I received a call while in England from a relative in the States in mid-January.
I did not have any information on international rates at that point as was surprised the call went through. I talked for less than an hour and when I went to sleep, went to work and then ate supper the next day I returned to my flat and saw the phone on my study desk. It said the previous call was still running at 18 hours and some odd minutes.
I called to pay my monthly bill soon after and the bill was normal but there was some "background" fee of roughly $2000 for this call. The helpful Verizon service rep said she would in light of the exorbitant bill retroactively change the billing plan to $10/day for those rare days when I used the phone in England. They said the large fee for the call would quietly disappear. A month later I believe the same promise was made. They said the billing change "would" occur, not that it "might."
When I came back to the States they suspended my phone. I called Verizon and they said the 18-hour phone call bill looked unreasonable and that they would send the $2000 credit my way. It was later denied by some higher-up. The same thing happened a few days later: I was promised the credit but some higher-up later denied it. believe it happened a third time. At this point the word "scam" was echoing through my brain.
I contacted the caller and he remembered the short phone call that started this mess. He said he was at a landline which would always hang up when the phone was laid down. I do not plan on paying this until there is more evidence the conversation lasted 18 hours. Consumer advocates said they would be willing to help when I provide them written proof this actually occurred. In the mean time any advice will help. This seems outrageous.
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