customer service help?

[kelree]

Can anyone recommend magic words to get a little traction with customer service (or perhaps a specific person to contact)?  Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a visiting nephew downloaded a bunch of Get It Now apps (games) on my husband's phone.  Because we never use those features, we were unaware of the data download until more than a month had passed.  So we had to pay for apps and data usage because we don't have a data plan.  We are 9-year dedicated Verizon customers, and we've never used data services.  These apps haven't been accessed since the day they were downloaded.   This is all verifiable, but the rep insists they're "legimate" charges, and is not prepared to waive the nearly $100 we've been charged for the dowloads and what is now 2 months of subscription fees.  Is there no reward for being faithful to this carrier?  Bad show, Verizon.

[mparr15h]

There is NO reward for being a good customer, Verizon does NOT care about its customers AT ALL.  Good luck getting anything out of them!

[arichard21]

i feel for you, but they should not reward you because your nephew messed up and did something **bleep**. perhaps you should make your nephew pay the overages. its not verizons fault though.

[kelree]

Gee thanks for your insight.  More sarcasm!  Maybe you can get a job in Verizon customer service.

I'm not looking for a "reward" for something that my nephew did.  I'm asking for someone to exercise discretion in our favor as a good will gesture for our commitment to this carrier.  It's not about the money -- we can afford to pay the bill, and won't be asking a 10 year old to absorb this expense that he had no understanding he'd incurred.  It's about businesses who fail to recognize that making a small concession to a faithful customer earns divdends over the long-term.  The dollar amount is small, the disappointment in their response is HUGE.  Sounds like neither you nor Verizon get that.  

[tim600sl]

@kelree - I definitely do feel ya and I am sorry to hear that you're in this situation.  I have been in your situation also, but with a bit lesser charge.  Even though Verizon is NOT required to waive the fee since it's not really their fault, but I believe if you keep insisting and be polite you will more than likely to get at least 50% of those charges removed.  That is what happed to me. Once again I do feel ya, and my advise is just try again, be polite and persuasive.  There are nice people out there!

[arichard21]

verizon has 80 million subscribers. if they cut a 5 dollar credit to each (not alot of money, right?) it would cost them 400 million dollars.

im not being sarcastic... im being real. i dont understand why everyone cries when verizon wont fix a problem they didnt create!

if my kid scratches the side of my new car, should the automaker be responsible for helping me get it fixed? no. verizon is a business, and are out to make money... not friends. you talk about them making a small concession, but have you made any to them? sent an extra 5 bucks in your payment? no? well you are right, they should give give give to you, because you are such a loyal customer. im a "loyal" customer too. i'm also a loyal customer to wal mart. do you think that if i went in there and bought something i didnt need i could get them to refund half my money? think the convience store i go to for milk 3 times a week will give me a free gallon because i always go there?

no disrespect intended, but verizon doesn't owe you anything, regardless of what your sense of self entitlement says.

[SuzyQ]

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kelree wrote:

...  These apps haven't been accessed since the day they were downloaded.   This is all verifiable, but the rep insists they're "legimate" charges, and is not prepared to waive the nearly $100 we've been charged for the dowloads and what is now 2 months of subscription fees. ...

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First, unsubscribe to the apps - cancel, stop, delete, whatever....to stop the monthly charges.  Then, see if MAYBE Verizon will backdate a data plan for the month the apps were downloaded to cover that expense (too much time may have passed) and possibly refund the second month of app subscriptions if you in fact did not use them.  No guarantees, but given your situation, they may be willing to give you some of the above concessions.

If not, consider it an expensive lesson, block data on the phone if your nephew is anywhere near it, and move on.

[MarthaG]

I learned this the hard way -- my sons (ages 7 & 9) kept downloading games, not realizing they were costing $7 to $8 each (plus 6 were subscriptions).  Got my phone bill via email a few days & almost had a stroke -- $326 for 2 phones/lines!!  

Went online to check & see why in the world it was so high (it's usually around $150) and discovered that the 6 games that were subscriptions were still active (I had deleted them off my phone last month).  Plus they had downloaded roughly 20 games (I kept deleting the games and they'd download them again, without realizing I was being charged every single time).  

Called customer service & was told I'd have to go into the store to have the subscriptions taken off; went there earlier today, only to be told I'd have to call CS again as I had only deleted them, not unsubscribed from them (you'd think there wouldn't be any difference, but apparently there is).  Anyway, called CS, told them what my problem was and she not only unsubscribed me from the 5 I had deleted last month, but also had my account credited.  

Have informed my boys that if they wish to play games, they can do so on my COMPUTER but not my PHONE since the ones they play online thru my computer's internet connnection are FREE but the ones that were on the phone AREN'T FREE!

What kills me is that some of the games they had downloaded to my phone (and were racking up MB usage fees for, in addition to the cost of the games), they can & do play for free on the web via my computer!  That's NUTS to me!

[SydneyK]

I think if someone is polite and calm during a request, she will get much further than the one who screams about how she's entitled to a credit. Not saying that's you ... just saying, from the many threads I"ve read on the topic of credits, that seems to be how it's done.

I do agree with a previous poster, however ... you should get either your nephew or his parents to pay the charges. It's his fault, not Verizon's. I do not understand why your husband would let him play with his phone.

Good luck. I hope you get results.