I upgraded my service with Verizon from Freedom Essential (phone, internet) to their Triple Freedom package in Dec. The agreement was for 2 years at $99 per month. I have had to call them 7 out of those 9 months.
I was told there would be no Activation Fee, given that I was upgrading. I was charged $30 and given an apology - the rep gave me inaccurate information. Called back. Another rep agreed to decrease the activation fee by $10, but didn't.
I moved two blocks and was required to get a new phone number which caused much grief for my home business - changing cards, internet ads, etc. I could never get an answer and it seemed wrong because my neighbor had recently moved 20 miles, to another town even, and kept the same number, with Verizon. As "consolation" they offered a free 60-day message announcing my new number. Guess what? Didn't happen.
First bill (Feb)- they removed my old discounts for Freedom Essentials and didn't apply the Triple Freedom discounts. The bill was astronomical because it was for one month and a partial month. Why? Because they delayed activating my service which pushed me into a different billing cycle and allowed them to charge a higher rate per day for the partial month. Service was activated on the 22nd, bill stated 25th. Don't ask me to explain, makes no sense and they refused to correct the error or give me credit.insincere apologizes.
April bill-Price increase. Rep explained that the rate stated for each service was increased, but "my discounts increased as well". The bills are, perhaps intentionally, difficult to read and the 'discounts' are not labled as such. Some of my discounts were listed in the Long Distance portion of the bill. I have unlimited LD so there are never charges there, but they listed all the tax and fees for the LD service as credits and I was told that was part of my 'discount'.
May bill - Taxes and Fees doubled. I thought City and State taxes were stable. They are on other bills. The bill stated that my "savings began 25 April"- 5 months after installation, when they finally offically got me signed up for Triple Freedom - and would continue for 24 months. So, now my 24 month contract has been extended to 29 months - I can't leave without penalty, but they can raise my rates "with notice".
July bill - I had returned an HD box in June which was 9.99 per mo taxes/fees. I expected to see a lower bill. Not so, in fact the bill was higher. The price stated for phone service increased $3.in addition, taxes had increased significantly. Deduct a $10 item and the bill is $6 more. How can this be?
Was told my rate went up, and again that they are not bound by the contract and could raise rates at anytime with notice. I hadn't gotten notice. According to Verizon I had.in the form of an insert in the April bill. I'm pretty thorough, there was no notice.
August - Apparently Verizon was having significant problems in my area because they sent out a crew going door to door inquiring about customers experiences with Verizon. A supervisor was with the young man and told me there was nothing he could do for me, although, he had helped my neighbor who was being overcharged. Hmm???
I also complained about the bill and the difficulty understanding it, and that the discounts were not labled as discounts, they were credits given for services I didn't have. Something seemed very fishy about that. How can Verizon charge me tax and fees for LD service I didn't have and list them as credits for my Triple Freedom discounts? Why all the weirdness? Just list the price - $99.99, and add tax/fees.
Oct - New bill format. Very welcomed. Easy to read. But, they are billing me $109.99 for my Triple Freedom service instead of $99.99. They win. And that's what they're counting on. I said I'd never surrender. What can I say. I don't have 2 hours to waste trying to speak to someone with two brain cells firing. Actually, I think these people are somewhat intelligent but have been trained in deceptive practices.
This is the short version of my complaint. It doesn't include the emotional drama of
-spending hours on the phone every month trying to get mistakes corrected
-installation postponed after waiting until 10:30pm and receiving no communication
-calling customer service for a repair and getting a message that my call "can't be process at this time, try again later"
-being hung up on and having to start the process all over
-being told something by one person and something entirely different by another
-being spoken to with utter disrespect
-experiencing moments of questioning my sanity due to their chronic deception
I've had phone service in my name for over 30 years. I have never been treated with such blatant disrespect or dealt with a company that was so unethical. So much for "deregulation". It hasn't made the market more competitive and lowered prices, it's created unethical and fruadulent companies that operated with no apparent oversight.
D
Plano, Texas
U.S.A.
0 comments