Verizon

On three separate occasions in the past six months Verizon Wireless has made unauthorized debits to my MasterCard. This is in clear violation of the subscriber's contract, and Verizon does not dispute this. The debits were large enough to send my bank account into overdraft, and bank penalties now total $500. Verizon has made no meaningful effort to remedy the situation, and my bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, has the audacity to claim that this is not Interstate Wire and Mail Fraud (The wording of the Federal Statute is not ambiguous--this is fraud).

So far I have filed formal complaints with: The FCC; the US Postal Inspector General; IC3, which is a joint Internet fraud entity controlled by the FBI. If I see no remedy on the horizon I will file a small claims court action, naming Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam as the defendant.

Wish me luck. If anyone has had a similar issue with Verizon, please get in touch with me at [protected]@gmail.com

Verizon Customer Service
540 Broad Street
Newark, NJ 07101

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is in response to the poor service I received when I was a Verizon Wireless customer from September [protected]. For the first 8 or so months of service, the internet service was okay. There were some instances in which the internet was not working or extremely slow, but the issue was able to be resolved through a phone call to Technical Support. This 30-45 minute phone call was an inconvenience, but I was glad the issue was able to be resolved nonetheless.

From the period of July 3rd, 2009 to August 24th, 2009, a technician had to come to my home on four separate occasions to fix my internet. This occurred two weeks in a row, on July 3 and July 10th. On the second visit, the technician recommended that the internet speed be lowered from 7.1 Mbps to 3 Mbps. He said that the connectivity issue stemmed from the distance from Verizon’s server and my apartment and that lowering the speed would actually make the internet go faster. I called Verizon to make this change and was offered a lower monthly rate, but I would only get the lower monthly rate IF I signed another 12 month contract. I declined, saying that I had already experienced poor service and did not want to continue this service any longer than I already had to. This lower rate also irritated me, because when I had first signed up for service, the Verizon employee encouraged me to take the higher speed. Basically, Verizon had been profiting from selling me a higher speed at a higher price when I would have had better service if I would have taken the lower speed that presented less of a profit for Verizon. Furthermore, it was in my opinion that I be given this lower rate because my internet was at a lower speed and because of the many problems I have experienced.

My next internet service outage was from July 29 to August 2. I called Verizon Technical Support as soon as I was aware of the problem, but the problem was not fixed until 5 days later. They said that a technician would be sent Thursday afternoon, which I had to take off work to wait for. The technician never came and the issue was not resolved until the following Sunday. This created an extreme inconvenience, as relied on having internet access at my apartment. I did pay Verizon $35 a month to have to drive over to the public library to use the internet for 30 minutes between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

I also was without internet from August 21 to 24. I called on Friday when I became aware of the issue. They were not able fix the problem over the phone. The Support Technician said that they would be able to send out a technician on Monday. I requested a technician for Saturday, stating that I work full-time and could not take off work. The individual on the phone said that technicians do not work on Saturday. I told that they did indeed work on Saturdays, as one had come to my apartment on a Saturday. She said that one “might” be able to come on Saturday but that she could not guarantee this. I told that I wanted this issue addressed, especially considering that this was the 4th technician that had to come to my apartment in the past 8 weeks. My internet was not fixed until the following Monday.

While I was able to get a small service credit for the time I was without internet, this amount did not compare with the time and inconvenience caused by the lack of internet. Every time a technician had to be called, I had to take off of work. I should not have to take off the greater part of 4 days within 8 weeks because my internet is not working. Furthermore, each time I had to call technical support, the call was at least 45 minutes long (half of this time was spent on hold).

I also did not approve of Verizon’s billing practices. When I initially received the modem, these charges were taken out of my checking account. I did not realize that this automatically authorized Verizon to take the monthly bill out of my account automatically every month. I never signed anything giving Verizon the authority to do so. The first month I had service, I called to request a paper bill. The only bill at that time was an e-mail that I received the day the money was taken out of my account. Even though I requested a paper bill and an e-mail with earlier notice of the billing, I did not receive either. The only paper communication I ever received from Verizon my very last bill stating that my balance was zero.

When I had signed up for internet service, I understood it was a 12 month contract. Ironically, Verizon told me I had to call right before my 12 month service was up to end my service. I also asked for a letter stating that my service with Verizon had ended. She stated that Verizon does not provide paper billing and could only provide me with a confirmation number. Furthermore, when I called to end my service, the woman asked why I was discontinuing my service and tried to discourage me from ending my internet service (even after I explained to her that I had to have a technician come to my apartment four times in eight weeks). This is just another example of Verizon’s aggressive business tactics.

