I have spent no less than 8 hours the phone with verizon over the last several weeks trying to get resolution for billing and phone function issues.
1) my daughter is studying abroad on an international plan since January. This is the $100 per month plan that gives her 250 minutes of alls, unlimited texts and 20GB high speed data. Calls over the 250 are to be charged at $0.25 per minute. She had the same plan last summer while living abroad and had no issues (and incidentally used her phone for calls much much more). Suddenly in March $350+ dollars in charges for international calls popped up on my bill for random calls she was charged for at rates of $2.00 or more per minute. After calls with several agents who were unable to help me, barely spoke english and all had different answers-- none seeming to know anything about hte international plan -- I got an agent named Quez who understood and confirmed that these were superfluous charges and put in for a reimbursement. He also said he would call me back the following week. HE DID NOT.
2) Last week my daughter (who frequently travels between towns in europe while abroad, each time she lands in a new country getting a notice of the terms of her international plan) got a new message with new terms that she had never seen before. I called and they said it was an error and reset her plan to want it had been (again hours on the phone). While I was there, they confirmed I had $350 in credits pending.
3) also last week my phone suddenly would not call or text anyone with an android. After an hour on the phone with technical support they fixed it. Their error
3) This morning my daughter -- still abroad -- whose international plan renews on the 9th of each month (Yesterday) has no high speed internet. There is no possible way that she has used up her 20G in one day. Then this afternoon she received an alert that she has gone $75 over her plan costs. Again, not possible in one day. I called and got another non-English speaking agent who said he would help then put me on hold for 40 minutes. then it disconnected me. He eventually called me back with no answer to her current call issues saying that the $350 charge dispute was denied becuase those calls were to countries she was not currently located in at the time of the call (for example, callign ireland while in italy). NEVER were we ever told (nor can I find in writing anywhere) that you cannot call out of the country you are in on the international plan. My understanding from any written materials and from discussions with verizon when we purchased the plan was that all calls to and from countries withn the international pan are covered. Meanwhile, it makes no sense that january calls would suddenly have shown up on my march bill. I escalated my call to a manager -- again someone whose language is not English. Her name was "gabby," When I referenced the texts that my daughter gets in each country laying out the 250 minutes, $0.25 center per minute, etc. she had no idea what I was talking about. This is THEIR standard procedure and she doesn't know what it is? It makes no sense? Then she told me that the over charges are because she used up her minutes. My bill shows $2.00 per minute charges for calls made within the first days of her plan each month. I was, needless to say, irate. The manager put me on hold and never returned. I'm now on hold waiting for someone else.
My family has been on verizon wireless plans for years with 6 lines that we pay a fortune for each month (superfluous charges aside). They are about to lose my business for good. If anyone has any idea how I can get to a person with some knowledge and authority to do right by me before we leave, please let me know.
