch to T-Mobile, and Verizon told me they would charge an early termination fee of $150. I told them my two year agreement was up in 2007 and they told me I purchased my Palm Treo at a discounted rate so it locked me into a new 2-year agreement. I told them I paid full price for my treo, and they then said yes you are right and then there was an LG Envy purchased turned on and then quickly turned off. That made the new agreement until 2009. I told them I never purchased such a phone. I told them that doesn't even make sense to buy a new phone and never use it. When I called in 2007, I turned off the Palm Treo.
I don't want this to go to collections, but they are threatening that it will.
Krishna of White Plains NY (01/23/08)
I have asked Verizon wireless many times about why rates are never what they say they would be. For example, I pay almost 50 dollars when they say their plan is only $39.99. Every month why do I have to pay almost 3.5 dollars as verizon surcharges - it's not fed or state taxes or not even 911 fees which are another 4 bucks. Why can't they be clear about it? Also, after being with them for 2 years they said they will give free phone upgrade, I bought the phone but no discount ever happened so it cost me 85 bucks. Verizon is way too expensive, way overhyped for good connectivity and almost monopolistic in its tackling. Contracts are another bad story. Why can't cell phones really charge and do what they really say?
3 dollars verizon surcharges every month for last at least 2 years plus free phone upgrade costing me 85 dollars, I want a total of 157 dollars refund.
Terry of Alto NM (01/21/08)
I set up bank account for automatic withdraw of bill payment. Was told the first bill would have to be paid manually and subsequent bills would be withdrawn automatically. Paid first bill on time manually by calling in direct wire deposit. The next day Verizon did an automatic withdraw of same amount of funds paying bill twice.
Because verizon mistakenly withdrew the bill money again the day after I paid my bill, it caused $90.00 of overdrawn fees at my bank. I called in to Verizon to get them to deposit double payment back in to my bank account along with $90.00 over drawn fees that THEY caused and was told it would take 5 to 7 days. Verizon also wanted to keep the funds toward my next bill which I told them this was not acceptable because I needed the money now along with the overdrawn fees. After several calls they told me 5 days was the soonest they could deposit it back. It has been 12 days now and not a single cent has been replaced in to my account. I have called them numerous times and keep getting the runaround and I am now ready to hire an attorney.
David of San Dimas CA (01/14/08)
In October of 2005, my wireless contract with Verizon Wireless expired. I knew at that time that I was going to relocate to Brazil temporarily in June of 2006 so I did not want to renew my contract with Verizon for several reasons. Mainly because they always require one or two year contracts. The Verizon phone I had at the time would not meet my future needs so I went ahead and bought an unlocked GSM phone (from another company) that I could use in South America. When I called in to Verizon to cancel my service because I had bought a different phone, the rep assured me that was not a problem and I could continue to keep my existing phone number and continue on a month to month basis until June of 2006, when the service was terminated permanently. Now for some reason they say I had a two year contract that I broke early and have been harassing me for an early termination fee. Even though the have already dinged my credit and continue to harass me, I refuse to pay for something that I do not owe. When this first happened, I asked them to provide me with proof of the contract that I had broke but got no response from them and was told it was my responsibility to show proof of the contract, etc. They just put the mark on my credit and continue to harass me for something I do not owe. Something should be done about this unfair business practice.
Due to their actions they have reduce my over all credit score, prevented me from obtaining financial assistance and continue to harass me for unnecessary reasons.
Lisa of Brooklyn NY (01/07/08)
On New years day my pda, the Palm Treo 650, automatically stopped working. I was busy for the holiday so I decided to call Verizon on January 2, 2008, I talked to a rep who transferred me to technical support to figure out a solution. The rep advised she will send a replacement phone since my phone could not work and we tried everything. She advised it will take about two days for me to receive my cell. Friday and Saturday comes, no cell phone in sight. Monday comes still no cell phone, I've been without a cell for a week so I call Verizon on Monday to check the status and spoke with representative Ericka who advised that they shipped the phone out today, I was furious so I asked if that was the case, why didn't they attempt to contact me and she advised they did and could not get a hold and I asked if not why didn't they leave a meassage because obviously if I knew they tried to contact me last week I would've called back. She started defending them and iI asked to speak to a supervisor and I told supervisor Justin that I have been without a phone for a week and now I am being told I have to wait a few more days since it has been shipped out today and he sounded like he did not even care and I told him I need some credit for the minutes I haven't used and he said he has to fill out a form and based on my credit that I may (not guaranteed) be reimbursed for twenty dollars for a week worth of no phone usage which made no sense. I am very furiated and I would not reccoment verizon to anyone.
