Complaint Review: Verizon

On February 26, 2013, I had Verizon FiOS with High Speed Internet installed in my new apartment. The company's agent, Julie Forrest, that advertises through my particular apartment community, had personally negotiated the services with me and informed me of all the specifications and costs related to my package. The package was advertised as $89.99 a month for the prime HD package, Double Play: Fios Internet 50/25 bundle, plus HBO. I discussed my options thoroughly with the agent, and she assured me that my base monthly bill would be $111 plus tax, and she specifically assured me that the bills would be no more than $125.

My first bill arrived at the beginning of April for $172.43. I immediately called the agent to request an explanation... she had none, other than that the first bill is slightly higher, and that I had a partial month (I signed up February 26th). Preoccupied with life, work, and the upcoming arrival of my first child, I just accepted the explanation and "paid" the amount (explanation for the quotations on paid will follow). I received a confirmation email of the payment and went on with my business.

When it came time to pay my second bill, I expected to see the amount that I originally agreed to. Not the case, in fact my second bill was for $156.00. Again, I was troubled by this because I agreed to pay $111 plus tax, and $156 is quite a bit outside of that given amount. I logged in to my online account only to find out that the original payment never processed due to no fault of my own. According to the incompetent telephone support, Verizon did not have the right checking account and/or routing number so the payment never processed; even though I confirmed that both provided numbers account and billing were correct, and I never realized that the payment never processed. I was never received notice of this failed payment, in fact I received a confirmation of payment email from Verizon... So while I could have confirmed the payment by checking my bank account, it is reasonable to expect that the confirmed payment actually processed.

So here I am in my second month of service with an outstanding balance of $328... I called again, wasted 20 minutes on the phone, and received no explanation as to why the agreed upon cost was still not billed to me. I logged in to my online account again, 1 day later, on May 9, 2013, to make a partial payment on my continually growing balance and saw that I now owed $486!!... Between February 25th and May 10th I have amassed nearly $500 billed on a subpar cable package that I agreed to pay $111.00 plus tax per month on. To make matters more confusing, I have received emailed statements randomly indicating that I should expect the following billing costs of : $129.03, $123.34, $106.27 on my statements; clearly, all of my first three bills, $172.43, $156, and $160 have been considerably higher than the above referenced costs.

This has been a complete nightmare to sort out, I have received no explanation, or assistance in even attempting to help me with these billing problems. The subpar service is not worth any of this hassle, it is unfair business practice, and fraudulent misrepresentation of services and costs.