Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
Sallysdaughter

My mom died a year ago, and I returned her phone to the physical Verizon store, showed them a death certificate, and cancelled her service. The store said an adjustment would be made on her bill. Instead, Verizon stopped sending bills, but made a claim against her survivors estate for the cost of her phone! They sent a pile of papers to the lawyer, none of which show any credit for the returned phone. Verizon is bilking the survivors for a phone they received after a person died!!!

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
mama23dogs
Legend

I am very sorry for your loss. Even a year later I’m sure it still hurts.   
give me a minute and I will try to find Verizon‘s policy on closing an account due to death of the account owner.  The account May be forgiven, but that is their choice, generally the debt is the responsibility of the estate, which as you see has been billed.  BRB

(FYI the estate is not ‘the survivors’. The estate is responsible for any debts left when a person dies.  In some cases there is nothing left over once all debts are paid)

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/deceased-account-handling/

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Sallysdaughter, I'm so sorry to learn about the loss of your mother. Additionally, we want to make sure you are provided with any credit due, especially if you gave the phone back.  The link provided by mama23dogs is definitely the right one, but please let me know if you have any additional concerns.

 

-ChristinaB_VZW

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
Sallysdaughter

We did not receive any credit for the returned phone.

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
Sallysdaughter

The estate is what pays any outstanding bills, AND is what the survivors would inherit after their family member dies. Survivors typically use this to pay for funeral expenses and burial, which are very expensive.   

In this case, Verizon received the phone and decided to bill the estate for it anyway, clearly bilking the survivors.

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
Sallysdaughter

I would like someone to contact me about this.

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We absolutely want to ensure this is taken care of for you. We offer many direct contact options that can be found here: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/contact-us/

 

We will also be happy to help you on this platform if you prefer. Please look for the Private Note we are sending. 

 

ChristopherM_VZW

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
Sallysdaughter

So far, I have received five messages from 3 different Verizon employees asking me to read policies, log in, authenticate, log out, log back in.  Why would logging in and out of my own phone account correct this problem?  It won’t. Verizon is clearly just interested in making me jump through hoops, and is not interested in making this right. 

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Re: Mom died, returned phone, Verizon sent bill to collections
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We do want to set the right expectation regarding what information we would have access too. When an account is terminated the online profile is also deleted. WE would not have a way to authenticate the wireless account nor review the charges incurred. You will need to contact our In-house Recovery Team at the number provided for additional support. AlbertoR_VZW

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