I work hard for my money and when its time to pay my phone bill I make sure I pay them on time and this is what I get for being a loyal customer. First of all I don't even use my phone that much. Second, what made me more furious is that the palm treo 650 is the worst phone and should be taken off the market and Verizon has the nerve to send the same exact phone that's giving me problems in the first place as a replacement. I am very disappointed and by next month I will be switching to another company. I have alot of family with verizon and will make sure they switch over as well!
Nathan of Roselle IL (01/02/08)
I had their service for 4+ years when, due to family obligations, I had to work in transit, thereby using a wireless modem. As an alternative to purchasing a data plan and a cellular PCMCIA card, I spoke with Verizon's customer service, technical support, and an in-store associate about the option of using one of their Blackberry phones as a Bluetooth tethered modem with my Apple OS X Panther computer. All three parties said this was accomplished easily. After discussing phone features with the in-store representative I purchased one confirming 2 TIMES during the transaction that I DID NOT wish to renew my contract, but I'd pay the best price he could give me without a renewal on this equipment. He agreed both times to NOT renew my contract. After spending 2 weeks trying to accomplish the tethering both via Bluetooth and USB (neither of which worked due to Verizon locking out this functionality), I asked to return the merchandise, which they refused. I ended up giving the phone away and returned to my regular Samsung handset. 6 months later my (now) wife and I were trying to get on one family plan together only to find that the associate slipped in a 2-year contract renewal.
After fighting for over 7 months to get the contract nullified, (calling several times each week and being promised call backs that were never received), Verizon refused to even lessen the early termination fee of $175. Consequently, my wife and I are going with AT&T due to the audacious manner in which Verizon mishandled a long-term customer's account.
Keith of Derry NH (01/02/08)
I bought phones for me and my two kids. My daughter's phone stopped working and Go Wireless refused to honor the warranty. They have a Verizon Wireless sign bigger than their own sign and represent themselves as Verizon. But when it comes to customer service they did NOTHING. The manager Nathan was rude and unprofessional. When I complained to Verizon Wireless directly, they made it clear that Go Wireless does not speak for Verizon.
Valerie of Doylestown PA (01/02/08)
I had 6 months of overcharges and account discrepencies. I spent over 90 minutes of waiting on hold to be disconnected without resolution to problems. Then, on the call back I can't get through.
I have severe frustration over the six months of constant struggle to get it straightened out.
Tim of Papillion, NE (01/01/08)
I had two Verizon Wireless phones for my two daughters. In August of 2007 a local Verizon Wireless store left a voice message on my daughter's phone saying that our contract had ended and they wanted to talk about a new contract. A few days later a different local Verizon Wireless store left a message on her phone saying our contract had ended and they wanted to talk to us about renewing. I also got a call on my home phone from Verizon Wireless, same message.
I wasn't happy with Verizon so we went to a different wireless company. Then I got a bill from Verizon Wireless for $460. I called and was told that it was for early termination fees of $170 for each phone. I finally got to talk to a supervisor, he checked it out and told me that I was correct, the contract had ended and he would have the early termination fees removed.
In December I got a letter from Verizon threatening to turn me over to a collection agency if I didn't pay the $460. I talked to the Nebraska Public Service Commission and finally was called by Verizon's Office of Executive Relations. He said that my contract didn't end until December and that I owed early termination fees. He offered to pro-rate it.
I thought that three different Verizon people telling me the contract had ended in August was a good enough reason to believe that it had ended before I switched companies.
Mary of Monmouth Beach NJ (12/15/07)
Verizon phone company sends me bills that have nothing to do with what I ordered. They send out illegal bills. I spent a year dealing with them and now I have had it. They refuse to give me the service I request and charge me for services not provided or requested. Can I file a case against them?
This company has harrassed me for over a year with complicated bills and charging me for services not requested. They are specifically designing a program that will confuse in order to frustrate a customer into paying.
