I have been a customer with Verizon Wireless since 2002 and have always paid my bill on time and also PAID AHEAD for the next billing cycle. After additional charges (Taxes etc.) my $65.00 bill is approximately $84.00 on a typical month. I paid $90.00 against this bill and because of this I end with a balance forward in my favor. I "ported out" my number to AT&T on February 27th because AT&T offered services not available through Verizon (namely the iPhone). I spoke with Jason, the manager of the Verizon store who assured me a portion of my balance forward would be refunded and included into the next bill from Verizon.
I spoke again with Jason on March 31 about this matter and received conflicting stories from others at that Verizon location. I heard form one that I was billed TWICE in February. I heard from another that I had a balance forward of $75.00 that Verizon applied to that second bill for February covering a time period when I was no longer a customer of Verizon Wireless. I was paying for services that were not rendered. My account with Verizon Wireless was de-activated and I was still paying for service. Jason the Manager told me that this is standard practice and that when you "port-out" though another company you are charged for an entire month. This story only came out after three trips to the Verizon Wireless location spending no less than 90 minutes per visit waiting and arguing with staff. They argued with me in front of other customers making them visibly nervous.
Verizon Wireless took my money and walked away with it, a customer who paid on time and paid ahead. A customer that convinced other family members to switch to Verizon Wireless years ago. Verizon Wireless punished me for switching to AT&T. I am not the only one to have problems with their billing. Here are some facts I gathered from the Better Business Bureau comparing Verizon and AT&T:
Verizon: BBB processed a total of 13959 complaints about this company in the last 36 months - 8570 regarding Billing or Collection Issues
AT&T: BBB processed a total of 456 complaints about this company in the last 36 months - 263 regarding Billing or Collection Issues
I'm betting that I will be treated more fairly by AT&T.
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