Child Item

Site Totals

61487 Questions Answered 271 Categories

Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency

I closed our residential account end of July 2010. Paid final bill in full on time Aug 2010. Received letter from a collections agency demanding payment of $27.50 for Verizon account 12/15/10. Verizon then debited my checking acct for same amount without my knowledge on 12/27/10 and then sent this payment directly to collections agency 12/30/10. Called Verizon billing on 1/3/11 and found out that their bill for $27.50 was sent to me (which I didn't receive) on 12/7/10; payment for this was due 1/6/11. So, on the same day Verizon supposedly sent me this bill, they also went ahead and engaged the collections agency to collect this amount. I am appalled that Verizon didn't even wait to receive payment on this account before sending to collections! I was never aware of the charge, and thus never given a chance to pay the bill on time as I would have.

I was told by Verizon customer service in billing, Mr. Patterson, that this is Verizon policy to send to collections the same day that the bill is sent out. WHAT??? This conversation with him was recorded; I hope someone listens to this.

Has anyone else had this problem with Verizon trying to ruin their credit report???

Oh, and this bill was for a deferred billing from 6/16/10-6/30/10 on my internet usage. Verizon changed their billing from the 15th of the month to the 1st of the month, so this charge was not caught until an internal audit was done of accounts at the end of December.

I am furious about their lack of customer service, and their practice of sending deferred bills to collection agencies at the same time they are sending the regular bill to the customer.

Anyone else have this problem?

Comments

Hubo_VZ

I know from experience that something like this or even 3^rd party charges sometimes take weeks to get to your bill, even after you paid what you thought was the final bill. So it could have just been something like that, or if the bill was returned to sender it may have triggered Verizon’s system to send a collection letter for any future balances that come in. However, nothing would have been sent to your credit report until the unpaid amount was 30 or more days past due. That is the law per the FCRA. Did this go to your credit report?

tom12341

I am having the EXACT same problem. Cancelled service on 9/6 and still trying to get an explanation from Verizon about this "deferred billing" charge, which they also turned over to a collections agency immediately in my case as well !

Funny how no one at Verizon can explain this charge to me even though I have made at least 10 calls and spoken to at least 15 different people. It seems that the customer service policy is that if they can't answer the question, they simply disconnect you. This has happened at least 6 times. I am now seriously considering talking to a lawyer. If the charge is valid, I have no issues with paying it, I just want a clear explanation of where it came from. If it was due to a billing date change then they should be able to tell me that. Thye must have a pretty shabby accounting system if they can post charges to an account with no explanation.

Good luck to you. I have a feeling we are both going to need it....

acktroll

Not exactly the same issue, but you can read my post as of today about my terrible Verizon experiences and their highly questionable practices. This must stop.

pepsiboy1983

You think that is bad. My wife and I closed our frontier/verizon account after our plan was so messed up. We had gotten the internet and home service for their special of $59.99 a month. After 3 months of sevice we realized that they were billing us separate which meant we werent paying on both but only 1 account.So we tried calling spent a good amount of time on the phone and still no luck, I call the next day and got someone who spoke indian they said they apoligized and would fix it for us. Nope they never did so after that we decided to cancel our phone and keep the internet.

Well sadly to say a month ago all of a sudden we got a phone bill from frontier saying we owe them a whopping $580. My wife was flipping out. Apparently frontier has been charging us service for phone that we dont have. hell i even had plugged in my old phone to the outet and guess what no service.Again we call them and after speaking to 5 agents they gave us a conformation number and told us that it will be straighten out. I just checked my mail today and the phone bill didnt disappear, they charged us another $70.

So now our verizon/frontier phone bill that we dont get and cancelled 7 months is still charging us nd putting us in collection. Is there a way to actually get ahold of someone over there or do they ejoy {please keep your posts courteous} for no reason. I refuse to pay verizon they have already put me in collections,so what the **bleep** do i do now?

ElizabethS

Please clarify pepsiboy1983

Are you still being billed by Verizon?

pepsiboy1983

nope since the switch over verizon gave frontier all my info since verizon no longer exists in my area

akl928

I had the same problem. I changed service, never realized they closed my account as part of a change in service, and continued to pay my bill in full on time every month. My online account always showed "Paid In Full". I never received the final bill, was given no notification by Verizon that I had a past due balance and was not notified it was sent to collections. My customer service rep said accounts go to collections within 30 days of a closed account - the only notification you get is a final paper bill in the mail. If it gets lost in the mail, you are out of luck. My customer service rep said "If you knew you had a closed account I would think you'd be more on top of this." Yes, really, that was his response. I never had a chance to rectify the situation. Verizon would not speak with the collections agency or the credit agencies on my behalf to fix the situation and pull it off my report. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Verizon. I've paid my bill on time every month, never been late on a bill ever in my life to any company, and this is going to wreck my credit. That they're doing this to several of us means it's a problem and harmful to consumers and I hope the Better Business Bureau can help us out.

prowalt22

Re BBB. Unfortunately BBB gets paid by companies like Verizon. They will do nothing. But even if they did, Verizon is beyond BBB reach and no one cares what BBB says about such companies. It's a shame, but there is nowhere to turn nowadays. Consumers are being taken advantage of all the time, and no one seems to care.

