Verizon Wireless Reviews

The payment I sent was received after hers, but Verizon still turned off our service, this was in late February 2007. This caused a $306 credit to my account. I have been contacting Verizon since for the reimbursement of these funds, and to date have not received them.

They said there was no way to tell this info and that I should go and replace my phone again. Well in the meantime of doing this I have been billed for Vcast on my phone which I told them when I bought it I don't want it.

I had switched my service plan from a simple, low-tech LG phone to a Treo 700w in December, 2006. My bill for March, 2007, includes a data usage fee for approximately $700. My calls to customer service took hours at a time, and during my attempts to resolve the matter, my phone service was cut off due to lack of timely payment.

During my customer service discussions, I learned that my specific, emphatic requests for the store location service representative to completely disable my plan's ability to access the Internet or any other data service had been ignored, and that the customer service representatives at the call center made condescending implications about the likelihood of my misunderstanding of the cell phone's buttons, about my likely confusion with my very simple service agreement, and about my assumed dishonesty during that very phone call, implying that, because their own records showed them to be entitled to my money, it must be the truth, and that I must be lying to escape my rightful payment to them.

I am very upset with Verizon, because I found out toward the end of many conversations, that after me calling they decided to extend the contract end date out 3 months, fom 2/2008 to expire 5/2008 AND not refund the overcharges. And they said the extension of the contract is not negotiable. Verizon purposely over charges customers and then says theres nothing they can do and attepmts to put it back on the customers for not catching their mistakes. Even admitted mistakes arent corrected. They said they are going to charge my credit card on file as well, so I have contacted my credit card company, not to accept a charge from Verizon. Citibank said if and when the charge comes thorough, they will automatically dispute it. I would like to bring this to the attention of anyone who will listen as these business practices are creepy.

I called to ask why the internet access was still readily available and still was not told that it was "pay as you go", until I got the bill of about eight hundred dollars. I called to complain and then was told that when canceling the unlimited service another plan was put in instead of it, which was the "pay as you go" plan. After it was changed I had no internet service. Then when the next bill came and I found out it was about one thousand dollars.

I called customer support because I STILL cannot see a breakdown of all charges. They gave me a rude, brief description of the charges. I asked if there was anything I could do or any adjustments they could make - they told me absolutely not and were very rude. I promptly told them I would then have to close my own account and they charged me another $175.00 per line for closing the account. I hadn't even had it opened for thirty days! Now my bill is 2500.00 - got another invoice today. Have no idea where the extra couple hundred came from.

When the number was ported, I was charged $175 early termination fee and at this same time my other cell phone plan was changed to .45 cents a minute, regardless of the time of day/night/weekend. I was even charged this rate for in-network calling which had always been free. This 2 year contract was to end on 09/04/06 which only left about 2 weeks remaining.

I spoke with several different people trying to resolve this problem with no success. I was told many times if I would sign a new contract they would wave the early termination fee but I did not feel like this was right when they ported the number without speaking to me.

I used the phone to listen to internet radio and watch television over the internet. My first month's bill was $375. The bill came to a clinic that provides the phone so I never saw it. My second month's bill was $888. The clinic then sent me both bills.

I'm guessing I used the phone for six hours and now have a bill for $1264. I think anyone who gets one of these phones is likely to get a HUGE bill if they don't get the unlimited plan, and feel I should have been warned of the likelihood of a huge bill.

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.

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.

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!).

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.

I have been calling them for three days now, but I always get the same recorded answer "because of unusual call volume we cannot answer your call at this time please hang-up and try to call us later". Same story any time of the day and night. If you have technical issue or billing issue they connect you to the representative almost immediately, but once you pick the disconnect service option, you get the above message instantly.

The tech support people or the others cannot help you with closing your account, so they transfer your call to the department that always has an unusual call volume, and that hangs up on you after a minute on hold. They never reply to email, and the live support chat does not close the account. All I want to do is return the equipment, close my account and get my money back.

The consequence to us, being lead to understand that our txt/pix package would allow us to send and receive a limited number of pictures and text message. However, we are now being told that there is additional charge for each picture we send or receive. This has cost us hundreds of hard earned dollars.

I owe Verizon about $500 in charges I expressly forbade them to all to be made, and they have credited me only about $90. I want them to foot the bill for their own incompetence.

Each time they would tell me to pay only the amount I owed and disregard the increased amount. Ultimately, I was charged late fees. And now they are telling me I have to pay the late charges and the bill is still wrong. I would like to sever all ties with Verizon at this point because I feel the billing will never be correct again.

Dealing with them has been ridiculous. They promise to fix the problem and they have done nothing but add increased fees.

All they did was to send a second bill that listed the same charge but not what it was for. My emails have been ignored.

Two weeks after purchasing the phone it started to have major issues. The keys wouldn't work, the phone would freeze, and it wouldn't dial out. I had the phone for one month's time and I had to replace the phone 3 times. I told Verizon Wireless I no longer wanted the Q because it was ridiculous how big of headache this phone was. They told me I couldn't exchange for a new phone that I would have to sell the Motorola Q on E-bay and purchase a new phone for full retail.

This made absolutely no sense to me considering I just paid $350 for the Q and extended my contract for two years. Now I have to sell the garbage they sold me and purchase the new phone for full retail. Where is the customer service??

