Beware of Verizon customer service & contracts

Virizon has caused my credit rating to drop 200 points in the last 6 months due to my taking their customer service rep. at her word.
I called in Aug. 03 to find out when my contract was up. I was tired of dropped calls and erroneous roaming charges. I was told it would be up in Oct 03. I had Nextel switch my phone in Feb. 04. (By the way Nextel has been a much better service for me)
After the switch Verizon promptly sent me an early terminiation bill for $225.29 stating that I had terminated my service early. It turned out that by following their reps advice, I had unknowingly ended my 2 year contract 13 days early.
I sent them a payment that would cover my regular service through the end of the month, which would have been the end of my contract. They called me and said I still owed $170 regardless of what their rep had told me.
Bottom line is I tried unsuccessfully to resolve this with them 3 times and they turned me over to collection. The last time I spoke with one of their reps, they laughed at me.
I know it is a small amount of money, but I am very tired of these big companies taking advantage of people and getting away with it. I am now in the process of applying for a new home loan and will probably end up having to pay it to clear my credit, but this is soooo wrong! I would rather pay the money to anyone else, including IRS, than Verizon. They will never have my business again or the business of anyone I know if I can infulence the decission.

Unfortunately, the reason that many people get penalized , making costly mistakes, is their lack of understanding of their agreement.

Obviously, in your case, you probably would have waited a few more days had you realized the consequences.

And if the unplanned fee isn't bad enough, many companies lack of compassion when your penalties are rebutted, stings even more
.
I come across complaints daily similar to yours.

Even with so many consumer complaints, why do most people end up paying up to save their credit? The companies sucessfully get their money.. Rarely have I seen a customer come out on top.

Basically, people hang themselves. They signed an agreement which they failed to follow. Breaking the agreement has consequences . It's plain and simple. Does it matter if a customer didn't know the deal? Or, if they were explained something on the phone, which turned out to be wrong?,

No, it does not matter. Bottom line, you broke a deal.
I wan't to say I sympathize with your situation. But, I also get really frustrated when people get info from nameless, faceless cust svc reps over the phone. Especially when it concerns a situation similar to yours.

There are too many chances that you misunderstood them or even they misunderstood you... What did your original agreement state as a contract date? Was it really cancelled 13 days early, or did Verizon mess up? When the rep told you August as a date, did you ask them to note that on your account? In case there were any misunderstanding did you call later on to verify the info you were given? Did the rep actually note the account as you asked?

Your answer, like most other people in your shoes, is NO ......

It seems obvious now, but too many people learn the hard way to KNOW AND UNDERSTAND what gets signed.

Verizon isn't going to trick or purposely mislead customers.
I do think that you feel "duped" by them. . But I disagree with you blaming them for the resulting damage to your credit. Like in many of lifes situations, ignorance is not an excuse.

When you ported your VZW # to Nextel, your account was cancelled automatically. Normally , when you call to cancel , any charges are explained at that time. You may wan't to wait to cancel if it's too early.

Verizon issues a final bill, cancels your account , and you are now a former customer. What are they going to do for you now? Any future questions could only be bill related, so you deal with the billing department instead of cust svc. While they must be professional, their job is to collect money. They hear every excuse in the book.

In your case, nothing could be done. When you called to question your bill, they could only make sure it was correct, and stand by it. They can't be expected to let you off the hook for any reason. Especially when you tell them that a rep on the phone gave you some date over 6 mos ago. It almost does seem funny that you would base something so important on a old phone conversation..

Again, I sympathize with you and your dilemma. I don't want to come off like I'm on your case personally, just using your story to point out some honest mistakes people make.

Again, it's extremely important to understand, and not assume anything, when you sign agreements.

My take is a little more sypathetic. You were misinformed by a Verizon employee. That is their mistake. Don't pay. Read up on the web on credit disputes. You may be able to get it off your credit rating. Failing that, tell your prospective lenders long before you get to the closing table to buy your house that Verizon put this on your credit, but that you have no intention of paying it. Share the letter with them showing that you were not at fault, and that you handled it fairly. The lender wants your business, but they don't like surprises. Control the issue by being the first one to tell them, and be firm that if they want your business, the Verizon bill isn't getting paid. If you wait until the closing table for them to find out, the lender will ask you to pay it, and you will probably have to. I did exactly this several years ago with a $400+ bill related to a cell phone which was in my name, but owned and paid for by my prior employer. The employer's accounts payable department was clueless. AT&T wouldn't recognize that it was not my debt. I got tired of trying to mediate, so I just stopped replying. My lender knew I wasn't budging and that it bore no reflection on my ability to pay the mortgage, so it was a non-issue.

I used to work for them in the finance department. They are really tightening up on the ETF fees because they see it as lost revenue. In your case you have a legit gripe since they told you the wrong information. In the past (before they tightened up the ETF policy) they had to abide by what they told you even if it was wrong. I would have had them pull up the taped call where they told you this to clear yourself.

How do I get them to pull up the taped call? Is it too late to do that? Would their new policies make that futile?

I can't speak specifically about Verizon, but I do have some *general* information that may prove useful.