AmyLC1

I had a similar problem this week. Canceled the bundle plan at end of January/early February and my mother in law gets a call from collections regarding my account. I never got a final bill/call/email from Verizon for the amount that collections said was due. The amount that was owed doesn't even match any of my billing records. I tried speaking to a Verizon rep who told me that all questions/complaints had to be directed to collections. The collections agent wouldn't answer any questions, they would only tell me what verizon said was due.

I was also told that Verizon wireless is a completely different company so even though the bill is combined, no verizon agent could help answer questions regarding any portion of the wireless bill - I would have to call the wireless company, which I did and was told that I had no outstanding balance.

I am very displeased with Verizon and its customer service. The company as a whole has left a bad taste in my mouth and once my contract for the wireless plan is up, I plan to cancel that service as well- I won't support a company who doesn't repect a customers right to have their questions answered.

ladiedi408

I have exactly the same problem. I cancelled my service on 4/11/2010, requested final bill and paid it. Never got another bill, as should be, account canceled. In July 2010 I received a bill for 497.00 I call Verizon explained the situation, it showed my account was canceled on 4/11/2010 so she said it was an error on Verizon's part she would fix it and credit my account. I got a bill showing the credit. Next thing you know, I get a letter from a collection company saying I owe Verizon 497.00. Again called Verizon, their response was being the account was in collections and even though the account showed a credit and canceled, there wasn't anything they could do, that I would have to call the collection company. Well, what feels like 300 phone calls and bounced from rep to rep, because no one know what the heck their doing, and 5 month later I'm still fighting to get this account out of collections and not one person at Verizon can help even though my accost states that they have sent me a refund check for overpayment, which I haven't received..Still fighting today. I did contact an attorney and said speck with versions legal department and demand the remove the account from collections and advise them I am filing a slander and fraud suit against them, he advises that: it usually works...It also recommend calling the PUC...

darrelld

I called Verizon to cancel a single channel and they disconnected my internet, phone, and tv service. Took 3 days worth of phone calls to get everything turned back on.

My previous account was set to autobill and is my current account.

Yesterday I recieved a phone call from a collection agency informing me that my account had been purchased by them and was past due. I made a formal request for supporting documentation and per FTC regulations they must provide within 5 days.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

Once I recieve the docs I plan to file a formal complaint with the FTC against Verizon and they proxy collection agency and suggest others due the same. The FTC has the most authority to deal with these types of practices.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

ElizabethS

Hi darrelld

Sorry you are having difficulty, an agent with access to your account will reach out to you directly by email, private message in the Forums and/or the billing telephone number on your Verizon account for more information or help you resolve your issue.

prat824

I closed my account in July 2011 and payed my last bill of 25.73. After 2 months I got a letter from verizon saying that I still owed this amount.

- I called verizon about this but they couldn't verify that I had payed and requested proof through a dispute process - I was supposed to send the proofs to a FAX number and I sent it 7 times, calling them a day after each FAX but they never acknoledged receipt.

- Proof 1: My bank statement that clearly shows a card payment to verizon

- Proof 2: Verizon residential website showing the payment made successfully on my account bill page.

- Proof 3: Their automated email to me confirming the receipt of payment

Finally I called them and made the payment AGAIN. And the said the matter was closed.

Now in Feb 2012, I got a collection agency letter specifying a debt of the same amount $25.73 which I have payed twice. When I called the agency, the representative told me that this is a regular problem with verizon cancelled accounts and the easiest thing would be to pay the THIRD time and start a dispute so that credit report is not affected. So I did that and will send a dispute letter now.

In addition,

1. I will make a formal request for supporting documentation which as per FTC regulations they must provide within 5 days.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

2. Once I recieve the docs I plan to file a formal complaint with the FTC against Verizon and they proxy collection agency and suggest others due the same. The FTC has the most authority to deal with these types of practices.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Prateek

KH-OrnEsh1

I'm sorry you are having difficulty. An agent with access to your account will reach out to you directly by email, private message in the Forums and/or the billing telephone number on your Verizon account for more information or to help you resolve your issue.

