Verizon

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 2430 historical complaints about Verizon, published between 2000 and 2018. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• False AdvertisingPublished Aug 22, 2018 · Historical consumer allegation
• Fraud potectionPublished Mar 23, 2016 · Historical consumer allegation
• Awful customer servicePublished Jan 11, 2014 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon Wireless Tinley Park, ILPublished Jan 5, 2014 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon has bad customer servicePublished Jan 5, 2014 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon wireless phone screen protectoPublished Dec 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• BillingPublished Dec 17, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon Wireless websitePublished Nov 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon billing problems - Verizon broadband DSL for businessPublished Nov 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• BAD customer treatmentPublished Nov 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Oh verizon will I ever have servicePublished Nov 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Random Charges to Account by VerizonPublished Nov 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• I bought an iPhone 5 brokenPublished Oct 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ordered a replacement phone delivery missedPublished Oct 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon - cable, internet and home phone bundlePublished Oct 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Help with charges?Published Oct 23, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Do not choose Verizon as your cell phone providedPublished Sep 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon and Droid Razr M - Droid Razr MPublished Sep 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Verizon store Poor Customer Service - Galaxy tabletPublished Sep 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• HORRIBLE customer service - Galaxy Note IIIPublished Sep 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official U.S. website: https://www.verizon.com/
• 1-800-VERIZON customer line (Fios disconnect FAQ: Mon-Fri 8am-7pm ET, Sat 8am-5pm ET): 800-837-4966 42 complaints mention this number
• Mobile billing and support call line listed on Verizon surcharges page (Mon-Sat 8am-7pm, Sun 8am-5pm: 800-922-0204 321 complaints mention this number
• Contact us page (chat, phone, stores): https://www.verizon.com/support/contact-us/
• How to disconnect a mobile line or close a mobile account (FAQs): https://www.verizon.com/support/disconnect-cancel-mobile/
• How to disconnect Verizon Fios service (FAQs): https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/account/manage-service/cancel
• Return policy (30-day device and accessory returns): https://www.verizon.com/support/return-policy/
• Verizon Mobile Customer Agreement (arbitration, billing disputes, cancellation): https://www.verizon.com/support/customer-agreement/
• Notice of Dispute form (wireless), cited in the Customer Agreement: https://www.verizon.com/about/nod/notice-of-dispute-wireless-form
• Device unlocking policies (postpaid, prepaid, business): https://www.verizon.com/support/device-unlocking-policy/
• Taxes, fees and Verizon mobile surcharges (incl. Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge): https://www.verizon.com/support/surcharges/
• January 14, 2026 network outage: company update and $20 credit: https://www.verizon.com/about/news/update-network-outage
• FCC informal complaint about a phone or internet provider (government): https://www.fcc.gov/complaints
• Court-approved administrative charge settlement website (Angeion); claim deadline April 15, 2024 has: https://www.verizonadministrativechargesettlement.com/home
• Company registrant phone, New York NY (SEC filing; not a customer-service line): (212) 395-1000 20 complaints mention this number

Locations

Verizon cancellation, billing disputes, fees, returns, price lock and how to complain: what Verizon's own pages say (checked October 6, 2026)

Verizon's own pages, opened on October 6, 2026, set out the routes below. The posts on this site that name Verizon are dated mostly 2002 to 2013 and mainly describe landline, DSL, Fios and contract-era wireless service, rebates, collection notices and third-party charges placed on Verizon phone bills, so many of them predate today's plans and terms.

Cancelling mobile service. Verizon's support article on disconnecting a mobile line says you can call Customer Service (it asks for the Account Owner's name, phone number and Account PIN), or sign in to My Verizon, choose Chat with us and type “Cancel”. It adds: “You must pay off any outstanding Device Payment balances before disconnecting the associated lines.” On timing it says: “Your cancellation isn't effective the day you contact us. It takes effect on the last day of the billing period in which you cancel.” The final bill, it says, covers usage, taxes and surcharges to the termination date, and “Any remaining balance on a device payment agreement is charged in full on your final bill.” For device promotions it says: “If you have a device promotion, the credits for the promotion stop. You are charged the remaining balance of your device(s),” and that this includes Buy One, Get One (BOGO) promotions. If you moved your number to another carrier, the page says to keep the Verizon account open until the final bill is issued. The Verizon Mobile Customer Agreement (updated June 16, 2026) adds: “You can cancel a line of Service within 30 days of accepting this Agreement as long as you return, within the applicable return period, any equipment you purchased ...” On changes to the agreement or plan, it says a postpay customer affected by a change with a material adverse effect “can cancel the line of Service that has been affected within 60 days of receiving the notice with no early termination fee if we fail to negate the change after you notify us of your objection to it.”

