Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
Joerios918
Enthusiast - Level 1

Has anyone sought legal counseling regarding the validation of the Employee Discount Program?  When I set up my account with Verizon and presented proper document, 3 years later I was informed that my discount was never applied.  I called & they opened up an EMEU research request for me.  Now, Verizon keeps on going back and forth that the plan I am on never qualified for the discount &/or that they can't assist me because the discount is now being applied (within up to 2-3 billing cycles) now that I have provided documentation again.  I have been working for the same company since I set up my Verizon Account.  On top of that, I tried contacting Customer Support twice today and having them disconnect on me both times!  Finally, I was able to get a hold of a Representative to give me corporate address and phone number to see if they could assist me.  Hopefully, before I reach out to legal counsel....

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
winterbaby18
Specialist - Level 1

Have you tried applying for the discount through here? Verizon Employee Discount & Employment Validation - Verizon Wireless

If you would rather do it via mail here is the address:

Verizon Wireless

Employment Validation Processing

P.O. Box 540002

El Paso, TX. 88554-0002

You can also check you validation here: https://www.verizonwireless-employmentvalidation.com/ this link was found here: Discounts Validation FAQs | Verizon Wireless under question 5 under How to Validate.

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
finn39
Enthusiast - Level 3

It appears you have a claim against Verizon for negligence in that they had a duty to apply the employee discount, breach that duty, and as a result of the breach you incurred monetarily damages. How can Verizon claim the discount failed to apply yet they are now applying the discount?

Stop calling Verizon and immediately file a claim with your local Small Claims Court - This is an easy process as you would memorialize your claim including all supporting documentation, including the total monetary loss for each month the discount was not applied. You don't need an attorney in small claims court. Then Verizon will be served with notice and someone from Verizon will have to show up or you would win by default judgment. Note, small claims court has a cap which varies by state. In NY it costs $35 to file with damages capped at $5,000.

Here is what will happen. As you are the plaintiff you have the burden of proof. You have to prove that you informed and provided Verizon with the appropriate documentation or whatever policies and procedures they require for the employee discount. If you can you are awarded your damages. However, if there is no documentation from either party that you informed Verizon three years ago you will be unsuccessful.

If I was representing Verizon I would claim you failed to inform them that you wanted to participate in the program (note, if I was counsel for Verizon I would make sure that this is true and there are no firm business records to reflect this). So if all you have is your word that, "When I set up my account with Verizon and presented proper document, 3 years later I was informed that my discount was never applied." You will lose. Secondly check the Statute of Limitations for negligence for you state. In New York it's 3 years from the day the issue began. If your state has a statute of limitations for negligence for 1 year you could still sue with damages for 1 year as your alleged damages have a 3 year time span.

Also see if you are liable for attorney's fees if you lose. In some states the loser pays opposing counsels legal fees..

If you have no documentation reflecting that you informed Verizon 3 years back still file with Small Claims Court and just show up as when Verizon gets notice of your claim they will simply write this off as a cost of doing business and as such you will be reimbursed the full amount. Remember Verizon would have to pay an attorney to show up and it's cost effective for them to write you a check....

In sum, file the claim immediately and don't call Verizon as you will get no where and they will keep putting you off. You have to show them that you are not going away.

Good Luck!

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
rcschnoor
Legend

First of all, you didn't notice FOR THREE YEARS that your bill was higher than it should have been??????

Verizon WILL NOT give you three years worth of backdated discounts. The only way you will POSSIBLY be able to get this would be in court, but even then it is doubtful. My reasoning? It is not something you are entitled to, an employee discount is only a courtesy from Verizon, not something you are contracted for NOR are you guaranteed.

Bottom line is you should ALWAYS look at your bill to see if it is correct. If you have received 36 bills without the discount and you are just now finding out, you have no one to blame but yourself as you should have enquired about this with Verizon 34 or 35 months ago.

