Complaint Review: Verizon Wireless - Nationwide

October 22, 2015

I got my first cell phone in 2003 with Verizon. I have been with them ever since. For a few years, I switched the account to a friend’s name so we could share the bill and then back to my name but I have been with Verizon for over 13 years. I have always been happy with the customer service and the service I have received from them. Over the past few years my bill has continually increased,  I have been seeking ways to have my monthly bills reduces so I have waiting for our contracts on Verizon to expire so I could switch carriers and reduce our bill. None of us upgraded our phones for years so our contracts would expire.

This summer, our contracts were all expired and my husband needed a new phone so I began investigating the prices with other companies. On Sept 20,2015 I went down to ATT to change my phone plan over to theirs. I had compared ATT plans with Verizon and my monthly bill with ATT would be about $125/mo compared to the $168/mo I am paying with Verizon.

While I was at the ATT store I called Verizon to find out if I could get our phones unlocked and move them over to ATT, I spoke with a woman. When she heard I was switching and I’ve been a long-time customer she looked over my plan and said that Verizon had just gotten new plans this week and they could get almost match the price ATT had quoted. She said they could get my bill down to $125/mo with only 3 gb of data but she would give me 1 gb promotional data for free for one year if I stayed with Verizon. She told me all phones including smart phones were only $20/mo now.

I decided to look over the new plans because I preferred staying with the company I know, so I left the ATT store and went home to look at the plans. I did a thorough exam of the plans online at Verizonwireless.com then I called Verizon to find out if I upgraded our phones first and then switched to the new plan if it would remain the same price. I spoke with a man on the phone. He assured me I could upgrade my phones with a 2-year contract and then switch to the new Verizon plan and my phone lines would be $20/month. I kept him on the phone and he helped me switch my plan over after I upgraded our phones.  My children have not had smart phones in the past but I decided since the cost was the same ($20/mo per phone) I would go ahead and get them smart phones also. So I purchased my children smart phones also. The information that all the lines would be $20/mo regardless of smart phone or not, was verified by two separate Verizon representatives and it showed up online also. I checked the price immediately after changing the plan and upgrading my phones and it remained the price that I was quoted ($20/mo per phone). I would like to mention, I had to give up my unlimited data by switching.

After we received our phones, I checked my monthly bill and noticed our lines were now $40/mo. I called Verizon and was informed that the $20/mo plan is only available if you buy a phone on a payment plan. I was shocked! I felt like I had been misled, not ONCE was this mentioned to me when I was changing the plan. When they were convincing me to stay and quoting me prices, not ONCE did they tell me I had to purchase phones on a payment plan. I called Verizon to clear this up, expecting to deal with the same friendly and helpful customer services I have always encountered with Verizon. Instead, I was very disappointed. I was transferred 3 times and told the whole story to 3 people. It ended with a women named Cheron in the Florida Call center. She was very nice, she reviewed my plan and said all of my lines should be $20/mo and Verizon made a mistake. She said the plans are very new and that is probably why the mix up occurred because the representatives did not understand how it was supposed to work. She said she would discuss my plan with her supervisor and call me back within the hour. I asked her how to reach her if I did not hear from her. She assured me I would not need to contact her because she would call me back within the hour. She said if I did need to reach her for some reason I could call customer service and ask for Cheron in the Florida Call center and they could email her and ask her to call me.

About 2 hours later, I received a text message from Verizon that said “I will call you tomorrow, my manager is reviewing your account.” 2 days went by, I did not hear from anyone. So I chatted with Verizon so there would be a record, I explained the whole story again and asked them to contact Cheron. I was told there is no way to reach Cheron that she had given me false information. I spoke with a supervisor named Mike in the Texas chat department. He told me he could email Cheron and she would call me with the next 1-2 days. I never heard from her. A few days later, I chatted with Verizon again a few days later only to be told there is nothing they can do for me.

Verizon lied to me to get me into a contract and now my bill is more than what it was before and I lost my unlimited data! Now, instead of my bill going down, my bill is higher and I’m stuck in a 2 year contract with cell phones I cannot use. My children cannot use their new phones or our bill would go up too high. Verizon customer service representatives were so intent on keeping me with your company they lied to me, maybe they didn’t know how their own plan worked because it was new so they misinformed me However, I should not be punished for their mistake for 2 years.

This is a classic bait and switch maneuver. I have never been so unhappy with Verizon.