Having a contract extended / Inadequate Customer Service

[dollfin]

Last month I called Verizon CS to inquire about lowering my bill, with all the options out there I wanted to start planning since my 2yr contract would be ending November 2015. I wanted to give Verizon an opportunity since I've been a loyal customer since 2006 to lower my bill in order to keep me as a customer.

After 60 minutes on the call with the Verizon associate my options were 1.  Further extend my contract another 2yrs and have my bill lowered to 130.00 per month (not an option for me since this would be about a 20.00 savings from what I'm currently paying) or 2. Change my plan to a "loyalty" plan which would save me 7.00 a month but WOULD NOT extend my contract. I explained to the associate if Verizon could not compete with the 80.00 a month competitors monthly rate with no contract I would go with option #2 as long as there would be no contract extension, she assured me there would be none.

Well, guess what, she was WRONG, I received my bill and yes folks my contract has been extended to June 2016!!!!! Needless to say I am livid, has anyone else had this experience?

I just got off the phone with another Verizon associate (Brandi) who was very understanding of my situation and advised "she believed me" considering the notes in my account left by the prior associate state customer called in to have bill lowered and there was no documentation of me accepting an extended contract. Gee, I feel so special she "believes" me however I would have requested the call to be pulled if she didn't.

After being put on hold multiple times and Brandi consulting with "a supervisor" (Armon) 45 minutes later no resolution. I simply requested to have my contract date reverted back to November 2015 and/or lower my bill to match competitors offerings - neither could be done by Brandi and her "supervisor" went to a meeting and was not able to address the issue and would have to call me back.... REALLY! I requested her "supervisors" last name, she could not give me that, I requested his direct line, she could not give me that, I requested his email address, she could not give me that nor could she give me anything but her 1st name... Brandi and his Armon. So, if I were to call back, guess what folks I'd be lost in the customer support cyber world and would have no way to follow up with either of these individuals.

She took my number, sent me a random text message and told me either she or her supervisor would call me back, no time frame provided but I was requested to enjoy the rest of my day... This is completely unacceptable in my opinion and I will not take this sitting down, I found a dispute .pdf on this forum but if anyone could provide another avenue for resolution, experience, etc. it would be greatly appreciated.

I certainly will follow up if I do happen to get satisfaction but considering what has occurred thus far I am not holding on to the hopeful chain!

Disgruntled to say the least!

[MiiHere]

Once you become a month to month customer you can have your smartphone line access fee discounted by $25. Other than that you can only decrease the amount of data you are getting in order to save. You can also keep an eye out on data specials; for instance if you were getting 6GB and it went "on sale" for new customers, you too could get the same price they get.

Doing the loyalty plan extends your contract for 1 year.

[dollfin]

Thank you MillHere, the associate never advised of the contract extension, Armon did call me back and he is having the call pulled. He advised he could revert me back to my old plan and November contract date however since the associate gave me incorrect information I've requested the call to be pulled and reviewed. This will allow me to keep my whopping $7.00 savings until my contract ends, it's the principal at this point. I now have his direct line and I should hear back within 48hrs. The drama continues!

[dollfin]

Armon did call me back and he is having the call pulled. He advised he could revert me back to my old plan and November contract date however since the associate gave me incorrect information I've requested the call to be pulled and reviewed. This will allow me to keep my whopping $7.00 savings until my contract ends, it's the principal at this point. I now have his direct line and I should hear back within 48hrs. The drama continues!

[dollfin]

If anyone is interested; WhistleOut.com can assist with the best plan to meet your needs with a free comparison shopping tool if your contract is nearing it's end and you want to switch carriers to save on your monthly bill. I've also list some options below.

Boost Mobile

Straight Talk

Virgin Mobile USA

Republic Wireless

Scratch Wireless

Freedom Pop

Ring Plus

Of course not all (or any) may be the best fit depending on your mobile/smart phone needs my only goal it to let folks know there are options and the cost of monthly cell phone service is dropping. Plans and services are morphing in may different directions at once. That makes saving money more complicated and requires you to decide what compromises you are willing to live with to save money. Do your research and do not become a victim of the unrealistic contracts with outregeous monthly charges, the monopoly can only change when we as consumers stand up to these major corporations and not let the blue collar suffer while paying their executives extravagant life styles! 

[MiiHere]

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Prices vary because so does coverage, options and support.

[dollfin]

Yes, I am aware of that but considering the lack of support and or loyality  I'm getting from Verizon, not sure what your point is.

[MiiHere]

This is a peer to peer forum, that response is for anyone else who might read this.

[gla4]

I have just been having the same problem! Verizon extended my contract without my permission, then lied about it, then charged me an early termination fee. I called in March 2015 and asked if I could do anything about the cost of my monthly bill - which amounted to $150/mo for two lines with the second-lowest data plan. She said she could offer me a discount on one of the lines saying that it was "a great deal we have on right now." She did not tell me it would affect my contract end date by extending it from that date for another YEAR! I called when my contract was supposed to be up and was told "It's fine, you're out of contract, you won't be charged an early termination fee." I didn't trust it so I went into the Verizon store and they also said I would not be charged an early termination fee. I called again to port my number and was told for a third time I was out of contract. Well here I am a month later with a $195 bill for early termination. I called to complain, was on the phone for 2 hours and they basically said that they are not liable for any mis-information that their customer service reps give. They also will not review the calls. They are offering me nothing. If I don't pay they will send the bill to a creditor and it will affect my credit score.

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

Many of the Loyalty/Discount Plans have terms and conditions attached to them. One of main ones is a one year contract term. The contract date should have been reflected on your MyVerizon account online. You should ask also asked if there were any conditions before agreeing to the plan change. You are responsible for paying the ETF because you agreed to the plan change.