John of Trion GA (12/15/07)
In June 2006, I purchased 2 phones with a 2 year agreement. In December 2006, my stepdaughter received a PRE-PAID phone from her father. When the minutes ran out, I contacted Verizon by phone and asked if I could add her PRE-PAID phone to my plan. They said yes and it would cost me around 10 dollars a month for the add a line. I also asked about the unlimited text messageing. Another $10 she said. I said great, lets add it. Nothing else was said. In December 2007, my stepdaughter started getting a little big for her britches. So I decided to have her phone disconnected.
When I contacted Verizon I was told by, Susie Ext: 3839, I would be charged $175 early termination fee due to the fact that the phone was on a one year agreement. She said the contract expires next month in January. I advised her the phone wasn't on any contract. It was purchased as a PRE-PAID phone and later added to my plan as an add a line. I also advised her that I was aware of the $175 early termination fee for my other 2 phones on a 2 year agreement. I was not canceling either one of them. She said when I added the PRE-PAID phone, it automaticly is added under a 1 year agreement. I told her I was not advised of this and I did not sign anything physicaly or electronicaly. She then gave me her supervisors number (Bonnie 1-800-254-7835) who was off work and she said Bonnie would call me back tomorrow.
In the mean time, I had the phone disconnected and waited for Bonnie to call. Bonnie never called. The number given to me by Susie doesn't work. Two days later I called Verizon again. This time I spoke with Tasha EXT: 6061. Tasha advised me also that when I added the PRE-PAID phone it is under a 1 year contract. So I said the contract ends next month correct. She said yes. I then said that it would be best to pay the 10 dollars and cancel it on the contract end date next month instead of the $175 early termination fee. She agreed. I then asked if the phone could be turned off and I keep it on the contract until it expires next month. She said yes it would cost me $15 dollars to do it. I said nevermind, Turn it back on and I just want it to turned off on the contract end date next month. She said ok. After a while I got to thinking that I didn't ask if unlimited text was on or off. So my wife calls Verizon and spoke to a Service rep. I dont know who she spoke with. The rep said it was on and if it was turned off it would cost me over $700 in past text messages. I guess they wanted that extra $10.
No Damages, Just Stress.
Lindsay of Hudson WI (12/14/07)
I signed up for Verizon Wireless broadband card in May 2006. I am a small business owner. The service seemed fine (if you ignore multiple disconnects per day and issues with login authentication) for the first 10-12 months. Then I noticed how the speeds were deteriorating. I called Verizon on 8+ different occasions explaining the speed issue and running through many troubleshooting steps (software uninstall/reinstall, accelerator uninstall/reinstall, software upgrades, disk defrags etc). To no avail.
In July, I demanded that the issue be escalated to engineering, and was assured that I would be contacted by the engineers/technicians and was issued a troubleticket. No one called. The final straw was in October when I tested the download speed again and found it to be 12KBPS, which is slower than dial up. I called Verizon Wireless AGAIN, and again spent hours troubleshoooting and finally escalated to another trouble ticket, and again NO ONE called back. So I threw out the broadband card, and bought satellite. Which has worked beautifully.
Now Verizon wants November and Decembers' bills paid in full plus an early termination fee. The only reason I terminated was due to the poor service which was far below the speeds promised at contract inception. Their defense is that engineers visited the area and could not replicate speed issues, but no one ever attempted to contact me to say they has tested wireless speeds or to attempt to work with me to increase speed. Why should I pay for high speed broadband when I am being delivered with lower than 'dial-up' speeds. I refuse to pay, what can I do to protect my credit when they pass this over to a collection agency?
Yvette of Laurelton NY (12/13/07)
Miracle Financial, Inc keeps calling my home and JOB regarding a Verizon Wireless bill. I've explained to them I have no knowledge of this debt and even requested in writing that they send me proof of me owing this debt to no avail.They claim this debt is from 1992. I would like them to stop harrassing me at my residence and even more importantly at my JOB.
I fear the constant calling at my job could jepordize my employment
Ginger of Brooklyn NY (12/08/07)
I opened my bill today and saw that I had a erroneous charge of $29.95 from Minilec ISP for an annual fee. I have no idea what this fee is for and tried to call the 1.800 # listed only to be disconnected on the 1st attempt, and on the second call to get a general vmail telling me that I need to call back during normal business hours. We should not have to deal with a 3rd party billing us when we are obtaining our services from Verizon! This should be Verizon's problem to solve and not CONSUMERS'! This is despicable that it is so easy for a company with NO MORALS to just insert a bogus fee onto someone's phone bill. Something needs to be done! I can't believe the long list of people who have been affected by this!
