Verizon

February 23, 2010

In Dec. 09 I decided that I had enough of my black berry and went into the local verizon store to see about a new phone. I explained to the employee that I am very water active and am interested in a water proof phone. She told me that they do have them in the store but if I where to call or go directly to verizons web site I could get a better deal. I went to the web site- not sure exactly which phones were water proof, I decided to call and make sure I got the right one. Verizon sales person new exactly which phone was best for me, after I explained how much time I spend on the water, she set me up with the water proof phone. I asked her a number of times to verify that it is water proof and her answer was yes. I then decided to add an additional line and get two of the phones and change my calling plan. Then I was transferred to an authority figure whom disclosed that this part of the call was recorded asked if I did approve all the changes and if I wanted any additional changes. I again asked him if the phones were water proof and his response was yes. I told him that was all I needed. About two weeks ago after kayaking my phone was broke and appeared to have water damage (phone got splashed but not submerged) I was surprised and called verizon that night. They informed me to call my insurance company but I felt that paying $39.00 for a manufactures defect wasn't right. The sales man informed me that he didn't think the phone was water proof, then read some spec's to me about the phone being able to go 112 meters underwater and that he will send a new phone out. I received the new phone yesterday and today it broke. I went kayaking but placed the phone in a zip lock bag due to recent experience. Got out of the water to discover it too got splashed and broke. Being very upset about this defective water proof phone I went into the store. There I discovered that verizon originally did not sale me a water proof phone and since 30 days have past I was stuck with what I have or I could buy a water proof phone. This is not acceptable. I feel that I was deceived during the original purchase. I feel that now the customer has to record all conversations with verizon in preparations of a dispute and to have accessible legal recordings for up coming law suits. I should be sent the two phones I had originally purchased, the car power chargers, a financial credit to my billing, and an apology. Thus far verizon representatives 3 sales people and 2 bogus managers have given me the run around and basically informed me that I am stuck with what I have and if I don't like it go elsewhere. Currently searching for pending lawsuits against verizon with similar issues, will contact better business bureau, attorney generals office, post internet add, local paper adds, and contact the local news stations, unless this is rectified with in 48 hours.
Sincerely:
Micah
[protected] currently not working!

Verizon's Billing Department and Custoner Service really Sucks.

I have had Verizon FIOS for almost 12 Months now and I am ready to go back to Comcast. Why one might ask.

Verizon promises Promotion of HBO and Cinemax free for 3 Months, and then starts charging $22.99 per month for no reason. Calling Verizon to get an answer and get a Credit is another Task by itself, that I have given up calling them anymore, I use the live chat.

I once singed up for auto bill deduction from my Bank Account, and then stopped this feature on my account twice. Still has not taken effect and Verizon is still withdrawing my incorrect bill amount from my Bank account.

I am so fed up, so fed up with their service that I am ready to move to Comcast as of this coming week.

One night my call to Verizon Customer Service took nearly 80 Minutes, why? I called one service, after 20 minutes on hold Rep said we only service NY Customers. Gave me another number. Called that Number and waited another 10 Minutes and then was transferred to another number which disconnected. So called again and waited another 30 Minutes, finally did not get any right answer.

Short & sweet, if you can do without Verizon, don't get it, their customer Service really sucks...

The following is an active complaint with the NC Atty General and the FCC regarding Verizon Wireless deliberately crippling the connectivity of customers who elected to stay on Alltel data plans. This would mostly affect people in fringe areas (though advertised as full coverage areas) An update to this complaint is that Verizon is retaliating by removing credits that we had been given because of previous service failures. Please spread this information around, especially to any Verizon customers you know who may be having connectivity problems. It COULD be deliberate.

FTC complaint # [protected] NCDOJ Complaint # 1001670 FCC complaint 10-C00194123

This may need a technical person to understand the details.

Verizon Wireless bought Alltel and the Alltel customers could remain on Alltel plans. Verizon is now deliberately crippling the connectivity of smart phones that are on the Alltel plan instead of the more expensive Verizon plan.

We came over to Verizon Wireless when they purchased Alltel. We were/are on a data plan with one "smartphone" and the rest regular phones.

I was expecting to get better phone reception once the transition was done to merge Alltel etc. Instead I found that my phone (the smartphone) would not work well as a phone. I was advised that the smartphones don't get as good of reception (why don't they advertise that, eh?)

I have endured months of poor phone service and have gone through several phone changes (which meant wasting hundreds of dollars in accessories that I had purchased for my original smart phone).

The event that prompted me to change phones and lose my investment in accessories was an event where my wife was desperately trying to call me because our grandson was bleeding and it would not stop. My son was with me and she was able to call him to contact me, but what if he had not been there? (I thought).

For months we would be in the same car and she would be unable to call me but his phone would work just fine (same plan but his is not a data phone).

Verizon tech support suggested going to another brand of phone and one on the Verizon system so that I could get a "hybrid" PRL (preferred roaming list) so that I could get phone reception. After several more phone swaps and wasted time I was finally advised of the cause.

Verizon Wireless is deliberatly crippling the smart phones which are on an Alltel plan instead of the more expensive Verizon plan. This is only the smart phones that are being crippled. My phone has a PRL of 40059 which deliberately limits my connectivity even though I am in the advertised full coverage area. You can imagine my anger at discovering that all these months Verizon had been deliberately crippling my connectivity to try to get me to move to their more expensive plan. The Verizon plan data PRL starts with a 6

I believe that their actions may well be criminal as they are discriminating against former Alltel data phone customers.

It was a tech support manager who revealed this to me because they are very frustrated in trying to give support to people whose phones are being deliberately disabled by a crippled PRL.

This deliberate crippling of smartphones that are still on Alltel plans could cause public safety issues such as the incident when my grandson was bleeding. Imagine when I discovered that my phones failures and poor reception was a DELIBERATE marketing strategy by Verizon.

Update 2/17/2010 I was contacted by one Karen Milbrodt from the Verizon Wireless President's office stating that because I was on an Alltel plan that I was not entitled to the same connectivity that I would have if I was on a Verizon plan. She basically confirmed my allegations. Also she advised me that I was not entitled to the credits that had been applied to my account by an earlier customer service manager and that they were going to remove the credits. I had been concerned about this retaliation by Verizon Wireless.

If you are a smart phone customer who is on an Alltel plan with Verizon wireless and you are having connectivity problems please note the complaint numbers at the beginning.

Steve Winter

I paid a bill over $500 dollars to Verizon to restore my service and they did, so they said. I am now being told by Golbal Tel that Verizon has a block on my phone. So I call Verizon and spoke to 5 different reps on 3 different days who all swear there is no block. Gobal tel keeps saying there is a block. This is outragious because never company seems to care if my phone is blocked or not. I hope God is watching because even when you pay the bill you still dont get sevice from these companies all they want is money and you and your family are at their mercy which they is none.

Verizon flat out lies about its rates. Do not fall for the offers or the sales persons offering you the greatest deal ever over the phone. They install service and the hit you with a bill full of extra fees. On top that, the rate you were offered over the phone is usually no longer available, none of the people in biling has ever heard of it and you have to pay a $200.00 on top on an outlandsih bill to get out of doing business with them. I had to call them for a bill and when they finally decided to give one, they charged me a late fee! I've been a customer for 2 months, i've spent an obscene amount of time on the phone with their joke of a customer service department and paying $200.00 to be rid of this awful company seems like a good idea now. If you are in the northern va area, do not sign up for fios. It's a joke.

In June 2008, I cancelled my internet service with Verizon, yet I was billed incorrectly $94.99. I contacted Verizon to prorate bill and the representative told me that I owed $43.32 which I paid on June 27th. The original charge for both phone and internet was $70.00/month.

In August 2008, I contacted Verizon because my home phone was out of service. They said that a repair person would look into the problem within 3-5 days. I waited and called again. Three weeks passed and my phone was still out of service. I called Verizon and cancelled my phone service and requested that my bill be prorated for the amount of time that I was without service. When I received my final bill it was for $106.40. My home phone service was suppose to be $32.00/month plus tax. I called Verizon and the representative said that she would have the bill adjusted minus the internet service fee and prorated for the three weeks of no home phone service. She told me to wait for the next billing cycle for the bill to be adjusted. The next bill that I received from Verizon was for $106.40. I called Verizon again and they told me that I should wait for the next billing cycle to reflect the adjustment. The next bill that I received was from a collection agency AFNI. I contacted Verizon again and they said that the account was already sent to collections and there was nothing that they could do. I contacted AFNI and explained the above communications with Verizon. The representative said that they would research the issue and get back to me. About a week later, I received a message that they had researched the issue and that I did in fact owe $106.40. Now, I am being plagued with calls from the North Shore Collection Agency. They call all times of the day and night and at least 3-6 times per week. I tried explaining my situation to them as well and was met with the same response as AFNI, that I owe the $106.41. To say that I am disgusted is an understatement. Verizon has now jeopardized my very good credit by putting me in a collection agency for such a small debt. I am outraged. Is there anything that you can do to help?

I have been receiving multiple calls and now a letter from pinnacle credit services about a delinquent payment to verizon wireless. I just received a copy of my credit report and there is nothing on there about any delinquent loans or payments. and i have not had verizon wireless in over 4 years
thanks Jaclyn

I worked for Verizon and before that Bell of Pa.I That Verizon...I retired after 31 years with respect for the phone company, It referred to Bell tel ad MY company. I purchased my cell cell phone wirh Verizon. I made a big bit mistake. Every month I mention wo Verizon people bill me once a month, , , , that never happened. I was I was tole to the bill in half and sent that in.NO good. I got two bills to replace tghat one. I wanted to leave Verizob, the girl shouted I could not leave. I said you watch, , , O I left and went with AT&T who does send ma montly till and minutes are shared.

Today I received a statement indicating my account was past due for $119 (which I electronically paid last week) and the statement came to a total of $206 due on February 23, 2010. Ironically, I received a communication stating that my account was delinquent in the amount of $206 and it was to be paid immediately! It is obvious that this company doesn't know its left from its right. It throws out these misleading figures and alarming deadlines as a ploy to keep you off balance. Although I pay this company every month...I never get a statement indicating they have received payment from me. This is a set up and I think the company needs to be investigated for unethical practices.

We upgraded our phone 3 weeks ago and it lost its front display. When we took it to the Verizon store the employee Stephen Garay, who has always treated us with a rude and condescending attitude, refused to replace the phone because he claimed it had water damage, and would not help with an AC adapter that was not working from our daughter's phone. We told him that the phones had insurance but that didn't seem to matter to him. The store has no "manager" per se since all the employees seem to wear a manager name tag- nice ploy to avoid dealing with customer complaints. We then called the "customer service" number 611 and they are equally unhelpful and condescending. Is there a jail to hold these criminals of customer service and decency since all they do is take your money and in return do nothing to warrant any loyalty?

I have been charged $300 for a couple of international calls that I made. The effective rate is almost $3 per minute. Verizon fios would not budge. This is clear cut rip off and taking advantage of unsuspecting customers. I have always used third party calling services for international calls. Somehow this time it went through verizon network.

I never wanted international dialing facility on my plan but I guess this is how the evil corporations make money; by giving you something you don't want/ need or request. Then they wait for one ocassion when you fall in their trap; which I did.

Well, this is to alert lot of other unsuspecting folks. I have already started my process of getting Direc TV, Vonage and comacast to replace the useless fios bundle I had.

Hope I never have to be a verizon fios in my life; as long as there are choices, I am staying away from verizon.

They can have my $300; as if their stock would shoot up! no way with such evil practices and customer service would they thrive.

They have proven to be penny wise pound foolish...they have my $300 but would lose $185 a month that I paid them each month for the triple play bundle.

I have been researching the Droid/Verizon and IPOD/AT&T online and decided to go into my local Verizon store and give my current carrier the option to sway me and to find out my options for upgrading.

I spoke to a sales person who explained the phone and I was leaning towards the purchase even though the phone is expensive. I told the sales man I was not eligible for my $100.00 discount for the "new every two" till August but that I was considering just paying the $200.00 now just to get the phone instead of waiting. He advised me that I would have to agree to a new 2 year contract (I already knew this) that I would be waiving my $100.00 credit in August and would have to wait 2 years again for that discount (yeah knew this too) but what he told me last made me livid... that Verizon would charge me $20.00 for a EARLY UPGRADE fee! What the heck is a early upgrade fee? Its not good enough for these greedy people to ensure my business for 2 years and not give me a $100.00 credit but they want to make ME pay for them to retain my business? I know its only $20.00 when my ###ed butt was about to pay $200.00 but it is the principal... I REFUSE to pay $20.00 for NOTHING when this deal already benefits them so much!

i cancelled my internet on my mobile phone because i wanted to cut back on my expenses. my mobile phone is a touch phone. The phone would still go on the browser while being on my pocket. i recieved a call asking to call verizon due to my overdue payment so i called and turns out that i have an outstanding bill of over 3, 000.00 dollars. i called verizon wireless to work something out. So far i talked to a supervisor and all she can do is take off 10% i told her i dont even have money to pay for rent. i asked her if there was any one else i can speak two and she says that her supervisor will call me. I think it isnt fair that im trying to save money and i get a surprised with an over 3, 000.00 bill. i have been a costumer for over 4 years.i explained how it was an accident. they tell me they are valid charges. i really need some help here

In December of 2009 I received an offer from Qwest for a package deal including High Speed Internet, Landline and Cell Phone service to be provided by Verizon Wireless. The service was to start on 1-4-2010. I was gone the month of December and when I returned home on December 3rd, I was advised by my current cell phone provider that I would be charged a $200 early termination fee. I called Qwest the next morning, 1-4-2010 and cancelled the order. I received confirmation by email that day from Qwest that the order had been cancelled. I returned the cell phone and all their equipment which was never used to the address from which it was mailed on 1-5-2010. Verizon continues to bill me for cell phone service which was never activated. I went up to their office in the mall here in Duluth, Minnesota and spoke to their representative showing them the email from Qwest confirming that the order was cancelled. I called their representatives on several occasions and told them that the order was cancelled. I am still being billed for services never received.

