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A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
beastmode335i
Newbie

Good Afternoon,

My name is Shane, and I am writing this letter in pure despair, as for the past nine months I have been given nothing short of horrible customer service since switching from AT&T to Verizon. Just to start from the beginning, I entered the Verizon Wireless store on US 41 and College Parkway in Fort Myers, FL on the first week of December 2016. As I was just glancing around at some of the plans and devices offered, a salesman approached us, greeted my family and I, and asked how he could help us. I explained that my AT&T service had kind of been hit or miss lately, and I just felt like browsing around to see what was offered by other carriers. After speaking to him for about 15 minutes, we had disclosed basically all of our current info on the plan we had, but more importantly we spoke about the amounts still owed on installments with our current devices, as that seemed like a hurdle keeping us from making any changes. Well this gentleman assured me that if we switched to Verizon, we'd no longer owe anything to AT&T, especially on those installments and cancelation fees as there is a program called the $650 Switcher that covers those fees.

After going home and thinking about it, we returned the next day and moved forward with the switch, bringing four lines over from AT&T. He told me the switcher credits were going to be disbursed after about 2-3 billing cycles. Well come the end of February, I contacted Verizon in regards to those promotional credits, as I had not seen anything thus far, and at that point for the first time ever was I instructed that I was supposed to send in my old devices and also my final AT&T bill, which the salesman had never mentioned. At this point I only had one device left out of the four, because I gave the other phones to family members as hand-me-downs, as again I was never instructed to turn these in to Verizon or I would have most definitely done so. This is where the issues really began. I owed AT&T over $1000 because of this situation, and I was able to only send Verizon my one remaining device with the final bill, again in late Feb-early March, and according to Verizon this was going to be escalated and handled promptly and efficiently. Well after making several inquiries over the next few months, all I was given were a few inconvenience credits here and there, but no switcher promotional credits ever arrived.

About three months later in June, I signed online to pay my bill and noticed it was only $47.60, so I assumed that the credits had perhaps been applied and things were finally starting to be handled. So I went online to Verizon Chat (which I have a copy of and is chat reference # [removed] ) and spoke with a woman named Chastity on 6-1-2017 @ 8:30am, and I was inquiring about the bill only being $47.60 and I was told it was because promotional credits were being disbursed and would start to reflect on my bill. So I paid the $47.60 which made my balance $0, and all was well. Fast forward to about four days later, I signed back online to look at some phone accessories, and I noticed my bill was up over $600, after just a few days prior it was $0 and I was told all was settled and up to date by the Verizon employee! At this point is when I noticed that I had still not received those promo credits, and I also had noticed my employee discount was no longer being honored since I recently switched to the unlimited plan, which again I was never instructed of when I called to get the information on switching my plan. At this point, I called VZW retention and explained this whole situation, and they assured me that this was not right nor fair to me, as I had done everything I was instructed to do, even after initially being very misinformed which thus far has put me in to a huge debt with AT&T as VZW never settled my AT&T debt as promised, and now AT&T has sent me to collections which I’m unfortunately having to handle after going through a very expensive credit repair process last year.

Well that individual that I had spoke with when I called retentions assured me that my account would be put on a freeze, not to pay my bill until this issue was fixed, and that someone would get ahold of me very shortly to handle this huge mishap. She also informed me that my final bill was never received and I said that’s impossible, because I’ve sent it twice, as I was told this once before by VZW. So again, I had to resend my final bill over and was told it would all be taken care of shortly. Well not even a few days later my service got disconnected! I called immediately and had to reiterate this whole mishap, again, only for them to apologize and turn my service back on while this was investigated. This individual apologized greatly for this huge mishap, but told me I had to pay around $173 to restore service, which I felt very uncomfortable doing, but I need phone service so I obliged and made the payment. Well another two months went by with no call, email, etc. which brings us up to about three weeks ago when I called, again, and requested to speak to a manager as this issue was STILL not fixed. I told this manager that no promotional credits were disbursed, my bill had tripled, and I find out it was never frozen as I was told it would be to avoid any further charges until this was all taken care of. The manager I had spoke with again assured me that they would take care of it and look in to the issue to make sure I get the promotion I was promised, because at this point I had sent in a $500 phone that I could have sold on my own, and have gotten nothing in return.

About a week later I got an email from her stating that they found the issue, and it was all because the initial salesman was unable to port over our numbers due to an error in the system, and that the system didn't show us as new customers because of this, which in fact we were new customers which again was not my fault nor the result of any of my own doing. This woman instructed me that the promotion would be passed through and I’d get a gift card in the mail to use for paying off that AT&T debt that’s been owed for 9 months now. Well just the other day I get a letter in the mail from VZW with a gift card that had only $368 on it, and when I called to ask why it was only $368, I was told because I was already credited $135 so they deducted that from the total that was supposed to be given to me. Again, this is very inaccurate, as I was never given the $135, it was briefly credited to me, but then taken right back out of my account as they stated in the email that I got from VZW, "you sent in a device that was different than what you listed online", however I never even made the online promo credit request, it was all done via telephone in February, and when it was done I never even told them the color of the phone, which is what they said was inaccurate in the email and the reason the $135 was debited back. This whole ordeal is just outright ridiculous, and since day 1 of me pleading for help I really feel like I have possibly made a huge mistake by switching carriers, as for over 15 years I never had any of these issues with AT&T or Sprint. At this point, my VZW bill is around $1000 because I was told not to pay it until the issue was resolved months ago as it was going to be placed on a freeze, I get a gift card with less than half what I was promised, AT&T has been forced to send me to collections, and I have had to speak to over 20 individuals about this and STILL have not gotten to the bottom of it. If Verizon genuinely intends on fixing this issue and mending this relationship, they can send me the remaining balance of what’s owed to AT&T which at this point is about $640, clear my current balance as I’m only behind because of VZW instructing me to refrain from making any payments, and fix my monthly payment which is supposed to be around $270-$290 not $340.

At that point I’m still willing to stick around and move forward as a VZW customer, as I understand this all was possibly the mistake of just a few not very competent individuals. But if not, I will have to pursue other routes of action as I am very unhappy with this situation. From day one of me asking for a resolve, I have gotten the run around, been misinformed multiple times, and have just overall not been treated fairly as a new customer. This situation has led to me being sent to collections with AT&T, my credit score taking a decline because of such, and by instruction of VZW has put me in to a very huge bind. As an AT&T and Sprint customer of almost 20 years, I was never late on one payment, and never had one issue similar to this. I really hope these issues can all be resolved very soon because this has gone on for far too long and needs to be rectified immediately. For the best contact you can reach me via my email and/or cell phone number that I have on file with you. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this as I understand it’s very lengthy, but this is actually a very summarized version of what I have been going through as I tried to keep this solely focused on the basis of me not getting what is owed to me. In closing, I know my account reflects several credits, but these credits have nothing to do with the switcher credit and are a culmination of waived restore fees and inconvenience credits. I look forward to hearing from someone who can assist me very soon.

Thank you,

Shane

Personal information removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

Labels (1)
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Re: A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
mahrizam_vzw
Verizon Employee

Hello, Beastmode335i. I can definitely understand your concern and frustration with this situation and I would like to help as much as I can. I have sent you a Private Message  to this account. Please respond back to that message so I can further assist you.

MahrizaM_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the Correct Answer button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

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Re: A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
NEICAL62
Newbie

I have had it with the switcher program ... You are not informed that it will take 60 days to complete the processing of the reimbursement.  Trading it in to you old provider is a better choice  they will give you the same amount based on the evaluation of you device. This switcher program is not convenient. It is set up to pay you after you have pulled 650 dollars out of you pocket to pay of your old bill which includes the  additional 790 you will have o pay in fees for a total of $1442 out of pocket if you have switched 2 lines. What ever you do don't do it .... It is a trap.  After the 60 days you  have to wait an additional amount of time for the repayment to be mailed out..... I am still  waiting on reimbursement.

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Re: A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
NEICAL62
Newbie

Convenient that they sent you to a private message .... Probable because they don't want bad PR.... And they are probable even less likely to speed up the process. Best Phone reception worst customer service. Every promise they give always comes with a ridiculous amount of fighting and even longer wait times to resolve anything.

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Re: A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
Chef_Jay
Enthusiast - Level 1

I need to speak to someone quickly I’ve been lied to and I’ve documented everything with this company and I’m willing to take this to court because this company has done nothing but cause me a financial problem they’ve lied to me about corporate calling and then told me I had nothing to worry about then woke up two days later for my phone to be shut off told me corp made decision on my account which lift me cluessless because i never heard from them like they told me so I need help ASAP or I’m going to just take this public about all the fraud and beside going on with Verizon

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Re: A very big issue that needs assistance asap. (Switcher program disaster)
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep
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