Tags
consumer advocacy, Consumer beware, corporate deception, deceptive marketing, purposeful deception, Verizon, Verizon Wireless, Verizon Wireless Deceptive Marketing Practices
I’ve just been majorly screwed over by Verizon Wireless. It’s been playing out over the last 2 months but here is the scenario. Around May 2nd I signed up for cellular service. I am a hold-out, one of those who went as long as possible before I gave in to getting a cell phone. I gave up my landline and decided to go cellular for business purposes and to save money: har!
I was very specific when signing up because I needed unlimited talk and text to Canada. My Mother was up there, and family, and she was very sick. I knew I would need to be traveling soon.
I was told that the plan I signed up for was the international plan, unlimited talk and text. What I wasn’t told was that for a period of 90 days I wouldn’t be able to call or text internationally. I guess this is common practice with communications companies for new signee’s, or so I am told. When I finished the conversation with the person who was signing me up, I was reassured that I could travel to Canada and be covered.
Verizon sent me a contract via mail within the first 2 weeks. unlimited talk and text it said. I did not read the fine print or pages of text. I assumed the person who signed me up was truthful. Stupid me. It turns out (which I found out yesterday, 2 months later) that the contract only covered the US, and that I would not be eligible for international coverage for 3 months. So when I went up to Canada I racked up bills for over $800. I tried to straighten it out from there, but I needed to send information to PROVE that I was who I was, but I couldn’t do that till I returned. Then, when the information was incomplete, they did not get back to me about it (it is NOT their responsibility to communicate back with you). It is a one-way street. So my bill continued to rack up. You see, I still did not know that I was not covered for international calls and texts to Canada, So yesterday I was informed that my bill was now over $1100, and of course, that they wanted immediate payment.
I was on the phone for 3 hours yesterday, talking with one person, then another, then another. They kept giving me roadblocks, and I kept asking to speak with someone further up the chain. Eventually, I got someone who graciously (sic) gave me $750 off my bill. That still leaves me with a $400 bill, when the problem goes back to the very beginning; that I was purposely deceived by the person who signed me up by giving me incorrect information. Do you think I would have signed up with Verizon, and gone to Canada and racked up over $800 worth of bills if I had known I was not covered? Do you think I would have continued to call and text Canada afterwards if I had known I was not covered. No. I would have either chosen a different plan, or I would have looked around for another carrier.
So now I have supposedly gone as far as I can go with the system AS IT IS. The next step is correspondence through the mail. I have no idea how this is going to go, but I can tell you that I had PTSD after the stress of the run-around I got yesterday by the Verizon System. I also took a look on-line at other complaints around Verizon and got very depressed with what I read. These complaints are VERY COMMON, and Verizon’s history of deceiving it’s customers is a very long and sordid one. AND I hear that the other Communications companies are not dissimilar in their policies.
I would like to take Maxwell’s Silver Hammer and SMASH these communications companies to bits.
Debbie Miller said:
Hi, Jean, I almost hate to ask this (because a very Conservative friend of mine apparently has something against this organization), but do you belong to AARP? They have someone who can sometimes intervene with things like this. I’m not sure if one has to be a member to get the help, but they do publish articles telling how the person they use does help when “seniors” have gotten screwed like this. I also wonder if the FCC would have something to say to them. Here’s good vibes to you! I hope they don’t wear you down. Take care. Hugs, Debbie Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2015 16:21:46 +0000 To: poejester@hotmail.com
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Jean Mary Elizabeth said:
thank you. good advise. i will be arming myself.
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Bee Wolf-Ray said:
I have a good friend who was similarly screwed over by Rogers, deceived, told things that led her to make a bad decision that she is now stuck with a huge bill for… she had responsibility for not having read the fine print (as do you) but she should not have had to, really. They should have been honest up front. And they were not. This is disgusting. Good luck on straightening it out.
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Jean Mary Elizabeth said:
thanks Bee. appreciate your support.
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Jean Mary Elizabeth said:
good news on this front. i was able to get ALL of the charges reversed. good for me for having the fortitude and determination to fight it to the top. yeah!
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