I’ve been a Verizon customer for approximately 16 years. Any issue that I’ve ever had in the past has been solved quickly and professionally. I’ve never wanted to leave Verizon until now. Th...
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I’ve been a Verizon customer for approximately 16 years. Any issue that I’ve ever had in the past has been solved quickly and professionally. I’ve never wanted to leave Verizon until now. This is my experience: Last year, in July and August, my data usage suspiciously spike to levels that were impossible. Such as a six-hour usage late in the night when I was asleep and not using the device. After I viewed a detailed chart of the times that the so-called usage took place, I knew that the usage was false and impossible to have taken place. When I called Verizon to inquire about this last summer, I asked if anyone else had experienced a spike. I was told that only one other person had experienced it, and that it was a fluke. Verizon refused to accept that the usage did not occur, and Verizon said that the only way out of this was to pay them a $15.00 overage charge, and consider increasing my plan, which I did. I later discovered online, that I had been deceived. Verizon did the same thing to thousands of customers, to the point that the FCC is now investigating them. This past Sunday, my daughter dropped her phone and broke the glass. She needed to get a replacement phone ASAP, and she knew she had an upgrade on her Verizon account. Her husband went into a busy Verizon store, and was told that someone had already used her upgrade, so she was out of luck. Since she was no longer under contract with Verizon, she was eligible to change to one of the other carriers who were offering promotions for new customers. She needed the phone quickly for work. Since we had been pleased with Verizon overall, other than the data usage spike situation, I told her I would contact Verizon, (since I am the account holder) to find out what happened to her upgrade. She was hoping to get one of the promotions that Verizon has always offered which would allow her to get an older phone for a nominal price. I called Verizon on 4/16/17 and spoke to “Celeste.” I was told that my daughter did have an upgrade after all, and was misinformed at the Verizon store. Celeste said that the upgrade was usable. She also advised me that Verizon no longer offers nominal promotions. However, we could purchase the same model phone that my daughter currently has for $16.81 per month. Additionally, Celeste told me that my daughter’s line usage charge would be reduced from $40.00 to $20.00 per month. According to the math, my daughter would save $3.19 per month. Based on this information, we agreed to make the buying decision, and purchase the phone from Verizon. I was not home at the time I made this call to Verizon, and I did not have a recent Verizon bill in front of me for reference. The next day, I reviewed my Verizon statement, and compared it to the confirmation email that I received from Verizon. I discovered that the promised $20 per month reduction had not been applied to our new plan. On 4/17/17, I called Verizon Customer Service to get this error corrected. I spoke to several representatives who refused to honor the $20 monthly reduction, which was what I had been promised by a Verizon Representative BEFORE MAKING MY BUYING DECISION! I was transferred to “Sheri”, a supervisor in Albuquerque. Instead of helping me, Sheri insulted me by asking why I had not purchased insurance for the phone. I think this was Verizon’s way distracting the customer, and then putting the blame onto the customer. In the end, Verizon was unwilling to honor the pricing information provided to me by one of their employees prior to me making a buying decision. At that point, my husband and I decided not to renew any of our six devices with Verizon once the contracts end. My daughter lives in New York, and I live in Kentucky. At the time, I purchased the phone through Celeste, I provided my daughter’s name and New York shipping address to Celeste so that the phone would go directly to my daughter. Celeste took down the information, and read it back to me correctly. Last night, my daughter called asking when the new phone would arrive. She’s desperate. I checked the tracking number provided by Verizon, and discovered that Verizon did not ship the phone to the New York address that I provided, and that they read back to me. Instead, the phone is being shipped to me in Kentucky. I called Verizon on 4/18/17, to try to get the phone rerouted to New York. The first person I spoke to “Danielle” was very helpful, however, after a long wait, I became disconnected. I frustratingly called back a moment later, and spoke with “Liz”. I had to repeat the whole story. In the end, Liz agreed to contact FedEx, and have the phone rerouted and overnighted to my daughter in New York. This morning, I checked the FedEx tracking number, and discovered that the phone is on the truck, and out for delivery in Kentucky. So, I expect I will receive the phone today, and then I will have to contact Verizon again to have them contact FedEx again to pick up the phone and ship it to New York. The time and frustration that has gone into what should have been a simple purchase is unacceptable! Being quoted a price prior to making a buying decision, and then refusing to honor it is fraud! Putting the blame on the customer for not choosing to purchase insurance is offensive! The ineptitude that has occurred with what should have been a simple transaction is hugely disappointing! The data usage spike scam last summer is illegal! Can someone at Verizon make this right?