Dear Ivan G. Seidenberg,
Where to begin? First off, my husband and I have been a customer since Verizon bought out LA Cellular in 1996. I have always loved Verizon. Unfortunately 2013 maybe the year we have to part ways with your company.
Here is the issue of how we have been mistreated:
I switched my account to my husband’s name late November 2012 due to the fact that he is a veteran. The Verizon salesman informed us that this process would be seamless. My husband does not have a VA card but he does have his discharge papers. The salesman said that this was not a problem and that I should just email the discharge papers when I arrived home. The salesman then informed me that my Verizon bill would be prorated into the new bill under my husband’s name. Also the $50.00 charge for upgrading to an iPhone 4S and the $24.95 iPhone case would be included in the next bill – under my husband’s name.
Once at home I scanned and emailed the discharge papers. A Verizon representative stated that the papers were an improper form (they are from 1962). The process to attain his VA card will take a few months alone. The representative informed me that the veteran’s discount would be applied retroactively – covering the months since we made the upgrade in November 2012.
In late December 2012 I received 2 bills – one under my name and one under my husband’s name. I called to inquire about this and a Verizon representative told me to simply throw away “my” bill – that it had been prorated into my husband’s bill. The representative then went online with me to reassure me that my balance was $0.00. To this day my online account still states a balance of $0.00.
I threw away the bill in my name, but a few weeks later I received another bill in my name. I am now told that I do have a balance of $271.61. And now that we have moved the bill to my husband’s name we are viewed and treated as brand new costumers – not recognized for our 17 years of loyalty.
After nearly a dozen calls to Verizon customer service I have decide to dispute the charges. Here is my reasoning:
- In December I was told I did not owe anything and that all upgrade fees had been prorated into my husband’s name. I am now told I owe $271.61.
- On the bill in my name, there is an overage charge that I know is not valid. We receive text and email alerts when we are near our data limit. We did not receive a single alert within the November/December transfer period and the bill claims that we went 5GB over our limit.
- Amidst the several lengthy phone calls with representatives and supervisors I requested that the itemized bill be mailed to me. After 3 weeks I finally received the itemized bill. This bill states the equipment cost is $112.94. The iPhone 4S and iPhone case should come to a total of $74.95 before taxes. Springfield, MO taxes are not 52%.
Nearly 2 weeks ago I was told “someone higher up” was looking at my bill and would be contacting me. This call has never come. Amidst this mess I have been called daily by your collection department. Even after “someone higher up” was brought in.
Today I called yet again and came to the same walls I have run into for 2 months.
As I now look over the itemized bill again, I can see that the cycle of the bill in my name has overlapped with the cycle of the new bill under my husband’s name. In this mistake it appears that the data usage continued to be charged to the account under my name as opposed to the new account under my his name. I am afraid we might have been charged for the same usage on his account also. Which would be another fee to dispute.
This is what I feel is just: of the $271.61 I should only be charged for the iPhone 4S upgrade and iPhone case.
To top it off, after I ended tonight’s phone call with the Verizon representative, I received an automated voicemail asking me to complete a survey on your customer service. Pretty ironic. If you care so much about your customer service, then please take care of your faithful costumers. Please clean up this mess. It has taken far too much energy and time to settle.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
P.S. This letter will also be sent to CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg via certified mail.
>Full name removed<
Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator
