I have been dealing with identity theft for over a year know. Though it has been timely, most companies I have dealt with have been helpful and somewhat compassionate for my situation. This has not been the case with Verizon.
I first dealt with Verizon 6 months or so ago. At that time they reported having several past due accounts under my name. All of which were under the same telephone number. I sent them a copy of a police report, a copy of my ID, and proof of adress (bank statements, car bill, car insurance bill..). Shortly thereafter they sent me four or five letters saying they had proved the accounts to be fradulent and that they had been removed from my name. At this time I asked Verizon whether they had any other accounts under my name and was told that they did not.
A few months later I recieved an alert on my Equifax Credit Monitoring. It was for a $120 collection bill originating from Verizon. I once again called Verizon and what they told me was incredibly frustrating. I was told this account was for the same phone numbers as the other accounts and opened in the same city (Ambridge, PA where I have NEVER lived). The Verizon rep noticed that I had accounts under the same number that had already been proven fraudulent, but could not automatically remove the account beacause they had opened a new office and no longer had my info on file.
This was frustrating since I had been told no other accounts were opened in my name, but I resubmitted my info anyways. A week or so later I called Verizon to check on my dispute. I was told that the info I had submitted was not good enough. My police report did not mention Verizon specifically and they no longer accepted my proof of residences.
I was told they know accept:
1) Home Mortgage Payment (I am a recent college grad and have never owned a home)
2) Homeowner's Insurance (Can't have one without the other)
3) Renter's Insurance (Might be a valuabe product but I have enough trouble just affording my rent)
4) Utility Bill (They were all in my roomate's name)
5) Notarized copy of a lease (I have a copy of both leases I had during the time period but they are not notarized)
I filed a new police report with the San Diego police department mentioning Verizon specifically. I have also had a seperate form notarized and attached to both my leases authenticating my signature and the signatures of all my roomates (a difficult task because I know live 2 hours from my old roomates who all have busy schedules).
I have yet to send in all this info but spoke with Verizon again twice in the past week or so. The first time the lady was very rude and treated me like crap for no reason. I then asked to speak with a manager and recieved a return call two days later. This rep told me that they will not accept seperate notified lettars attached to the lease. I aksed what they will accept and was informed that if I did not have what was on their short list then their was nothing they could do. After some complaining, I was told her supervisor (Tom Dodd) would contact me within 24 business hours. I thought she was supposed to be the manager, which is what I had asked for.
I am still waiting on Mr. Dodd's return call.in all fairness, I believe he has 6 or so business hours left to call me. I have been appalled by Verizon's handling of this whole situation. Due to their imcompetence, they missed an account that should have already been proving fradulent under their old system. I have spent a large amount of time trying to work with them to resolve the situation, but they have been completely unhelpful. Not only that they have been rude for no reason on several occassions. I am always respectful in dealing with them, but have not always recieved the same respect in return. I find it hard to comprehend why Verizon is not more willing to assit me with this. Their favorite phrase seems to be "their is nothing we can do"
Hopefully Tom Dodd will be of more assitance. If not I don't know what to do.
I can't belive such a large company is giving me such a hard time over an $120 bill that has the same phonme number as other accounts they already proved to be fraud.
I will be an AT@T customer for life know. They were much better at handling a similar situation I had. I will make sure everyone I know hears about Verizon's lack of compassion and customer service.
Anonymous
San Diego, California
U.S.A.
0 comments