Help needed with outrageously incorrect bill

[Bham2730]

I have been with Verizon for over 16 years and have never had an issue until now. I have 5 lines on Verizon unlimited plans. Recently, I made the unfortunate decision to try a different unlimited plan (I changed one line from 5G Play More to Unlimited Plus on-line). The start date for the change was scheduled to occur at the beginning of my next billing cycle. A few days after the change, I received my new Verizon bill. I was expecting it to be ~$286, but it was ~$3872!! This was an increase of almost $3600. This is more than I pay in a typical entire year! These are the steps I have taken to get this resolved:

1. I immediately called Verizon’s customer support, and they verified that this was a billing system error. For some reason, Verizon had started charging all 5 lines on my account for every minute of every call despite each line being on an unlimited plan. I was promised that this would be addressed within 3 to 5 business days and that I would get a call back from the service representative to verify it had been corrected. We even set a time for a call. This error was not resolved in the promised timeframe, and I received no call back.
2. I called Verizon’s customer support again and talked to a different customer service representative. He was able to see the notes from the first customer service representative and agreed that this was in fact a billing system error. He even reviewed my bill with an expert to confirm that there were no other reasons for the substantial increase (e.g., international calls) and that I was being incorrectly charged for every minute of every call on all 5 lines. He told me he was taking over my case and would call me back within 24 hours with an update. We set a time for the call and again, no call back and the issue remained unsolved!
3. A called Verizon’s customer support a third time and again was told this was a system error. He was able to see the notes from the first two calls and agreed that this was in fact a billing system error. This customer service representative added some new information. Each of our 5 lines had two plans associated with them – one with unlimited minutes and one where we paid by the minute. He told me that I was not responsible for this error and that he would have this resolved in 24 to 48 hours. Furthermore, a credit would be applied to my account to bring the bill back to the expected amount of ~$286. I was promised a call back to confirm this all happened. It did not get fixed in the time promised and again, no call back!
4. Finally, I have visited a local Verizon Corporate Store and talked to a manager. I didn’t expect to receive any help and while sympathetic, the manager said there was nothing they could do to help me.

In summary, 3 different Verizon customer service representatives confirmed that my bill is definitely wrong. They all believed it was due to a system error on Verizon's end and because of that, I would only responsible for my normal monthly charges. The representatives were all confident that my bill would be corrected before my payment was due and that they would contact me once it was fixed.  I should note that my interactions with the representatives were good - they were sympathetic to my situation and easy to deal with. While I  appreciate what I have been told and how I have been treated on the phone, the reality is that none of them followed through as promised. My bill is still very, very wrong! I feel that I am being told what I want to hear and that, in reality, the customer service representatives have no ability to help me. My bill’s due date is rapidly approaching, and I need advice/help on contacting someone who can actually help me.  The inability to directly contact billing is beyond frustrating. Has anyone dealt with a billing error like this and can offer a suggestion on how to proceed and get it corrected?

[Bham2730]

Update to this outrageous billing error:

Verizon support was contacted a 4th time. I was shocked to find out that the initial ticket created for this issue (an INC ticket), was the wrong type of ticket and was sent to the wrong department. Instead of it being forwarded to the correct department for resolution, the ticket was closed and I was never notified!   The lack of follow-through is simply unbelievable.

A new Dimond Ticket has now been created and sent to the billing department. I was told it would take 3 to 5 business days for a credit to be applied to my account. While I am hopeful this will now get resolved, support has been poor so far.

Again, any other suggestions for getting billing issues resolved are welcomed.

[SynthpopAddict]

I sure hope the Diamond Ticket gets you a resolution.  That's really outrageous.  I have seen a number for Financial Services 866-266-1445 but don't know if that's the correct department to contact regarding the billing problem.

As far as I can tell, there are no current plans which meter the minutes you use for phone calls - all service plans are now unlimited talk and text.  You must have had a legacy plan in your account which is very old, and got it changed to something newer?  If someone at Verizon was telling you that you have 2 service plans each per line where one is unlimited talk/text and the other one is metering your call minutes, you need to make sure the old metered plan is removed from your account.

[Bham2730]

This issue has been resolved!!

[Ann154]

Can you please provide more information on how it was resolved? That way others can learn or be guided by your experience if they encounter a similar situation.