Verizon faked new agreements with me when transferring my SIM card
ID72
Enthusiast - Level 2

Absolutely shameless what Verizon did today. I have been using an iPhone X with Verizon as the wireless provider. Just got an iPhone 14 that was bought directly from Apple. The old phone and the new one connected by Bluetooth and all the content was transferred smoothly, except for the the SIM card. To get the old phone number into the new phone and make the new phone into the one on the wireless plan, you need to transfer the SIM card. These new iPhones don't have a physical SIM card. Instead they have an "e-SIM." Apple says that you should be able to transfer the old phone's SIM card into the new phone's e-SIM automatically by Bluetooth except that some wireless providers make it difficult. No surprise, Verizon makes it difficult. I had to take the phones to a nearby Verizon store -- specifically at 892 2nd Ave in NYC -- and ask them to do the transfer. They had me authorize their accessing my Verizon account, and two minutes later the transfer was done. They didn't ask for any money or ask me to agree to anything at all, which makes perfect sense. Later that day, however, I see that Verizon has posted new "agreements" with me in my online account. One seems to say that I've signed up for a new Verizon subscription. Another outrageously says that I bought this phone from Verizon for $10 (yes, that's ten dollars and zero cents) which I will pay over 36 months, $0.55 in the first month, followed by $0.27 for each of the next 35 months, and, further, that if I default then Verizon gets to "take back" my phone, and if I don't want to pay then I should "return" the phone to Verizon. Again, this phone was bought directly from Apple! Shocked by these fake agreements, I went on the Verizon website and, using the online chat feature, I asked a Verizon representative what this is all about. In response, she informed me that I'm also getting charged $35 for the "upgrade." The best she could do for me is apply a $10 credit to my account next month, but apparently I have to use that $10 credit to pay down the alleged $10 debt over the next 36 months. I asked for a Verizon address to which I could send a written complaint, and she refused to give me one. I asked for a copy of our online chat, and she refused to give me that as well. I made my own copy. TL;DR: Verizon is an utterly shameless band of crooks with no conscience. I've filed complaints with the FTC and the NY Attorney General.

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