I feel this is totally unfair because I, in effect, transferred the old number to the new number.

Not true! It turns out, you have to purchase the $39 plan to get that. Also, anytime I sync my phone to the computer I am charged. I was not told this either.

I feel that the salesman at Verizon misled me, mainly about being able to call my friends on Verizon for free.

On 8/14/06 I checked my Verizon Wireless account like I periodically do and found they had CREDITED my account for the $400 WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR APPROVAL. I called on 8/14/06 and spoke with customer representative Tori who assured me that my account was not credited and that I would be receiving my $400.00 check in a couple weeks. On 8/25/06 I again was online checking my Verizon Wireless Account and found that now my account is $352.89. Instead of sending me a bill they automatically took out what I owed for the next billing cycle WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR APPROVAL. I called on 8/26/06 to discuss this and the customer service representative, Pam, told me if there's a balance on the account when the security deposit is released they deduct that and then the balance is sent to me. I should be receiving a check IN A COUPLE WEEKS.

As of 8/27/08 I have not received the $400.00 security deposit that I should have had back in June 2006 from Verizon Wireless.

I have to manage my account very carefully now. I get 5 hours a month which I normally use up prior to the renewl date. My guess is this way they can charge people more but it's not in my paperwork, I'm making less calls during the day. At night I still get unlimited....for now.

Well 4 hours later she called back and said that it was such a mess that she turned it over to her supervisor, that it would take a couple of days to get everything taken care of and charges would be taken off and credited to our account, that it would show on our next statment. Well before our next statement arrived our service was cut off, and on July 27th called to ask why and Shelly of verizon informed us that we still owed $900.00, and that they had no record of the June 18th conversation, for us to get service turned back on it would be $690.00 and that they would then look into the problem and get back too us.

Requested to talk to a supervisor was informed there was none available, as if there was a number for conflict resolutions, she said they did not have a phone # but they Verizon had an address to send complaints. The address is Verizon, Exec Relations 777 Big Timber Road, Elgin, Illinois 60123, but as stated before they would not give us the phone number. It seems every month there is some sort of a problem with our bill, because they keep saying that they made a mistake, that it would be corrected, but never is.

For example, a phone that cost $149.99, a new customer can purchase it at the discounted rate of $119.99. But existing customers who want to buy the same phone as an upgrade are being charged $259.99. It's the same case with every phone they have. One real price for new customers, who are given a discount, and a much higher price for existing customers.

I refuse to pay for text messages sent to me that I did not know there would be a charge for. Threatening to sue me. They have taken to a bill collector and will affect my credit.

Then a friend suggested trying to use an air card. I am using a desk top, so I had been told by a few so called savvy computer tech's that you can't use an air card with a desk top. After a few more opinions I did find out that I could use an air card with a desk top if I added the board that the card plugs into which was available from Comp. USA I also found a Verizon air card I could get from another party for about $30 opposed to the $100 Verizon wanted. I then called Verizon and spoke to one of their agents about doing this. The agent informed me that I was looking at $59.95 a month on a one year contract. I gave him all the information including technical info on the card and board I would be purchasing which he confirmed would be fine. I also had 15 days from hook up to try the service out before getting hooked into a 1 year contract. I again called Verizon for a second time and spoke to another agent to verify all this info which once again was confirmed.

After receiving the card and board and down loading all the necessary soft ware to make this happen, I called Verizon to get the process happening. I was then told that it was going to cost me $79.95 a month on a 2 year contract instead of the $59.95 a month I was told prior to purchasing the equipment to make this happen. When I explained to the agent what I had been told, I was told that I was mis-informed with an apology and my only option was the $79.95. I figured it was time to go at that point before I lost it. I called Verizon back the next day to file a complaint or at least talk to someone about this. I was then told that I could get the $59.95 on a 1 year contract if I set the account up on my existing cell phone account.

I called Verizon and requested that they mail me a new adapter and I would mail the defective one back to them. They said that was not possible and I would have to return it to the store. The store is not right around the corner and I asked that I please not have to wait on the long line and they explained they could not do that. They also proceeded to tell me that they fixed the phone and charger (replacing them with refurbished parts) and that it was tested prior to being given to me....and that it broke in my possession. But it did not work from the moment I plugged it in.

All I have to do somedays is walk from my car into my house and I lose a call the signal strength disappears and wham. Other times I walk from my living room into my kitchen and the signal strength is gone and I lose the call. I am of course locked into a 2 year contract with Verizon which I feel is unfair due the problems I am continually having. I never experienced problems with my Verizon Service before moving. I even got a different phone because the previous phone I had was 2 years old and they no longer make that particular model.

