Early termination fees

[Julioj33]

I have been a customer of Verizon for over 3 years now. At first I was very hesitant to pay for anything other then direct tv, but the apartments I moved into only offered verizon. I can honestly say that I have been very very pleased with Verizon TV and the internet is speed is like none other, it's awesome !
With that said I called verizon about 10 months ago to inquire why my bill had increased since the previous month, I was on a month to month plan. The representative told me that prices had increased and that I could lock in my rate if I would only agree to a 2 year contract. I immediately told him"NO thanks!" I was in the process of putting in an offer to have my dream home built and that I would not be staying in my apt for more than another year because my lease would be up. I told the representative that My house would not be done by that time but I already had a house picked out that I would be renting for a short time until my house was ready to move in to. The verizon rep proceeded to tell me that if I moved I could transfer my services and avoid an ETF. Sounded good to me, so I agreed to the contract, I loved the services and I would be happy to transfer my services when I was ready to move. The rep never told me that I would still have to pay if Verizon wasn't available in the area.

Well.... The lease on my apt is up now and exactly as I explained to this verizon rep 10 months ago, I will be moving to a rental house for 6-7 months until my house is finished and apparently Verizon cannot service the house I will be renting and now I am forced to pay a cancellation fee... A fee that I was told I didn't have to pay if I transferred service. I would LOVE to transfer my service , but I can't ! I was told that it was a breach of contract? Really??? If anything verizon is breaking the contract because I'm willing to pay for the service and verizon cannot offer the service ! What a joke!!

These practices are ridiculously advantageous to your favor and are not ethical. And your customer service reps are either extremely well trained to lie for you or poorly trained and should check their product or contract knowledge before they speak and offer solutions that are untrue.
Something needs to be done here!

[Julioj33]

To all reading this message.....It is not worth entering into a contract agreement with verizon. Their customer service reps will tell you anything it takes to get you locked in. I even read the terms and conditions before doing so and yes, it does state that an early termination fee would apply if services are cancelled early, I get that, but I don't agree that I am in breach of contract just because the house I am moving to is not serviced by Verizon. Verizon needs to step up and as one of the leaders in this type of indrstry do what is right for the customer. 

I found this in one of my emails.......

Subscribers with Term Plans; Early Termination Fee. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT, IF YOUR BROADBAND SERVICE OR ANY COMPONENT OF A BUNDLED SERVICE PLAN IS TERMINATED BY YOU OR BY US AS A RESULT OF VIOLATION BY YOU OF THIS AGREEMENT BEFORE COMPLETING YOUR TERM PLAN, THEN YOU AGREE TO PAY VERIZON THE ETF SET FORTH IN THE PRICING PLAN YOU HAVE CHOSEN. If you terminate Service at your location, your existing Term Plan cannot be carried over to a new Service location.

This does not state that if Verizon Services are not available in area to which you move, you will still have to pay an ETF.  I would never have agreed to these conditions,but I trusted the CSR and took his word. Verizon is arguing that I "NEVER" have the right to terminate without paying based on the statements above.  Simply not true.  I'm no loawyer 

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to "Lindsey" A Verizon supervisor and pleade my case. After I read this to her, she really could not say anything other than I'm sorry sir but If you are not dead or for military reasons I cannot waive the EFT for you. In other words, "You Dummy,we got you, you fell for it, now you gotta pay!

I am a Bank Manager and I deal with customers on a daily basis upset about excessive overdraft fees, sometimes over just a few cents and at the end of the day we have to be humans to one another and do what is right for the customer.  In my mind I'm thinking, If I can go the extra mile to offer my customers solutions and also offer the best possible customer experience, Why cant verizon do this for me??? Not sure.

 Well done Verizon 😞  .....I wish I had more hands so i could give you more thumbs down! 

[musicmama60]

I moved within the same apartment community and my service would not transfer to the new building. I was in the middle of the contract that I had with Verizon. The alternative was to use Dish Network (one of those satellite companies) for cable and DSL (**bleep**! That crap's still around?!), which meant I had to get a phone line. Well I missed the Verizon guy when he came and he didn't bother to call, but swore up and down that he did. (I have PROOF that he didn't!). The dish guy   and couldn't install because my apartment wasn't facing the right direction to receive a signal and the only place the complex would allow me to put a dish was on a tripod on the patio. So I called Verizon to let them know what the situation was. They wanted to send out the Verizon serviceman a week later. I was already irritated because I had gone 3 days without Internet and TV. I told them don't bother. Then they started talking about an early termination fee. I said "WHAT?" I COULD NOT get the same services that I previously had. That was something BEYOND my control!

To make a long story longer, I disputed the charge and was told that they would get  back to me. That was in MAY 2014. Guess when they got back to me? Last week with a threat of "turning off" my services! HA! What services?! Mind you late fees have accumulated on that early termination fee. I'm trying to figure out why they would wait 6 months to try to collect.

[katstx972]

I, too, am being told I need to pay my ETF even though Verizon does not even offer service in the town where I moved.  When I signed up for the 2 year bundle contract, I read the terms of service and specifically checked on what would happen if I moved to an area that did not have Verizon service.  According to what I had read, I would not have to pay the ETF if Verizon did not offer service in the area.  It is not my fault they are not here. 

I was told by Ashley (CSR with Verizon) that if I could produce the terms of service with that stated in it, they would refund my ETF that I have to pay.  I am to fax it over.  I printed the TOS out almost 2 years ago...I have no earthly idea which of the many many boxes it could be pack into here at my new location.  I guess I am screwed.  I will definitely go to all the platforms of social media and let it be known that Verizon likes to put it to you if you move to a place that they don't service.  I don't see why I, or we from what I am seeing on here, should be pentalized because they don't do business here. 

I loved my FIOS but I will definitely have to think twice about getting it IF they ever come to the area.  I now have DirectTV and AT&T Uverse for internet....hopefully they will treat their customers better. 

[CRobGauth]

Think of it this way:

How does Verizon prove you have moved and no longer can get their service?

People could claim to move and then just cancel to get a better deal from another provider.

For their part of the contract, they agree to keep your service fees the same.

No different than a cell phone provider does when you enter into a contract with them.

And a quick google shows at least Comcast has the same type of ETF and people are upset abou them as well.

So it is an industry wide option.

May not like it.

Easiest way around it is to not sign a contract and be subject to the whims of the service provider pricing.