I have been a Verizon Wireless customer since the Bell-Atlantic Mobile merger in 2000. How they are treating me, their customer of over 14 years is unconscionable. I have a grandfathered unlimited data plan that they will not allow me to use, will not return calls as promised, nor will they honor any promises or assurances given to me by several employees. Verizon just doesn't care about me.
In 2008 I left the private sector to work for the government. At that time I had two plans with the unlimited data feature. One was mine, the other a line that I purchased for my father who had recently retired. My credit card is charged every month for that line, it has never been in default. In 2011 I took a job with the state prosecuting attorney's office. I was issued a phone by the county with the government's unlimited call, text, email and data features. At that time, Verizon no longer offered the $29.99 unlimited data feature on their new plans. I was fortunate to have two plans that were grandfathered. I called customer service to suspend my line, and was told that because I was both grandfathered and moving to a government line with the same data feature, and because I still had a plan (father's) with that feature, I would be able to retain and reinstate that plan and feature in the future. Fast-forward to May 2014 and Verizon has broken every promise and just doesn't care.
I left the government and returned to private practice this month. On May 16, I submitted a Government Agency to Personal/Employee Assumption of Liability form in order to retain the same number that I have had for the last several years with the area code of the county where I had moved and plan to stay. Verizon's government employee support agent explained to me that she was unable to set me up on the same plan I had suspended because it no longer existed. After explaining what I was assured by Verizon when I took the government job and getting nowhere, I was told that once the AOL had gone through, I could talk with consumer support and they would be able to help me. It was suggested, and I agreed to just a basic "place-holder" plan so I could transfer the phone number to my account and then go forward with customer support. In the interim, she would move the number from my grandfathered plan to the "place-holder" and my AOL work number to the grandfathered plan so that I can immediately have my unlimited data feature. I found that to be reasonable and agreed. The transfer (so I thought) went through and I thanked her for her help. I even rated the call as at least a 9/10 in customer support and satisfaction. I immediately received two text messages from Verizon, that I had assumed the liability and that my number had been removed from My Verizon, and to contact customer service if there was an error. Two hours later I received a text message that stated I had gone over my data usage and would be charged an overage. Oddly enough, my father received the same message and called to ask if he had done something wrong. When I called customer service, I learned that not only did she not put my number on the correct plan, but all of the data I had used when working for the government was charged not only to my account, but to the "place-holder" plan with the minuscule data cap.
Since then I have been to three Verizon stores, including a corporate location with the authority to correct this matter. I have been transferred from consumer to government support, from customer service to technical support, I have escalated calls and was told by one escalation point, Justin ID# 65183 that he was the end of the line and no one else over him could or would help me. Apparently Verizon only has one tier of escalation? Every supervisor or escalation point has assured me that they have emailed their superiors and I would receive a call back in 1-2 business days. I have yet to receive such a call. Monday, May 19, I actually thought I had gotten somewhere. A customer support representative named James told me he would submit an Inactive Pricing Request to get my data feature back and put me on the right plan, not the "place-holder" I am currently stuck on. He told me he would call me back at the latest by Friday, May 23 to get me set up after the request was approved. I hadn't heard anything by Wednesday, May 21 when I received another data overage text message from Verizon. I called and was told that the request was sitting on a supervisor's desk for his approval and then it would go through. I heard nothing Thursday, May 22, so yesterday morning, Friday, May 23 I called and was told by yet another representative that the request was denied because it was filled out incorrectly, and that James had written detailed notes and was diligently working on the matter. She said that he worked in another location but would email him to contact me with status. By 3:30 with nothing yet from James, I called again and was told by yet another representative that James was still working on it and had written in his notes that he would call me by close of business that day. She told me he was on central time, and that I should expect a call by 6 p.m. eastern. Again, no return call.
Today when I called, the representative that pulled the case number associated with my Inactive Pricing Request told me that it had been denied and that there was nothing further. The status was closed. There was nothing she could see in any of the case notes of any mention by James to call me back by close of business, of any emails, of the denial because the form was incorrectly filled out. Today, I was told that there was nothing in the case notes of all that I had been told came from the case notes all week long. It has been 8 days and counting, and I fear many more.
I have been to so many Verizon stores that I actually took the time to write down their Mission Statement. Among other things, it expressly states that:
"We believe that our customers are our greatest asset and we work hard every day to exceed their expectations by listening to and fulfilling their needs and treating them with respect and dignity. We strive to create lasting relationships to ensure we have future opportunities to serve them in our stores and on our website. When making decisions, we know that if it is the right thing to do for our customer and for the company, we can and should do it. We are personally empowered to create positive customer experiences and company profitability every day."
I daresay that Verizon only cares about profitability. And if I didn't live in such a rural part of the country, without access to internet apart from 4GLTE, not even through cable, Verizon DSL or FIOS, were it not for the fact that I refuse to burden my aging father with having to lose his number that he has had for so many years and update all of his contacts with his new information, were it not for the fact that I truly have NO OTHER CHOICE but Verizon for even phone signal, I would not give them another penny and they could at least lose the tiniest drop in their profitability bucket from a customer they assumed from before they existed.
Every promise Verizon has made to me they have broken. Apparently, half of what they have told me was happening never did. I no longer have access to my original My Verizon account, Customer Profile, cannot even use the email address I used to sign up again to post this because it is "in use" by me, who cannot even use my plans, my numbers, my devices, my property which I own and pay them for monthly without fail. And to top it all off, they are charging me for data usage which isn't mine, it belongs to the government (who by the way, pays a month in advance).