I was lied to, it was underhanded and sneeky the way they bill. Then they told me they could not send me any back up documentation without court order. I was over chargede $300.00

November 2005 our contract ran out so we went back to the same office to renew and exchange our old phones. In the process of filling out the contract I asked the clerk about our new phones that were promised to us two years before. We were abrubtly told they no longer offer that and if I wanted a new phone I could get a $100 credit on my account to put towards a new phone, and that was that!

i explained to them that the refill card i purchased was advertised $50.00 for 1020 minutes. they said they don't offer it even though i have the card and the brochure that says they do. the customer service rep told me i would need to take it back to the store, it wasnt their issue and that they couldn't do anything about it. I asked to speak to a supervisor or someone who could handle this complaint because I only wanted what i paid for and what was advertised. he gave me an address that I could write to. they have a policy that once you have used any minutes or placed them on your phone you can't have a refund. how would i know that I didn't get what was advertised until I actually put it on my card and the real amount wasnt told to me until i called them and they told me that it wasnt a mistake and it was the stores problem. their name/logo is on the card i would assume they have someone in charge of that so they must know they aren't giving what they are advertising

No question it's an outrage. But there's some question about the remedy. Certainly, action on abuses of this kind is long overdue.

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.

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:

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.

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

Salem, OR 97301-4096

She is now being required to keep the contract until October 2003 or it will cost her $175.00. They also said that she received a new phone and that "automatically" reactivated her account on October. But this referenced "new" phone was not a new phone but a replacement phone due to the original phone being defective. She has a good credit rating and handles her account on time.

Jose should write a letter setting forth the facts of the matter, have his mother sign it and send it to Verizon via certified mail, return receipt requested, with a copy to the Florida Attorney General.

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.

Susan should send another letter -- this time certified, return receipt requested -- including a copy of her earlier letter, stating once again that she is not under an obligation to continue paying for Verizon service. She should send a copy to the Attorney General and Public Utility Commissions in her state.

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?

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.

We wanted out of the contract due to the fact that Verizon wasn't meeting their contract. And, we were told no, it would cost us $300 to cancel before the contract was up and too bad for us. So, we cancelled one phone for $150 and got a phone from AT&T; that does work 180 miles from L.A. We are just waiting for the contract to expire to get rid of the other Verizon cell phone. We will never recommend Verizon to anyone we know.

I live about an hour from this mall and that night when I got about 30 minutes from where I live, I had no service. Come to find out Verizon Wireless doesn't even have phone coverage where I live. The very next day I took the phone back very upset because I asked the girl several times about service in my area. The girl didn't even apologize for being wrong, then she told me she could not give me back the $150.00 I had put down on the phone. I was told it would take up to 3 weeks before I would get my money back, because it would have to go through Verizon.

I have talked to Verizon because they are the ones who have my money and are responsible for returning it to me. I have called about 5 times in the last few weeks and every one tells me a different story. I cannot get a straight answer from anyone. As the weeks go by I feel like my money is not coming and there is no one I can talk to that is willing to help me.

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?

When we first signed up for service, we were helped by a salesperson who informed us that this was her first day on the job, so I was patient with her while she made numerous mistakes. What disturbed me is that there was nobody there to supervise her and she had to continually call another store for help. I was there for quite some time while she was walked through the procedure. My name was put on the contract wrong, which I was told could not be corrected, but I felt this was minor.

We were told that we would have the family plan, where we would be able to get the second phone for half again as much as the first phone. First mistake - it was half again more a month for the service. By the time that was clarified I was already well into the process and had been there a long time. I didnt know how to deal with it, so I just said okay.

The second mistake was that we were told that there would be no roaming charges. We specifically explained that we do some traveling for work and that we needed a phone that could handle that aspect. In reality, the plan did charge a roaming fee, which I found out when I got the first bill.

Another mistake...we were told that the first 3 months of caller i.d., voice mail and call waiting were free on each phone. After a couple of weeks, when my phone didnt receive voice mail, I called customer service and they said that my phone hadnt been set up that way and that my salesperson did not give me the free trial period. He said he would adjust that. My next bill charged me for those free services! Again, I called customer service, this time a lot angrier than before. They did credit me the charges.

When I discovered that I had been given such a slew of misinformation from the beginning, I called and complained. After several weeks of not having people return my calls (not even the manager, because he left the company and nobody told me) I finally got my original salesperson to credit me for the entire year for the overcharges that I would incur during the life of the plan. While this seemed okay, it left me with a much higher monthly bill than planned, messing me up.

We went into the Verizon store again, asking to be switched to the new plan and also for one of the phones to be transferred into my husbands name and social security number. We were separated at the time and this made more sense for us. The salesperson explained the whole plan to us and while all this time we had kept thinking we were going to cancel our service, we went ahead and switched. By the way, the only reason we hadnt cancelled service altogether is because of your unethical early cancellation fee. I guess this is the whole purpose Verizon establishes this fee, but it is sad that it wouldnt just be peoples happiness with the service that would stop them from cancelling, that they actually have to be intimidated not to cancel.

To get back to this very frustrating situation, we had both phones switched to the NE plan and my husband filled out an application for his phone. I just got our new bill the other day. Numerous mistakes, AGAIN! I was charged for several items that I should not have been, it looks like they charged me for caller i.d., which was included in the plan and then credited it, realizing what was done, and I still had received both phones billed to me, even though it had been a month since we switched. When I called to complain, I was told that the next bill would reflect the switch of the second phone to my husband and I was credited for the mistakes.

Tonight I called to confirm when weekend hours began on this NE plan, whether it was Saturday or Friday night and I was told that my phone didnt have this option. I was dumbfounded. I asked her what she was talking about and I was told that when the NE plan was set up, my husbands phone had the option, but not mine. In questioning her further, we discovered that it was a matter of not having something keyed in, a huge mistake as far as Im concerned. In addition, both phones were still being billed to me, contrary to what the customer service rep had told me in a previous call, that it was separate but it wouldnt be reflected until the next bill.