I was very glad once my 12 months of service with Verizon ended. In all of my life I have never experienced such poor internet and customer service. Through my experience I became very aware of Verizon’s prime focus on profit margins and lack of focus on providing quality internet and customer service. I will never again use Verizon internet and will be spreading the message to everyone I know, including the Better Business Bureau and other consumer advocacy groups. I urge you to reconsider the way you treat your customers and the “quality” of service you provide.

Sincerely,

Melissa D.

Verizon Wireless is a bunch of incompetent jerks. I have held a verizon contract account for the past eight years, never had a problem. The last two months verizon wireless has been charging my card for someone else's minutes. Which I may add that as of this month October 2009, has added up to 900.00. I called the number listed on my bank statement and spoke to a verizon idiot, who told me that without a phone number (how would I know this) they cant help me. So then I contacted my bank and had the bank account frozen which everyone knows how convenient that is. I then called Verizon and spoke to a "manager" *(yea, right) who told me there is absolutely no way for them to track the transactions. Which is strange since thats what the "trace" numbers are for. The accounting deptartment can track where the money went but they refuse to help. I have filed a fraud case with both my local police and my bank. I just cant belive how flippant Verizon has been throughout this whole ordeal. As soon as my contract is up I will be finding another company to give my hard earned money too. In the meantime, I have promised Verizon that I will tell everyone about how they treat their "valued customers". I will shout it from mountain tops and if posting this stops just one person from becoming a Verizon customer then I have succeeded!

I am the president of our HOA board, and we have been trying to get Verizon's subcontractors to finish their install job at our condo complex for over a year. We are not "difficult landlords", nor have we made any requests other than what was promised to us- fast internet and decent TV service. We have 39 units spread over a total of 10 buildings; so it's not rocket science and shouldn't take a decade.

It's been WELL over a year now, and we still have unsightly spools of fiber optic cabling hanging off our buildings. The subconcractor hasn't even been to the site in about 6 months. Even though a few of our smaller buildings are "complete", Verizon refuses to activate any individual's service until the entire complex can order at once. Nevermind that each unit is supposed to have it's own connection to the Verizon service, and would be paid for and billed to each individual owner. It's not centrally managed.

Additionally: The subcontractors for Verizon (North Sky Communications) destroyed one of our units by drilling through a fire sprinkler line. The damage was covered by the installers, but exceeded $20, 000. I'm very disappointed.

North sky refuses to return phone calls from us or our property management company (they handle our bookwork, complaints, etc). Calling Verizon is worthless because the folks on the phones are just script-reading minions, and they WILL NOT transfer you to anyone beyond their department that could actually help (such as the engineering department). I've left messages with them to have an engineer call me back, but those calls go unanswered.

In short, I'm not sure what to do anymore. We are thinking about filing a lawsuit to get the unsightly spools of cable removed from our buildings, if they are not going to complete this install.

Unfortunately, this sucks. Hopefully someone else reads this and reconsiders before having these screwballs attempt an install at your condo complex.

Verizon Fios TV could be the best in every category of features if the company had any sense. But it lacks in three crucial areas -- 1) It's on screen channel menu really sucks compared to Dish and Direct TV satellite TV, and 2) It doesn't seem to offer as many HD channels as the satellite services -- I haven't counted the number, but it does seem that way, and others have said the same, and 3) They charge way too much for their HD DVR.

Unless they eliminate these glaring shortcomings, I will switch back to Dish Network for my TV when the year is up. Their Fios Internet service, however, is unmatched.

Verizon wireless sucks!
I have a $500 blackberry storm that is almost useless as the only thing I can use it for is the internet!
I have 99% of all call incoming & outgoing dropped and it does not matter how many signal bars I have either!
I just had 13 outgoing calls dropped and 4 incoming calls dropped and 3-4 signal bars on it! I called verizon about this and they said that I lived in one of those areas and there was nothing they could do to fix it!
I then said they should change their slogan from can you hear me to you cant hear me now, as that should be considered false advertisement as they claim you even get signal driving through a tunnel under ground and still get reception (bs) I live on top of a bluff and cant get reception and within 6 miles from the tower!
I had us cellular be fore this and never had a problem with dropped calls!

Verizon wireless absolutely sucks!

