No knowledge that Verizon sent a bill to collections

[CC271]

To whom it may concern, my husband, Timothy, and I switched to Verizon wireless and internet in July of 2023. We heard great things and having just moved to Virginia, this seemed like a good fit. This comes after my husband was in a work place accident, broke his back and ankle, and I became his primary caregiver. We have had a very difficult year. After trying multiple times to connect Fios internet, with NO help from customer service, we decided to return our equipment and cease our service. We returned the equipment and were told from the store that we were good and no further action was needed. I even got an email saying the charge on my account would be removed and that the equipment was received. We moved on believing the account was closed. We never even hooked up our internet service! We never used it at all. Then, in March, our mortgage lender runs my credit and notices a collections from Verizon for $120. I had received no notice that I had this collection or an unpaid bill. I have no information regarding this. This has dramatically dropped my credit score and is now preventing me from buying a house. I will not be able to receive a $10,000 grant because of this collection on my account. I have spent hours on the phone and in chats and emails with Verizon to figure this out. I paid the charge, after being told this would remove it from my account. It was not removed, rather a “0 balance and closed” description is now given on my credit report. I suppose I should have never paid this since it has now hurt me more. No one will help me. I can’t get through to anyone. I have spent hours in tears that this $129 charge from internet that I never used is preventing me from getting $10,000 and buying a house. This comes after my husband’s accident and multiple traumatic life events. Can you please help me? Can you please credit back this $129 and delete this collection? I desperately need a document stating that this will be deleted. Please can you help me with a goodwill deletion or anything? This makes me want to leave my Verizon phone service all together and tell everyone I know to never use Verizon after what has been done to me. I appreciate your time and reading this.