This was the last straw. I asked to talk to a supervisor. When she came on the phone I told her I wanted to cancel both phones and that I had better not be charged the early cancellation fee. She said she would correct everything so my bill would be correct and then cancel, but I would still be responsible for the fee, and in fact, Id be responsible for the fee for both phones! I asked who her manager was and she told me that she would not be in until Tuesday and gave me her name.

I have never experienced anything like this before in my entire 46 years of life. I dont know whether Verizon intentionally cheats their customers, thinking they can get away with it enough times for it to be profitable, or if it is just plain incompetence. Either way, Verizon has broken their end of the contract numerous times. They should be paying me a fee, not the other way around!

As you well know, the CDM135 that Mr. G. sold to me was a model that was recalled. I would also like for you to know that on May 18, 2001, the above mentioned products were packaged and sent back to Branchburg TMK Center, 51 Chubb Way, Somerville NJ 08876, by way of Federal Express, Tracking Number 828463858030, for next day delivery before noon on May 19, 2001. It is also a fact that T. Battista signed for that package on May 19, 2001, at 10:45 a.m. I paid $30.20 out of my own pocket to mail that phone and accessory back to you.

I was sold a plan for 200 anytime and 1500 evening minutes, the DC 200 N&W; Value Plan for one year. There are roaming charges for when I used the phone in West Virginia, 20 minutes from where I live. Last time I checked, West Virginia was in the Eastern part of the United States and in my home area. I would also like you to know that Mr. G. knowingly sold me a phone in an area where there was no local Verizon wireless service, AND therefore, my phone was always stuck on analog. I was also told that e-mail was totally free, by Mr. G. He told me that there was no charge whatsoever no 10 cents nor 2 cents for incoming or outgoing e-mails. He told me not to pay attention to the Verizon web site; to listen to him because he wouldnt steer me wrong and that he knows what hes talking about because he goes to his managers meetings and he listens.

All of this he told me DESPITE the fact that I told him that he was the only one repeating this information to me, that I wanted to believe him but that it was hard because no one else who worked for Verizon was making the same unsubstantiated claims. He even went so far as to tell me, when I called back numerous times for help AFTER my purchase, that he really wasnt allowed to stay on the phone with me for more than 10 minutes unless he was selling a phone. And he needed to sell as many phones as he could because he was getting married and needed the money to pay for his upcoming wedding. He referred me to the Data Group.

My service was for one month @ $34.99; my equipment was paid for by my credit card before it arrived at my house; I returned your equipment to you and you signed for it. How in the world can you sit there and say I owe you for equipment? And how on earth can you bill me for another month of service? I am enclosing not only a copy of my invoice from when I purchased this phone and service from Verizon, but also a copy of the Federal Express airbill that I used to mail your malfunctioning equipment back to you, since I wasted two weeks waiting for someone at your Customer Service department to actually help me.

Everybody I talked to was going to send me a new phone. It never happened, until the day I actually quit your service; I didnt sign for the package that Federal Express tried to deliver. I refused the package. You were too late at that point, and I had already cancelled my service. Your track record was very poor and as far as I knew, everyone that I spoke with was being paid to stroke me, if you will; to be a Yes man or woman on the phone with me, and promise me everything, but in the end, delivered nothing.

It is very curious to me as to how I can be billed for equipment that I already paid for once and safely returned; this is documented. It is also very curious to me that I can be billed for two months of service when I didnt have the phone in my possession for thirty (30) days. And lastly, very curious to me that I can be billed for roaming charges when I was supposedly in my home area.

Verizon advertised that they could do this with no roaming fee, so last November I switched from my AT&T; service that allocated roaming charges in Iowa City. For the last 6 weeks I have been unable to receive calls in Iowa City. I have repeatedly called their customer service personnel and continue to get different stories each time I call. What was consistent was their insistence that the problem would be fixed.

However, the last person I spoke to told me that this is a known problem and that they had no idea when it would be fixed. I am tired of waiting. I need to be able to receive calls but have not been able to do so and do not know when that will change. I have asked to cancel the contract but have been told that I would have to continue to pay $25 per month. I do not understand why I am expected to keep my part of the contract when they have not and cannot fulfill their part of the contract.

We were able to cancel the plan, but we're stuck with the cost of the phones. Besides that, we weren't able to resign with the long distance carrier for the same plan as we had before. So, now our long distance calls will cost us more. I feel this was a shoddy way of doing business. They sold something and then lied about it. I even had to speak to a rep when the phones came because the number they gave on our paper and the number in the phone did not match. The rep had me call a number while I was on the phone with him and I even asked him about why it said roaming. He gave some bogus story about cell towers. I asked him if the home calling area was all of NJ and he told me yes! Funny, isn't it!

They did inform me that I would still get my refund from August. It is now Jan 31,2001 and I am still waiting for my refund from August of 2000. I was told all about billing cycles, and all sorts of red tape that excuses them from giving me my money back, but I don't care about any of that! Please! Is this how you treat customers? I will never use any of their service ever again after this. This is worse than dealing with the government!