Karen of Warwick RI (12/04/07)
I had a phone that was still under warranty. The LCD died, so I had to replace the phone. I brought it to the local Verizon Wireless store. After waiting in line about 1/2 hour the customer service representative listened to my situation and said he would give me a temporary phone to use (I was going away on business) and that he would send me out a brand new phone. I specifically asked him if I would be charged for the new phone. He told me no, but that I'd have to return the old, broken phone. I asked if it would be okay to return it after I got back from my business trips, which were to take two months. He replied it wasn't an issue at all. AT NO POINT did he tell me they would charge me for the equipment! So when I went online on 11/29/07 to view my monthly bill, imagine my surprise at receiving an equipment charge of $99.99! I immediately emailed customer service and explained that the phone had been returned, and gave them the tracking. I have now dealt with at least four different people who claim I will get a credit for the cost--after one or two months! Which means they expect me to pay this bill of $150 during the holiday season which I really can't afford, and then wait for them to reimburse! Oh, and they also included cute notes in their messages about assessing late fees. So I'm expected to pay for something their reps told me I would NOT get charged for, and to boot, wait TWO MONTHS to be reimbursed by credit and NOT a check!
I cannot afford to wait for account credit, and do not appreciate being told I would be charged late fees if I don't pay a bill which is the result of THEIR error and THEIR inaccurate claims!
Melanie of Hartwell GA (12/04/07)
I bought an aircard from a franchise store. It worked well on my Toshiba computer using Explorer 6, Windows XP. It would not work with Explorer 7. This was December 2006. It worked with Mozilla until I went back home to Hartwell, Ga. in April of 2007. The signal was not as strong, but the Toshiba would work on the aircard. The HP works on the aircard everywhere there is a stronger signal. I don't know if this is a Verizon issue or an HP issue. My computer now keeps sending up a message that a new Verizon Wireless network is available, but gives no other information.
Vanessa of Erie PA (12/04/07)
I have virtually no cell phone service at my residence and my phone malfunctions. Verizon refuses to replace the phone because I am not due for an upgrade until my contract expires in July 2008. They will not pro-rate the contract's early termination fee. If I opt to get another phone in July 2008, they say I will have to renew my contract.
I'd have to pay a $175 fee to cancel my contract. In addition, the retail cost of a replacement phone is in excess of $200, even phones that have fewer features than my current phone.
Christine of Canandaigua NY (12/01/07)
I have tried unsubscribing from a 3rd party text messaging service which my son did NOT subscribe to. Verizon can't seem to prove he did, yet it is Verizon who bills us for this service. I've called Verizon THREE times to end this text messaging service. On the first call to them, they gave me two 800 numbers to call to unsubscribe, which I called. One never offered the option to unsubscribe, the other one was over 30 minutes on hold before I gave up. They also suggested we reply to the 77877 text number with the words stop or quit; however when we did that, the 77877 number would reply "wrong answer". The 2nd call to Verizon resulted in a nice person who stayed on the line with me and connected me to a number to unsubscribe. We went through it all and she assured me we were unsubscribed, and she waved all charges on our bill. GREAT, however, my son continued getting text messages and NEW charges.
So, today I called Verizon yet again, and I was told, oh well too bad, we told you how to unsubscribe and you must not have followed the instructions. When I replied that the gal stayed on the phone last time with me, so how is it I didn't follow instructions, I was told, sorry, the most we can do is refund HALF the charges this month! That's completely unacceptable! Ironically, while I was on hold with Verizon, their ad which plays said they strove to resolve any issues on the first phone call to their customer service (note this was my 3rd call), and that they offered a worry-free guarantee (false advertising?). After I file this complaint, I plan on filing one also with the FCC. As far as I'm concerned, it is Verizon who bills me, then my complaint is with THEM. The 3rd party messages come from 77877 for the record.
Unbelievably, with all the money I pay Verizon each month, they are battling with me over under $30.00! However, if they want a fight, they have one now!
