Billing Dispute

[lane1985]

To Whom it may concern:

I switched from verizon to sprint in October 2014, then received a quick bill summary with a bill of over $3000, I contacted verizon several times asking for a detailed bill explaining why the final bill was so high, and also why i could not get a complete, detailed bill with charges for each number I had on my account. THey once again sent me a quick bill summar, then I went in to talk to a representative in the local verizon store. Again I was only give a quick bill summary. Well they then sent me to collections, which I disputed with the collection agency. 

I refuse to pay over $3000 for a phone bill that I have no proof was my charges, I can understand the early termination fee, but there should be no reason for my final bill to be that high. My phone number was {edited for privacy}.  I do not know how to dispute this issue further.

Any help would be helfpful.

[gs0b · Accepted solution]

FYI, you're posting in the public forums where Verizon residential customers help each other.  Residential means FiOS, DSL and landline telephone.  It looks like your issue is with Verizon Wireless.  You should visit the Verizon Wireless web page for their support and contact options.

http://verizonwireless.com/

You should also edit your post to remove your phone number as it is visible to everyone who visits this site.  If you don't edit your post the Verizon moderators will do it for you; however that may take a little while and you don't want to leave your number posted for all the world to see for very long.

Good Luck.

[RUJUSTNUTS]

This is a concern about the billing practices of Verizon - specifically the disconnecting services cost $338.42.  During my call to terminate services at the end of the 2 year agreement, a Verizon rep ordered a special "Pay for View" event to my account ($99), without my knowledge or acceptance.  All this while I'm discussing reducing or terminating services with Verizon!

As an individual, I do not carry enough weight with Verizon to get their attention.  I contact VISA who stated they will gladly take up the complaint and dispute.

History:

The contact with Verizon FIOS was coming to an end in mid-May 2015, so I began contacting Verizon customer sales and customer retention to see if a better plan was available.  I was subscribing to Verizon FIOS Triple Play with multiple room DVRs.  

I also looked into Verizon's competition offerings so that I was an informed consumer when talking with Verizon about pricing.  Long story made short, Verizon offered to reduce the plan cost for the 1st 6 months of the "new contract" by $20.  After 3 different calls and conversations to refine the plan, I decided to go with Time Warner.  I reduced my monthly charges by over $120.

When I received the "final billing", I noticed the total pricing of $338.42 to disconnect services.  This was termination at the end of the contract - not early termination!  A part of the fees were for a special $99 Pay for View charge.  When I called to address this charge - I was told that "I called to requested the service and could not dispute the charge."  Mike from Customer Service (??) was the supervisor who advised me that he could not review the records and talk with the Verizon rep to confirm there wasn't a mistake. No can do!  Mke stated that I called and requested the service and that the billing records were clear.  

I called my credit card company and advised them that I will be protesting the charge. VISA stated that they would be glad to help and work to resolve the dispute with Verizon.  I may be a small consumer to Verizon, but my big dog (VISA) is pulling at the leash.

I'll provide updates on this forum or another site if I'm locked out.  I'll also post this on Twitter and Facebook.

[LawrenceC]

Hi RUJUSTNUTS,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you. Please go to your profile page for the forum and look at the top of the middle column where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under "My Support Cases" you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. The title of your post is the link. This should be checked on a frequent basis, as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions. To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe". Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

[RUJUSTNUTS]

LawrenceC

As advised, I'll take the next step by contacting the Verizon agent as noted in your email.

RUJUSTNUTS

[RUJUSTNUTS]

BTW...when will I recieve a "final bill"?  The recent billing is for a period of May-4 to June-3.  Since the contract terminated and service was stopped on May-6, I expect a corrected prorated bill (3 days) and a removal of the $99 Pay-for-View Boxing : Mayweather vs. Pacquiao charge.  

RUJUSTNUTS

[RUJUSTNUTS]

Direct link billing disputs for FIOS?

When I go to "billing dispute", I'm taken to a Phone/Wireless section.  Is there a quick or obvious link to get to FIOS billing disputes without calling Verizon or leaving a post on this forum?  I want a traceable way of recording my complaint and concern about Verizon's poor customer service and billing practices.

RUJUSTNUTS

[LawrenceC]

Hello RUJUSTNUTS,

This community is meant mainly for peer-to-peer support.  You will need to discuss billing issues with a Verizon agent.  You currently have an open Private Support case where your question can be answered. We ask that you keep all correspondence concerning your issue in the Private Support area until your case is resolved or closed.

[RUJUSTNUTS]

Lawerance,

This forum is to make help current and potential Verizon customers with understanding how to resolve issues with Verizon. This is the only forum where I, as a Verizon customer, can provide comment that isn't "in private".  The billing problem and lack of customer support isn't unique to me - it potentially effects many Verizon users.

The issues are:

1. Billing practices - charging for Pay-for-View event not ordered.

2. Failing to correct billing - to reflect "final billing" completed at the end of the 2 year agreement.

Note: the current statement reflects billing for terminated services.

[Koryo]

I also have a billing dispute. I sent all my equipment back when I upgraded to the new boxes and was chargered $240 for failure to return equipment. I sent back everything I had in the house including wires but they say they never received some outdated box that didn't even record anything. I have talked to several reps and a supervisor that have told me the problem had been resolved. However, every month since March, I keep receiving a bill that states I am in arrears and still owe $240. It is now July and still no resolution with the bill. I understand that there are multiple departments, shipping/receiving/cutomer service/billing, handling this but really how difficult is it to correct an error???

[ElizabethS]

Hello Koryo

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you.

Please go to your profile page for the forum, and look in the middle, right at the top where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under “My Support Cases” you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. This should be checked on a frequent basis as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions.