I purchased an Audiovox CDM 9000, with insurance and service. The total purchase was $205.65. I requested a plan that offered no long distance or roaming charges since I was planning to make several business trips to Florida and was signed up for the Single Rate 150 (DS15) plan. While in Florida, I was unable to get any calls directly dialed to my phone because it wasn't ringing. The calls went immediately into voicemail, with no message waiting prompt.

I went to two different Verizon locations in the Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach areas, and technicians pushed all sorts of buttons and tested the phone, but were as stumped as I was as to why my phone wasnt ringing or prompting me to retrieve messages. In effect, my phone and the Verizon service technicians were useless. I was not happy.

My Single Rate 150 plan proved not to be so economical, and in November I went into the Manhattan store with Ms. Moore to discuss other options. Ms. Moore had a significantly different plan and we were trying to understand why I had such different options. We were told that Ms. Moore's plan was the result of a promotion in effect at the time she contracted her service. My contract was changed to the Digital 300 with free long distance (H300) and I reduced it a one-year contract rather than the two I signed up for initially.

The next problem occurred when I tried unsuccessfully to get information through voice data key prompts. I went into the nearby Verizon store in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (86th Street), and the technician reset one of the functions, explaining that the proper key tone was not being achieved.

Most recently, while driving I was using the Plantronics universal [over-the-head] headset I purchased from the Manhattan store. When I disconnected the headset and attempted to make a call on my cell phone, I couldn't hear anything through the earpiece. I reconnected the headset and could hear a dial tone, but when I disconnected it again, nothing. I took my phone into the Manhattan store on the evening of January 16th and when I explained the problem to the technician (Wendy), she advised me that the phone would have to be sent away for repair and the turnaround time was four weeks. I asked what the problem was, and she said that something was probably loose in the earpiece.

I wanted to know what I should do for cellular service in the meantime and Wendy told me that she could either give me a refurbished phone (like mine would be once it was repaired), or a loaner. I told her I didn't want a refurbished phone, that I purchased mine brand new only six months ago, and I wanted my phone back in proper working condition. I agreed to the loaner. Wendy proceeded to take an imprint of my credit card, explaining that if I did not come back to pick up my phone within five days of being notified that it had been repaired, Verizon would then charge me for the loaner, a refurbished Audiovox 4000.

The sales slip on which my card had been imprinted was prepared in the amount of $250.00, plus applicable taxes (more than I had paid for my 9000 phone brand new), and was given to me with a service agreement, to sign. I signed the service agreement, but refused to sign the sales slip. I insisted that the agreement bearing my signature should be enough of an acknowledgement that I was aware of the conditions and would abide by them. It hardly seems good practice to sign a sales slip unless you have the intention of purchasing something, especially when it's being left in a store where a mistake could easily be made, but not so easily rectified. I asked to speak with the manager who, though not with a customer, refused to come to the rear of the store where I had been speaking with the technicians.

I went to the front of the store and explained my position to Fernando, the manager of the evening. He told me that the rules required that I had to sign the sales slip as insurance that I would come back to get my phone once it was repaired (or protect them if I didn't) and if I didn't want to sign the sales slip then don't take the loaner. I suggested that Verizon owed me a phone since I was paying for service that I wouldn't have, and four weeks was a long time to be without the use of my phone. He told me I could continue to check my voicemail but there was nothing else he could do for me. At no time did anyone in that store ask me if I had insurance or offer an alternate solution.

On the morning of January 17, 2001 my friend, Traci, and I spoke with a Verizon Customer Care representative and explained the events of the previous evening. While we waited on the line she attempted to contact the Manhattan store and get the status on my phone. After speaking with four different people, she was told that my phone was being sent out for repairs but there was no indication on record of why the phone was being sent out. Fernando was not on duty at that time, but whomever the Customer Care rep spoke with confirmed my declining the loaner. The Customer Care rep suggested I call the insurance company to file a claim and referred me to this office to lodge my complaint.

On January 28, 2001 I called The Merrimac Group (888-881-2622) to file a report. Nicki listened to my story and told me that I could not get a replacement phone through the insurance company at this time, inasmuch as Verizon had taken my damaged phone and already sent it out for repairs. She said that Verizon should have advised me to call and file the claim immediately, knowing that they would have sent me a [refurbished] replacement, or should, themselves, have given me a replacement without the demand that I sign a sales slip. She said such a thing was unheard of, and she wouldn't have signed a sales slip either, without intending to make a purchase.

Frankly, I am no longer interested in maintaining service with Verizon, and I have no intention of paying to dissolve this contract. If I am forced to live out the contract with Verizon, I certainly do not want any further dealings with the Manhattan store referenced above. I question the capability of their technicians, am furious over the inappropriate demands they made, and the rude and unprofessional manner in which Fernando dealt with my situation.

I feel like I'm being cheated. If they do that to everyone, holding approximately $100-$200 per household, they are actually indirectly holding a lot of money which belongs to someone else. In addition, the customer service over at the rebate center was terrible. No courtesy, impolite and very very rude.

On Thanksgiving Day (Nov 2000) she noticed her phone was shut off. Upon contacting Verizon, she was told her bill wasn't paid. They told her they couldn't help her without a receipt. She never received a receipt so she cannot produce one for them. They refuse to do anything about this. Here is a girl, 19 years old, working for practically minimum wage and trying to build her credit and they scam her like this. Her father even went in and tried to settle this but they refuse to do a thing.

