Beware of Sneaky Sales Tactics of Verizon Sales Agents (e.g., "free internet upgrade")

Scruff2

Just called Verizon to find out why my monthly bill has increased $20/month in the last year for no reason. I've been too busy to call and find out, which is what they count on, so I've wasted at least $240 in the last year. The agent said I had to sign up for a new 2 year package. At the end of the call, she said that I was getting, with my new 2 year package, "free" upgrade to the faster internet service. So, I thought, well maybe Verizon was doing this as a promotional thing and because i was a long-term customer. When I got the confirmation email, I just happened to notice a line that said that I received a $5/mo credit for 12 months (meaning that after 12 mos, my price would increase).

So, I called back and the new agent removed the "free" service and reduced my bill by $5 (so I was apparently paying $5/mo more for the 1st year, and $10/mo more for the 2nd year for the "free" service), which she just sneaked into my package, without telling me that there was any alternative.

In addition, the first agent said she was making this effective with my current month's billing period so I could pay the lower amount for the bill that is due in a few days. However, the 2nd agent said that this was not possible at all, and I had to pay the higher amount right now, as well as for the 1st part of the next billing period. (So, she was, in effect, building the price increase back in by billing me a higher amount for the current bill as well as part of the next bill),

This is the 3rd time over the last several years that a Verizon agent has sneaked something into my bill that I did not realize until I received my first bill and had to call back to remove the add-in. Their sales people must be trained to do this, counting on the fact that people will not pay close attention to their bills and be too busy to change anything. THis is really sneaky and unethical. I will be shopping around for alternative services, since I have been paying well over a hundred $ a month for my service for many years, but don't get anything for customer loyalty from Verizon. I also have a business cell phone account and so they get a lot of revenue from me, but this doesn't matter. I will be calling the Better Business Bureau also and posting warnings to others on checking every little thing when they talk to an agent and when they receive their first bill after making service changes.

MannyL358

Thanks for the heads up. I will be checking my bill carefully from now on.

{please keep it relevant}