I went to Walmart to buy a phone. The Walmart employee working in the electronics dept. Said Verizon was the best deal, I could get a free phone ( maybe 3 to choose from?) And service ( unlimited everything ) for only $28 total cost ( that included tax and activation , etc) I was told i would pay the $28 today, in 30days I would pay my first month at $50 ( if I set up auto pay it would only be $45, and they could help me set automatic payment right now if I would like) , I didn't, I was told I would get the free phone ,a Samsung A17 , with unlimited everything ( only $28 out the door today), I asked all the questions, what's the catch ...nothing , just that. In 30 days I would need to pay to keep my service starting my first month of service , that month and everyone after would only be $50 for unlimited everything. I made sure, I asked every question to make sure. I had someone with me, they heard the same thing I did. Ok, now it's 30 days later, I get a bill in the mail, they sent me a bill to keep my service it wasn't $50 , the bill demands i pay $173?
I tried calling Verizon customer support, I was told there was nothing I could do, what if I had set up auto pay? I have all the original paperwork and every bill sent to me after. I didn't pay it, the next month another bill ( phone service was shut off when I didn't pay the $173) odd, now the bill says I owe them $160 ( I owe them $150 for ..I didnt have service the month before, and it was still off, again another month goes by, another bill this time its just under $150, I haven't paid anything on it. I just wanted a basic pay as you go phone , no contract, around $50 a month, the Walmart employee said this was not a contract service, and if I chose not to stay with Verizon the next month ( after the first 30 days before I paid my first $50 bill for a month of service) I could get the phone unlocked and switch to whatever service carrier I chose. Im pretty sure its going to affect my credit too.
A few months before this happened I went to Walmart to buy a phone ( I ended up just leaving) i was told basically the same thing I was told about the phone I ended up getting a few months later ( the one I just described) but this time I was told they needed to verify my identity, just like when you get your credit report, when you answer the multiple choice questions, it was weird though...Walmart employee said they had to call an 1-800 number and talk to someone over their store phone who would then verify my identity so I could buy a phone? Im just as confused, I am handed the phone after the employee and whoever is on the other end of phone say a few words, something feels wrong though, every question I am being asked, none of them are about me. A question about what county my brother lives in or owns a house or rented in, what county does my brother work in, what road did my brother grow up on ( my twin, I am female , he is male) I said , why, no, im not answering even if I knew the answer, next question, what city does my brothers wife currently live in, what street out of these 4 choices is associated with my brothers wife? I adked what any of that had to do with me verifying MY identity, they just repeated it was to verify MY identity even though none of the questions were about me in any way , I said nope, Im not answering any of those, my brother and his wife are not buying the darn phone , I hung up. Do I need to report them, they would have charged my card almost $200 if I had set up auto payments, and how did they know I had a twin, I never once talked about having any family , I never said anything about a twin or anything about him, but the questions they asked about him of the multiple choice one of them could have been the correct answer to the question, how , how do I report this? I want this taken off my credit report. I feel like I need to report it to the police and warn my brother too.
