Horrible Customer Service Experience...

[MMAWASON522]

Yesterday I had the worst customer service experience I have EVER had. To begin, usually Verizon sends out a text message letting you know that your account is past due and it gives you the option to reply "YES" if you need more time to pay. Doesn't matter the reason why we were late paying our bill. It happens. I know I am not the only one. Well, I never got the text and they turned off my phone. I have been a Verizon customer since 2014, but before that I was with them for about 10 years, give or take, I switched to Sprint, and switched right back to Verizon. I can't even remember the last time my phone was turned off. I was pretty upset but figure I would call in to the finance department and see if they would be able to give me a few more days to pay. They have NEVER told me no. They always work with me which is what I love about Verizon. Needless to say, this time was way different.

CARLEISHA in Finance answers the phone when I call in. I explain my situation, ask if she could please give me a few more days and immediately she tells me she needs my checking account info in order to do that. I tell her I am not comfortable with giving that information and she tells me "well sometimes when you want something done you have to do things that you aren't comfortable with" (not her exact words but pretty much what she was trying to tell me). I told her I have never had to do that before and that I have been a customer for a long time. I asked why she couldn't just extend it a couple of days like they would usually do, and she said "we can't do that every time someone can't pay their bill". The tone of this girls voice was RUDE. Yes, I understood what she was saying, but the way she talked to me was UNPROFESSIONAL. I told her I didn't understand why this was so difficult to take care of and she told me I WAS THE ONE MAKING IT DIFFICULT. Who the [removed] says that to a customer? It doesn't matter what the reason is why I am calling, you guys are supposed to help. She did not help AT ALL. I asked to speak to a manager and she told me no. I actually asked several times and she told me the manager would tell me the same thing. I finally gave her my checking account info after she was super rude, and then she tells me Verizon was going to attempt to take out the past due balance within 48 hours. Originally I asked if she could set it up for this Saturday, but now she is saying I have to pay within 48 hours. I was very confused why. She didn't explain anything to me. Just told me if I want my phone back on, this was my only option. Still super confused why she wouldn't work with me. I asked again to talk to a manager. Nope. I tell her after the way she treated me, I was probably not going to be with Verizon much longer. She says "I am sorry you feel that way". Didn't try to make it right or apologize for being so rude. I get people have bad days, but she RUINED mine. She then tells me my phone would be back on in 15 minutes to an hour. I got her name and told her to have a good day. I wait... I was waiting on a call from my daughter, which I do every day, getting off the bus to let me know she was home safely. An hour goes by and my phone is still off. I wait another 10 minutes and call Verizon again. Brian answers the phone and I tell him my what was going on, he looks up my account and, get this... THERE IS NO PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT SET UP OR CHECKING ACCOUNT INFO IN THE SYSTEM. So BASICALLY I was on the phone with this rude and unprofessional person for so long for no reason. He then tells me "sure! we can give you until Saturday, no problem". What the heck? Why is it that Brian was able to do this for me, so quickly mind you, and Carleisha was unable to??? My phone was back on by the time I got off the phone with him. Unbelievable...

The reason why I wanted to write this is because it doesn't matter what the situation is. You don't know what your customers are going through. I paid my bill late. Are you telling me, Carleisha, that you have never paid a late bill? Would you want to be treated the way you treated me? Probably not. But thank you for ruining my day. And thank you Brian for helping me so efficiently. I will more than likely be switching to another carrier very soon.

***Corporate, please pull the call and listen to it. I called in yesterday around 2:25 pm CST.***

Profanity removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service​.

Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

[kathy65793]

Wow just when you think you heard them all someone comes on here with a story like yours and really makes you wonder about customer service and the people you have to deal with to be with Verizon. First of all I would get in touch with my bank and make sure that they know you did not authorize ANY transactions from your account to Anyone. When you called them were you talking to billing or was it just the first person that answered? I would diffidently pay the bill by the time you said and follow up on reporting this person.  

[MMAWASON522]

I will most definitely get in touch with my bank. Great idea. I actually called once and got a guy and was then hung up on. I dialed *611 from my phone and she was the next in line I guess. I was told to write the review on here by a Verizon Customer Support Manager and that it would go to the Corporate office. Really hoping someone there sees it. I was also told someone from Verizon would be in touch with me within 3 days of writing this. Fingers crossed.

[kathy65793]

Please keep us posted on the out come of your review and if they do get back in touch with you.

[MMAWASON522]

I sure will!

[flutterfly8497]

Yes, people sometimes have situations causing them to pay their bill late-but it's safe to say that you were at least a month late and apparently had not bothered to contact Verizon until your phone was shut off. Why not? You COULD have called and said "hey, this happened and I need more time" before it was shut off but you didn't. If you had, you wouldn't be posting this. Not only that, you called and demanded your service be turned back on with no payment, just the promise of one, and you for some reason got mad when they wanted your payment information. Also, from your original post, it appears this is not the first time you have been late paying your bill so you should understand that it's best to contact them right away if you are having trouble paying.

Let's reverse this scenario: if you were not receiving reliable service from Verizon for over a month, would you be mad? Would you be tempted to not pay your bill? Why? Things happen, right? Towers malfunction, weather and other natural disasters happen, you don't know why you can't get a decent signal. Give them a break! They've provided you with good cell service for ten years, why not give them a little leeway and understanding? Can you honestly say that you would be fine with doing that? I can't. You have an agreement with them. You pay your bill, you get service. Being a customer for ten years doesn't give you special privileges to pay your bill whenever you can/want to. And unless you contact them, they don't know the reason you can't pay. Typically if service is suspended then to get it turned back on, some amount will have to be paid, like the past due balance, if not all the past due AND current charges.

[flutterfly8497]

Are you seriously suggesting the OP stop payment on any transaction with Verizon? If they set up an arrangement, and have payment info on file, then stop payment on it, that is NOT going to help. Service will be suspended again and then it's back to square one. If the OP is concerned about FRAUD as in someone at Verizon stealing that information, that's different. If that was a concern, I would keep a close eye on my account and report activity unrelated to the payment arrangement, or in other words, I would watch for activity not involving Verizon. The bill is owed them, or service will get shut off again.

[flutterfly8497]

This forum isn't a direct line to corporate. It's mostly other Verizon customers with an occasional rep chiming in when the community is unable to help, and it usually takes a few days for a rep to reply to a question.

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

Mmawason522, Let me assure you this is never the experience we want our customers to go through. We expect all representatives to provide the best options available to you with respect. I apologize that this was not done. I will be sending you a private message so that we may take a closer look and provide feedback to our Leadership Team.
AlbertoR_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[kathy65793]

I am not seriously suggesting anything wrong if you read the post you would see on there that when she talked to another rep they said that.....THERE IS NO PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT SET UP OR CHECKING ACCOUNT INFO IN THE SYSTEM..... so yes I would call my bank and explain to them what happened and make sure that my account info was not given to anyone else. I am not suggesting that MMAWASON522 not pay their bill or anyone else not to pay their bill just seems weird that after all the time they spent on the phone with CARLEISHA no note about the call or bank info was on the account.