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Verizon Wireless - Rate Misrepresentation

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Aubree of Cottage Grove OR (6/21/03):
I have been a Verizon wireless customer since they became Verizon. I have always paid my bill on time. This month my contract came up and I called in to see what smaller plans they offered. They basically told me that there were not any cheaper plans than what I had. I told them I was going to shop around then. After I said that, he suddenly had a cheaper plan. He gave me all the details. I ran it by my husband, who had some more questions. I called back. The next Verizon lady had to search to find it, but finally did. She answered more questions about this cheap plan. Finally my hubby said, go ahead and do that with the 2 year contract. So I called back and ordered it. I have the names of the last 2 sales people I spoke with, and all the details of the plan written down.

Today, I got my "New Calling Plan" description in the mail and it is the old expensive plan. Figuring it was just a typeo I called in. The guy who answered was an incredible jerk - right from the beginning. All he kept saying is, "I am sorry, you have misunderstood, that is not available as a price plan." This went on and on for about 15 minutes. Finally, I ask to speak to a supervisor. About 5 minutes I sit on hold, and he comes back and says, there is not a supervisor available. I said, "I will hold for one." He would not let me talk to one! He said, "They are busy doing other stuff, besides, they can not do anything different from what I can do. They will just tell you the same thing. I can have one call you in the next 24 hours." Finally, I had to give up, because he wouldn't help me. I doubt a supervisor will call.

He just kept saying there is no such plan. I am so upset, because now I am stuck in a 2 year contract as I did the phone signature - now for a contract that I did not agree too. The guy on the phone also said there is no way for me to contact the sales person who took my order either! What am I going to do now? I want to send the new phones back and get out of this, but I can't, can I? And if I boycott by not paying the bill, it will ruin my credit!

We would suggest that Aubree a.) not use the new phones; b.) discontinue using Verizon Wireless service immediately and c.) send a certified, return-receipt-requested letter that says something along these lines:

Date

Verizon Wireless
Address on Last Bill
City State Zip

Dear Verizon:

You are hereby notified that I do not intend to renew the contractural agreement between us which expired on (date).

We do not wish to do business with you in the future. Your employees, (name) and (name), represented to me that a service plan that met my specifications was available but subsequently, your company has denied that such a plan exists. Thus, Verizon has withdrawn its offer to me. There being no offer from you and, therefore, no acceptance from me, there is no contract between us, any oral representation by your employees to the contrary notwithstanding.

We will be happy to return any equipment you may have sent us if you will supply the address and any other information that may be needed to process such return.

Very truly yours,

Signature and typed name, address, account number, etc.

cc:
Hon. Hardy Myers
Attorney General
Oregon Department of Justice
1162 Court Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-4096

Bethsaida of New York NY (7/23/03):
Since the beginning I've been told false things by their ad pamphlets and representatives. All of the reps have told me different stories and given me false statements. Their pamphlet with their ad about "First choice Family plan" (2 phone lines $59.99) says 1 or 2 year contract in one corner. So I filled out the contract thinking I could fill out for 1 year in the contract. But the rep. did not say I had to pay a fee of $175 for a 1 year contract. So the contract was for 2 years automatically.

I explained to the rep. that I wanted a 1 year contract and she told me I had to go to the store within 7 days to fill out for the 1 year. I went to the store within 7 days. Then another rep. told me I had to pay $175 if I wanted the 1 yr. contract. So I had to stay with the 2 yr. contract because of that problem. So they have a false advertisement. In the ad they had to specify that there was a fee to be paid for a 1 yr. contract and that customers would be in the 2 yr.contract automatically when they applied. The ad did not say that and the reps. didn't say anything about it either.

Tim of Cheyenne WY (4/17/02):
I ordered a new phone for my existing account. I was told that I would get the internet price if I went another year on my contract. When I received my bill it was for approximatel $40 more than told over the phone. When I called them they told me that I needed to sign up for two years to get the internet price. They told me I was stuck with my service and phone unless I wnted to pay another $180 to cancel service.

