Complaint Review: Verizon Wireless/Airtouch Cellular

In June of 2000 I purchased the Airtouch Cellular phone and prepaid plan, as I did not want to be locked into monthly calls since I have a home phone. I only wanted the phone for emergency use. I would not have purchased it otherwise. When I purchased it, it was $80.00 for the phone and first 15 minutes. Then I purchased an additional card for 60 minutes. They sold me this with the idea that this was a perfect emergency phone since I only had to renew the $30.00 card every 6 months, and I might use the phone 5 or 10 minutes a month. Anything I had left would carry over to the next 6 months. In November, I purchased another $30.00 card, ahead of the 6 months, and still had 30 minutes left on the old time, giving me a total of 90 minutes now for the next 6 months.

On 2/3 I was told that I had 78 minutes on my phone and 1 day to purchase another $30.00 card. I found out that Airtouch had been bought out by Verizon and 4 other Companies that merged. Everyone with this plan no longer had a 6 month plan for emergencies only. They now had 60 days, and would have to purchase a new $30.00 card every 60 days. This to me was a way of locking you into having to use and pay for $15.00 per month, for emergency phone service only.

I bought it under certain conditions. I feel that those conditions should remain and be honored, merger or not. I have no use for a second phone for $15.00 a month.

I feel I have been duped into a scam or set up to get me to pay this amount and lost the emergency phone service. I talked to 2 reps last night. One told me that they had received alot of complaints because people bought them for emergencies. Another rep told me that they did it because they want you to use your phone service more and you are wasting a # that could be given to someone who would use it. The whole thing is totally unfair to the consumer.