The employee discount is clearly listed on your monthly bill. I would suggest applying for it at the link provided by winterbaby18 and THEN watch your bill to ensure that it is applied. It may take 1-2 billing cycles before it is applied.Smiley Happy

Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
Joerios918
Enthusiast - Level 1

You are correct rcschnoor, I should have been more diligent about checking

my bill. And, the discount is only a courtesy just like it would've been a

courtesy for Verizon to work with me on the matter instead of just

disconnecting every time I called to follow up. Is it worth the legal

hassle? Of course not, because I had no problem paying the bill every

month. Some times we have to move forward! I hope I am able to find

another provider that concerns themselves with the customer. What would

it have hurt for Verizon to go ahead and begin the discount on the billing

cycle that I made them aware, instead of having to wait for the discount to

be applied? They may have been able to keep a loyal customer who has paid

on time for the last 3 years...

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
rcschnoor
Legend

Joerios918 wrote:

What would it have hurt for Verizon to go ahead and begin the discount on the billing

cycle that I made them aware, instead of having to wait for the discount to

be applied?

Nothing, but that would mean you would have had to resubmit the paperwork since they have no way of knowing if you were still eligible for the discount. Verizon has a process for validating employment with eligible employers which a link was provided by winterbaby18. Each time I have validated, once when I first got the discount and then again a year or 2 ago when they required re-validation to confirm I was still an employee, it took all of 5-10 seconds to perform. The discount is not started "immediately" when first signing up and you are told it may take 1-2 billing cycles for activation. It is the responsibility of the consumer to follow up to confirm that the discount is activated and further steps by the consumer if for some reason it is not.

Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
finn39
Enthusiast - Level 3

Verizon is a business, the policy behind employee discounts is to attract new customers and retain the ones they have. If they were losing money in the aggregate by providing employee discounts they would stop the program. If the situation was reversed whereby Verizon undercharged you for three years and the amount was significant, courtesy or contract related,  don't kid yourself they would do something...

If you feel that passionate about it, file a claim. You don't have an affirmative duty to ensure the accuracy of your bill. If anything it's Verizon's duty to provide an accurate bill, that's why you are charged administrative fees and surcharges every month. Maybe you never looked at your bill because you were on auto pay and the monthly fees appeared reasonable, I don't why you didn't catch it...

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
David929
Enthusiast - Level 2

What is up with the potential legal claims with customers... I would just call Verizon and ask them to give you like two months of employee discounts. Three years makes it sound like you really didn't care. Two months sounds like you were busy over Christmas and didn't notice. I don't like your odds at getting anything but I think this goes for all legal action against Verizon: unless you are part of a huge firm that's doing some 10 year class action on Verizon, you will never win.

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
winterbaby18
Specialist - Level 1

Verizon Wireless's Customer Agreement two sections excerpted.

"HOW AND WHEN CAN I DISPUTE CHARGES?

If you're a Postpay customer, you can dispute your bill within 180 days of receiving it, but unless otherwise provided by law or unless you're disputing charges because your wireless device was lost or stolen, you still have to pay all charges until the dispute is resolved. If you're a Prepaid customer, you can dispute a charge within 180 days of the date the disputed charge was incurred. YOU MAY CALL US TO DISPUTE CHARGES ON YOUR BILL OR ANY SERVICE(S) FOR WHICH YOU WERE BILLED, BUT IF YOU WISH TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHT TO BRING AN ARBITRATION OR SMALL CLAIMS CASE REGARDING SUCH DISPUTE, YOU MUST WRITE TO US AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE ADDRESS ON YOUR BILL, OR SEND US A COMPLETED NOTICE OF DISPUTE FORM (AVAILABLE AT VERIZONWIRELESS.COM), WITHIN THE 180–DAY PERIOD MENTIONED ABOVE. IF YOU DO NOT NOTIFY US IN WRITING OF SUCH DISPUTE WITHIN THE 180-DAY PERIOD, YOU WILL HAVE WAIVED YOUR RIGHT TO DISPUTE THE BILL OR SUCH SERVICE(S) AND TO BRING AN ARBITRATION OR SMALL CLAIMS CASE REGARDING ANY SUCH DISPUTE."


"HOW DO I RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH VERIZON WIRELESS?


WE HOPE TO MAKE YOU A HAPPY CUSTOMER, BUT IF THERE'S AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED, THIS SECTION OUTLINES WHAT'S EXPECTED OF BOTH OF US.