When I received the rebate cards from Alltel, I tried to use the total amount for some purchases for things and when the card was used once I needed to get the amount left on the card and place that at the cashier with the specific amounts. When I recently tried to get the information the account had been suspended. Warning to all, spend the total amount once you start to use the card or you will not get the full amount back. This is a rip-off since the card had an expiration date of 2010. There are hidden fees after starting to use the card. You will not get any satisfaction from customer service which is in another country.

When I received my Verizon bill in April of last year I called the billing department and questioned an amount under ILD Teleservices of 13.22. The rep told me that it was an extra telecommunications fee that had been increased and that there was nothing I could do about it since the Federal Government had increased the rate. So I have been paying this fee all year.

When I received this month's billing (January) my ILD Teleservices increased to $44.41. I called Verizon to inquire about it and was told that they do not charge this this service. It is a service independent of them and I must have approved it. I did not approve of, it to my knowledge. I was given another number to call and kept on hold for well into an hour only to be answered with a 'sorry mam, but we are the third pary who does the billing for this company and you would have to call 866-... to cancel the service. It is for a mobile ansering service.' To my recollection, I do not, and have never needed this type of service. When I called that number I was put on hold for one half hour and gave up. Is this fraud and a scam? Why are Verizon participating in this type of scam by allowing this company to bill customers on their bills?

Frustrated w/service w/At&T I decided to break my contract and go w/Verizon. What did I have to loose with their new "30 Day Worry Free Guarantee?" It stated I could break the contract and /or change phones within 30 days. The Manager in Chipley Fl told me to mail in my rebate for the Blackberry Storm to get back $70. I had until a certain date to do that. I did as I was told but a few days before the 30 days was up I decided that this was really too much phone for me and I could settle for a less expensive one. I went in to exchange the phone and was told that because I mailed in the rebate (hadn't recieved it by the way) and cut the UPC code off the box as instructed that the Worry Free Guarantee was VOID because they could n't sell that phone to anyone else w/the UPC code being cut off the box! I told him this is what you told me to do! I even called Verizon cust. service and they restated what he told me. I've had it w/these cell phone companies! I'm seriously thinking of cancelling Verizon and going w/boost moblie whom I heard doesn't require a contract.

I had Verizon FIOS installed on 12/10/2007. I was billed since that date. After nearly three months of phone calls and emails to Verizon service people. It took Verizon Customer service people until February 19th to send me an acknowledgment letter to apply for my free T V. They had "NO PROBLEM " billing during this time for FIOS SERVICE .The Original advertising said 6 to 8 weeks after installation I would have T V.. Is this "FALSE Advertising!? I have copies of the emails for documentation of all this.. They don't seem to care Beware! If you are considering their offers! I am still waiting for the delivery of the T V. 04/16/2008.

At approximately around 11:10pm I had called Alltel directory assistance for a 1-800 number that was supposedly to be in Main, the assistance operator had transfered me to another rep.concerning the 1-800. number, and it was a female that had took the call for an apparent malicious attack to verbally destroy a customer/consumer, for no apparent reason. When I asked to be connected to the local Authorities in the area that the 1-800. was from she engaged in THE WRONG VOCABULARY with me. She stated the comments of ...REACH FOR ME.., numerous times and stated she was going to destroy my HOLIDAY, . Another mistake. I stated I was going to record her and stated I did and did. I further called back to get her, the number that I WAS CONNECTED TO to have verification to where she was and just so happens I believe it was her again.

Thats the one I got on tape .No its not there on tape.

On my April, 2009 Verizon One-Bill, I was charged $9.99 for "Premium Test Messaging". Not knowing what this was, I contacted Verizon (a real pain) and was told it was applied by Go Live Mobile, aka SMS Gamer Info. I called Go Live Mobile and they said they would make a refund. Lie -- never saw anything. A credit did appear on the May, 2009 Verizon bill, along with a letter explaining the credit may take up to two billing cycles. But then the June, 2009 bill arrived and the "Premium Test Messaging" charge reappeared. I attempted to contact Go Live Mobile a good dozen times and could never got through, as "all our agents are busy". Upon calling Verizon Wireles after the second incident, I did get them to initiate a block on these scams, so we'll see what happens in the future. The party line is that all phone carriers are subject to these add-ons and cannot do much about it. But this was an inconvenience that should have never happened in the first place. It sounds to me that some legislation is in order.

I ordered a prepaid Verizon Wireless phone online but the cover did not work because the metal latch was missing. I tried to return it to get the proper credit but have talked to 8 people so far and no one can help me. I tried to return to a Verizon Wireless store but they wouldn't take it.
If you are going to order a prepaid phone do not order online GO TO A VERIZON WIRELESS PHONE STORE!
It seems like a simple thing to get the proper credit for a defective phone but no one on phone support can help me. If you go to an actual store they will be able to help you later.

