Question 1: Just wondering--If a verizon representative promised you the early termination fee (ETF) would be waived and you have it in writing aren't they obligated to waive the fee?
Story: I have had verizon service for seven years. In early June my Android broke and I connected an old flip phone until I could get a new one. I was told by the service associate that I would not lose my Verizon unlimited package as long as I upgraded my device within 14 business days of having the flip phone on my account. I upgraded on day 12 which was June 21, 2012 (Before the Unlimited plans were taken away by the greedy company). I found out when my bill came in that they took away my unlimited and put me on a data plan but were still charging me the same. I fought with them every month after being told over and over that I was given my unlimited back. This went on until November of which they started submitting requests which continued to come back denied. After six months of fighting I just wanted to get rid of Verizon. Furious at their breach of contract I requested to terminate my service. I was told by the rep (I requested that promise in writing and have two e-mails to prove it) that the early termination fee would be waived because the reason I was canceling after seven years was due to Verizon's error. Well, my service was terminated on January 5, 2013 and I received an e-mail that my final bill was available. I was expecting a refund but low and behold they still are trying to charge me the ETF. They are trying to charge me $316.65. I just got off the phone with them and they are saying that the associate who promised that the ETF would be waived was not authorized to do so. Honestly, I don't care if she was not authorized to do it, it was promised (yes, just like my unlimited was). It should be taken off the final bill and I should receive a refund for overpayment of the last bill. I still don't understand how they claim I was even under contract because I didn't sign a contract for anything other than my unlimited plan.
Question 2: Can I hire an attorney to fix this mess if they continue to refuse the waiver?
Either way, I'm not going to pay it and if it goes to collections I will continue to fight it. None of this was my error, it was theirs. I'm so fed up!
Just for reference, here are the e-mails from the verizon wireless rep (minus her full name and my e-mail for privacy reasons):
First e-mail:
From: "K" <@VerizonWireless.com>
To: " <j>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 6:07 PM
Subject: Contact me
If the IPR gets denied again I will waive the ETF personally.
Then my response to the first e-mail a short time after:
From: ME []
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2012 9:45 AM
To: Verizon--name and e-mail not provided for privacy purposes
Subject: Re: Contact me
Hi K,
I just wanted to check the status of my Verizon account. They should be reinstating my unlimited everything. I've been going through this since June. Please call me and let me know what is going on. Thank you!
Regards,
Verizon's Second e-mail:
From: "K" <@VerizonWireless.com>
To: 'ME' <>
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 12:56 PM
Subject: RE: Contact me
Hi J!
I just wanted you to know that I just applied the credit for the Early Termination Fee for you as promised. I tried to re-submit it back to the department and they denied the request for me. I just wanted you to know that the account’s ETF is waived for you of 290.00.
I apologize about the inconvenience of the situation and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
END OF MESSAGE
Since posting this I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I've also found that since the representative is an agent of the company tasked to handle discrepancies like mine and her information which I have in writing is that if Verizon chooses not to honor this (in addition to their breach of my Unlimited contract) it is a complete violation of the Uniform Commercial Code.
You probably should have called Customer Service as soon as you put your new device on line and requested your unlimited data plan back. If you don't call them within 14 days, you don't get it back. Also, I don't believe a CSR can waive ETF's, so you are SOL, and it will go to collections. Being a customer for 7 years in not pertinent. What is pertinent is that you had a 2-year contract and broke it. The data plan is not part of the contract.
You should have called customer service and should have put in an official request for the unlimited data plan to be reinstated when you returned the device at day 12. The notes and email would have provided the additional backing that you were within the policy to get it back. Even though it was in writing, you still needed to be proactive by actually requesting it.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
Nobody is really understanding what is going on with this issue. I'm just going to take it down and seek legal action. Thanks for your comment. I already reported it to the BBB and will continue on with other avenues as well.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