Cancelling Fios. The Fios disconnect FAQ lists 1-800-VERIZON (800-837-4966), Monday to Friday 8 AM-7 PM ET and Saturday 8 AM-5 PM ET, or a chat from My Verizon. It says: “If you disconnect your Fios service while you are under contract, you may be charged an early termination fee ... Early termination fees can cost a maximum of $350 and decrease by $15 per month,” that rented equipment “must be returned within 30 days of disconnecting your service,” and that a credit balance can take “up to 60 days” to be returned.

Disputing a charge. The Customer Agreement says postpay customers can dispute a bill but, unless the law provides otherwise or the dispute is about a lost or stolen device, “you still have to pay all charges until the dispute is resolved.” It also says: “YOU MAY CALL US TO DISPUTE CHARGES ON YOUR BILL ... BUT IF YOU WISH TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHT TO BRING AN ARBITRATION OR SMALL CLAIMS CASE REGARDING SUCH DISPUTE, YOU MUST WRITE TO US AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE ADDRESS ON YOUR BILL, OR COMPLETE THE NOTICE OF DISPUTE FORM.” The same agreement says disputes must be resolved in arbitration or small claims court and excludes class actions. For interrupted service it says that if you lose service in your coverage area for more than 24 hours in a row and Verizon is at fault, you can call within 180 days for a credit for the time lost.

Fees on the bill. Verizon's surcharges page says its mobile surcharges include a Regulatory Charge, a Universal Service Charge and an Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge, and that “these surcharges are Verizon charges, not taxes or government imposed fees.” The page says the Administrative Charge “was renamed the Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge effective 6/3/22” and is applied to each line, and that from November 1, 2026 the Regulatory Charge for voice-capable devices rises from $0.21 to $0.26 per line.

Returns and unlocking. The Return Policy page allows wireless devices and accessories bought from Verizon to be returned or exchanged within 30 days, with a restocking fee of $50 on a device return or exchange (not in Hawaii) subject to listed exceptions, and says devices must be returned within that period to avoid any early termination fee that applies. The Device Unlocking Policies page (“Updated: February 18, 2026”) says postpay devices bought from Verizon are locked, unlocked automatically when bought at full retail price or when the financing balance is paid in full, and never re-locked once unlocked, and that “Devices previously reported as lost or stolen will not be unlocked until they are cleared from the lost or stolen report”; prepaid devices stay locked until 365 days of paid and active service.

Price lock. Verizon's April 3, 2025 announcement describes a 3-year price lock on myPlan and a 3-5 year price guarantee on myHome. Its fine print says the guarantee “applies to the then-current base monthly rate for your talk, text, and data,” excludes taxes, fees and surcharges, and is “void if any of the lines are canceled or moved to an ineligible plan.”

Outage credit. After the January 14, 2026 network outage Verizon offered a $20 account credit through the My Verizon app; its credit FAQ says the redemption window “closed on 2/16/26.” See the litigation and regulator sections for the FCC inquiry.

Other routes. The FCC takes informal complaints about phone and internet providers at fcc.gov/complaints or 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) and advises trying to resolve the issue with the provider first. State attorneys general and public utility commissions also take complaints; I did not open each state's page.

Verizon FCC, state attorney-general and other regulator actions

The actions below come from the primary documents named in each paragraph, opened on October 6, 2026. Consent decrees and settlements are not findings by a court unless the document says so; each paragraph reports that document's own language. The list is not exhaustive: I did not search every state regulator's database, and no result is implied for sources not checked.

FCC forfeiture order on customer location data (April 29, 2024). The Second Circuit's September 10, 2025 opinion in No. 24-1733 says the FCC, after a February 2020 Notice of Apparent Liability, issued a forfeiture order of $46.9 million against Verizon for violating section 222 of the Communications Act and the FCC's rules by failing to reasonably safeguard customer proprietary network information tied to its location-based services program (aggregators LocationSmart and Zumigo and third-party providers). The court says Verizon paid the penalty and petitioned for review. The court of appeals denied the petition, and the Supreme Court later affirmed (see the litigation section). Verizon contested the FCC's findings in court.

New Jersey Fios consent settlement (June 5, 2024). The New Jersey Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs announced that Verizon New Jersey, Inc. finalized a settlement resolving an investigation into the marketing and sale of Fios services. Verizon agreed to pay $175,000 to the State to resolve allegations that, among other things, it failed to honor advertised prices, failed to deliver promotional gifts and failed to provide promised refunds. The release lists further allegations (charging more than the advertised price, not honoring cancellation requests, automatic renewal without consent, undisclosed limited gift supply) and says: “Verizon has denied the allegations.” It also says the settlement requires the company to resolve existing complaints from affected New Jersey consumers.

