Verizon billing system

[mjgordon6]

Email sent to {edited for privacy}, February 19th, 2015 8am.

 In November 2014 we received an email from Verizon (as we do every month) stating that our FIOS Internet bill was due in the amount of $82.60. For the past two years we have paid $84.53 every month automatically through our bank's online bill pay system, as we do with all recurring payments. So my wife changed the amount to $82.60 and paid the bill. We then received the December bill showing an additional charge of $5 and noting that we had underpaid the previous bill by $1.93. I called and spoke with a Verizon CSR who explained that the additional $5 was due to our two year 'contract' having expired but she could not explain why we received a bill for $82.60 in November.

We then received another email from Verizon on January 3rd showing an amount due of $82.60?? I called Verizon on January 5th and spoke with a CSR 'Kevin', who was very helpful but still had no idea why we continued to receive emails with the incorrect amount, but he stated that he was going to reinstate the $5 discount and asked if we would like to enter into another two year agreement, which I agreed that we would. We then got an email from Verizon showing that a credit of $12.34 had been issued to our account for January.

 We have copies of all of these emails and have offered to provide them to each of the CSR's I've spoken with, but of course they cannot receive email from customers. 

On February 17th we received an email from Verizon showing an amount due of $89.94. So I called this morning (February 19th) and spoke with 'Amy' who was quite rude and stated that it was the customers responsibility to make sure that the right amount is paid every month (which we have tried to do, but don't have any control over Verizon sending us an incorrect bill) and that 'Kevin' had not re-instated the two-year agreement or the $5 discount as discussed in January.

After more useless discussion wherein Amy stated that Verizon cannot issue credits for a late payment more than ONE time (and that we have been late TWICE now - although both times have been due to Verizon billing errors), I asked to speak to a supervisor. Amy stated that she IS a supervisor. So I asked to speak to her supervisor, but was told 'they don't take phone calls'.

Amy's 'solution' to the problem seemed to be that we should sign up for the automatic bill pay so that Verizon can just deduct the amount due from our bank account. I questioned how that is different from what we already do with our bank's auto bill pay - plus if Verizon has the bill amount wrong wouldn't they then deduct the wrong amount? She then placed me on hold for 8 minutes, came back on the line and said that she was transferring me (I assumed to another 'supervisor'). She then hung up.

In the ten or so years that we have been a Verizon customer, I cannot think of one instance where calling customer service has accomplished anything without a great deal of effort and huge expenditure of time. The only times where I have been successful in resolving an issue with Verizon has been when I give up and contact the Better Business Bureau. And I've had to do this three times so far - after speaking with multiple CSR's, 'supervisors', and 'managers' who promise to resolve issues but never do.

Having lived in and visited several third world countries, I would have to say that Verizon's billing system compares equally with the worst of them. And so a fourth letter to the Better Business Bureau will be sent today, with a copy also going to the FTC. How a company that operates like this continues to stay in business is beyond belief.

[LawrenceC]

Hi mjgordon6,

Sorry you are having difficulty with your billing. An agent with access to your account will reach out to you directly by email, private message in the Forums and/or the billing telephone number on your Verizon account for more information or to help you resolve your issue. Please remember to check your spam/junk folder if you do not hear from an agent.