Charlotte of Cary NC (11/30/07)
I disconnected my internet after 2 years of being a reliable customer. I had been paying for my service via my apartment rental agent and the charges were part of my rent. When I moved and my lease ended, my internet was to automatically end as well. I also checked with Verizon to make sure the sevice would end once my lease ended. In the past when I had to renew my lease, the internet service had to be renewed as well. I thought this service was done with. I relocated with my address being forwarded to my new address. I did not recieve a bill from Verizon and did not think of the situation any further until I recieved a letter form a collection agency. I called to inquire what the collection was for and called Verizon to inquire what the situation was and what the charges were for. The customer service representative informed me he could not help me so he passed me on to a Supervisor, Ozelana Hunt. She informed me she would take care of this situation and reassured me my account would reflect a zero balance and the creditor would be notified. It is now a month later and I am still recieving letters form the collector, I am unable to get a hold of Supervisor Ozelana Hunt and the other supervisors state they are unable to help me in this situation. The customer would rather pay false claims and get it out of their lives than continue to deal with the hassle.
My credit will now be affected, and I have spent hours dealing with this situation. I have received harrassing phone calls from the collection agency.
Robert of Clarence, NY (11/23/07)
Verizon is not informing customers that its much-hyped Juke phone, noted for its music playing ability, is incompatible with Mac computers. In response, the customer rep lays the responsibility for informing Verizon that the customer uses a Mac with the customer. I enjoy my cell service with Verizon and love the design of the Juke, but I find this response, along with Verizon's unwillingness to make the Juke Mac compatible, to be a disappointing misrepresentation.
I got the following reply from their website: "I apologize that no one informed you that the Juke does not work with Mac computers. In most cases if the customer advised the sales rep that they have a Mac computer they would advise the customer that the phone will not work with Mac computers. Also currently at this time Verizon Wireless does not have any plans on making this phone compatible with Mac's."
Eric of Norwood, NJ (11/21/07)
When my Aunt passed away I called Verizon Wireless to remove her phone number and plan from my bill. The charge kept appearing, month after month, even though the phone line was disconnected and useless. It took 4 calls over 3 1/2 months to get the charges removed.
More recently I asked them to removed a text-messaging plan from my son's phone. I have had to make two calls so far, since the charge was not removed from my most recent bill.
While waiting on hold I heard them say that they pride themselves on resolving your question in one call. Apparently that applies only to ADDING charges, not to removing them.
B of Jupiter, FL (11/20/07)
Extremely poor customer service. This is the wireless phone service for anyone who has many hours to waste making calls to incompetent apathetic personnel. All our phones drop calls, suffer incorrect billing, no follow-up on complaints. Terrible!
Here is a tip: If an employee will not get a supervisor, ask that employee to list all the features of every new phone for you - just in case you may want to upgrade. Then they'll find a supervisor!
Michael of Arlington WA (11/19/07)
I had a charge added to my Verizon phone bill for a set up charge I did not authorize. I was put on hold for 30 minutes while trying to resolve this. I am waiting for credit but ILD billing services said it would take 2-3 months to get the credit.
Lisa of Hopkinsville KY (11/18/07)
We decided to terminate our wireless phone service with Verizon. Our contract was up on November 14, 2007. We were afraid to call on November 14th to cancel because of their $180 early termination fee, so we waited and called to terminate the service on November 18th. We were told by the operator we would have to be billed for an entire month. We strongly disagree with this as we've only used the service for 4 more days. We stated that it should be pro-rated, we shouldn't be paying for 30-31 days for 4 days of service.
We are being forced to pay $113.00 for 4 days of service. We would refuse to pay this, but know that Verizon will attempt to ruin our credit. This really isn't fair what they're doing to us and it should be stopped.
Todd of Cortland NY (11/10/07)
I had a cell plan with my girlfriend with verizon wireless. The account was under her name. Ever since we did a family plan I have had problems with my service which are not limited to dropped calls, the phone constantly saying verizon wireless when I make or recieve a call, inability to text message, etc. I have also had to buy a new phone. I priced it to buy flat out online with a rep and the price was $79.99 the rep said to me...WITHOUT CONTRACT OR AGGREEMENT....yes Right out! I was not eligible for upgrade either.
So then I talked to someone on the phone and got the same price. When I went to the local store, the rep said that same phone was $279.99 to buy outright. Then I explained it was promised to me at $79.99 and the promise was not honored. So I called cust. service and explained that. That person kept apologizing and said that the Phone was actually $149.99 and another store that was 40 minutes away had 1 left. Well, yes we went to that store and I was again lied to. THe phone is $225.99 I was told in that store.
