Back in January I had to get rid of my cable (was in someone else's name) so I see Verizon FIOS on TV. I go on the web, put in my pertinent information, Congratulations! I have high speed Internet available. Great, so I do all the paperwork to get it ordered and wait for the modem in the mail.
The modem never comes. I call them back, oh, they bring the modem when they install now, new policy change. Fine.
Next day the technician comes, with a DSL model. Um, wait, I ordered FIOS, not DSL. Oh, well, the apartment owners never paid to get fiber installed in the building, only DSL was available. At this point it is too late to order any new internet service for the month as my Cable Internet is going to get disconnected in a few days. So to have Internet for the month, I had to go with DSL as it was there. And I'm paying $40/month for it. And have to pay $20/month for telephone. For less than 1mbps Internet.
Part 2: Billing error
I sign up for automatic billing to be taken off my credit card around March. My bill is about $58/month for crappy Internet and a phone I don't want, need, nor care for.
March 30th or so I get a notice on my phone. Verizon just tried to take a payment, but I had no balance, since it's a prepaid card and I get paid on the 3rd being on disability. I wait until I get my money on the 2nd (sometimes it comes early) and put in a payment.
I then go into the automatic payment system and try to figure out what is going on. I see my bill is due on the 7th. I reenter the automatic payment information and see no change. I call them on the phone and explain that I don't get my check until the 3rd since I'm on disability. They transfered me to someone in IT who adjusted my due date until the 16th so the auto payments would be taken out on the 7th, in time for me to get my check. This is a good thing, +1 for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
The next day I get a message on my phone. Verizon has just taken out a payment. They now have 2 payments. The one I manually paid on the 2nd, and the auto payment they just took out on the 3rd.
I call them. I explain that they just took out two payments. The customer service representative tells me they will send me a check, I'll get it in 2 weeks (I later find this info was wrong, will explain later).
I get mad since I now have no money on my credit card, not even for food. I go on-line to my credit card company and put in for an unauthorized payment. I have to cancel the credit card to do this, but I don't have much money on it anyway (around $5).
On the 18th my credit card company puts the $58 back on my account. I soon get a new credit card to replace the old one.
Okay, 15 days of starving, but I've gotten my money back. No harm, no foul, right? Nope.
Mays bill is for twice the amount as normal. I call them, they say I only owe the new bill amount, and I make the payment manually (no way am I going automatic with these guys again).
Next month (this month) I get a bill for $116.53.
This is despite the fact that I have paid my bill every month on time, and one month they took out an extra payment. To add insult to injury this is a charge on my bill: Late payment charge 2.50.
So, I call 611 again, this time late at night. I talk to someone, they agree that I've paid every month. They agree that I only got credited once on my credit card. But we have a debit that cancels it out. I tried to talk to someone who understands that 1+1-1 = 1 and not 0, but that didn't happen that night.
I called last night at 4:30. Talk to person in payments, wrong department. They transfer me to changes in service. I explain to them, wrong department. They send me to some financial. I explain it to them, wrong department, you need the people who send money. They transfer me, I'm on hold and.. fast busy signal. I look at the time 5:04. They hung up on me after 5:00.
I called today. Talked to someone in the correct department after only one transfer (yay!) They claim they credited my credit card on the 3rd and that I had it reversed on the 18th.
Here is my credit card statement. It shows 2 payments on the 3rd to Verizon and one reversal on the 18th.
What possibly happened:
When the gentleman on the phone told me they were going to send me a check in two weeks he was wrong, they were going to credit my credit card. If this is true and he told me that, then I wouldn't have canceled the card.
It seems that because the card was canceled, when Verizon made the payment on my credit card it didn't go through, since it was canceled. But Verizon for whatever reason didn't recognize this and still thinks they gave me the money.
In conclusion:
I count 5 mistakes here.
1. They gave me DSL when I wanted Fiber Optic.
2. They billed me on the 30/31st when my bill wasn't due until the 7th.
3. They took out an extra payment after I already paid them.
4. They incorrectly told me they were going to send me a check.
5. They did not recognize when the refund didn't go through.
To date: It is July 11th 2014. I still have a bill for $116 when I only owe $57.
I am not going to send Verizon another penny until they resolve they resolve this. I have already gotten Charter High Speed Internet (50mbps for $40/month. No phone required). My wife wants to switch my phone server to life line, since I'm on SSDI and she's on SSI. However, if Verizon does not fix this, I will simply tell them to cancel my service (before or after switching the number I'm not sure) and forget about them, throwing away any bill I get from them.
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