Phantom charges for a disconnected Apple Watch line for last 2 years (since Jan 2018)

[inohvative]

Background: Back in 2018, our Apple Watch (Series 3, LTE version) was stolen/missing and called Verizon to disconnect line completely. Instead, the rep suspended line which means that after 90 days, the line gets continued to get billed. 

Our family plan continued to get billed for this phantom Apple line for two years until June 2020, when I audited are statements in detail and discovered this discrepancy. 

When I requested for a full refund (~$220+) for the last two years, the rep only offered 3 months of credit. They argued that it was on the customer to report the discrepancy after checking the billing statement. They also refuse to give a timeline on reviewing the phone call from two years ago which would confirm that the original rep had made an error. 

Ask: Any recommendations on how to get a refund for a Verizon error. I can't seem to reach the right supervisor who can help?

I'm on the family plan with parents who are in their sixties. As such, we have 6-7 lines at all times, and the phantom apple line charges were buried underneath confusing pages in the billing statement. We think a Verizon error should be corrected even if two years elapse. 

This article published in 2015 also reports how a Verizon Customer was not able to get a refund for a similar situation of a phantom line that was charged to her account for 5 years until they escalated to the press. 

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/verizon-customer-gets-1500-refund-after-5-yea...

[Tigerstep]

You typically get 180 days to dispute a charge. A Verizon rep can only access bills going a year back, the rest are archived. Recorded calls are only for quality assurance, not something anyone has access to for review.

Getting a refund for the full amount will be difficult. With that said, Verizon and I'm sure other carriers need more media pressure. In the case of Verizon, they practically encourage shady behavior such as suspensions vs disconnects because these stats count against the rep and not management. If customers could disconnect themselves AND if agents weren't punished for doing what customers requested, Verizon would be 200% more honest.

Try writing to Verizon instead since you're not getting a full refund over the phone. 

Verizon Wireless
Correspondence
P.O. Box 408
Newark, NJ 07101-0408