jrerion wrote: ...  I can understand that I was late on my payment, but this is terrible business practice to treat a customer who always settles their account balance accordingly. Due to Verizon's ... inappropriate phone practice and billing representatives, I will be cancelling my service as soon as my contract is over.

Calling to remind you of a late payment 2-3 WEEKS after the due date is not a "terrible business practice" - it's pretty standard for ANY business.  Especially if it is a customer who is consistently late or slow in paying bills.  I agree with Elector - a pre-paid phone may be a better option in your situation.

You are still in college, and learning life lessons.  A valuable take away from this should be to pay your bills ON TIME.  You said you are a "college student on a limited budget" - and the cell phone bill was beyond the budget at times and you couldn't pay.  Verizon called to remind you, charged a late fee, disconnected service after multiple reminders and late payments, and expects future payments to be ON TIME, not late again.  If this is not doable, find a service that will work within your budget (prepaid or another carrier, perhaps).  And realize that every cell carrier (or any service business) will treat you pretty much the same way if you are consistently late or slow to pay your bill.