Very poor experience getting a Verizon error corrected.

[sgarceau]

If anyone takes the time to read all this thank you in advance. It's largely just a complaint, but thanks.  I would think reaching out on Verizon's social media would be enough to elicit a reaction, but I've come to the conclusion service is no longer close to a priority.

On June 6th I went to your website to change my plan to the unlimited startup plan backdated to the beginning of my bill cycle which would have been May 27th. I received an error message telling me Verizon was experiencing technical difficulties and to try my request later. At this point I reached out to a chat employee to see if they could make the change. I was careful to emphasize the need to backdate and toward the end of the chat the employee stated the change would take place immediately and I stated no I needed it backdated to which he assured me that it would be. At this point I should note that the last supervisor I spoke with was able to read the chat verbatim, and at no point during any additional contact was there ever a question of what I requested, what I was promised and that this was an error caused entirely by Verizon.

Once my recent bill became available I discovered Verizon's mistake and the resulting $90 in additional charges as the result of the proration due to the midcycle change. I then reached out via chat to get the error corrected. This employee could not understand the issue and was trying to change my account back to the old plan. He sent me multiple links to assist with the plan change that I did not need. I think he may have eventually understood the issue, but after waiting a considerable amount of time for him to respond I had to end the session and resolved to just call and deal with it over the phone.

On July 16th I called Verizon customer service. The representative I reached didn't seem to have any idea what was happening and informed me that she would need to reach out to some support team. At some point she was began to go through my bill line by line, but I explained that was not necessary and this wasn't simply an error changing my plan. Not sure if that was an attempt to avoid excessive hold times or what, but from then on she just put on hold informing she was still waiting every few minutes. However, the last 15 to 20 minutes of the 47 minute and 27 second phone call was just me on hold until the call disconnected.

At this point I drove to the store 10 minutes from home to deal with this in person. Apparently that isn't available in store any longer, but they did connect me to a representative avoiding the extensive wait. I can't say how long this took as it was on a store phone, but I would guess another hour. This employee also struggled with how to resolve Verizon's mistake. I finally explained that if my current plan would have begun on May 27th I would have been billed 2 months at the current rate, and received credit for the month I had already paid in advance for my old plan. Thus subtracting that amount from what I was charged would give you the amount of the necessary correction. I'm not certain he fully understood, but he submitted the adjustment and we waited for another 10 minutes or so for approval. At that point I suggested he call me back when it was approved as I had spent far too long already for something that was Verizon's fault. He agreed and this call ended.

An hour or so later I received a call back and your employee informed me that I would receive a credit for $55 leaving my bill $35 higher than it should have been if Verizon had not made a mistake. As this was unacceptable I asked for a supervisor. This person was combative from the beginning. Informed me that my calculations were wrong, that she had an accounting degree. I asked at one point about the month I had paid in advance and she stated something about that was a long time ago, but could not explain her math. As a sidenote it's pretty insulting to state your education. It's essentially an implied insult of my intelligence. I asked for her supervisor to which she said there was not one. She finally offered a call back in a few days. Rather than wait to find that was never going to happen I headed back to the store.

So now I have returned to the store for the second time, and unfortunately for the employees there it is about 5:10 PM and they close at 6PM. They are apprised of the situation and immediately connect me to a Verizon phone employee. I explain the issue again and inform her that the supervisor I spoke with was only willing to credit my account $55 when it should have been closer to $90 for verizon's mistake. As she reviews my account she informs me that I was actually credited $75, and I would also receive another $75 off my next bill. She even goes so far as to screen share and show me where I can see the expected amount of my next bill and it showed a little over $59. Surprising given that the supervisor was so certain of her accounting degree and what not that she would give me $150 rather than the roughly $90 I was owed and the $55 she stated. I then explained to the employee that I felt an additional credit for the length I had to go to correct your error was in order, but I still wanted my existing bill to be adjusted to the correct amount. At this point I'm given some absurd story about not being able to credit more than $75, and if they did I would then lose the other $75. If Verizon had charged me an extra $750 I would have to wait 10 months to receive the correction I guess. Normally I would think something so unbelievable was just a poor attempt to end the call without having to submit any more requests or whatever else might be a metric she is judged on. However, given the incompetence over this simple billing mistake at every interaction thus far I have to believe she really thinks $75 was the limit.

At this point I request a supervisor again. I was still heated over this complete fiasco, but I decided to begin this conversation differently to avoid the adversarial position the previous supervisor took immediately over a few dollars. I explained to her all of these steps I had been through and that I believed my bill was still roughly $15 too high. I asked her if fighting over that $15 made sense for a customer of some 17 years. She agreed right or wrong that she would give me the $15, but she did want to review the issue and explain what the correct amount should have been. She then read the chat with my initial request for the plan and the employee's assurance it would be retroactive to May 27th. I believe at some point prior to this or after she also stated she would own this mistake. Which stuck out as being humorous. I was charged more due to your employee's mistake anything less than owning it would be an injustice. I guess she meant that to be comforting and that I wouldn't need to reach out but it just seemed very odd to me. I once again explained my rudimentary calculation of 2 months at the new plan minus 1 month at my old plan for an approximate total of $180(probably a couple dollars lower but close enough). She wasn't satisfied with that and after much discussion she informed me that my bill should be $30 higher than a normal month of service. I asked what that would be and was told $`152. I then asked what is $152 plus $30 and of course it is $182. So ultimately all of this was over at most $2 and frankly I think it should be even lower than $180 but after the difficulty I had encountered it certainly wasn't worth going any further with math. Plus it was already past closing time for the store and I didn't want to keep them from their families longer than necessary.

At this point I do ask about the $75 I was told I would get off my next bill. I then learn that there is no additional $75 and like every person I had spoken to that employee was wrong. So I said don't you think I deserve some sort of courtesy after the adversarial treatment and extent that was necessary just to get a mistake Verizon made fixed. Apparently the $75 I was told was simply out of the question, and the best she could offer was $10. I explained how laughably inappropriate that was, and she suggested I make an offer. I said 20% off the bill. She said she would meet me in the middle like I'm buying a used car or something and gave me $25. 

While it is shocking so many of verizon's employees, even those in supervisory roles struggled to solve this routine mistake, what is most bothersome is not a single person apologized for their initial mistake, continued incompetence, and the herculean effort required to get the mistake fixed.