@prat824 wrote:
I closed my account in July 2011 and payed my last bill of 25.73. After 2 months I got a letter from verizon saying that I still owed this amount.

- I called verizon about this but they couldn't verify that I had payed and requested proof through a dispute process - I was supposed to send the proofs to a FAX number and I sent it 7 times, calling them a day after each FAX but they never acknoledged receipt.

- Proof 1: My bank statement that clearly shows a card payment to verizon

- Proof 2: Verizon residential website showing the payment made successfully on my account bill page.

- Proof 3: Their automated email to me confirming the receipt of payment

Finally I called them and made the payment AGAIN. And the said the matter was closed.

Now in Feb 2012, I got a collection agency letter specifying a debt of the same amount $25.73 which I have payed twice. When I called the agency, the representative told me that this is a regular problem with verizon cancelled accounts and the easiest thing would be to pay the THIRD time and start a dispute so that credit report is not affected. So I did that and will send a dispute letter now.

In addition,

1. I will make a formal request for supporting documentation which as per FTC regulations they must provide within 5 days.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

2. Once I recieve the docs I plan to file a formal complaint with the FTC against Verizon and they proxy collection agency and suggest others due the same. The FTC has the most authority to deal with these types of practices.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Prateek

prat824

Lee

Verizon keeps finding ways to dissapoint and frustrate us again and again and again. Your website is not able to take the complaint and this is the message I get after I click on the link you sent to contact billing specialist.

----------------------------------

We're sorry....
We are not able to process your request. To continue, please select
one of the following options:

------------------------------------

So in addition to filing a dispute with the collection agency and with FTC, I am posting my dispute on this forum - If you have some special powers to forward it to your billing specialist, please do so.

Description of Dispute.

1. I closed my account in July 2011 and payed my final bill of 25.73 using my debit card online as I had always payed before on time.

After 1 months I received a letter from Verizon stating that I still owed the above amount.

2. I called Verizon about this but they couldn't verify that I had payed and requested proof through a dispute process. Verizon opened a dispute through their internal system with

ticket ID: 10744610812201115708 and requested me to FAX the proofs of payment to the following number: 877-875-8857

3. These were the proofs I faxed them

Proof 1: My bank statement that clearly shows a card payment made to Verizon for the amount $25.73 on 07/05/2011

Proof 2: Verizon website showing the payment made successfully on my account bill page.

Proof 3: Verizon's email to me confirming the receipt of payment $25.73 on 6/30/2011. Payment confirmation number: 462823280

4. I faxed all of the above information to the provided fax number SIX times and called them after each successfully sent fax to confirm but they kept denying they they received the FAX. I have proof from the fax machine of successful faxe sent on 8/31/2011.

5. After calling them several times to resolve the issue, their representative asked me to close the matter once and for all by paying one more time. So I payed it he SECOND time.

6. Now in Feb 2012, I got a collection agency letter specifying a debt of the same amount $25.73 which I have payed twice. When I called the agency, the representative told me that this is a regular problem with verizon cancelled accounts and the easiest thing would be to pay the THIRD time and start a dispute so that credit report is not affected. So I did that and will send a dispute letter now.

In addition,

1. I will make a formal request for supporting documentation which as per FTC regulations they must provide within 5 days.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

2. Once I recieve the docs I plan to file a formal complaint with the FTC against Verizon and they proxy collection agency and suggest others due the same.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

[Deleted User]

prat824

Please reply to Lee's private message to you through the Private Message feature and provide the information requested to resolve your issue.

Thank you,

harshjadia

I have a similar problem with Verizon.

I opened an account with Verizon in Jamaica, NY in September 2009. But the internet service could not be established and did not work. Even the tech support could not activate the internet connection, so I returned the equipment to the return address and contacted Verizon to disconnect the service. But Verizon failed to disconnect the service and kept on billing me for the next couple of months. I had already called a couple of times to Verizon to clear this matter but all in vain. Eventually it was forwarded to the collections agency for an outstanding amount of $212 for the services which I have never used!

I tried contacting the collections agency and provided them with emails and letters explaining them my problem, but no action was taken. Till date my credit report is disrupted by this outstanding amount. Please help me with this following matter as I feel cheated to pay up for the services which were never utilized.

minchas

I have a similar situation, i opened an account w verizon for residential service, they never came down to install the line, i called numerous times, transferred to different dept.'s, and nothing happened- i didn't get a line, this went on for 2 months, meanwhile I was being billed for service..I finally just cancelled my acct. Now I had to call them 10 times, and they had to research, that I never had service, and my charges were credited. I got a $0.00 bill. NOW, I got a bill from a collection agency for past due amount!! HELP!!

Child Item