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Action: Verizon's billing added to her grief

Q: In February 2007, my daughter and I were using pay-as-you-go cell phones. I only used mine for brief conversations and always rolled minutes over.

By Suzanne Palmer, Times Staff Writer
Published February 18, 2008

Q: In February 2007, my daughter and I were using pay-as-you-go cell phones. I only used mine for brief conversations and always rolled minutes over.

My daughter, on the other hand, is 14 years old. Need I say more? Texting is a way of life for her. She was zipping through $30 prepaid phone cards in no time.

That same month I received an ad from Verizon, offering bundled service for my landline, DSL and cell phone for $99 per month.

I wanted that plan.

I was going to keep my pay-as-you-go service, but get a new phone for my daughter and bundle it with the other services.

I visited the Verizon Plus store on 22nd Avenue N in St. Petersburg and told the salesman to sign me up.

Then he told me I could add extra lines for $10 a line, plus get unlimited texting for my daughter for $109.99.

That was cheaper than my pay-as-you-go plan. With $5 a month insurance added for my daughter's phone, that still just came to $114.99.

I could even get a cell phone for my husband, who was being treated for cancer and was only working part-time, which greatly diminished our income. This sounded like a very economical deal.

The first few bills were enormous. I had to pay for the phones and there was a lot of prorating going on. I figured by May or June it would all be worked out.

By now my husband's health had required him to quit his job, and family members were coming in and out of town to help us.

The bills didn't straighten out.

I went back to the Verizon Plus store and asked why my bills were so high. No one at the store could explain it. Either they didn't understand me or I didn't understand them. They gave me a toll-free number to call.

I spent a long time on the phone and was transferred to several different people. No one could explain my bills.

My husband died in August.

In September, I went back to the Verizon Plus store to have his line disconnected and again try to straighten out my bills.

The young salesperson told me I had the "family share plan," for $139.99, plus my DSL and landline service. I told him there must be some mistake. He couldn't help me and he didn't know how to go about disconnecting my husband's line. He gave me another toll-free number to call.

I did and spoke with several different people. No one could do anything for me.

I went back to the store with my husband's death certificate and asked if I could please just get his line disconnected. Ten dollars is $10 and my budget is stretched to the limit.

The young man apologized for my loss, but said because my husband's name wasn't on the account, I'd have to pay $175 to have his line disconnected.

He had to be kidding! I waved the death certificate in the air. I admit, I created a bit of a scene. People in line behind me were gasping.

A supervisor came out from the back room. She was polite, but said that because I signed the contract, there was nothing that could be done. A contract is a contract.

Since then, I have visited two branches of Verizon stores multiple times, talked with myriad employees on several levels and gotten virtually nowhere.

I did successfully have my husband's line disconnected, thanks to two very compassionate and knowledgeable employees, but my bills are still more than $200 a month. I'm not paying for the plan I signed up for.

I like Verizon, because I get no dropped calls, the commercials are great and, for the most part, the employees were courteous, if not always helpful.

I'm barely making my mortgage payment. Where do I go from here?

Gail Pleasants

A: I'm so sorry for your loss. Anyone who's been through the grave illness and death of a loved one can empathize with how chaotic life becomes during this time.

The panacea you expected by signing up for Verizon's bundled plan didn't materialize.

Cristina Coffin, in Verizon's external affairs, explained why.

The ad you received was for Verizon's Triple Freedom offer. It includes Freedom Essentials landline service for $44.99, DSL for $37.99 and wireless service for $39.99. Discounts of $9.98 and $13 for landline and DSL bring the bundled bill to $99.99 monthly, plus inside wire maintenance, FCC charges, insurance and text messaging.

The salesperson offered you additional wireless lines for $9.99 each, which you accepted.

What wasn't clear is that the 450 minutes of talk time allotted was split between your three lines, not 450 minutes per line. That's where your first overages began.

This brings us to your daughter and her flying fingers. The unlimited text messaging was for Verizon-to-Verizon phones. Texting to non-Verizon phones had a limit of 500 messages per month.

You were quick to tell me you weren't exactly thinking straight during that time, but there's no excuse why not even one Verizon employee in all those you spoke with was able to explain that to you.

When a customer dies, Coffin said an account can be altered by visiting a Verizon store and presenting a copy of the death certificate (as you did) or by phoning customer service and faxing a copy.

You did everything right. It was just that most of the employees were ignorant of company policy and about whom to contact to find out more.

You said you were contacted by Knetashia Davis with Verizon executive relations. In addition to an apology, you received an offer to change your plan at no charge when it comes up for renewal in March.

You intend to do so, you said, as long you're able to find a less expensive plan and get a full explanation of how it works.

Action solves problems and gets answers for you. Write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request. Complaints can only be accepted by mail. Send only photocopies of personal documents. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

[Last modified February 15, 2008, 20:24:25]