Why is it so hard to cancel my service?

[J-NARDONE]

I have contacted Verizon Wireless chat reps 4 times over the past month to cancel my service and every one of them keeps me on the line for at least 2 hours.  In addition,  each one looks at the chat log from the previous rep and apologizes that the previous rep gave me incorrect information or processed something wrong and to just give them a chance to talk to their manager to get approval to fix my account.

I just want to cancel my service because of the documented deceptive sales  practices of Verizon.  Why is is so hard?  Do they really expect a customer that they tried to cheat to agree to stay with them?

[pherson · Accepted solution]

You need to call customer service to cancel. 8009220204

[J-NARDONE]

When you say "need" do you mean it is not possible to cancel your service via a chat rep?

Is that documented somewhere?

[vzw_customer_support]

We want to ensure this is all set up correctly for you. I have sent you a private message so that we can best assist.

NicoleB_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!!

[Weth]

Cancelling your service

If you need to disconnect or cancel your wireless service, be sure to read your Verizon Wireless customer agreement, which includes Verizon's cancellation policies and whether you can take your phone number with you.

For security reasons, you cannot cancel your service online. You must speak with an account representative. To do this, call 1-800-922-0204  Monday through Friday, 7 am to 11 pm, local time or Saturday through Sunday, 8 am to 9 pm local time.

You can also go to a store. 

[pherson]

Does what @weth posted answer your question? Yes, it's documented.

[KStanfield]

I read the Customer Agreement. No where does it say HOW to cancel service. Only what happens if you cancel within a contract. The number the rep referred to is NOT IN THE CONTRACT! This is a willful strategy to make it difficult to cancel service so they can continue charging the customer.

I'm on month-to-month now that my contract has ended. I should be able to cancel online just as I can suspend, re-activate, add services, or extend an active contract. These actions require at least as much security as cancellation. The reps statement above, "For security reasons, you cannot cancel your service online.", is disingenuous.

Be careful. My wife went into a store to CANCEL two devices (Jetpack, tablet) on month-to-month. All our devices are m-to-m now. She left the store thinking it had been done. Instead, the rep suspended, with billing, only the JetPack. Nothing changed to the  tablet. She asked to cancel, not suspend.

[Weth]

I am not a rep, just a customer like you pointing out easily available information from Verizon's web site.  It is policy.   It is more about trying to keep you as a customer than security in my opinion.  It doesn't matter if the reason they give is suspect, they can have the policy if they choose.  I agree it is not really for security. 

[scisma]

Apparently security only matters when ending a revenue stream. It is apparently easy to add a line, create a new account, or a myriad of other things online without issue. This is a complete lie.