I had to wait until the 2 Yr contract was up before cancelling and switching over to ATT. Three months later, I go and sell my old Verizon phone on Craig's list and the buyer calls back a few hours later saying Verizon has reported the phone as stolen and won't turn on her service.

I call Verizon and they say the phone was reported as stolen... guess when it was reported stolen? The last day of my 2yr contract! Hmmm, quite a coincidence. The cust svc rep says that because the account has been closed, she cannot take my phone off the stolen list. The account would have to be reopened to do that!

It looks like someone at Verizon listed my phone as lost or stolen the last day of my 2yr contract effectively keeping me from selling my old phone. I'm going to try a supervisor tomorrow. I told the rep that the only one that could or should have reported the phone as stolen would be me, the owner, and that it has never been stolen and I am trying to sell it to a Verizon customer... who wishes to have the phone/service turned on. The rep kept repeating she couldn't remove the stolen staus without reactivating my old account.

Do you see the picture developing here? BEWARE of Verizon customer service! I heard horror stories and now they are happening to me. Speak up people, don't take any crap any more from any one!

Made a payment arrangement for alltel to take a payment for oct 3rd and the card they had on file was wrong as we had changed our card so i was turned over to their financial dept. to give them my new card number and low and behold did everything even verified the date and got a confirmation number from the customer service rep.then went to do my bank book and what happened they took they payment today when there is not enough in the account to even cover the payment.i called them to make their mistake known and told that it would take up to 15 days for them to investigate and maybe i would get my money and the overdraft fees back if it was their fault, then was told to call my bank and get it stopped through them but my bank said it was made with a debit card so could not be stopped i never authorized the payment just the arrangements for the third so this should be reveresed but i'm getting the run around and in the mean time i do not have any money in my account to buy groceries or have money for my bus fare to get to work until fridays payday when is when they were supoose to take the payment..

We had 2 cellular phones w/ Verizon Wireless. They began calling us frequently to tell us we were due for an upgrade to a new phone since we were out of service within a week or so. Then, a few weeks later after failing on our part to pay our bill on time, they shut off my husband's service. When he called to make a payment and get it re-connected, he was told we'd have to pay a re-connect fee. My husband told the gal that we were no longer in contract with them, and if they were going to charge a re-connect fee, he would switch to AT&T. She put him on hold, then came back said, okay yes you're right so we'll waive the fee for you.

Sometime later, we cancelled service with Verizon and switched to AT&T. We then received a bill for over $300 in 'broken contract' fees. They're saying we were never out of contract with them and now they are harassing us trying to collect this money.

We CAN" be the only people they have done this to and we are mad! I'm wondering if there is a class action suit against Verizon Wireless for these deceptive practices and if so, how can I get involved to go after these ###.

Thank you for any help out there,
Tanya

[protected]@gmail.com

I am a military member that was with Verizon Wireless for a while. I was approved for a military discount when I signed up for service and recieved it for the first 6 months and then it was taken away without notice. When I noticed the mistake, I contacted the customer service and given a fax number that I had to send my earnings statement to and copy of military ID. I did that and was given it back and then it was taken away another 8 months later. Again, I had to verify my information. This happened again 3 more times. The last time it happened was because they resigned me on the wrong account for a person over 60 years old. I am in my 20's. They told me I couldn't get a military discount. My plan was changed immediately when they noticed I wasn't of age for te cell phone plan. I tried to have my discount restored, but constantly given the run around. They would send me to the store and the store will have me contact customer service. It was 2 years and they still refuse to give me a credit for my discount. Because I switched service to another carrier and no longer a customer. ANY FUTURE CUSTOMERS...STAY AWAY!

Terrible terrible terrible! I will never use verizon again! For anything!

I only have two viable options for internet service in my area. The dreaded comcast and verizon dsl (Not fios because it is still not available in my area).

After going through about 6 years of service nightmares, rogue charges, and terrible customer service with comcast, I decided to jump ship and get my internet through verizon. Well I found out that they are in fact worse than comcast.

I will try to keep this as short as possible even thought I could spend hours on this!

Aug 7th - my "service start date", in which I was charged for the service and the one time equipment charge. I plug in my modem I had received in the mail and what do you know? It does not work. I spend 2 hours on the phone with tech support who can't fix my problem. They say they need to send out a technician. I was going on vacation the next day so I needed to reschedule in a weeks time. Mind you they already charged my account.