I was employed for 4 years with Universal Studios. My job was simple: Any and all letters from customers, public, et cetera came to my desk. Even letters addressed to the President of the company came to me with a sticky note from his assistant as to what he wanted included in the reply.

First and foremost, you should know that exceptions can be made. This is true in any company. Each company has different rules so how high you need to go to get an exception made can vary. I can *almost* guarantee that if you do the following you will see favorable results.

Write a letter to the President of Verizon Wireless. To make this easier on you, I'll tell you that his name is "Denny Strigl" (Yes, it is spelled correctly). I'm not sure if Verizon Wireless corporate offices are in the same location as Verizon corporate offices, but that address is:
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
I would imagine that a letter addressed to him here will find him no matter what.

Now, the content of your letter. If you work for any sort of recognizable company, I would recommend drafting your letter on company letterhead. This can make a difference, even though we say it doens't. If the company is well known it can help you. Universal Studios letterhead, Clear Channel Radio letterhead, Viacom letterhead... you get the idea.

Second: Your letter should express your disappointment, but not be rude, demanding, or otherwise unpleasant. No one wants to help you if they don't like you. While working for Universal, if I received a letter that CALMLY and RATIONALLY explained a LEGITIMATE issue concerning our company, I was usually inclined to assist the person as much as I could. I recomment begining your letter with something to the effect of:

I am writing this letter to you today to express my disappointment with recent communications with Verizon Wireless Customer Support. I have some problems that I need help with and I met some major difficulties when I tried to resolve them. This was especially disheartening to me because I've always had such great experiences with Verizon Wireless in the past.

The last sentence is important. It expresses that you want to have faith in the comapany's etchics. That you aren't just a complainer who is actively looking for things to complain about.

That's basically it. If you don't have the best written communication skills I would enlist the help of a friend or family member. Your letter needs to express that you are a highly intelligent person. Intelligent people that are good communicators pose the most risk to a company if left dissatisfied.

Lastly, in many companies, just the fact that you took the time necessarry to contact the Predident's Office directly will help you greatly. The President of a company doesn't work with the public every day and he isn't someone who, to quote the earlier post, has heard every excuse in the book. He isn't thinking that way. His main concern is to deal with you swiftly and efficiently because, let's face it, his office has MANY more important things to deal with. "What is it going to take to satisfy this customer? Only forgiveness on a $170 debt? Then do it." That is more than likely what his sentiment will be.

I hope this helps. Good luck. Post here to keep me posted on your progress. I am interested in hearing about what happens.

+Mike Watt

I have to agree with rafki12. Comments to the affect of "you were misinformed by Verizon" miss the point that there was a contract agreed and signed at activation. The contract that initiated the service was not an oral contract. You got a hardcopy you signed when you agreed to the terms of service. That contract included the termination date, it is the consumers responsibility to keep their documents in order, caveat emptor. If you lost it, you could have requested a reprint. The early termination fee is industry wide and was stated in your contract.

You said you were promptly sent your Final Bill. Your decision to make only the payment you deemed necessary is certainly yours decision as it was Verizon to hold you to the terms of your agreement.

Your account would not have been turned over to an outside collections agency for 30 days after the termination of your contract as a result of failure by the customer to make arrangements to pay the remaining balance on the bill. I find it hard to believe that Verizon would not have attempted, with their in-house collections department, to contact you for payment on this bill prior to turning it over to an outside collections agency. If you were obstinate in not paying the final bill, that was again your choice to make. That it was turned over to a collections agency should not have come as a surprise as that is a common business practice on delinquent accounts.

Additionally, collection agencies do not normal place a negative notice on your credit report immediately. They too make attempts to contact the responsible party for payment. As such, you twice refused payment on the bill. Your decision not to pay resulted in the note on your credit report. Surely you understood this would be the outcome. Simply ignoring the problem would not make it go away. How is this a big company taking advantage of people?

The bottom line, you signed a contract, you terminated that contract early. The consequences of that termination were stated in the contract you would/should have read (and would have specifically been told to you at the time of sign-up by the selling representative). Now you are laying the blame for a lowered credit score with Verizon rather than taking responsibility for your actions.

Apathy or failure on the consumer’s part to be informed about their contractual responsibility does not require Verizon to provide a special dispensation by waiving your early termination fee.

I hope you get your home loan and carefully read the contract.

I can only add that the only person with a vested interest in your contract status/credit rating is you. Given that circumstance, you have to take the initiative to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. While it sucks that the Verizon rep gave you bad info, you have to have your contract out and make sure that everything is in line.

Pat Slate or anybody who has the same problem with Verizon or had the same negative credit report account by Verizon. I would like to follow up and read some advise or find out how are you dealing with this absurd situation or how you solved it. Thank you.

I canceled my service with Verizon within the 15 day trial and was billed $211. I have been contacting them since 3/8/06 regarding this matter and they tell me that the warehouse is a separate entity and until they have been notified by the warehouse they cannot credit my account. In June the account was turned over to collection, despite my numerous emails and calls. Keep in mind that I have a proof of delivery reciept signed by a Verizon employee on 2/22/06, obtained from FedEx. Last week, I retained a lawyer to handle the matter. Verizon SUCKS!!!

Beware of Verizon customer service & contracts

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