I have had severe ongoing issues with Verizon billing since making the mistake of “upgrading” in April 2024. Trouble started immediately with month after month of overcharges, erroneous billing for services I had been told were cancelled by multiple reps, late fees because of improperly set up autopay (done by Verizon, at no time did I choose the dates). Each issue resulted in hours on the phone, promises of resolution that didn’t pan out, and promises of refunds that never showed up until I called back repeatedly. I was finally able to get refunded for recurring over charges over the course of the first year and a half in a lump sum in August 2025. At the time, I was leaving to go overseas for a masters program and went to the local Verizon store to find out how I could use my phone in the uk. I was signed up on a plan and told that I could use it for 6 months abroad before it was cut off due to regulations. 1st 2 months I had to argue for my money back because they kept classing calls that had bounced to WiFi calling differently and the massive roaming charges were eating up my entire refund. Took many calls where, as previously, I was promised 1. That the issue was resolved and 2. That it would be clearly noted on my account to prevent me spending so much time disputing in the future. I believe this record is a lie because it is never available to the next agent when I call back for the failure to do what it promised. I was also told conflicting information on what was included in the plan and whether WiFi calling was or was not included. The last customer service rep I spoke to about that specific issue was finally able to refund me for that but informed me that my specific international plan could only be used for 60 days, a timeframe that ended only a handful of days later, and that he wouldn’t be able to change the plan when I was already abroad. He claimed that it would mean limited service but wouldn’t be turned off unexpectedly. I used the chat a couple weeks later after deciding how to proceed and requested my phone line be temporarily suspended and was assured that it would take effect at the decided date, would mean no further charges during the suspension, and would be noted on my account (in fact I was told repeatedly not to leave the chat over about 30 minutes to make sure all of the information was saved as notes on my account.) since then it has turned out they did not suspend my number and in December I again contacted Verizon via the chat to resolve the issue and was transferred to over 1 dozen different agents who, after one initial took over 2 hours to understand the actual issue, alternately told me 1. That they could see the record of my request and I would be refunded. 2 that there was no record of the request. 3. That the request had not been processed because my plan was only good for 90 days abroad (the third piece of conflicting information about that plan I have received) and that it had been disconnected (the line had been used to get the necessary verification code to use the chat and I was not able to ask why there would be a charge for full service if my line was disconnected because I was again booted to another rep. I received a random text almost 2 days later thanking me for my wait due to extended wait times and sent me in another useless chat loop wherein nobody could figure out what the issue was and then would pretend to get disconnected every time they realized the problem was too big for them to handle. I am now at wits end abroad, with an overpriced phone line I would like to have ported to an online service so I don’t lose access and trying to find the time to deal with this in a reasonable manner. I have spent collectively nearly 30 hrs dealing with customer service, I am owed $120 for the charge after I was assured my line was suspended, and have another pending bill because they did not handle the issue when I spent 5 hours on various chats in December. I need to have the issue handled immediately but the chat is utterly useless and the international help line runs on eastern standard time. At this point I’m just trying to recuperate my losses including for an insane amount of stress and wasted time. The greater issue has already been reported to the FTC, but it seems likely I will need to file individual complaints regarding each issue to the FCC and to file a complaint with my home state’s attorney general to get things handled appropriately. The fact that reading through online complaints shows this is a wider issue is especially troubling and leads me to believe this reflects deliberately dishonest business practices.
