Breach of Contract

[dcmed1]

After speaking to the AG's office in Massachsetts today I was informed that Verizion is in breach of their contract in their eyes. I live smack dab in the middle of dark red 4G reception zone appx 2 miles in radius with a lighter red zone for 10 miles according to their web site. The best reception I can get is one bar of 3g and I keep losing connections. They said Verizon is not providing me with the service it claims on their site, that is a breach of contract. They told me if I stop service and receive a bill from Verizon to not pay it, and send the bill to their office attention of....... There is something that can be done if you are not getting what you paid for.

[#2]

You're AG is a dolt. Enjoy the bad credit rating if you do not pay your bill. Good luck getting service from another carrier when they find out you do not pay your bill.

[silver6056]

Brian68 wrote:

You're AG is a dolt. Enjoy the bad credit rating if you do not pay your bill. Good luck getting service from another carrier when they find out you do not pay your bill.

Well, opinions differ on whether she (Martha Coakley, the MA AG) is a dolt or not, but the OP spoke to the AG's Office.  dcmed1 might have spoken to an intern, their top lawyer, or somewhere in between.    But it will be interesting to see if the AG Office really follows through (as an MA tax payer, I think they have better things to do, but who knows).  I'm sure a lot of smaller companies would back down if threatened by the AG but I doubt VZ will.  Their legal team used to be headed by a former US AG (William Barr), so state AGs don't scare them!  But Coakley has recently won several cases against Verizon, including underpayment of MA unemployment tax (paid $320K) and overcharging some communities ($800K) so she might want to continue the fight.

[dcmed1]

Forgot to add, they said even though it says you may not get 4G service or the maps may not be accurate to a specified spot, they cannot charge you for droping their service because it it also implies that you will get those services. In other words they cannot charge you for breaking an implied contract that they could not provide the service for.

[rcschnoor]

So  "you may not get service or the maps may not be accurate" implies "you will get those services"? That is interesting.

So if I say "you will lose", am I implying "you will win"?

[dcmed1]

What it all boils down to is, you cannot charge someone for a service they are not getting. I'll go with what my AG told me and stop service as soon as I get another carrier.

[Spiral]

     I suggest that you immediately shut off all services on your phone so that you will not use any data/voice/text services that may compromise your position in this situation.

     Of course the next step is to find a carrier that actually has service in the vicinity of the AG office that you obviously frequent so that you do not have a similar problem with your next vendor.

     I also suggest that you do not sign a long term contract (meaning longer than month-to-month) with your new carrier to prevent future occurrence.

Good luck.

[dcmed1]

I don't have to shut off what doesn't work anyway.

[#9]

dcmed1 wrote:

What it all boils down to is, you cannot charge someone for a service they are not getting. I'll go with what my AG told me and stop service as soon as I get another carrier.

Except Verizon doesn't charge you specifically for 4G. If you were getting charged extra for 4G then you MIGHT have a point.

anyways here is what the map says

These Coverage Locator maps depict predicted and approximate wireless coverage. The coverage areas shown do not guarantee service availability, and may include locations with limited or no coverage. Even within a coverage area, there are many factors, including customer’s equipment, terrain, proximity to or inside buildings, foliage, and weather that may impact service.

[dcmed1]

They lied and told me I would get 4G in the store, that my friend is decepetive sales practices, and against the law here.

[#11]

dcmed1 wrote:

They lied and told me I would get 4G in the store, that my friend is decepetive sales practices, and against the law here.

Can you get 4G outside? Inside coverage is not guaranteed. Also Verizon is not finished with their 700 MHz 4G roll-out and won't be until mid year. So any case you had just went out the window.

[verizonmoderator1]

<This discussion has degraded into a back and forth filled with profanity and attacks. As such, the discussion will be locked. Please keep your posts on topic and family friendly per the for the community.>

[NexusMan21]

Since 4G and 3G services cost the same (no extra charge for 4G), this argument is baseless. You are paying for service, and your post says you are getting it in your area. If you paid extra for having a 4G device (say $10/month), and didn't get 4G service, maybe then you'd be entitled to that $10/month.

[dcmed1]

In this state you don't sell someone a 4G LTE phone, tell them they live in a good reception area, then don't provide the service. It is against consumer protection laws. The wonderfull 1 bar 3G I have disconnects from the web every 2-3 minutes.

[NexusMan21]

Do 100% of LTE devices have to be working in the area for it to be a good reception area?

[dcmed1]

I refuse to pay for something I'm not recieving.

[#17]

dcmed1 wrote:

I refuse to pay for something I'm not recieving.

Can you use the phone? But please don't pay your bill and see what happens.

[#18]

dcmed1 wrote:

In this state you don't sell someone a 4G LTE phone, tell them they live in a good reception area, then don't provide the service. It is against consumer protection laws. The wonderfull 1 bar 3G I have disconnects from the web every 2-3 minutes.

You do realize that Verizon is ROLLING out 4G as in they are not done yet. Not that you have a case anyways but all Verizon has to pint out is that they are not done rolling out 4G yet. Once again your AG is a person of questionable intelligence.

[Cubbs5209]

The TL:DR version of this says you waste more money trying to clear up your credit history after this is all said and done, than you would if you just stuck out the remaining portion of your contract, and switched then. And that's assuming you win your case against Verizon.

Bottom line, no where does it say a 4G phone is guaranteed to provide 4G service (as dumb as it sounds, but it's true). You need to look closer at what "service" means in your contact, because that's the only thing the courts will look at.

Not sure if you moved into this area long after you signed with Verizon, but don't new contracts have 30 days to test the phone/service?

[Ann154]

It's 14 days for the return policy and to test the network.

[dcmed1]

>Irrelevant post deleted<

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator