Consumerist.com has a great new story about a guy who sued Verizon and won. In the process a warrant was issued for Verizon's arrest. (Thanks to Davman for the link.)
If anyone knows Verizon's whereabouts, or has had any contact with Verizon in the last few days you may want to alert your local authorities. ;)
Also, I wanted to update anyone still following the blog about Peter, the other known person to get screwed by the cents vs. dollars issue. A while back he initiated contact with Verizon for what I count would be the 10th or so time (Worry free guarantee my a$$) and the notes on his account must have been annotated galore - because according to him, it was like a completely different experience. They immediately took care of his problem. Better late than never, but wow.
I wonder if they shift some of their funds from commercials like "can you hear me now?" to customer service if their bottom line would increase or decrease.
Have a nice weekend!
How to fight the power George!!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work George! I listened to your recording on glumbert.com. I can't believe you were so calm during your entire call. I would have been bouncing off the walls. It's really quite surprising that they would hire an entire crew of mental midgets for their customer service department. I mean not even one person could see that there is a difference between dollars and cents... absolutely incredible!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
-Kat
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ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it George!
ReplyDeleteHow does one arrest a corporation?
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ReplyDeleteDealing with any Major Fortune 500 Organization is quite an undertaking but when it comes to Verizon I have never found anything so difficult in my life. Though I make it a practice to not get caught up in name calling or other things of that nature, I have had a similar situation with my account relationship with Verizon Phone Company over a billing dispute in which the Billing Supervisor I was FINALLY connected to after getting the run around being bounced from person to person even admitted after pulling up and reviewing the account that the mistake was made on the part of Verizon which resulted in me receiving a bill with charges incurred over a five day period of $1,801.00 due to Verizon making the requested changes to the wrong line in my home.
ReplyDeleteBackground information is that I have two lines in my home. The first was the main line which was originally installed and activated upon my moving in to my home. The second line was added four months later to be used as a dedicated line for the computer. In the beginning the Freedom Plan which offers unlimited local and long distance calling for a set monthly price was placed on the main home line. When the second line for the computer was added as a convenience for family members who are away in the military, sick and in the hospital or who are terminally ill and living out of state as well as my children and grandchildren who also live out of state to be able to contact me without all the hassles of working around the phone lines being tied up by the computer because there is no digital signal in this area and we are forced to use standard dial up internet services the Freedom Calling Package was placed on that line as well. Three months down the road I decided to call Verizon and have the Freedom package removed from the main line because I only needed it for the computer dedicated second line and this was made abundantly clear to the representative who took the order, confirmed over the phone the phone number which would receive the change in service and also stated that I definitely wanted to leave the unlimited calling plan on the computer line to avoid outrageous charges on my bill. With that in mind, all my hand written notes on the bill and in my files I was confident that the situation would be taken care of properly and had no worries or concerns regarding the possibility of Verizon changing the calling plan package for the wrong line in the home.
Within a week I receive a disconnection notice from Verizon stating that if payment was not received by February 12, 2007 my services would be interrupted and there would be a $35 restoration charge added to the next bill. I immediately picked up the phone and called to make arrangements which ended in my making a payment by phone for an additional charge of $3.50 to ensure that the services were not interrupted and there would be no further problems.
Just about a week later I receive the next bill from Verizon. In carefully reviewing every charge and every page of the bill I notice that in a period of a few days, namely from January 30, 2007 until February 4, 2007 $1,801 dollars and a few cents were listed as "dial up charges" on the second line (which was NOT supposed to have had any changes made to the line). This was in addition to the normal charges for usage I would incur on the Freedom or unlimited calling package plan. A more careful look at the bill revealed that there had been a mistake and that Verizon had obviously (this appears on the bill itself) made a mistake and had taken the unlimited calling plan from the Second line (which they were specifically instructed NOT to do because of the computer) on January 30, 2007. Evidently according to the bill, this was noticed by someone at Verizon and corrected on February 4, 2007. However the damage had already been done! Verizon had me charged within a few days of making the mistake on the package change request which was SUPPOSED to SAVE me money over $1800.00! As mentioned earlier, this was clearly evident on the bill being marked as "Changes to service for line XXX-XXX-XXXX from January 30, 2007 to February 4, 2007". Then a few lines down, as "Changes to service for line XXX-XXX-XXXX ..."
(same period of time) along with surcharges and pro rated charges and credits.
Though it may not be relevant to mention that I am on disability with a heart condition, seeing this bill not only reduced me to tears but nearly caused a literal heart attack as I was both appalled and scared to death when seeing the amount listed as "current Charges"! I immediately got on the phone and after getting the run around talking to several people making note on the pages of the bill including names of representatives spoken to, date and time as well as detailed notes of conversations; receiving kind and generous or understanding comments to rude and obnoxious comments from various representatives at Verizon I was FINALLY connected to the Billing Supervisor who after pulling up and reviewing the account agree with me that this was not my fault that it was very evident that this was due to a mistake on the part of VERIZON in switching the plan on the wrong line and she told me she would put in a request and have those charges removed or reversed and there would be nothing else for me to worry about and the only thing I would be responsible for would be the normal and usual current charges which appear on page 3 of that bill.
Fifteen minutes later after I had reported the outcome of those conversations with my new husband the phone rang. It was the same billing supervisor from VERIZON who called to tell me that those charges would remain and I would be responsible for them because she was not aware that there had been a billing payment issue on the account prior to the conversation she and I had that day. Keep in mind, in reviewing the account with me on the line she admitted that she could see where Verizon made the mistake on January 30, 2007 and noticed and corrected it on February 4, 2007 making the situation and dial up charges incurred the fault of VERIZON and not my own.
She concluded the second conversation by suggesting that the only thing I could do would be to make a written request to the corporate office of VERIZON Phone company and include all substantiating documentation and information such as notes with names, dates and times of conversations with representatives and request that those charges be dropped. She warned me to not get my hopes up though because as she stated, VERIZON has a very strict policy about dial up charges and never reverses those charges for any reason.
Since that time I have been diligently seeking to find the address and contact information for completing the suggestion of the billing supervisor and have been completely unsuccessful.
Because VERIZON is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission I have resorted to contacting the FCC, President George Bush, VP Dick Cheney, as well as the Senators and Representatives for our region in Virginia and the Better Business Bureau.
If ANYONE has any information whatsoever which would assist me in obtaining the contact information and address for the corporate offices of VERIZON phone company, please post them or e-mail them to me at: roseguill@netzero.com!
Though this is quite lengthy I thank you all for your time and consideration!