The funny thing is the girl remembers her coming in to pay 2 bills and even stated she remembered one being quite large. Now they claim Tiffany was in there and told them she lost her receipt which is not true because she told them from day one that she never got one. They are lying to try and cover up their scam or the thief they have working among them.","The consequences will now be that Tiffany will have negative feedback on her credit report. She is just sick about the whole thing as she works for around $6 an hour and it took alot for her to save to pay her bill.

First Verizon told me the account was suspended until the phone was fixed. Then another rep. said this wasn't done and couldn't be done. Somebody from Verizon actually asked me who told me to go to Radio Shack? Anyway, I was getting fed up and wanted to terminate my relationship with them, if possible. I had been an AT&T customer previously and I knew that they let you cancel within 30 days with no termination fee. I asked if this applied to Verizon as well and was told by a supervisor, April, that this was indeed true with them too and that if I canceled there would be no charge. I was also told this by a rep. named Frank and another named Ken, both of whom could not seem to terminate my account for various reasons. Ken told me he would lose his job if he cancelled my account but that his job was cancelling accounts? Scott, who finally did cancel my account also told me that I would not incur a termination fee. He said they would not take the phones back since they had too much use but there would be no fee. I figured that was fine with me since the two phones only cost $39.

Well, now that I have terminated my account, they refuse to waive the fee. Since two phones were involved it costs $350. A helpful representative, Erica, is trying to help, but they don't seem to want to waive it for her efforts either. A rep. named Tasha told me today that she knows that if an account is cancelled within 30 days there is no fee but that if a supervisor denied it she couldn't do anything. I was well within the 30 days. The account was opened on 9/27/00 and closed 10/17/00. I would not have cancelled if I knew there was going to be a fee, so I feel this is a real bait-n-switch. I feel I'm going to get stuck paying the fee soon - the payment is due 11/16/00 - since the account is on my husband's credit report, which is spotless. I made a decision based on information from them!

I am so worked up about this I'm having trouble sleeping and am becoming a bit obsessed. It's just not fair they can get away with being so incredibly incompetent and making me pay for it.

Now that Verizon (alias Bell Atlantic) has merged with Airtouch, they says that I can't raise or lower my minutes unless I buy a new phone from them.

I no longer needed my higher priced minutes and wished to lower them so that my bill would be cheaper, they say no deal I have to pay the higher price until the contract is up, but they no longer will honor the Airtouch contract. But they said if I try to cancel my worthless contract they will charge me for doing so.

See how beneficial these mergers are for consumers?

Thomas of Ronkonkoma, NY, writs:

I could go on for days. It started in the tail end of 1999. I had one mobile phone from Bell Atlantic and one from Omnipoint for my girlfriend. I had no major problems with the Bell Atlantic phone billing but many repeated billing errors with Omnipoint. After many months of problems with Omnipoint I decided not to renew my Omnipoint contract (expiring December 1999) and to replace my girlfriend's phone with a Bell Atlantic phone and to renew my existing contract for another year. This was the begining of my problems with Bell Atlantic.

So my girlfriend chucked her Omnipoint phone and spent money for a new phone with Bell Atlantic. As my 1999 Bell contact had me renting the phone I too purchased the phone that was on special when renewing my contract. When establishing the two new contracts in the Bell Atlantic store, I asked the rep. to put both phones on one bill, thinking they would be itemized. Not so. When I got my bill I saw the charges were all lumped together and called customer service to review the charges and request the billing be seperated.

I was told that would be fine and that next month I would get seperate bills for each line. But I noticed a few things in reviewing the charges. First Bell Atlantic without asking me placed a $3.95 monthly charge on each phone for phone insurance in case of damage or loss. I did not request this insurance and when I told the rep that she insisted that Bell does not put that on your bill unless you request it. So I was credited and those charges and they were removed.

I do not remember the exact dates of these events but I renewened my contract from my existing contract on the day the prior one expired yet I was charged a fee for forward billing on the new contract (I am fuzzy on this detail); the rep said that even though I renwewed my existing line the same day the old one expired she never saw anyone get away from some type of forward billing charge (as they bill a month in advance) When I asked the rep what the exact amount of my normal monthly charges should be for each phone the rep said she could not determine that "because fees and taxes are different in each area."

Although I was amazed and insistant that they figure out what these charges were for each of my phones they would or could not tell me how much the the bill for each phone should be if I stay within my montly plan ($29.99 for 200 minutes and free weekends). I can not believe that no one could tell me what taxes and fees are or how much my bill total should be. Sounds insane but it's true. (I have asked several times over several months)

The next month the bills for the two phones were seperate but had different totals due to my requesting they be billed seperatly and my girlfriend's phone had additional/partial charges due to the forward billing. Also the two bills/phones were on different billing cycles and were now due at different times of the month. So I requested they both be put into the same billing cycle so the would be due at the same time each month. This caused the bill totals to not match again the following month (as I have identical service contracts for each you think they would) Next month I was sent a weird bill for $13.95 on my girlfriends phone. When I called Bell to inquire they said don't worry about it, we made a mistake. By this time I was into March and still waiting for the bills for two phones to match. But no, I think at this point the started charging my phone for the weekend promotion that was supposed to be free.