Mitchell of Orleans MA (11/05/07)
I have a Verizon pre-paid cell phone and have not used it in some time. I called Verizon to reactivate. I paid $30 for pre-paid card. Was told phone was too old to reactivate, and that I should buy a new phone. I asked for a refund of my $30 and was told I could only debit a new Verizon cell. I don't want a new Verizon cell phone; I want to use my old phone, or I want my $30 refunded. Verizon is trying to blackmail me into buying a new phone, when my old phone works just fine for me.
I just want Verizon to give me my old number back, or a new number, or my $30.00! I am disabled, can't walk, and need my phone.
Steve of East Greenbush NY (11/05/07)
For several years I have used Verizon wireless Prepaid Cellular and during the past year they shut off my service. I was told that to continue service I would have to purchase a new model phone. When I complained to the NYS Attorney General, service was restored and Verizon sent a letter claiming that I had misunderstood the conversation. At a later date service was again interrupted and I was told that I was required to buy a new phone. When I reminded them I had a letter saying they would not cancel a phone because of its age, service was restored.
Recently I noticed a $10 charge for some sort of message supposedly sent to my phone. I contacted Verizon and the customer service representative would not give me any identifying information or badge number of tell me his location. He said they did not know the nature of the charge and could not credit me for it. Upon checking the history of my account, I determined this was the second time Verizon charged me $10 for some unexplained message. It has been explained to me that my older cell phone would be canceled and not reactivated if the account balance were to fall to zero. It would appear that in order to pressure me into buying a new phone, they are randomly charging my prepaid account with unexplained and unanticipated charges--and attempt to deplete my account so the phone can be shut off. I have acquired an new cellphone, but it is NOT Verizon. I am in the process of suing them. I have found hundreds of similar complaints which will be presented during legal proceedings.
I have been inconvenienced by unexpected cell phone service terminations, by the necessity of acquiring a new cell phone and having to advise family and friends of a new replacement cell phone number.
Paul of New NY (11/01/07)
Verizon has been overcharging my company for a number of years. They admit the mistake but refuse to make a full reimbursement. We have spent days trying to rectify the situation, and systematically the company is not cooperating. I've lost over $2000.
Fatima of Herndon VA (10/30/07)
I received a bill from Verizon Wireless for $357! What does not make any sense is that my cell phone (as well as everyone else's) records calls that are made, received and missed yet their bill shows that I have between 9 and over 40 calls a day. This is absurd! I did all the math, and I've written down every call my phone has made or received. Needless to say, their bill does not match what my phone says. And when I talked to customer service, they did not do a thing.
I haven't paid the bill yet, but if I'm forced to, I'm not going to have money to pay for anything else for at least a month.
Carolyn of Suwanee GA (10/30/07)
I terminated my Verizon Wireless account Aug. 25,2007. I have a credit balance of $87.11 that I have requested since the above date. I made numerous calls and received numerous reasons why I don't have the refund--such as a waiting period of 90 days to make sure no other charges come in as well as they have thousands of customers etc. Today I called and they said there had been an approval made, and I should receive the refund in 2 to 3 weeks because it is in PROCESSING. Needless to say, I am furious after having my cell phone account for 2 years and always paying promptly I will never recommend this company to anyone. A customer should NEVER have to wait this long for a refund, as I am sure Verizon would never let a customer wait to pay their bill.
I COULD USE THIS MONEY AND THEY ARE HOLDING IT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
Greta of Bronx NY (10/29/07)
I have called Verizon Wireless about 5 times over the past 4 months regarding billing. I had so many problems with getting service they gave me 3 months of free service. It sounded good; but every month I would get a bill, and when I would call consumer relations they would tell me to ignore it. I have just received a letter from a collection agency telling me that they now need to collect the money. I wasn't to start paying until November! Now Verizon has ruined my credit, and I can't get anybody to do anything about it. I'm really sick over this and don't know what I should do next.
I'm really tired of calling them and not seeing anything done about my account. It's stressful, and now I want nothing to do with them. I have never had such a bad experience with a company that has no idea what they are doing. Somebody should audit them.
Karen of Londonderry NH (10/29/07)
I would like to join or start a class action suit against Verizon wireless. Verizon wireless shut down my pre-pay cell phone even though I had 80 hours on my cell phone account and was paid up to date. I am royally furious and want some remuneration. Verizon told me there was nothing they could or would do to pay me back for the unusable cell phone or the money I had spent to keep my pre-paid account up to |
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