YOU AND VERIZON WIRELESS BOTH AGREE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES ONLY BY ARBITRATION OR IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY THIS AGREEMENT YOU ARE GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO BRING A CLAIM IN COURT OR IN FRONT OF A JURY. WHILE THE PROCEDURES MAY BE DIFFERENT, AN ARBITRATOR CAN AWARD YOU THE SAME DAMAGES AND RELIEF, AND MUST HONOR THE SAME TERMS IN THIS AGREEMENT, AS A COURT WOULD. IF THE LAW ALLOWS FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES, AN ARBITRATOR CAN AWARD THEM TOO. WE ALSO BOTH AGREE THAT:

(1) THE FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT APPLIES TO THIS AGREEMENT. EXCEPT FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT CASES THAT QUALIFY, ANY DISPUTE THAT IN ANY WAY RELATES TO OR ARISES OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR FROM ANY EQUIPMENT, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES YOU RECEIVE FROM US (OR FROM ANY ADVERTISING FOR ANY SUCH PRODUCTS OR SERVICES), INCLUDING ANY DISPUTES YOU HAVE WITH OUR EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS, WILL BE RESOLVED BY ONE OR MORE NEUTRAL ARBITRATORS BEFORE THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION ("AAA") OR BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ("BBB"). YOU CAN ALSO BRING ANY ISSUES YOU MAY HAVE TO THE ATTENTION OF FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, AND IF THE LAW ALLOWS, THEY CAN SEEK RELIEF AGAINST US FOR YOU.

(2) UNLESS YOU AND VERIZON WIRELESS AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATION WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE COUNTY OF YOUR BILLING ADDRESS. FOR CLAIMS OVER $10,000, THE AAA'S WIRELESS INDUSTRY ARBITRATION ("WIA") RULES WILL APPLY. IN SUCH CASES, THE LOSER CAN ASK FOR A PANEL OF THREE NEW ARBITRATORS TO REVIEW THE AWARD. FOR CLAIMS OF $10,000 OR LESS, THE PARTY BRINGING THE CLAIM CAN CHOOSE EITHER THE AAA'S RULES FOR CONSUMER DISPUTES OR THE BBB'S RULES FOR BINDING ARBITRATION OR, ALTERNATIVELY, CAN BRING AN INDIVIDUAL ACTION IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT. YOU CAN GET PROCEDURES, RULES AND FEE INFORMATION FROM THE AAA (WWW.ADR.ORG), THE BBB (WWW.BBB.ORG) OR FROM US. FOR CLAIMS OF $10,000 OR LESS, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHETHER YOU'D LIKE THE ARBITRATION CARRIED OUT BASED ONLY ON DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE ARBITRATOR, OR BY A HEARING IN PERSON OR BY PHONE.

(3) THIS AGREEMENT DOESN'T ALLOW CLASS OR COLLECTIVE ARBITRATIONS EVEN IF THE AAA OR BBB PROCEDURES OR RULES WOULD. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD MONEY OR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF WARRANTED BY THAT PARTY'S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM. NO CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL THEORIES OF LIABILITY OR PRAYERS FOR RELIEF MAY BE MAINTAINED IN ANY ARBITRATION HELD UNDER THIS AGREEMENT. ANY QUESTION REGARDING THE ENFORCEABILITY OR INTERPRETATION OF THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE DECIDED BY A COURT AND NOT THE ARBITRATOR.

(4) IF EITHER OF US INTENDS TO SEEK ARBITRATION UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, THE PARTY SEEKING ARBITRATION MUST FIRST NOTIFY THE OTHER PARTY OF THE DISPUTE IN WRITING AT LEAST 30 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF INITIATING THE ARBITRATION. NOTICE TO VERIZON WIRELESS SHOULD BE SENT TO VERIZON WIRELESS DISPUTE RESOLUTION MANAGER, ONE VERIZON WAY, VC52N061, BASKING RIDGE, NJ 07920. THE NOTICE MUST DESCRIBE THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM AND THE RELIEF BEING SOUGHT. IF WE ARE UNABLE TO RESOLVE OUR DISPUTE WITHIN 30 DAYS, EITHER PARTY MAY THEN PROCEED TO FILE A CLAIM FOR ARBITRATION. WE'LL PAY ANY FILING FEE THAT THE AAA OR BBB CHARGES YOU FOR ARBITRATION OF THE DISPUTE. IF YOU PROVIDE US WITH SIGNED WRITTEN NOTICE THAT YOU CANNOT PAY THE FILING FEE, VERIZON WIRELESS WILL PAY THE FEE DIRECTLY TO THE AAA OR BBB. IF THAT ARBITRATION PROCEEDS, WE'LL ALSO PAY ANY ADMINISTRATIVE AND ARBITRATOR FEES CHARGED LATER, AS WELL AS FOR ANY APPEAL TO A PANEL OF THREE NEW ARBITRATORS (IF THE ARBITRATION AWARD IS APPEALABLE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT).