After several hours and calls I was told that although the free weekend promotion was reinstated on my account for the next few months it would appear on my bill although when I call to make payment with a credit card they would have the correct totals on the computer and that rep would follow the account to insure I was not being charged. The reason quoted for Bell's inability to correct the billing immediately was what Bell refered to as an "open window request". Then the April bill came and now they were charging me for "text messaging" on my phone that I never requested. More time on the phone and several calls later that charge was removed.

Next month on the May bill they were charging me for the weekends again. I opened my bill on the LIRR train going home one night and imediately tried to call on my Bell Atlantic cell phone to see what the deal was. Twice I called in a one hour time frame and twice I got a recording telling me that "The system was down and to call later". Finally on the third try I got through, punched through the maze of options, input my cell number and started to address the issue with a rep when the call got dropped. I called right back only to have the same thing happen. Outraged I called them back from my land phone at home and the woman I spoke to, Tanya, said she saw the problem and also saw there were other mistakes on my billing for both accounts. She put me on hold several times. She put me on hold and came back to tell me as I had all these problems on both accounts she was going to pull all my bills from January on both phone and review them with her manager and get back to me by Wednesday 5/24.

Shockingly she did not call back. I called her back twice again going through the rat maze of prompts only to leave her two messages. The following week with still no reply from Tanya I called the main number and got a Sue L on the phone> at this point I was irate and asked her what the deal is with Tanya, why after nearly six months with these two phones with the same rate I did not ever have two bills that match. Again I requested the total correct amount with taxes and fees on each bill if staying within the allotted minutes to be told again they can not tell me that.

I was borderline ranting at this point when I asked who is the head of customer relations? Is there a VP or someone I could complain to? No, I was told I could only complain to the rep on the phone and they would decide whether or not to pass my complaint on to their supervisor. Amazed by this reply I was told that all major complaints go through a appealsn board. A faceless nameless committee. ...

Tanya finally did get back to me. She claimed to have reviewed my billing and started asking me a bunch of questions and putting me on hold. When she came back from putting me on hold with another question I told her "look, every month I have to spend hours on the phone with you/Bell resolving billing errors that are Bell's fault. I am very busy at work and can not spend any more time on hold or answering your questions. The situation is quite simple, I have two phones with the same plan yet for the last five months the bills never match. resolve this and call me with the outcome."

Fine, she said and moments later she called and left a message that she had resolved the issues. I called her back and she said, yes, there was an error on them charging me for the weekends and they had made the mistake before and not credited me for it perviously, so now I was due a credit of $11.94 and my bill would be like $29.94 which made no sense to me as my normal rate is $29.99 plus taxes and fees adding about $6.00 to $7.00 for a total of about $37.00 dollars. So how do you (Bell/Tanya) get to $29.94 after crediting my account $11.00 and change from $37.00 total. She was at a loss.

And so it goes ... One other comment, I can not hold a connection on the phone from my own house. The phone drops the call. When I filed a complaint about this I was told they would check it out and get back to me. Never heard a thing. Several months later I complained again online on the Bell Atlantic web page and this time I got a call from rep who said, "Oh I know what you're going through. I have the same problem at my house" and in effect there is nothing they can do about it.

When my computer used these numbers, they connected without me setting my computer up to dial these numbers with 1 or 0. In all my other dealings with any phone service, a one or zero are required to place a long distance call of any kind.

When I spoke with their representative to establish my phone service I was not told of their policy of direct dial for long distance. When the installer came out to my house to hook the phone up I was not made aware of this policy. I did not receive my phone book until no earlier that August 16.

As I was thumbing thru it one afternoon, I came upon the direct dial policy of Bell Atlantic. I took immediate action and reset my computer to use a local call for my residence taken from the information given solely by the phone book.. This was on August 17th after normal business hours.

I called Bell Atlantic the following morning and spoke to a representative. She informed me that she could take no action at that time but told me to call Bell Atlantic when I received my bill and they would adjust the charges.

I received my bill on August 28. I called Bell Atlantic and spoke with their customer service again. When I asked, I was told that the record of my call from August 18th was still on their screen. The representative read it to me.

She then transfereed me to one of the "toll" representatives. She listened and then connected me with Mr. J. I again discussed with him my concerns. Those being...1. I was not aware of their policy of direct dial for long distance calls by anyone in their company prior to or during the setup of my service. 2. I did not receive my phone book for 2 weeks so as to be informed of that policy.

Mr J informed me they are not willing to adjust my bill. He argues that it is MY responsibility to have asked about this policy. And that I am responsible for these charges. He suggested I call my internet provider and attempt to have them adjust these charges. The internet provider is harmless in this as I was connected with them in Omaha, my last residence.

My argument is that it was not my responsibility but Bell Atlantic's to advise me of its policies regarding local long distance charges. After all it is a policy of their making and not mine.

Unfortunately, there may not be many options only to Robert. Local calling areas are established by the state regulatory agencies and it's pretty much up to the customer to acquaint himself with the lay of the land.

This is a real danger of the Internet, since what appear to be "local" numbers often are not.

the inside where my phone would sit.

