Complain about a product or service

Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless • Rates • Coverage • Contracts • "Perpetual" Contracts • Billing Disputes • Other Verizon Services --- News • Verizon Wireless Expands Data Charge To All 3G Phones • Verizon Wireless Opens Network to All Devices, Software • Verizon Agrees to Stop 'Unlimited' Claims • Verizon Wireless Changes Contract Policy • Verizon Wireless Raises Text Message Rate • Verizon Limits Its "Unlimited" Wireless Broadband Service • Verizon Wireless Cuts Early Termination Fee

No two ways about it -- Verizon Wireless is far and away the nation's largest wireless carrier, with nearly 35 million total subscribers as of mid-2003.

It's also tops in network quality according to a J.D. Powers survey released Aug. 1, 2003. Verizon outpaced competitors in the four most important call quality problem areas: dropped calls, static, voice distortion and no connection on the first try. Nextel and Cingular also did well and AT&T Wireless was average.

Well, all that may be so but there are plenty of other problems plaguing at least some Verizon Wireless customers, including billing mix-ups, rate plan confusion, contracts that seem to renew at will and, to be polite, a less-than-evenhanded approach in dealing with consumer concerns.

In case you're interested, Verizon Communications owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group owning the rest.

A few sample complaints ...

Ron of Pittsburgh, PA December 28, 2006

I am writing to inform you of the inaccurate billing practices of Verizon Wireless. To date I have been over-billed three consecutive months. They are over-billing my account 2 text messages every month. This may not seem a lot but it does add up and sends my account into overages. I thought that it was a simple mistake but after three months it is not a mistake. According to the detail section of the bill I used a certain amount of text messages. But the summary of the bill displays a higher total and billing amount.

Susan of Woodville, TX December 28, 2006

I need Verizon to know that I am very unhappy with their service and customer service overall. I have four different phones and I spend a lot of money with Verizon. In October I bought a phone for my daughter which was to have a 50.00 rebate. I never received the rebate. This past week I ordered a phone online, only to have to wait over a week to receive a next day delivery.

Service with Verizon has continually gotten worse through the years. There are actually fewer and fewer areas where phone calls can be made--instead of service getting better. We pay more money, get stuck in 2-year contracts and get worse and worse service. Just wanted to get this off my chest.

Tammy of Cleveland, TN December 27, 2006

I was promised a 15% discount based on our employment with a major company who has a national contract. We supplied proof of employment at the time the cell phone contract was completed. After 6 months and many calls to customer service we still did not have our discount, even though we took 2 trips to the Verizon store to take another copy of proof of employment.

I talked to a manager and he assured me that he would take care of it and I would receive credit for the full 6 months I had the phone. When my next bill arrived I started receiving my discount but I did not get credited for the previous 6 months. I called customer service and Patricia said there was no way I would get 6 months credit and refused to let me speak to her manager.

I finally told her that either I would get the credit or I would return the phone and cancel the contract. I also asked if there was not a record of my previous calls. She said there was and since I had called so often that I probably was telling the truth. I can say for sure that we will not renew service with Verizon. I am also upset that previous customer service representatives did not do what they said they would.

Heather of Santa Rosa, CA December 26, 2006

I received a bill July 09, 2006 in the amount of 568.50. I then paid 568.50 on July 11, 2006. On July 28, 2006 I received a statement with a balance forward of 527.97 and current charges of 313.57 for a total of 841.54 due IMMEDIATELY. I called Verizon Wireless to find out why I had an astronomical balance when I had paid 568.50 on July 11, 2006. I was told that I knew what my calling plan was and that I owed this amount. They didn't look in to the matter at all.

Now I have a debt collection company harassing me for payment. I told them I do not owe this amount and that Verizon Wireless has made an error in the billing. I have now switched to Cingular. My Verizon number was ported to Cingular and I did break my contract with Verizon but, due to the circumstance of my billing I didn't care and knew I had no intention of paying 841.54 to begin with.

Yvette of Garland, TX December 18, 2006

I canceled my service at the end of my contract. Verizon is telling me that my contract was extended until 2008 and now I’m fighting a 525.00 termination fee. I have received THREE different dates of when Verizon says my contract was to end. I am recently the only one with an income and two children and a husband who is recently disabled. I do not know how I am going to pay this bill and keep this off my credit.

Tracy of Charlton, NY December 18, 2006

I am writing on behalf of Brandon, my 18-year-old son who is currently serving in Afghanistan. When I took my son to get a cell phone from Verizon my biggest concern was their military policy regarding deployment. I asked specific questions about what would happen to his account if he were to be deployed. We also asked how we were to go about suspending his account and who could do this. We were told that if that he were to deploy, all we had to do was fax his orders and his account would be suspended and there would be no charges until he was back in the U.S.  We in good faith believed what we were told.