To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe".

Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

[michaelyoung13]

Of course Verizon wants you to keep all of your correspondence private.

They don't want other people to see how they screw us out of our money through shady business practices and poor customer service.

In my case, they added all of the movie channels to my bill with a discount to partially offset the cost.  I didn't notice until they removed the discount and my bill shot up.  They credited that one month, but wouldn't correct their mistake and refund for the previous months, telling me I should have caught it sooner.  Supervisor Karen said that they send bills every month for that reason and it is my responsibility to catch their errors and then to fight through their poor customer service to try to get it resolved.  So I am out about $250 that they won't refund, because I didn't actively try to figure out how they were wronging me.

It seems the only resolution tehy leave us with is cancelling and spreading the word on their shady business practices so that others don't screwed as well.  We can make sure that our freinds, families and social media acquaintences get to hear about this stuff and hopefully they won't make the same mistakes.  Once it hits Verizon in the pocketbook enough, perhaps they will start listening to their customers trying to actually take care of them instead of screwing them out of every penny they can.

Congratulations on another lost customer.  We'll do everything we can to make sure that experiences like this become as financially painful for you as they are for us!

[LawrenceC]

Hi michaelyoung13,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you. Please go to your profile page for the forum and look at the top of the middle column where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under "My Support Cases" you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. The title of your post is the link. This should be checked on a frequent basis, as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions. To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe". Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

[Ladyraptor]

I signed up with Verizon in December of 2014.  I moved away from TWC at that time and told the person that we were currently spending roughly $190/month for our internet, television, and premium channels.  We were given a rate and told that there would be a fee that would be pro-rated across the first two months of service.

During the set-up conversation, we also confirmed which channels we wanted and were important to us.  

When the service was installed, some of these channels were not included and we were forced to get the next higher plan.  During that conversation I asked how much this would add to our rate and made sure that it was still below the $190 we were paying per month and was assured by the CSR that it was.

Since that time, our billed average has been roughly $220 per month and we still have fewer channels than we did with TWC.

Finally, I took time out during my last day of vacation in June to spend the hour on the phone with Customer Service seeking to bring the issue to their attention.  I was told that it was indeed an error and that they would be more than happy to remedy the issue and was told that I should expect to see the revised rate on my online account in the next 24-72 hours and instructed to wait to pay the bill until AFTER the change was shown.  I was also told that my account would be credited for the previous months that were billed in error.

He came up with the number, made note of it in my customer file, and I accepted.  I made sure that we were ALL in agreement that this was the final BOTTOM LINE (including taxes, fees, and etc.).  I was told "yes".

Time went by and roughly two weeks later our cable was cut off for non-payment.

I again called Fios and apologized in advanced for being frustrated and hoped that I didn't take it out on the rep and then proceeded to recount the previous conversations with the CSR.  She stated that she couldn't do anything about it, but forwarded me onto a Supervisor to remedy.

The Supervisor came on and immediately went through the notes.

I stated that I was more than happy to wait to have previous conversations pulled from the prior calls as I've worked in a call center and understand that ALL calls are recorded for quality assurance.

She said that there was no need and immediately issued the credit, spoke with the necessary department to get the bottomline number to have the suspension lifted off of the account, I paid $7 over that amount in error, and she asked to make an appointment to finalize the changes for future billings the following Saturday.

I explained to the Supervisor that I wasn't available that Saturday and she placed me on hold and came back with an appointment with another Supervisor for the folowing day, July 15th, at 10 AM.  I put this on my calendar and confirmed explicity what the bill rate was going to be, that this would not change my cable services, this would not change my internet services, and that this revised rate would continue throughout the course of my tenure with Verizon.

I was told that it would and that Verizon was waiving any reconnect fees because of the miscommunication on their part.

According to everyone, this should have brought our balance to zero.

The finalization of our account was supposedly due to the account needing to refresh from its current status of "suspended" and she didn't want to keep me on the phone for longer than the 1+ hours I had already spent.

Next day, no call....

Finally, I called Fios today when I saw that, not only are my bills still more than $30 more than they would be had I stayed with TWC, I was also hit with some sort of reconnect fee and there are now two months of bills on the account.

I spoke with the initial CSR, explained everything AGAIN (apologized at first as I always do) and was transferred to another Supervisor to retell the entire story of everything up to that point.

Here is where it got wierd...

1.  I was told that they would not honor the rate that they had previously quoted me and refunded my account for erroneous billings for previous months.

2.  Apparently Verizon has the finest legal minds working for supervisory staff there as they insist that, although they can alter a contract to charge you MORE for services (if they are added), they cannot be held to account for any promises made that be to the contrary.

3.  When I asked to speak with the Supervisor's supervisor, I was told "no".

4.  When I asked to have the recording of the conversation with the Supervisor from the 14th, I was told "no". Those recordings were for "quality assurance purposes".

Is this not a quality assurance purpose?

I am at a loss here.  I have filed a complaint detailing the above and included screen shots taken from my online account during the conversation with the Supervisor, Trish W.

As a final insult, I asked Trish how I should proceed with filing a complaint and was told I could do it online by going to www.verizon.com/contactus or I could send it to a P. O. Box in Florida.

When I went to the website, I was told that I would not be able to file a complaint until after the close of business today.

How's that for customer service?

[LawrenceC]

Hi Ladyraptor,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you. Please go to your profile page for the forum and look at the top of the middle column where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under "My Support Cases" you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. The title of your post is the link. This should be checked on a frequent basis, as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions. To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe". Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.

[Ladyraptor]

I have the board open but there hasn't been any request for exchange of information.