(5) WE ALSO OFFER CUSTOMERS THE OPTION OF PARTICIPATING IN A FREE INTERNAL MEDIATION PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM IS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY AND DOES NOT AFFECT EITHER PARTY'S RIGHTS IN ANY OTHER ASPECT OF THESE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES. IN OUR VOLUNTARY MEDIATION PROGRAM, WE WILL ASSIGN AN EMPLOYEE WHO'S NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE DISPUTE TO HELP BOTH SIDES REACH AN AGREEMENT. THAT PERSON HAS ALL THE RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS OF A MEDIATOR AND THE PROCESS HAS ALL OF THE PROTECTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH MEDIATION. FOR EXAMPLE, NOTHING SAID IN THE MEDIATION CAN BE USED LATER IN AN ARBITRATION OR LAWSUIT. IF YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE, PLEASE CONTACT US AT VERIZONWIRELESS.COM OR THROUGH CUSTOMER SERVICE. IF YOU'D LIKE TO START THE MEDIATION PROCESS, PLEASE GO TO VERIZONWIRELESS.COM OR CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR A NOTICE OF DISPUTE FORM TO FILL OUT, AND MAIL, FAX OR EMAIL IT TO US ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTIONS ON THE FORM.

(6) WE MAY, BUT ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO, MAKE A WRITTEN SETTLEMENT OFFER ANYTIME BEFORE ARBITRATION BEGINS. THE AMOUNT OR TERMS OF ANY SETTLEMENT OFFER MAY NOT BE DISCLOSED TO THE ARBITRATOR UNTIL AFTER THE ARBITRATOR ISSUES AN AWARD ON THE CLAIM. IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT THE OFFER AND THE ARBITRATOR AWARDS YOU AN AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT'S MORE THAN OUR OFFER BUT LESS THAN $5,000, OR IF WE DON'T MAKE YOU AN OFFER, AND THE ARBITRATOR AWARDS YOU ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY BUT LESS THAN $5,000, THEN WE AGREE TO PAY YOU $5,000 INSTEAD OF THE AMOUNT AWARDED. IN THAT CASE WE ALSO AGREE TO PAY ANY REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE LAW REQUIRES IT FOR YOUR CASE. IF THE ARBITRATOR AWARDS YOU MORE THAN $5,000, THEN WE WILL PAY YOU THAT AMOUNT.

(7) AN ARBITRATION AWARD AND ANY JUDGMENT CONFIRMING IT APPLY ONLY TO THAT SPECIFIC CASE; IT CAN'T BE USED IN ANY OTHER CASE EXCEPT TO ENFORCE THE AWARD ITSELF.

(8) IF FOR SOME REASON THE PROHIBITION ON CLASS ARBITRATIONS SET FORTH IN SUBSECTION (3) CANNOT BE ENFORCED, THEN THE AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE WILL NOT APPLY.

(9) IF FOR ANY REASON A CLAIM PROCEEDS IN COURT RATHER THAN THROUGH ARBITRATION, YOU AND VERIZON WIRELESS AGREE THAT THERE WILL NOT BE A JURY TRIAL. YOU AND VERIZON WIRELESS UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT IN ANY WAY. IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, THIS PARAGRAPH MAY BE FILED TO SHOW A WRITTEN CONSENT TO A TRIAL BY THE COURT."

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Re: Legal Counsel Regarding Employee Discount Program
David929
Enthusiast - Level 2

Those are T&C drafted by their army of lawyers. I've read them. I just don't think that is the way to go here.

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