Acie of Chicago (2/15/02):
I purchased a cellular telephone on 08/12/00 for my son from a Verizon store in Champaign, Illinois because that is where he is going to college. The contract stated that he was allowed 150 daytime minutes and unlimited free nights and weekends for $25.00 per month. The free nights and weekends started at 8:00. After a year, an additional charge of $12.95 per month will be added for the unlimited free nights and weekends.

From the start, the bill was much higher than the $25.00 per month as stated in the contract. After a few months, I reprimanded my son for going over the allocated 150 minutes per month and took the cellular telephone away. I then started reviewing the bills more closely and found that the company never gave us the unlimited free nights and weekends as the contracted stated. Instead, they were charging the $12.95 from the start of the contract.

I called to get this situation rectified before paying for a service that was not part of the contract and I was told that the situation would be investigated. However, Verizon decided to continue charging me the additional amount. As I stated, I told Verizon that I was not paying until the situation was rectified but now Verizon is adding an additional 200.00 to the bill because they claim that I violated the contract.

In short, Verizon actions can be best described as "bait and switch". The promotion and contract claimed free nights and weekends for the first twelve months but I was charged and paid for the free nights and weekends in the first 7 months of the contract. To my knowledge, this "bait and switch" is an illegal practice in the State of Illinois.

Can a cellular telephone company apply a cancellation fee if they never honored the contract from the start? If I violate the contract I am liable for a cancellation fee, however is the cellular telephone Company liable for any damages to me if they breach the contract?

Christopher of Eugene OR (6/15/03):
After moving from South Dakota to Oregon in January of 2003, my fiancee and I had our phone numbers switched to local phone numbers to avoid incurring roaming charges and the like. When we called Verizon's EZ-Move, we were each asked if we would like to switch our calling plans or if we would like to keep the same plan. We both replied that we would like to keep the same plan as it was a good price and fit our needs nicely. Later on, I decided to call and make sure that things had gone through correctly. At that time, I asked about my calling plan and was told about it.

It was then that I realized that my plan had been switched, now I was going to be paying an extra fifteen dollars a month for fewer services than I had previously. It seems that they gave me an extra fifty "anytime minutes", but I no longer had nationwide long distance. They had done the same thing to my fiancee's plan. After being told I couldn't have my plan that I originally signed up with, and three calls to customer service, we came up with a plan that was at least somewhat acceptable by consolidating our plans and doing a "family share plan".

At the time I was told about my plan, I was told I had nationwide long distance, which was an important feature to me. When I received my first bill, I had incurred a whole bunch of toll or long distance charges. After calling customer service, I was assured that I would be have long distance added to my calling plan for an additional $4.99/month and that I would be credited the amount for the long distance I was charged. At that time, I was told to pay the bill less the amount of the charges, this I did. The following month, I received a bill that said I had a past due balance of that amount. My fiance then proceeded to call customer service again to try and sort out the confusion as their bills are nearly impossible to decipher,after all we just wanted to know how much we had to pay. She was told a figure(I can't remember exactly how much at this time) that was around the ballpark of what our monthly bill was supposed to be.

Later that day, I called customer service to confirm this number. When I simply asked how much I owed on my bill, the representative told me the exact same amount. We then proceeded to pay that amount thinking that the confusion had been taken care of. Shortly before we received our next bill, our cellular service was disconnected due to a past due balance. I then got online and payed the full amount they were asking for because I needed to have that service and in order to have it reconnected that was the only way.

Rodney of Garner NC (4/29/02):
I recently relocated to Raleigh, NC and decided to transfer my Verizon service over rather than deal with a new contract. I am a salesman covering most of the state of NC and was told that with the Carolinas package I would never have to pay roaming fees as long as calls were made within the Carolinas.

This is the 4th month now which I have recieved a bill with over $100 worth of roaming fees and have never left the state. The salesman and I figured out how many minutes I would need and which plan would work best for my needs. We decided on 1000 minutes with the Carolinas plan. Like I said I have never left the state and I have never exceeded my minutes but I am getting these huge bills.

The consequences of this is, my cell phone, which I need for work has been disconnected twice for non-payment. I also am on a budget and was told my monthly bill would be X and it has always been much more.

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