I'll try to summarize this without too many words or taking too much time in my day. I've already spent many hours on the phone with reps and, in fact, someone has been reaching out to me from V...
See more...
I'll try to summarize this without too many words or taking too much time in my day. I've already spent many hours on the phone with reps and, in fact, someone has been reaching out to me from VZ to try to resolve the issue. But it's been well over a week since I detailed a special VZ rep who might be able to help. The situation is basically, no lines were available for upgrades in the near future and my son who is across the country has a broken 'not smart' phone andneeded a new phone. I considered buying him a refurb'd iPhone or something, esp. since the new ones came out. $100 or so and at least he has a working smart phone til he's due for an upgrade. But when calling VZ a rep suggested some fairly convoluted scenario whereby I would pay to disconnect the cheapest line (the line whose disconnect fee was lowest, closest to upgrade eligibility) of $95. Then purchase another line which was to be used temporarily to get the discounted new iPhone 4S, then expire the new line and keep service on the disconnected line. I spent well over an hour talking to this rep to get the details on exactly how this would go. There would be charges for the new line prorated over the period of days (maybe $5) but then it would be released. There would be the disconnect fee of $95 but there would be no other fees. This would all happen seamlessly and no service would be interrupted on the line that was disconnected. He called this a "line reduction" and that's what I was to ask for when the new phone arrived. This was all recorded not only by the rep, but by me with copious notes detailing every step of this transaction. New phone goes out, new line ordered, I pay this charge and phone arrives. I call to get it switched, apparently using the terminology the rep advised me to use and I'm told, surprise, "You want to disconnect a new line, that'll be $350, thank you." I NEVER would've purchased a new line if I had known that this whole convoluted deal a VZ rep proposed to me would cost me $350. I know enough how the system works that VZ subsidizes device costs to keep customers. I know there's a disconnect fee. The rep did not tell me about the disconnect fee and explicitly told me I would not be charged to disconnect the line. Knowing what I know, I would have bought a used iPhone and that would've been that. I have been on the phone with many additional reps, after this whole thing started, to try to resolve this matter. The rep with the Social Media Team has been helpful and did discover a discrepancy in the notes which aligns with my story. He has been looking into a solution. But this is still not resolved. I'm not someone who will just throw up their hands and say, "Gosh, golly, Verizon! I guess I misunderstood. Here's $350 because you misled me." That's not how the world works. If a customer is not properly informed and coerced into agreeing to terms and conditions they do not understand, there must be some recourse. So here we are, spending another 1/2 hour recapping this ugly customer service nightmare.