Multistate wireless advertising settlement (announced May 9, 2024). The New Jersey Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs announced that, together with 50 other attorneys general, they reached a $10.25 million agreement (Assurance of Voluntary Compliance) with AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile to resolve an investigation into allegedly misleading and confusing advertising and sales tactics. The release says the states allege the carriers' advertisements did not disclose or misrepresented material terms, including “unlimited” data limits, “free” phone conditions, switching incentives and plan comparisons. The companies agreed to change how they market, advertise and sell wireless service, including disclosing speed restrictions on unlimited plans, specifying the terms and fees for “free” devices, training staff and appointing a representative to handle consumer complaints. The release says Verizon (which it says includes TracFone and Cellco Partnership) and T-Mobile would each pay “a little more than $4 million” and AT&T about $2 million, and that New Jersey's share from Verizon is $58,526.51. The release as opened does not state whether the companies admitted or denied the allegations.

FCC consent decree on unauthorized third-party charges (May 12, 2015, DA 15-537). The Enforcement Bureau and Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless entered a consent decree as part of a global settlement of $90,000,000 with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the attorneys general of 50 states and D.C. The order says Verizon would pay $70,000,000 for consumer redress, $16,000,000 to the states and $4,000,000 to the U.S. Treasury, over allegations of billing for third-party premium text message charges consumers had not authorized. It states the consent decree “does not constitute an admission, finding of law, or fact” and is not an adjudication on the merits.

FCC consent decree on UIDH “supercookies” (March 7, 2016, DA 16-242). To settle an investigation into inserting Unique Identifier Headers in customers' internet traffic without disclosure, Verizon Wireless paid a $1,350,000 fine and agreed to obtain opt-in consent before sharing a customer's UIDH with a third party for targeted advertising. The decree says it “does not constitute either an adjudication on the merits or a factual or legal finding regarding any compliance or noncompliance.”

FCC consent decree on privacy opt-out notices (September 2, 2014, DA 14-1251). Verizon paid $7,400,000 to the U.S. Treasury to settle allegations that, from as early as 2006, it did not generate required opt-out notices for about two million customers before using personal information for marketing. The decree says it “does not constitute either an adjudication on the merits or a factual or legal finding or determination regarding any compliance or noncompliance.”

FCC consent decree on data usage charges (announced October 28, 2010, DA 10-2068). Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $25,000,000 to the U.S. Treasury and to provide credits or refunds of approximately $52.8 million to affected customers over unauthorized data charges (“mystery fees”). The decree says it “does not constitute either an adjudication on the merits, or a factual or legal finding or determination regarding any compliance or noncompliance.”

FCC inquiry into the January 14, 2026 outage (PS Docket No. 26-21). The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau's January 28, 2026 public notice (DA 26-94) says Verizon “suffered a service outage that lasted at least ten hours and affected millions of customers,” opened a docket and invited information on effects including 911 calling, with comments due March 16, 2026. Verizon's own update says the outage was resolved by 10:15 PM ET on January 14 and offered a $20 credit. In the sources checked on October 6, 2026 I did not find a Commission order, penalty or finding on the outage.

FCC review of Verizon's copper voice discontinuance (August to September 2026). On August 10, 2026 Verizon ILEC affiliates applied to discontinue legacy TDM-based voice service in parts of Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia (WC Docket No. 26-227). On September 25, 2026 the Wireline Competition Bureau (DA 26-1038) said the application “will not be automatically granted” because the Commission “requires additional time to complete its review,” and that this is “not a final determination on the merits.” Customers on legacy landline service in those areas can watch that docket.

Pending FCC application to acquire Carolina West Wireless licenses (August 2026). FCC Public Notice DA 26-919 (released August 28, 2026, WT Docket No. 26-235) says Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless and Carolina West Wireless, Inc. filed an application on August 12, 2026 seeking consent to assign certain spectrum licenses in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia from Carolina West to Verizon Wireless, and that the application was found “acceptable for filing.” The applicants state that Carolina West intends to exit the retail wireless business and terminate retail operations by September 30, 2026. The notice lists an opposition date of October 8, 2026; I did not find a Commission decision on the application in the sources checked on October 6, 2026, so it is a pending application, not an approved transaction.

