Verizon issues – is this what I will have each month?

[Presentation]

My question is, after only being on the Verizon system for a month and having 6 errors I am asking of this is the type of service I can expect from Verizon?

I have been an Alltel customer for years. I live in a town by Appleton Wisconsin. Alltel was purchased by Verizon. Because of this I am now a Verizon customer.

Last month was my first month under Verizon billing.

One day last month I could not get online with my EVDO air card. I went to a local Verizon store. The first thing I asked is if the system was down for former AllTel customers. The customer service representative claimed to check, and looking at their monitor that I could not see and typing on their keyboard said there was no reported system outages.

Error #1) They claimed their system was not down, it was.

I had my laptop and card with me. The CSR played with it a bit and claimed he determeind the card was broken and not fixable and the solution was to sell me a new air card.

Error #2) My card had no issue. A day later everything worked as it had before.

The CSR said if I got a new card the $59.99 monthly access fee would be pro-rated so I still would only pay $59.99 plus taxes for the month plus the onetime fee for the new card.

I agreed to this, paid for a new air card, they deactivated my air card and activated a new one that also did not work. By this time others came in the store with air card issues. A manager came over and said the the system is down but it’s not an official down so it’s not in the computer. OK, I said please cancel this new card, give me my money back and reactivate my old card. He did.

I got my phone bill. Wow!

For my data card I was charged:

BSP Unlimited Plan 11/22 - 12/21 $59.99 (my normal data access)

Wireless Internet 11/13 - 11/21 $17.42 (I assume the pro-rated data access for the card I never got)

Error # 3) charged me a prorated access fee for a card I did not have.

Wireless Internet 11/22 - 12/21 $59.99 (I guess more just to really push it over the top)

Error #4) I really can’t explain why I got this one. Maybe when they reactivated my account they just decided to charge me for a full month again for pure profit.

Yesterday I got an email telling me I can view my bill online. I did, discovered these charges, called customer service and the person agreed the $17.42 and $59.99 plus any related taxes were in error and would credit my account for this plus $10 for my inconvenience.

Today I get an email that my bill had been updated. I only got the $27.42 ($17.42 + $10) credit, the double $59.99 and all related taxes remain.

Error #5) When issuing the billing correction they made another error, in their favor, by not crediting my account for this second $59.99.

I call again. The new person says they agree I should not be billed twice for the $59.99 data package but I was and I was not credited correctly and I am still owed a $59.99 credit but they can’t do anything today, he is off Monday but Tuesday will request this credit but there is nothing they can do about all the additional taxes because that’s a different department.

Error #6) If Verizon makes a over-billing error and this causes additional taxes, they may credit and fix the error but they keep the related taxes. I don't think this is right but I could not convince the CSR on the phone that I was correct.

So I have been a Verizon customer for 1 month and have had 6 errors.

 

[comsnark]

Yup. . .you are the customer, and you got "serviced".

I used to have this regularly with my (non verizon) cell phone. About once per year, my plan would be "upgraded" without my knowledge or consent. It stopped after about four mergers.

 

[Hampton]

Gosh, I hope not. We just switched to them.

 

[firecadet613]

That makes Sprint sound great. I've been with them over 10 years, and any billing issue gets corrected on the first phone call. I think I've had three minor issues total.

 

[Chris R]

Had Verizon for years with no issues here.

 

[Weave]

Had Verizon for years with no issues here.

same here....interesting. Hope things get better. I feel like you do when I deal with Charter for cable:smt021

 

[STIHLBOLTS]

I have been a Alltel customer over 10 years and had only a couple of minor issues, none related to billing. They are still here in my area and I have looked at Verizon but I am waiting to see what happens in the next year once Alltel becomes "Unknown Cell Carrier" from off shore. I think they will get bought out one more time before it's all over. :huh:

 

[mwph]

Ive had a couple billing issues over the last 6-8 years. Always resolved quickly in the store. Going forward - most Verzion stores outsource the technical/repair stuff to Flextronics. (check the name tags). These guys are bad ass! I now only speak with Flextronics guys for tech info. & Verizon managers only to get any billing issues credited.

 

[Presentation]

Thanks guys.

I will update when I find out more.

 

[MarkD]

Their billing stinks. Their cell coverage is the best here in northeast. Its like heaven and hell... LOL..

Try AT&T, i had 2 phones (ATT for work & Vz personal), both which i carried with me all of the time. At least the Vz phone had signal and could talk without dropping calls all over the place. That is true frustration!