Complaint Review: Verizon Wireless

Signed contact for calling plan 200 on 10/16/00. Per contact, monthly plan was to be billed at 35.00 monthly but with a $15.00 discount per month the first year. I should have been billed 19.99 monthly the 1st year. I should have not had any roaming charges for any calls made within my area. I did not sign up for anything else.

I never rec'd a bill for 19.99. I was over-charged every month from the time I got the phone.

I called Verizon to try and fix the problem. They were very rude. Told me I signed up for mobile to mobile. I never did. It is not on my contract. The box is very clearly not marked. Billed me for voice-mail messages even though I never rec'd any messages. Added per call charges to my bill. I don't know what they were for. I hardly ever used the phone, let alone call from outside my service area.

I was calling monthly to have them correct my bill. They didn't want to take the time to talk to me. They would not correct the bills. I paid my 19.99 monthly plus tax. They just tacked the balance on to my next bill.

Finally in 4/01, I sent them a letter telling them to cancel my phone due to their breach in our contract. If they could not bill me correctly, I did not want their service. I even offered to return the phone to them. They didn't want the phone. They did cancel the service but continued to bill me. I rec'd bills every month for the next year, all for different amts. They called me numerous times at work and at home even after I told them what was going on. Funny how they couldn't talk to me before I canceled the service but they could call me 10 times a day after I refused to pay the excess charges.

They finally turned it over to collection. I've had 3 collection agencies contact me. They all stopped collection when I sent them copies my contract and letters sent to Verizon. They all were trying to collect for different amts. The last bill I rec'd from Verizon said I owed the 295.00 for early termination. One collection agency said Verizon was willing to accept 80%,$495.00. I ask how 80% of 295.00 could be 495.00. Never heard from that one any more. Today, I have received yet another collection letter from yet another collection agency.

This has been added to my credit report even though I have tried all attempts to fix the problem. I have sent copies of my contract and all communications to Experian to have this removed from my credit report. They refuse to do so.

Where do you go from here? Obviously, $$ is the issue..Customer service is not.. Big Business can stick it to you and you have no recourse.

Vicky
Logan, Ohio
U.S.A.