I cant believe what has transpired since starting my new service in November 2019 (I'm a returning customer with 10+ years with Verizon)!
In November I switched back to Verizon - I bought 3 phones. The phones were to be delivered in 2d. After 4 days elapsed, my wife called the sales team to proactively notify Verizon. The sales associate could not find a record of the shipment so he sent 3 additional phones. This time the phones arrived when expected. We activated the phones and started using them.
Two weeks later 3 new phones arrive at my home! We again promptly contacted Verizon who sent us return labels. We sent the phones back and in mid December I receive a letter from Verizon indicating that the phones were received. Hooray! or so I thought.
Beginning in Jan - 6 phones started appearing on my activated account - the 3 active phones and the 3 returned phones. 2 of the 3 returned phones show $0 and one shows a charge for $595 (this also does not match the $688.99 price of the phone, but that is the least of my concerns). To make a very long story short - it takes until 24-March to get the additional phones off of my activated account and the $595 charge removed! Hooray! or so I thought.
Here comes the real gem! Yesterday 26 May I receive a letter from Sequium Assets LLC. The letter indicates that Verizon has sent me into collections for $1299.98!!!! The Verizon account number associated with this collection DOES NOT match my active account which has been paid faithfully since November. How this account was set up and by whom is a mystery, but my name and Verizon phone number (associated with my active account) has been associated with another account!
This duplicate / fraudulent account has NEVER billed me. I have NEVER been contacted by Verizon about this account - the first that I became aware of this account is by the collections agency. I quickly contacted Verizon CS and am told that the rep cannot look into this because the account has been written off and sent to collections! I was told to contact Sequium and Verizon financial services.
Sequium filed a challenge to the account. Verizon financial service only wanted to collect a payment and wouldn’t investigate this. I was told by CS that Verizon financial services was the department who sent me to collections and reported me to the credit bureaus / agencies. I was referred to the Verizon fraud department who advised me to CALL THE POLICE and file a fraud report AGAINST VERIZON! After 4h of being batted around various departments, I finally get sent to Verizon in House Recovery.
Here I learn what I had feared that Verizon (in addition to turning me over to collections) has in fact sent negative reports to the credit bureaus. Thanks Verizon. After explaining my situation - the rep here was able to see that the equipment on the duplicate / fraudulent account was never activated (no kidding, this hardware wasn’t opened and immediately returned to and received by Verizon). The rep then cancelled the collections request of Sequium. Hooray! Or so I thought.
I leaned that it will take 48 hours to get a call back from a in House Recovery manager to confirm that the collection was cancelled! I also learned that it would take an additional 30 days for Verizon to notify the credit bureaus to clear my name!!!!!! When I explained that this was not acceptable and that I was applying for and interviewing for jobs and that employers would need to run background checks on me, I was told that although Verizon caused the mess and this is no fault of mine - no exception was possible and I needed to wait in the queue with the other customers who defaulted and had been turned over to collections! It would also be MY RESPONSIBILTY to query all the credit agencies to find out when my records would be clean and I could allow background checks to proceed.
I am FURIOUS to say the least. I have yet to understand how a duplicate account was created / how returned hardware appeared on this account / why I was never invoiced from this account / why Verizon never contacted me before sending me to collections. I don’t know what to do - Do I file a fraud request AGAINST Verizon? Should I hire a lawyer?
Despite this saga lasting 6+ months, wasting hours and hours of my and my wife's time AND Verizon turning me over to collections AND damaging my credit - no one directed me to where I could file a grievance, how I could be compensated for all of the aggravation / harassment stemming from an account that I never activated and hardware that Verizon had in their possession for 6 months! I am completely shocked at the level of customer service from Verizon! I'm so upset / angry / frustrated! I don’t know what to do….. If any Verizon staff reads this and has advice on how to proceed with my case and how I can immediately clear my credit report, please let me know.