Once he was gone, the papers were faxed numerous times. Every time I called, I was told that Verizon had no records. After about a month my husband went into one of the stores for the 2nd time and asked that this be taken care of. Our son is at an outpost where there is no electricity, phone or computers so he is unable to take care of this himself. We were given a receipt that as of Nov 10^th, 2006, says his account is suspended. He has since been billed and is now in collections and owes over 300.00!  We have made so many calls to Verizon and now we truly don't know what else to do.

Michaelle of Lynnwood, WA December 16, 2006

It started the month after signing a two-year agreement with Verizon for their family plan. I purchased 2 cell phones, one for my daughter and one for myself. My daughters phone would not hold a charge so she took it to the Verizon Store and asked them to fix or replace it. She had no success with them and neither did I. In addition, when my bills started coming in they were always at least 30.00 over what the plan was I purchased.

When I called customer service I was told at first that we must have gone over our minutes, when I requested they look for me, they found that no, we hadn't. Same thing the next four months. I finally talked to one rep who told me that while we weren't going over, we were coming close to our allotted minutes. He suggested we go up to the next bundle of minutes so we didn't need to worry about going over, so for piece of mine I agreed. What he failed to mention was that it extended my contract with Verizon.

Gwendolyn of Mesquite, TX December 14, 2006

In Sept. of 2006 we went to BEST BUY and purchased 3 phones, and a family plan contract with Verizon. The plan was to cost apox. 89.00 a month for the 3 phone family plan. In Oct. we received bills for over 500 for the three phones. We have called the billing at Verizon 5 times, and talked to customer representives, and managers. Everytime they say they have it fixed, and not to worry about it. They have even called us back, and said they had us on the right calling plan, and had canceled the current charges. Every month since we have purchased the contract, we get billed for hundreds of dallors.

They have turned our account over to their collection dept. and they are saying they will file a report on our credit report, if we dont pay. The last time we called customer service, we were told a manager was not available to talk to. We were formaly contracted with Sprint and never missed paying a bill for 3 years. We honestly dont know what to do about this.

Karla of San Jose, CA December 13, 2006

In 2002 my husband moved from California to Wisconsin. On March 26, 2002, he called Verizon Wireless customer service to activate EZ Move. We began receiving and paying monthly service charges on his Verizon Wireless account in Wisconsin. We noticed the balance from California had not been included on the bills we received after the EZ Move had been activated. My husband called Verizon Wireless customer service and they told us California was a separate region and they couldn't tell us anything about his balance or what had happened to it. They also would not give us a number to call for the California region.

In late August 2002 we returned to California. We stopped by my mother's home to find she'd received a letter from a collection agency hired by Verizon Wireless. They were seeking to collect the balance on the California account prior to my husband's move to Wisconsin (which we have long since paid) as well as monthly service fees for the California phone number for May, June, and July 2002, plus an early termination fee.

Since August 2002, we have been fighting collection agencies and Verizon Wireless regarding the remaining 285.65 that Verizon claims we owe them. In February 2003, I contacted Verizon Recovery which was recommended by one of the collection agencies and I spoke with a representative named Carol. She told me she would reverse the early termination fee of 175 but that I would have to get the collection agency to reverse the remaining charges that I contended were duplicate monthly service fees. To this date I have spoken with at least 4 collection agencies and Verizon Wireless regarding this matter and despite being told the 175.00 would at least be reversed, it hasn't been. We have extensive documentation proving not only that we should not owe this balance, but that we have tried over and over again to communicate with both Verizon Wireless and its various collection agencies. (We even stapled a check to one of these packets and the collection agency cashed the check but at the same time claimed they never received our documentation disputing the balance!).

Since August of 2002, we have endured stress and anxiety due to this matter. This has made a bad mark on my husband's credit report which resulted in higher interest rates and terrible terms from creditors.

Ms. Ethel M. Skibinski of Roanoke, VA December 12, 2006

I purchased new phones and service with Verizon Wireless on 10/23/2006. The salesman, Roger, told me repeatedly that their "mobile web" service was a FLAT fee of 5.00 per month, and my daughter could use it with "unlimited" usage to access Aim. I also purchased a package of 500 text messages to cover text messaging. At NO TIME did Roger tell me the two features were connected.

Now I discover that my bill is 938.05, through 11/24/2006. Customer service says that their system converts Aim messages into text messages and charges kilobyte hours for all messages exceeding the 500 limit.

I was at the door when they opened on 11/24/2006 to return the phones and cancel the service. During my previous visit, Roger repeatedly told me that I would have 15 days to exchange phones if I didn't like the phones I had chosen, AND I would have 30 days to cancel the contract without cancellation fees. NOW, the customer service rep told me that the time frame to cancel the contract was 15 days, not 30 days. Finally a manager authorized cancellation of the contract and return of the merchandise without cancellation fees.

However, I am still stuck with a bill for 938.05. I might have to get a second job to pay this, all because a salesman didn’t tell me the facts.

Back to the top |