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Verizon Wireless - Inequitable Contracts

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Scott of Brooklyn (5/16/02):
After months of intermittent service and unhelpful hours on the phone with Verizon reps, I closed my cellular account of several years. I was told that I was under contract and that I would be charged $175 for early termination. My position was that I never entered into any contract, and that even if our over-the-phone arrangement did constitute a contract, Verizon was in breach for failing to provide consistent service.

In any event, upon receipt of the bill I promptly sent a letter to Verizon customer support in protest, for the above reasons. I received no reply. Months later I received another bill to which I again responded in writing. Verizon did not reply. Now, a year later I have learned that this bill has been placed on my credit report. I never recieved any collection notice prior to this, only bills from Verizon.

Am I not entitled to notice before the acount goes into collection? Was not Verizon under any obligation to negotiate or respond to my letters? And, finally, does an over-the-phone agreement constitute a contract in light of the above circumstances? I feel that such an agreement fails for vagueness as it does provide adequate consideration for the consumer.

For example there is no mention of Verizon's obligations in these so called "contracts". Additionally, I doubt Verizon could actually produce our phone conversation in an action. I have disputed the report with Trans Union but I am not confident that it will be removed. What are my remedies?

Robert of Fair Lawn NJ (7/23/03):
My wife and I have a similar complaint as Scott of Brooklyn. My wife purchased cellular service in 1996 from Verizon, then known as Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile. She had the standard two year agreement. Same telephone number, same account, same service, for 6 years. In 2002, she decided to "upgrade to any qualified plan, without penalty or extending your service contract" (taken directly from their online user guide in January of 2003) over the phone, as Scott from Brooklyn did and was never informed of any ammendments to her contract, either verbally or in writing.

My wife also experienced the "poor" service and cancelled her service. She was subsequently billed for $175 "Early Termination Fee". We disputed the debt and now suspect that Verizon has reported it to the Credit Bureaus, which is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A disputed debt can not be reported until a judgement has been rendered.

Verizon's online user's guide now states that acceptence of service constitutes acceptance of terms. This I believe would void any contract as it tends to support gross disparity, by weighing heavily in favor of one party over the other, non-disclosure and hidden terms. Verizon has an obligation to inform all parties of amendments and changes to the contract. Otherwise, my wife and I could state that we amended the terms of the contract, as principals in the contract, to state that "if their service deteriorated we could terminate the contract at any time without penalty and their continued delivery of service constituted acceptance of these terms".

My wife and I are now fighting with Verizon, and the Credit Bureaus, because Verizon violated her rights and the law by reporting a disputed debt and causing her interest rates on her credit cards to be increased and we could not get the more desireable interest rate on our mortgage.