Aug 17th - I call to schedule my technician. After spending 20 mins getting to a human, I get someone who has no record of my previous call. The insist I need to go through the troubleshooting steps again before scheduling a tech to come out. Mind you, I work in the it department of a large software company. I know my stuff pretty, but he doesn't care and makes me go through all the steps. Finally after an hour and a half he tells me he can schedule a technician. "what 10 hour window would you like sir?", he asks. I tell him no way in hell would I wait for 10 hours that is ridiculous. He tells me they can do 5 hour windows. I accept one for the upcoming wednesday. He tells me 12pm-5pm is the window.

Aug 19th - I take the day off from work to wait for the tech just because I am nervous I will miss them. They never show up. No call, nothing. Just didn't show up. I'm furious now. I call verizon, 30 mins of rerouting. I get tech support who asks me if I want to troubleshoot the modem again. I start getting real mad and ask for a supervisor. I am hung up on!

Aug 24 - I needed to wait a few days before trying again because I felt I would blow a gasket otherwise. I call, have to explain my situation for the fifth time after getting bounced around on the phone for 30 minutes. I get tech support who wants to, yes, you guessed it, troubleshoot my modem again. I tell him no way. I want a technician to come out and that I won't take another weekday off. He tells me they don't do saturdays. I ask for a supervisor. While on hold, they drop the call.

Aug 28 - I decide that i'm done. I have lost a day of work, spent ours on the phone, and for nothing. I will call them and cancel my service. But I know its not over. How could it be with such bad service? In fact decide to roll up the sleeves, get dirty, and record all my calls to verizon.

I do the typical 20 minutes of getting bounced around in the system. Get a hold of a rep and tell them I want out. They tell me the will transfer me to the correct dept. They transfer me to, none other than, tech support who want to troubleshoot. I decide to get some dirt while i'm there and humor them. I spend an hour on the phone and get nothing accomplished before they finally get me to cancellations. I am so mad that he does not even put up a fight. He cancels my account and tells me my money will be refunded in 3 billing cycles or no less than sixty days. Wow. At least i'm out... Or so I thought.

Sept 2 - I get a letter in the mail saying I need to go to a ups and ship the modem back in 30 days or I get charged $100. I immediately call up to tell them I will not return their modem until I get my money. The operator is nervous after I told her I was recording the call and tells me my money will be returned on the 7th of sept.

Sept 7 - no money back into my bank account. I decide to give it a few days.

Sept 14 - still, the money is not returned. Another call, recording again. This time the operators are much more skittish when I tell them they are being recorded. The first says she isn't comfortable with it, and I tell her to give me someone that is. I get another person and ask for a supervisor and, no lie, I have the audio to back it up, he tells me there are no supervisors that work on mondays. He is somewhat polite and transfers me to "financial services". The operator picks up, I tell him hes being recorded. And he tells me he won't authorize that and hangs up. This happens two more times. I just want my money back here people!

Today - this situation has me so angry that I want to do what I can to expose just how bad verizon is as well as the fact that they, and comcast are my only options for internet service, and both are terrible. I will keep calling verizon, recording how awful they are and post files on whatever sites I can. Perhaps i'll create a blog dedicated to it. Either way, people need to not only read but hear just hiw bad verizon is. I wasted time (Hours on the phone with tech support) and money (Time off from work), and for what? I never even received service from the! Something is wrong with this! We need to make a stand against these large telecom companies!

Verizon: worst customer service I have experienced in my life by far!

If you feel the same as me and want to support this cause feel free to get in touch with me to collaborate in any way you like. Or if you would like copies of my audio calls I would love to get them out to the world!

~matty stevenson
[protected]@gmail.com
617.942.1386 - my google voice number - yes google voice allows me to give out my number to anyone without fear.

When a salesman for Verizon FiOS stopped by on June 9 I asked about the FiOS Motorola DVR HD recording capacity which is about 18 hours using a small internal hard drive and when an external hard drive could be added. He told me they were working on the software and it would be available in one month so I subscribed. But here it is near the middle of September and the DVR still will not support an external hard drive to increase capacity. Tech support yesterday told me it was a copy write issue but Time Warner, Comcast, TiVO, and other companies have solved that problem and support an external drive to increase recording time.

My advice is either get your cable service from other than Verizon or do NOT buy their DVR and get a TiVO instead. I would switch but signed a two year contract based on the salesman's assurance that an external drive would be supported by August.

Bob