verizon mistakenly closed account, now expects me to start from scratch

[relentless3]

I am extremely **bleep** at Verizon.

I moved my father into a nursing home. Verizon was supposed to give him a new phone number similar to his old number, and place a message on his old number giving out the new one.

I should mention, he had his old phone number since 1962.

Instead of activating the new number, they closed his account! His address was moved to the new location and then the account was closed!

What? What sense does that make? No one there can figure out why they did that.

They expect me to open a new account, send them his SS# and drivers license number, send in the power of atty documents, give them a new deposit, and then wait for a week or more while they run a credit check to get phone service!

I talked to an agent and a supervisor. They admit the error was on them, yet they say they can't fix it.

Unbelievable.

Worse, they say we can't put a message on his old number now. So all of his old friends will have no way to get his new number.

Question: So after this is all fixed, how much compensation should I get? A year's free phone service? Cash? What do you guys think?

[jonjones1]

You are going to get nothing in compensation.

contact your states Public Utilities Commission or Public Service Commission and file a complaint to see if your old phone number can be returned to you.

they will say it cannot be done they are lying. 

Secondly you are better off keeping the old phone number and simply porting over to a cellular device. This can be done on any cellular provider. They have really cheap phones which can be activated either prepaid or post paid. And why would a customer want or need a credit check on an existing customer. If you are putting in new service in your name, then it may require a deposit and credit check but not on his.

you can buy prepaid sims and that covers each month or even autopay for the service.

see if the previous number can be ported out to the cellular phone.

[LawrenceC]

Hi relentless,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Please check your Private Message Inbox for a message from Verizon_Support. You can find your Inbox by clicking on your username at the top right corner of this page. Please direct all correspondence concerning your issue to the agents who will be assisting you privately.