Usacomplaints.com » Shops, Products, Services » Complaint / Review: Verizon - Verizon Wireless - Verizon Wireless = a bunch of scumbag crooks. $980 in roaming charges?! Give me a break... Rocheste. #604087

Complaint / Review
Verizon - Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless = a bunch of scumbag crooks. $980 in roaming charges?! Give me a break... Rocheste

In the process of planning my trip to Israel (to take place from June 26th to July 7th), I contacted my wireless carrier to see what the most cost-effective plan would be for international voice, data, and MMS/SMS. I was currently in the process of deciding to go with either them or an Israeli cell phone carrier who offered a voice and data package for under $100 for the total duration of the trip.

When I spoke to a Verizon Wireless representative, I was told that their "Global Smartphone Plan" would cover all of my requirements for the duration of my trip (voice, text, data). This plan would be $64.99 a month, prorated for the duration of my trip to approximately $23. For another $23 or so, they informed me, I would also be able to use unlimited tethering with my cell phone. After speaking with this representative and specifically verifying that she understood my travel plans and destination, I agreed to sign up for this plan and drop the Israel carrier (as it was my understanding that I would be completely covered by Verizon's service).

As far as unlimited tethering is concerned, I was later informed by another representative that the "unlimited" tethering addition to my global plan would actually only be for 100mb because it was only "unlimited" in certain countries. Whether the first rep that signed me up for the plans was simply oblivious or was maliciously trying to place me on a data plan that would cause outrageous charges to be incurred (at Verizon's going rate for the Middle East of $20.48/MB... Wow I'd sure love a commission-only job there) the information I received was false and the second rep refused to honor what I was initially told and provide an unlimited international data package for the price that I paid. Having only 3 days before my trip and no time left to order an unlimited data card from the Israeli carrier and cancel the Verizon tethering package, I just decided to stick with Verizon's measly 100mb plan and do whatever else I needed to online from sporadic hotel and coffee shop WiFi networks.

Fast forward to July 15th, approximately a week after my return to the States and the date I realized the horror that had transpired on my Verizon bill during my stay in Israel. The occasional business call, late-night 25-30 minute chats with my girlfriend back in California, and updating friends and family to inform them about the progression of my trip, had cost me A WHOPPING $980.87, broken down into:

- $614.91 for 309 "roaming minutes"
- $92 for 184 sent SMS/MMS messages
- $13.50 for 270 received SMS/MMS messages (apparently it's cheaper to receive vs. Send them internationally)
[so far this comes to $720.41 for cell phone roaming, but doesn't yet add up to $980.87, does it? ]

Another completely separate issue was that, while in Israel, I brought with me my Dell laptop which has an embedded Verizon Data Card. While in my hotel room in Tiberias, I attempted to connect the laptop to an UNSECURED WIFI NETWORK. The data card software was not open or active, and to this day has absolutely no connection log that indicates any usage throughout the duration of my trip.in addition, no human in their right mind would care to spend over $20 per megabyte with a cell phone with unlimited on-device internet a 100mb tethering plan 3 feet away and readily available hotel WiFi networks (several of which were unsecured and free).

A moment after this non-Verizon connection attempt, I received a text message to my cell phone that indicated I had already been charged $250 in data through my laptop's cellular broadband account.

To address the issue of the data card apparently connecting to a 3rd-party overseas network (without my authorization), I IMMEDIATELY called Verizon's customer support number from the hotel in Israel and was informed that, according to their current statistics, my laptop DID, in fact, connect but that they were unable to do anything until they received the final charges from the overseas network carrier.

When I returned back to California (after my billing cycle was supposed to end) and dialed back in to customer service, I spoke to Bob (?) in the Rancho Cordova call center. He informed me that the process for getting rid of such charges was fairly straightforward - all that I'd need to do would be to go to a Verizon corporate store, have a manager review my computer's connection log, and verify in the account notes that the charges could, in fact, be reversed.

Approximately 3 days later, I visited the Verizon Wireless store in San Jose (on Prospect Road). After waiting in line for approximately 35 minutes, laptop in hand, the customer service representative (Anwar) reviewed my laptop logs and placed the initial notes into the account, and the manager-on-duty, Behrooz, signed off on the updated notes. They told me that, as soon as Verizon Corporate received these notes for auditing purposes, they would be able to credit my account for the false and erroneous charges.

The voice and text roaming charges did not appear in my account until July 15th. I immediately called Verizon upon my notice of these charges on this month's bill. At 10:25am I spoke with Pedro, who then transferred me to his supervisor, Carlos. Carlos told me several things.

- The "Global Smartphone" package that I had been set up for only included unlimited TXT and voice in Canada and Puerto Rico

- According to him, the representative that I spoke with gave me "full disclosure" about the fact that unlimited international voice coverage was only provided in select countries, apparently EXCLUDING the one I was traveling to in the first place (this made me question my own personal sanity for a split-second until I realized how many of my other friends have already discovered what crooks those people at Verizon are)

- The charges were completely valid, I was responsible for paying them, and there was nothing that he could do and also nobody else that I could speak with in the company that would take an escalated case

I then said my farewell to Mr. Carlos and immediately contacted the UCAN, and organization that I found out about through earlier online research about these issues. I spoke to Joshua, who kindly talked me through the process to dispute charges with Verizon.

After getting off the phone with Joshua, I took another look at my bill and realized that Verizon was also attempting to [insert sexually-explicit words of choice here] me for $330 that they said I owed because I requested a replacement for my non-functional Droid Incredible back near the beginning of June. Here is how *that* situation transpired:

- On or around June 5th, I called Verizon and requested that they send me a replacement Droid Incredible because mine was no longer functioning as should (i.E. Device falling apart, crashing, etc.)
- They obliged and informed me that, because I was still within my "Worry-Free Guarantee", this replacement would be provided to me at no cost.
- They also said that the device would be shipped in approximately 1-2 business days with free 2-day shipping.

Approximately 1 week later I still had not received my replacement phone so I contacted customer support again. They informed me that the phone was back-ordered and that it would not be shipped until the 21st of June. This would mean I'd have a fully-functioning phone before my trip, but *barely*. The 21st had come and still no phone. I called Verizon back and they had a new story for me. The phone would not be shipped until at least the 25th because of some internal issue that was occurring. My phone finally did arrive, but not until a day after I had landed in Israel. Immediately upon my arrival back home and, as I had indicated to the last rep I spoke to about this issue, I sent my old phone back to avoid any excess equipment charges.

When I requested that the customer service representative (Stephanie) remove the $330 charge from my account, she refused and said I'd have to ask a supervisor. She placed me on hold and brought the case up to her manager (Kristen). Kristen told me that these charges would be removed because I had been "misinformed" about one thing or another about my charges. Your bad, Verizon. Are we at Strike 3 yet?

Although the last set of $330 charges were reversed, there was nothing that anybody supervisor-level or below could to about ANY of the roaming charges but Stephanie let me know that I would be contacted by a Verizon "Associate Director"... Eventually...


Offender: Verizon - Verizon Wireless

Country: USA   State: Nationwide
Site:

Category: Shops, Products, Services

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