My daughter who has one of the other phones had the same thing

happen to the bottom of her phone, it also was burned.

I called Bell Atlantic and spoke to a very nice lady. She told
me that I should remove my charger from the socket to keep from
having an electrical fire and to bring the phones to any Bell

Atlantic office to have them replaced free of charge.

I opened up the back of my phone and found a sticker that said
the battery expired on 5/1/99. So I went to a Bell Atlantic
phone center and told one of the sales representatives the story.
He did replace the two defective pieces, but said that the burning
was my fault for keeping the phones on the battery charger for

more than 4 hours.

As to the battery expiring after having it only 3 months there
was nothing that he could do. If I wanted I could purchase another

one for around $70.00.

If I want to use the phone until my contract is up at the end
of January 2000, I will have to purchase a new battery and return
it when I return the phone. It seems unfair to have me return
a new battery for someone else to use. I was also very upset
to think that an electrical fire could start because of the

phones' defect.

My final and ONLY option now was this: She would give me a new phone of the same value of the originally purchased defective phone. This sounds great except she also told me I needed to sign a NEW One Year contract. I called Bell Atlantic Customer Service from the store. I spoke with Scarlet from North Carolina. She also spoke with Bonnie, the store supervisor. Scarlet then told me that she could not overrule a store manager's decision. I then asked Scarlet if I could speak to a Costumer Service Manager. She told me that there were no managers available. She told me that a manager would call me the next day at 1:00 P.M. So, I left the store with a loaner phone.

I did NOT receive a phone call from a manager on Friday, 11/13 at 1: 00 P.M. as promised. I called Customer Service on Monday 11/15 at 10:40. I spoke with Delor. I explained my situation again and asked him if I could speak to a manager. He told me that there where no managers available and that one would call me back. Delor called me back to tell me the manager, Brian Duggan would call me between 5:00P.M. and 6:00P.M. that evening. Well, I finally got a call from a manager (Marchella), on my voice mail at work, at 8:27 P.M. on 11/15/99. They never called me on the cell phone number. I don't feel I should have to sign another One Year contract in order to receive the cell service I originally signed up for.

A second issuue is that they told me since I changed my calling plan 90 days after my original one year contract they extended my contract to one year from the date the calling plan was changed. I did change the calling plan within the 90 days but they did not input it into there system until August. This is evidenced by a calling plan CREDIT in August and September granted to me to make up for there mistake. I was never informed until last Thursday 11/12/99 that my calling plan was extended in August.

They are driving me crazy by giving me the runaround. They never call me back when they say they will. I have a very busy work schedule and don't have the time to spend disputing issues with BellAtlantic Mobile. As far as the service contract being extended due to the service plan being changed this will cost me an additional $360.

The other day, my 11 year old son got a busy signal while dialing his cousin. He got the same message, but being a child, he just did what the recording instructed him to do. When I asked him why the phone kept dialing our home in such an odd manner, he told me about the message on the line. I was concerned but thought it was some one time thing.

Now, however, since I have also gotten this message attached to a busy signal call, I decided to contact Verizon and inquire about it. I was told that this is an "enhanced service" offered by Verizon to all its customers. When I asked how long this service had been available, the woman from Verizon stated she didn't know. I asked if there was a charge for this use. She said yes there was.

I told her that I thought it was not proper for Verizon to automatically place this message to its customers in the middle of a call. She informed me that they do state in the message that there is a fee for this service. I told her that the fee statement is so quick that most people would not even hear it. And, I told her that a child would not understand what that part about "may be charges attached" would mean and go ahead and do as the recording instructed. The Verizon employee then told me that it was up to the parents to make sure the child knows and understands about the use of this service.

How can a parent tell a child about this "service" when the parent isn't even aware of it? I then told her that I felt it was just a scam by Verizon to get money out of their customers without them knowing about it. She said "Well, we can block the 'enhanced service' to your line." I said yes, do that.

I am certain that there will be a charge on my next phone bill for the time my child was "tricked" into dialing #3 when he got that busy signal that day. I just wonder how many other customers are being taken by this "enhanced service" that has appeared on our phones?

I feel we were taken advantage of. I was not aware that this "enhanced service" had been added to our phone service. It was a bit of an intrusion to suddenly have this message telling you to dial a number because the number you were dialing was busy. It made me angry that my child was duped into dialing the number and Verizon sees nothing wrong with it. And, as I stated above, I don't yet know what charges may be on my next phone bill.

the phone was warrantied.

Two weeks later I still did not have my cell phone back and
I got a phone call from Bell Atlantic Mobile telling my th manufacturer
would not honor the warranty and it would cost $100 to fix the

phone.

The service manager I spoke with was incredibly rude and would

give me no information as to why my phone was not covered.

It turns out the phone was covered under warranty and even
if it wasn't, the manufacter was only going to charge me $85

to fix it as opposed to the $100 that I was origionally told.

I feel like Bell Atlantic was trying to scam me out of money
by overquoting me, not sending in my warranty info, not following
up with the repair, and not following up with me as a customer.

In addition, the service manager was extremelly rude.

The phone will be repaired for free, I had to call the manufacturer
myself and get it straightened out. Bell Atlantic still can't
tell me why they over quoted me and I have not gotten any sort

of decent customer service.