Long story short: Verizon scammed me out of a month's bill (about $90), then threatened me when I said I didn't think I should have to pay it, and then harassed me when I reported their misbehavior to the FCC.
I had cell phone service with Verizon for a little over 2 years. The actual phone service was great, but the customer service is among the worst I've ever experienced. My contract expired right around the same time that they stopped offering unlimited data plans. My phone also broke, so I needed a new one and was ready to renew my contract for a discounted phone, but decided to switch to a carrier with unlimited data. So, I called Verizon to find out how to disconnect my service and keep my number with a new carrier. I clearly told the service rep that I was planning on disconnecting service and asked for advice. At no time did he tell me that Verizon's policy is to charge for the full monthly bill even when service is disconnected mid-month. If he had told me this, I would have waited until the end of my billing cycle to disconnect.instead, he spent over 30 minutes trying to convince me to stay with Verizon and saying the idiotic elimination of the unlimited data plan was not a negative change.
I switched to Sprint, paid what I thought was my last Verizon bill, and was done... Until I got a series of threatening letters from Verizon and then called to find out what was going on. The customer service rep I spoke with was incredibly rude. She outright threatened to destroy my credit if I did not pay for an extra month of Verizon service that I never used. So, I paid under duress and asked her to make a note in my account that I did not agree with the forced payment. It is absolutely criminal that Verizon is allowed to use threats to force payments for services that were never provided. I reported this action to the FCC.
A few weeks after submitting an FCC report, I got several phone calls during the day while I was at work. I also got emails from an "Executive Relations" rep named Sylvia Thomas. I'm sure she's a decent person, but she was harassing me on behalf of Verizon. I wrote her back telling her that I would be satisfied with a heartfelt apology for threatening me and a refund for the amount I paid above and beyond the service that was actually provided. It's upsetting that it takes reporting a company's misbehavior to the FCC for any action to happen... And then that action is simply more customer abuse.instead of any type of apology, I got 2 letters in the mail saying that the case had been closed and they deemed themselves to not owe me anything.
Long story short: Verizon scammed me out of a month's bill (about $90), then threatened me when I said I didn't think I should have to pay it, and then harassed me when I reported their misbehavior to the FCC. I will never sign up for Verizon service again, no matter how good their actual phone service is. It's not worth dealing with this evil criminal company!!
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