So this is my third deployment since I joined Active Duty 12 years ago, and this is the first time I've had issues with any provider. They have denied my request twice: once for not proving that I'm Active Duty, and again for my orders not being valid deployment orders. Here's a list of the highlights talking to Verizon over the last 4-5 days.
- I have called every day for the last 4-5 days and spent a minimum of 1 hour on the phone each time. Not once did I actually get anything accomplished. In fact, every single time Verizon tried to get me to apply for a suspension on their website.
- After applying for a suspension the first time, customer service told me to upload a copy of my deployment orders to verify that I'm leaving for a valid deployment. No problem, I upload the orders and wait for a response. The following day I receive an email rejecting my request because I wasn't on Active Duty. Funny because I've been Active Duty for 12 years and I never thought my status would come into question. Oh and I couldn't respond to the email directly, or even talk to the person that denied me so that I could get more information.
- Next I called customer service to find out why I was rejected. After having to explain my situation to customer service, because why should you be able to call the military service department directly, the representative agreed that my request SHOULD NOT have been denied. They told me to re-apply on their website with additional documents verifying my AD status, plus they would place notes in my file explaining that I was wrongly denied.
- Apparently once you are denied you're no longer allowed to use "military deployment" as a reason for suspending service; as in, the website literally won't allow you to apply and send docs that way. Cue the second call of the night. After being on hold for 25 minutes I was finally transferred back to the military department. New representative, new explanation. Their recommendation was to send those documents to militaryorders@verizon.com. The second rep also agreed that I should never have been denied in the first place.
- Next day...I receive an email from Verizon that my request has been denied again. This time it was because a TDY deployment is not covered by the SCRA and therefore I wasn't actually deploying. Well I actually researched this beforehand, and nowhere in the actual law ([USC03] 50 USC Ch. 50: SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF) does it say whether you need Permanent Orders to qualify. In fact, any orders that take you away from your place of duty for greater than 90 days qualify.
- And again, can't reply to the email, can't contact this magical person that makes these decisions directly. Once I'm home from work, I tell my wife that I can't go to dinner because I need to call Verizon. This call lasted over 1 hour and 15 minutes. At first they tried getting me to apply for a suspension on their website...for the THIRD time. I explained that wasn't possible. Next I was transferred to the military service department, but to the wrong person. Instead of deployments they sent me to discounts. The second half of the call consisted mostly of being on hold and me telling them I want this fixed.
- On this last call the representative's supervisor said that I didn't qualify because my SSN didn't match my DOD ID. I explained to the rep that the two numbers will never match because our SSNs are no longer printed on our Military IDs, and they haven't been for quite some time. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to have my SSN on my DOD ID. http://www.cac.mil/Portals/53/Documents/SSNReductionTrifold_201409.pdf . But no matter what I said, they kept telling me I would have to talk with my Commanding Officer to get my ID fixed. How in the hell would my CO be able to magically add my SSN to an ID card that is designed, issued, and printed by the Department of Defense?
- I told the rep that I want to speak with their supervisor. They were supposed to call me within 10-15 minutes, that was 25 minutes ago. I'm going to bet I don't receive a call from anyone.
- Unless Verizon magically redeems themselves tonight or tomorrow, y next step is to contact the Military Legal Assistance Office at my base to report an SCRA violation. Once I've done that I'm going to cancel my Family Phone Plan with Verizon.
The worst part about this whole experience is that I leave for 6 months next week. My wife and I have a 15 month old daughter and live on the other side of the country from both our families. Instead of spending as much time with them as possible this week, I've spent at least 5-6 hours on the phone/computer trying to convince Verizon that I am actually deploying, and yes, I'm actually in the military.
