My new hobby is telling everyone about this... As a former Internet search engine promoter, this should be an amusing project.
A couple of years ago I had a phone line installed to be used for a computer dial-up connection. I requested a local only plan for this phone as I had no intention of ever calling anyone on it - it was simply for Internet use I had another line for calls installed at the same time.
I used what I believed to be a local number to dial in for Internet service - since I could only make local calls on the line it shouldn't have gone through if it wasn't local. Well, apparently, Verizon failed to give me the calling plan I asked for - whether they misunderstood me or whatever they claim - because after a couple of months of having the phone line used contstantly for Internet access I received my first bill... And then another one... And another one.
All in all, even though I stopped upon receiving the first outrageous bill, I had accrued over $3000 in "local calls" - all the same number, a dial-up server number.
After many attempts to resolve the issue, Verizon only offered to cut the bill down - saying it all they would do since I "owed" then the money. Now, this bill has been reported to credit bureaus and passed on to more than one collection agency.
All attempts to collect the money just frustrate me more because I'm a single Father of a 3 year-old girl and have no means of paying this insanely high bill for services I REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE. I can't get a phone, credit card, or anything and I'm very angry that this matter is still causing me grief and a "service oriented" company like Verizon hasn't come up with a better solution.
Here's what I'd like to see happen: Cancel my debt and settle the issue with me for the cost of a "local only" phone line for 3 months, which I will happily pay since it's what I actually asked for. I would like to see Verizon clear this debt from the credit bureaus or at least report it as settled and/or paid in full as this has severely damaged my life and chance of providing a decent home for my child for some years to come.
Ideally, if Verizon were a company that cared about
customers, they would contact me and apologize for letting me slip through the cracks and offer to "forget" about the incident, clear my name, and invite me to sign up with their company on a cell phone plan since no one else will give me one as a result of all of this.
A turn-around like this would convince me Verizon cared and make me a loyal customer in future years...
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