Company philosophy (internally): "Better to beg forgiveness, than to ask permission. We take care of each other." Or "do whatever it takes and we'll fix it later".

When you are "intiated" into the fold, with absolutely no training whatsoever, you are instructed that we are Verizon Wireless, but... no they're not. They tell the customers that, but... when there's a problem they have to send you to a corporate location or call customer service.

There was a $1.1M callback on payouts from Verizon Wireless, because Flexicom was collecting monies on incomes that were unsecured. Instead of taking responsibility for the procedures that were approved by Flexicom to their employees (a trainee follows the training) Flexicom charged employees back for bad charges over a period of several months.

Even with the chargebacks, it was impossible to make any money as a rep or a store partner. This was because including the chargebacks you still had to make store goals, which were near impossible. So... Flexicom would fire or move you if you didn't make store goals but then they would issue chargebacks so it was impossible to make any money.

Here's the kicker: Flexicom paid the $1.1M and then issued the chargebacks, in doing the figures (at one time) Flexicom made an enormous profit by paying off the settlement to Verizon Wireless and issuing chargebacks to the stores. How? Because Flexicom collects 100% of the monies up to the store goals (minus increasingly small expenditures) and they would keep all the monies made post-store goals by issuing chargebacks. The several months of chargebacks increased the capital gain for Flexicom than any other time.

I cannot go into too much detail. I feel terrible for Bill Goodrich, he's such a great guy. He's the only person who is single-handedly kept the company together.

Let's not even go into Chris Schmedes, Shawn's "ex-right hand man". Who they finally wised up and let him go.

One thing I don't appreciate is someone of these people bringing in Shawn's family or his personal life into these reviews, it's uncivil and innappropriate. He has a wonderful wife and family, who are loving and caring. These reviews should be stricltly business related.

Work corporate direct. Drop the pride of being "so-called self-employed", it's a joke. The only people who make money are those who create a corporation and they sit on the top.

Pros: Bill Goodrich.
Cons: Company philosophy (internal) "Better to beg forgiveness..."

i subscribed, on the web, to verizon's supposedly optional international calling plan as part of voice service. what was not clearly stated is the fact that only calls to land-line phones were qualified under the plan. the weekend following, i called my mother and talked with her for over an hour, and on tuesday, i got a mail from verizon stating that my international plan did not include calls to cell-phones, and any such calls would incur premium charges. they provided no information as to what those charges would be, or how to get access to it. i had to call their customer service to get the shocking news about my plan rate for cell phone calls. i have just moved from a cablevision-serving area where i enjoyed 250 minutes of internation calls to ANYWHERE, terminating on ANY user equipment, for $19.99! unfortunately, cablevision does not serve my new area.

so buyer beware! if you plan to subscribe to the verizon international calling plan, understand that you will incur hefty charges for calls to cell phones. make sure you find out the rates to the countries you make call to before you make any decision.

i really should not have complained about cablevision.

Omg! I had a horrible experience! This guy jason calls and I initially was interested in seeing the details on switching. Price was a liitle less than I was paying and I would have been able to get dsl. My chief reason which I told him! - because I have a a dedicated t line and its fairly expensive $400 or so. Anyway, just before I sign up I get a hold of the local guy that does my computer stuff and he raises a red flag that he did not think verizon had dsl in the area. Since 90% of my business requires internet access I called to verify and this a*hole swore that we were good. Something about him seemed a little sleezy so I called verizon directly and they told there was no way dsl was going to happen. That they didn't even have the right equipment in my area! I called him back told him this he said it was their mistake and he would fix it right away and call me back. Well he never called and refused to take my calls when I followed up. I used to think verizon was a reputable company - god knows I use them at home and for my cell - but not anymore. How dare this guy risk putting me out of business just so he can make a few bucks. How dare verizon allow this to happen! I'm sending them a message and going to cable and t mobile.
Caller id: [protected]
Caller: verizon - premier network
Caller type: telemarketer

In 3 weeks I have had problems with 3 routers. First one would keep knocking me off line. Was on the phone 4 hours until I got a new router. The second one I had to restart 4+ times a day because I kept loosing the internet. After 3 more hours on the phone they sent me a new router. This one I had to reset twice before I could get on with my desktop, I still could not get on wirelessly. We then found out the WEP key printed on the label was not the correct one. After another 4 hours( 2 calls to India, 1 to West Virginia) on the phone we finally got it to work. They offered me a 2 day credit for waiting for the new router. After talking to billing and payment dept, I managed to get a 1 month credit. Lets see how long this one lasts. If I could get DSL or better for the same price I would leave in a flash!