Submitted to Usa Consumer Complaints.com on 14-May:
I have been calling Verizon Wireless ALL MORNING to try to get this resolved (both 611 from my cell phone, and from a landline), and still get nothing but a circular voice menu designed to keep people from ever reaching a human being!
I've had too many problems with my Verizon prepay service to mention, but a couple of things have irked me lately. One is that I'm suddenly charged for roaming when my plan was one that included roaming as part of the flat rate, as long as I was in an area that had Verizon service — which was almost every city and larger town in America at the time I signed up for it, and even more areas now! But within the past year or so, even when I was in NEW YORK CITY, suddenly I'd only get a few minutes worth of calls for my $15 prepay, and I'd have to add money CONSTANTLY to keep the phone going.
I finally called them when I noticed that the amount I had on the phone was going down in a huge way even when no calls were placed or received, but Verizon was sending me "free" messages that my balance was "low". I'd get these messages even immediately after adding money and the balance was fine. Once I watched my account balance drop $5 after getting a couple of their "free" low-balance warning e-mails.
So I called 611 and was able to get through to a human being — who gave me wrong information on how to fix the roaming charges problem. So I called back when it didnt work, and the second time was able to get through to another human being who gave me the RIGHT information on how to fix it — I had to dial *228 and then select option 2, all this other nonsense. Bottom line for that problem was that Verizon connects to the CLOSEST tower no matter where you are (even in Manhattan, New York City, where Verizon obviously has its own towers), and you get charged ROAMING even if your plan isn't supposed to charge you for roaming. But if you dial this *228 thing and go through their menu system, EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU CHANGE CITIES or every time Verizon resets your settings to your home area WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW when this happens (meaning that you have to do *228 frequently), then it will connect to its towers first as a matter of preference and you won't get charged roaming if it can find one. (Note — *228 wasn't working this morning.)
OK, that was just the first problem. So how about those "free" e-mails they send my phone, telling me my balance is low when it isn't — the ones that seem to cost $5 at times?
Well, I was able to get my e-mail warnings changed to "low" status the last time I spoke to a human being at Verizon, which seemed to get rid of SOME of Verizon's nuisance free e-mails. But that didn't seem to make a difference this morning — I received more e-mails, even after I added money today. So I tried to call Verizon to get through to a human being again & get it fixed — NOT POSSIBLE! Their voice menus have changed for 611, and I couldn't find any way of contacting a human being OR fixing the problem going through Verizon's menu "hell". I called 611 dozens of times, trying all different options, including dialing 0 repeatedly, *00, #00, etc. I also tried many different menu options — you just can't speak to a person there anymore, they've rigged their menu so that you can't get any of your features fixed. So I looked up their phone numbers on their web site. I've only called their "customer service" line a few times for wireless prepay customers, but so far it seems to be the exact same menu as the 611 number that won't let me talk to anyone, and gives me no option to fix anything of any significance.
Long story short, they wore me down — I don't have time to deal with this today, so will have to get back to Verizon if I have time, or switch wireless companies to get better service. (Detailed recommendations are appreciated.) And that doesn't even address the issue of all the money they've already taken from me for roaming & e-mail charges I was never was informed of, and never consented to.
One final point — all of this only started within the last year. I've had the same plan for YEARS and never had more than minor problems with Verizon. Something has changed at that company, as though they're either getting greedy, or are having financial woes and trying to stay afloat by jacking up prices on the sly.
So I'm posting this as a warning to both Verizon customers and those considering Verizon — check your bills, do your homework. And by all means, NEVER sign a contract with an obligation to stay with this or any other company!
One final thought on multi-year contracts — do you have the time & money to go to court if a company starts overcharging you, but won't talk to you? If not, look at your contract and see how many hundreds of dollars you have to pay them if you want to discontinue service. I'm lucky — mine is a prepay account, although I did pay for my own cell phones which has run me hundreds. So I'll be losing that when I move to another carrier. But other people I know personally have paid hundreds to get out of their cell phone contracts, even rollover contracts that they never signed, but a company claims it has a right to after the last contract expired — BUYER BEWARE!
Pam
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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