Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
locean
Newbie

I upgraded my usage plan online from 450 to 900 minutes and clicked the button to do it now.  The bill was just sent and I was charged  for all the minutes used in my 450 plan as regular minutes!!!  The total minutes for the month are under 900 minutes so I am not over the plan I upgraded to. I am waiting the 24-48 hours for a customer service supervisor's supervisor to call me back, as the supervisor could not tell me what I was to have CLEARLY read online as I was making the change to know exactly what I was going to be charged!  I just went back tonight to see again what I could have missed and I don't get it!  If I would have called on the phone, there is never a problem.  Every time you wait on hold, they tell you to go to verizonwireless.com, so you do and this is what they do to you!

Here is what the supervisor kept saying:  I cannot give you the information on the disclosure...but the information is there of what will be on the next bill.  So they showed me the actual bill - No.  What did they show me?  What did the disclosure say?  I cannot give you the information on the disclosure.... but the information... now you know why I asked for the supervisor's supervisor!

I just want the upgrade to 900 minutes and not to be charged a different rate for the minutes in the 450 plan.  It is more money to Verizon.  Why push customers to the online site, charge them outrageous amounts and then cause these problems? I have owned a cell phone since 1983 when they were bricks with a cord and cost $3000!  I think I know how to read conditions, but according to customer service....NOT!

Any help will be appreciated!  Thanks.

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
Tidbits
Legend

You have to backdate the plan...  If you did it online you have the option to start at that point or backdate the plan.

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Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
locean
Newbie

The plan that is highlighted is the one that says change today...not backdate, not next cycle...so I checked the one already highlighted thinking that is the best one to do.  On software these days, it always directs you to the best one and highlights it for you, hence what I did.  I still am going to fight this because it should be better explained or laid out where CLEARLY the difference is shown on a bill where you can see what your bill would look like if you started a point A, B or C.  If Verizon chooses to argue with me on this, I will take my company and our personal phones elsewhere.  Customer service has gone way downhill!

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
Tidbits
Legend

locean wrote:

The plan that is highlighted is the one that says change today...not backdate, not next cycle...so I checked the one already highlighted thinking that is the best one to do.  On software these days, it always directs you to the best one and highlights it for you, hence what I did.  I still am going to fight this because it should be better explained or laid out where CLEARLY the difference is shown on a bill where you can see what your bill would look like if you started a point A, B or C.  If Verizon chooses to argue with me on this, I will take my company and our personal phones elsewhere.  Customer service has gone way downhill!

You should call them and have them backdate the bill.

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
locean
Newbie

That is the problem.  Customer Svc supervisor refused to work with me at all and kept telling me that info was disclosed online, but could not tell me what was disclosed! Now waiting for his supervisor to call in that 24-48 hr callback window.  Typically Verizon will work with you, but this supv said NO!

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
rcschnoor
Legend

I will try to explain it.

Your 3 options are to:

1) backdate it which means the plan change will start at the beginning of your CURRENT billing cycle. This means that ALL usage within this billing cycle will fall under the 900 minute plan.

2) current date which means that all of the usage within this billing cycle but before this date will fall under the 450(pro-rated) minute plan and all usage within this billing cycle from this point on will fall under the 900(pro-rated) minute plan. For example, lets say that you make the change at the half-way point of your billing cycle and select current date for the plan change to take effect. For the 1st half of your current billing cycle, you will have a minute allowance of 225 minutes (450 * 1/2) and for the 2nd half of your billing cycle, you will have a minute allowance of 450 minutes (900 * 1/2). Anything over these amounts during EITHER half of the month will result in an overage charge.

3) next billing cycle, which means the plan change will take effect at the beginning of your next billing cycle and be in effect for the entire month. Your current billing cycle will be entirely under the old plan allowance.

Once the bill is generated with the change, it is doubtful that Verizon will make any changes to what you have already been billed. If you are still within the same billing cycle in which you made the change, though, Verizon should still be able to backdate the change to the beginning of your current billing cycle. If you do not think you will go over the pro-rated allowances for the different parts of your billing cycle, it shouldn't matter, and you can leave things as they are.

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
budone
Legend

Tidbits wrote:

locean wrote:

The plan that is highlighted is the one that says change today...not backdate, not next cycle...so I checked the one already highlighted thinking that is the best one to do.  On software these days, it always directs you to the best one and highlights it for you, hence what I did.  I still am going to fight this because it should be better explained or laid out where CLEARLY the difference is shown on a bill where you can see what your bill would look like if you started a point A, B or C.  If Verizon chooses to argue with me on this, I will take my company and our personal phones elsewhere.  Customer service has gone way downhill!

You should call them and have them backdate the bill.

Once the bill is generated, I do not believe CS can backdate an invoice.

Also when you are given the options, I suspect there are explanations for each.

I know when I changed my number, I chose today and it stated something to the affect, "Changing today, I may incur overage charges due to prorating the plans for each number,.... ARE YOU SURE???  If those statements were there, do not expect any relief.

Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
xrongor
Enthusiast - Level 1

I am now a member of this club too and all i did was update my text to unlimited from 500.  While verizion may be technically correct, the fact that so many people are getting bit by this shows that they just do not care.  They could have automatically have backdated the charge but by giving people the rope to hang themselves they are just making people mad.

the idea that they cannot issue a credit after billing has occured to fix this is a lie.  it is a choice verizon made.  a bad choice.

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
rcschnoor
Legend

xrongor wrote:

They could have automatically have backdated the charge but by giving people the rope to hang themselves they are just making people mad.

If Verizon automatically backdated the change, you would have just as many people being angry who made the change PRIOR to using more than their pro-rated allowance but knew they would be using more than their total allowance before the end of the billing cycle. Why should THESE people be discriminated against. That is why when you make the change, unless you select something different, the change will be made effective on the date which you actually initiate the change.

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Re: Upgraded a usage plan online and charged $$
xrongor
Enthusiast - Level 1

nobody should be discriminated against.  When i went to the store it was made clear to me what I should have done to avoid this.  When i actually made the change online it was NOT made clear to me.  It is that simple.  I changed my text plan only not my voice plan.

And what was made clear to me is that there was indeed a cheaper way this could have been done, and had I come in to the store instead of doing it online, that is what would have been done.

or to put it another way, the system should simply make the change in the way that costs the customer the least amount of money, without the customer even having to ask for it to be done any specific way.  This would be called good customer service.  Apparently you have never heard of this, or you are a shill sent to the boards to swat down complainers.  I suspect the second.

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