About Verizon Communications Inc.: who runs Verizon Wireless, Fios and Frontier

Verizon Communications Inc. is a Delaware holding company with principal executive offices at 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New York (Form 10-K for 2025, filed February 17, 2026), listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under VZ. The 10-K describes two reportable segments, Verizon Consumer Group and Verizon Business Group. For December 31, 2025 it reports that Consumer had about 116 million wireless retail connections (including fixed wireless access), 83 percent of them postpaid, about 11 million total broadband connections and about 2 million Fios video connections, and that Verizon had about 89,900 full-time-equivalent employees.

Mobile service is provided by Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, which the 10-K calls “a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company”; the Customer Agreement says Fios Home Internet is provided by Verizon Online LLC. According to the 10-K, Verizon completed its acquisition of TracFone Wireless, Inc. on November 23, 2021 (TracFone's Straight Talk brand has its own page here), completed the acquisition of Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. on January 20, 2026, which expanded its fiber footprint to 31 states and Washington, D.C., and completed the acquisition of Starry Group Holdings, Inc. on January 30, 2026.

The 10-K's Item 3 says Verizon does not believe that any pending legal proceedings are required to be disclosed as material, and the quarterly report for June 30, 2026 says that “In none of the currently pending matters is the amount of accrual material.” A risk factor in the 10-K notes media reports alleging that certain lead sheathed copper cables in its copper network may present health or environmental risks, saying these allegations have resulted in government investigations, regulatory inquiries and litigation; the filing does not state the outcome of any of them, and I did not open the underlying matters.

Verizon complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot and this site's archive

Third-party ratings, as displayed on October 6, 2026 (one snapshot, not combined with our own posts):

• BBB profile for Verizon Communications (headquarters listing, New York, NY): rating A+; the page shows “BBB Accredited Business”; 3,748 total complaints in the last 3 years and 992 closed in the last 12 months; 1.1/5 stars from an average of 710 customer reviews.
• BBB profile for Verizon Wireless (Basking Ridge, NJ): rating A-; BBB says the business is not BBB Accredited; 38,727 total complaints in the last 3 years and 12,771 closed in the last 12 months; 1.11/5 stars from an average of 2,740 customer reviews. The two BBB listings are separate files and their figures are not added together.
• Trustpilot (verizon.com): 1.3 from 552 reviews; the page shows “Unclaimed profile” and says Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews.

BBB complaint counts and star ratings reflect what people submitted to BBB and are not findings; BBB's page also reports the New Jersey Attorney General's June 5, 2024 settlement described above.

This site's archive. USAComplaints.com has 3,076 approved archive posts linked to this page: 2,430 name Verizon itself (Verizon Wireless, Fios, DSL, Communications and other Verizon operating names) as the subject, 379 name a third-party biller or retailer together with Verizon, and 267 name a collection agency that refers to Verizon. The 2,430 posts naming Verizon by year: 2000: 5, 2001: 17, 2002: 43, 2003: 69, 2004: 130, 2005: 84, 2006: 134, 2007: 150, 2008: 421, 2009: 381, 2010: 248, 2011: 342, 2012: 299, 2013: 102, 2014: 3, 2016: 1, 2018: 1. They are individual accounts written by users, not findings, and most predate the plans and terms described above. Posts about “Verizon Van Lines”, Cellcom, Verizon Yellow Pages and SuperPages directory listings, and comparisons of several carriers are not linked to this page, and duplicate or unreadable posts were removed from the selection.

Keyword counts in the 2,430 posts naming Verizon (a post can match several; these are word matches, not a classification): billing, charges or fees 1,699; customer service or technical support 1,224; Internet, DSL, Fios installation or outage words 930; cancellation, termination or disconnection 841; phones, rebates, insurance or returns 641; collections or credit reporting 328; coverage or dropped calls 146; third-party charges on the phone bill 100.

Verizon consumer lawsuits and settlements

The matters below come from court records and the settlement administrator's website opened on October 6, 2026; they are not a complete list of lawsuits involving Verizon.

Esposito et al. v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (administrative charge class action). Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County, Docket No. MID-L-6360-23. The plaintiffs claimed that the monthly Administrative Charge or Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge on postpaid wireless bills was unfair and not adequately disclosed; the settlement site states: “Verizon has denied and continues to deny that it did anything wrong and that the lawsuit has any merit.” Judge Ana C. Viscomi signed the Final Order and Judgment on April 26, 2024, approving a settlement of $100,000,000 (class counsel's combined fees and costs of $33,300,000 and $3,500 service awards to 129 plaintiffs were also approved) for current and former individual consumer account holders in the United States who received postpaid wireless or data services from Verizon and were charged and paid the charge between January 1, 2016 and November 8, 2023. The order says the settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing. The settlement website says the remaining appeal was withdrawn on September 20, 2024, and a November 13, 2024 consent order allowed the administrator to send payments to approximately 5.2 million claimants on or before January 6, 2025. The claim deadline was April 15, 2024 and has passed. The Long Form Notice says a valid claim would be paid an initial amount of $15.00 plus $1.00 per month charged (maximum $100.00), reduced pro rata if the fund was not enough. I did not find a notice confirming the actual payment dates or per-claimant averages in the sources checked.

Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC (location data forfeiture). U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 24-1733, decided September 10, 2025; U.S. Supreme Court No. 25-567, consolidated for argument with FCC v. AT&T, Inc. (No. 25-406). The Second Circuit denied Verizon's petition, holding among other things that the location data was protected customer proprietary network information and that the forfeiture did not violate the statutory cap or the Seventh Amendment. The Supreme Court granted review on January 9, 2026, heard argument on April 21, 2026, and on June 4, 2026 held (Roberts, C.J., for eight Justices; Justice Thomas dissenting) that it does not violate the Seventh Amendment for the FCC to issue forfeiture orders under section 503(b)(4) without a jury; the docket shows the Second Circuit judgment in Verizon's case “AFFIRMED” and, in the AT&T case, the Fifth Circuit judgment reversed and remanded. The docket records a petition for rehearing filed June 29, 2026 and “Rehearing DENIED” on August 17, 2026. Verizon had paid the $46.9 million penalty.

Is Verizon Legitimate?

Verizon Communications Inc. is an SEC registrant (Form 10-K for 2025 filed February 17, 2026; quarterly report for June 30, 2026 filed July 31, 2026) whose consumer wireless service is provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, according to those filings and its Customer Agreement. This page cannot say how any individual customer's experience will go; it lists what the company says, what regulators and courts have recorded, and what third-party sites display. The record includes FCC consent decrees from 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and a 2024 FCC forfeiture order, a June 2024 New Jersey settlement, a $100 million consumer class settlement approved in 2024, an FCC inquiry into the January 2026 outage and a pending FCC review of a copper voice discontinuance; each is described above with the document's own language, including that the settlements and consent decrees say they are not adjudications of liability. BBB shows an A+ rating for the Verizon Communications listing and an A- rating for the Verizon Wireless listing alongside the complaint counts above.

This site has no rating or score for Verizon. Whether a particular charge, outage or sales practice was proper depends on the account, the date and the terms then in effect; complaints on this page are individual accounts and allegations, not findings.

Court & Public Records

Related Complaints

Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.

• Named as an affiliate: Total scam, do not bundle, you will lose
• Named as an affiliate: Consumer Report
• Named as an affiliate: Included in Verizon bill as other providers, billing company for KOOLTELECOMMNTHLYFEE
• Named as an affiliate: Says they are long distance for Verizon, but it is a scam!
• Named as an affiliate: Street savings-mobile marketing this company promised they the were cheaper than Verizon's long distance and could save me more money. That was a lie! My phone billing for long distance was $254.00 a lot more expensive then Verizon'
• Named as an affiliate: I order my Verizon iphone 5 - iphone 5
• Named as an affiliate: Rude poor customer service
• Named as an affiliate: Daniel Cooks, Manager DISHONEST REPRESENTATION
• Named as an affiliate: Consumer Report
• Named as an affiliate: Consumer Report
• Named as an affiliate: Cellular Sales You will NEVER receive anything that's promised. Do not work here!
• Named as an affiliate: Deceptive sales of internet service
• Named as an affiliate: Wirefly was amazing - Verizon Cell Phone
• Named as an affiliate: Told me it would be a lot cheaper then verizon but it was about $500.00 more
• Named as the collector: AFNI Collections Had a verizon account way back in but had to shut it off for an Overseas assignment, Got Charged for the Whole year and now is with AFNI
• Named as the collector: Verizon 14 yr old bill? Palisades sending letter Jan to tell me of a bill from 2000?
• Named as the collector: Afni issued a collection for verizon against a phone number in a state i dont even live in or associate with
• Named as an affiliate: Verizon wirerless
• Named as the collector: Verizon Bill Acct from over 7 years ago
• Named as an affiliate: Created a land line I've canceled with Comcast and are trying to charge me saying I've been in SCOTTSDALEAZ, LA MESA, CA, and SAN DIEGO, CA. I LIVE IN GREAT LAKES, IL and have not been out of the area

Company Relationships

• Affiliated with: Cellco Partnership (Verizon Wireless)
• Affiliated with: Verizon Online LLC
• Affiliated with: TracFone Wireless, Inc.
• Affiliated with: Frontier Communications Parent, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions