Does Verizon employ the worst CS support in the world?

[respect]

Answer:  Not if you count their CEO's and the idiots that put together their billing systems.

Three days ago I received an email from Verizon saying that my payment was late and that my services were to be terminated.  Knowing that I had paid the previous months bill in less than 30 days, I thought that there must be something wrong.  I contacted them immediately.  OK, not quite immediately, it took multiple times to find some way of reaching someone rather than simply being offered to make a payment for more than I knew was due.

It took around 20 minutes for that service agent to finally confirm that my last payment had left no residual balance due but that I was ten days late on this months bill.  I made that payment over the phone but let her know that being threatened with a shut off of services and additional fees for being ten days late struck me as rather extreme.  I noted to her that I had not received a single postal mailing, emailing, or text message that I was late and that it had not been a full 30 days since my last payment.  She let me know that this was company policy but that I was paid up until the next due date, towards the end of next month.  I suggested that corporate policies that were based on threats rather than communication were not a great form of public service and did little to enhance the image of the company.  I told her that I understood that she was not responsible for those policies but I would like to speak with a supervisor who might forward my concerns further up the chain. 

The conversation with the supervisor was worse.  It would take far too much time to go into those details but enough to say that I was told that I owed more in the current bill than what the previous representative had told me.  It took nearly as long to confirm what I owed, what I had paid, and what was next due and when.  We ended up exactly where the last conversation had ended, that I owed nothing until the next date due.  I informed her of the death of my father and why I had been ten days late but that making threats of disconnection, regardless of the persons situation felt extreme after only ten days.  She gave her sympathies, as if reading as a text and some great burden to the job.  She said, that I would receive an email as a follow up and some points, whatever the hell they are.

Instead of anything close to that, this evening I received an email stating that my wireless bill war ready and that I owed $215.93.  Nothing about the payments that I had made were noted in that bill.  Not wanting to go through another hour of nightmarish phone conversations, I set up an online account to check my bills and payment records and to be able to post here.  I know that I should have done this years ago but it is more difficult for me to do than for most.  I had brain surgery almost 15 years ago.  Although not a cancerous tumor the surgery was difficult and I was only given a 50/50 chance of survival.   My logical thinking is intact, the seizures are now under control, but the memory loss is severe.  I am not looking for sympathy or making excuses for a (ten day old) late payment but we all deserve better.  It would be nice to think that corporations would understand that you don't need to be in a nursing home to have a problem with this poor excuse for what they call customer support.  This country has an ever growing aging population, rates of dementia are increasing, there are more and more homeless (cell phones or not), and the cost of living exceeds any growth in income.  Meanwhile, corporate executives get paid more and more, regardless of the true needs of their customers.  Verizon's customer service policies are clearly designed to limit the means of access and thus saving them money and not to provide a service to their customers.

Something as simple as an accurate and easy to read billing statement might be a start.  A person that you can speak to, without being required to enter account and social security numbers or passwords that were never setup, might be helpful.  How about a database that keeps track of payments made and does not try to bill you two or three times for the same service?  God forbid the possibility of having someone that you could actually come in and speak with.  They took out half of my left temporal lobe but given all of the unemployment out there, you would think that they could find someone to handle CS a little better.  As for the CEO's that oversee this mess, you might do better looking for new hires in Neurology wards...  and I don't mean the brain surgeons.

Does anyone know how to discontinue service?  It doesn't show up on any billing or help links that I could find, nor does anything relevant come up when I do an internal search for those two words.

[rcschnoor]

You can cancel service by stopping at a Verizon store or by calling CS.

Instead of the call informing you of the possible service interruption, you would prefer they just interrupt the service?

[pherson]

A due date is a due date. It doesn't matter if it's 1 day or 10 days. A company has the right to proceed with collection activities. I'm sorry for your loss; however it is what it is. Any the payment didn't show on the email because the email was already system generated to be sent to you. To threaten leaving over trivial things is at best unnecessary.  But if it makes you feel better, go for it.

[respect]

Pherson, you illustrate my point well. That attitude that those complaints are trivial is exactly what I have an objection to.  You are clearly not sorry for my loss.  That is something that one says, like "have a nice day" and would be better left unsaid if not sincere.

I no longer have the life threatening seizures (near death and on life support twice) that tied me to a "link to life" bracelet.  However, there are others who are dependant upon some manner of phone access as a matter of life or death.  If you truly want to express your sympathy, don't direct it towards me.  Instead, you might agree with me that Verizon could do a better job at providing customer service to everyone, beginning with the handicapped.  Accurate rather than threatening messages that provide for a relatively ease of access to a real person are not trivial matters to those who's very existence is dependant on that.

[pherson]

Sigh. Entitlement much?

[respect]

Argh.  Mein Kamph?

[respect]

My actual preferences would be, not necessarily in this order...

- That late payment notices not begin with the phrase, "If a payment is not made in full immediately..."

- and if so, that they at very least include a (hopefully accurate) accounting of the amount and date due...

- That there is an option is provided to speak with an actual person without requiring one to sign in to My Verizon

     This is particularly true when one has not established an online account in the past, is disabled, has some form of      dementia, memory loss, or other reason for not being able to access the internet with ease...

- That what appears to be an option to speak with someone only contains a bill payment link...

     "If you have questions about your bill, please feel free to contact Verizon Wireless Customer Financial Services      by calling 1.866.266.1445"

     ... and that if the customer believes that this is inaccurate that there is a relatively easy means of then accessing      a real person...

- That after an hour of searching how to make such a contact and gives up, signs up for a "My Verizon" account, that      it does not then take another hour to get an accurate accounting of their bill. 

- That after reconciling and making a payment the current balance, one does not receive an email (three days later)      that states...

     "The current billing statement for your wireless account is ... with a Current Balance of  $215.93"

     ... but does not take into account that last payment made, that there is zero past due and that the current charges      of $108.01 does not come due until the 20th of next month.

I could go on, but no, I am unfortunately a share-cropper to my current contract.  When I can, yes, going elsewhere will truly make me feel better!

[LRVassar]

It doesn't matter whether you're with Verizon or another carrier, if you don't pay your bill on time, they're going to let you know about it, and not in the form of an informal love letter. Frankly, you want to be babied, and that's not how the world operates.