Billing

[fonz56]

Phone service since 1982.  Started auto payment last year (2009).  Seperate billing for DSL and land line.  Things were fine until May of 2010.  DSL continued being taking out of my bank account.  Land line was not.  No answers as why.  However, Verizon cut my service off.  Talked to new hires.  No success in getting my land line turned back on.  So I filed a complaint with Florida Public Utility Commission.  According to the PUC it has to be re-activated in 10-15 days.  Called Brighthouse on 9/30/10  will have them give me SOME service.  It's bonus time for the CEO's and the profits need to be shown.  Don't really care for the customer.  Small guy, Customer Service, get the static.  I hope Brighthouse is just a tad above good.  That would be more than I could say for Verizon!  Ohhhhhhh, get this:  while I was asking for my FINAL bill the lady said service would be restored within 24 hours to which made my day when I told her just disconnect.  The killer is:  I own stock in Verizon.  I'll sell AFTER the proxy comes out to vote for Board of Directors.

Another Wall Street in the making!!!

[prisaz]

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@fonz56 wrote:

Phone service since 1982.  Started auto payment last year (2009).  Seperate billing for DSL and land line.  Things were fine until May of 2010.  DSL continued being taking out of my bank account.  Land line was not.  No answers as why.  However, Verizon cut my service off.  Talked to new hires.  No success in getting my land line turned back on.  So I filed a complaint with Florida Public Utility Commission.  According to the PUC it has to be re-activated in 10-15 days.  Called Brighthouse on 9/30/10  will have them give me SOME service.  It's bonus time for the CEO's and the profits need to be shown.  Don't really care for the customer.  Small guy, Customer Service, get the static.  I hope Brighthouse is just a tad above good.  That would be more than I could say for Verizon!  Ohhhhhhh, get this:  while I was asking for my FINAL bill the lady said service would be restored within 24 hours to which made my day when I told her just disconnect.  The killer is:  I own stock in Verizon.  I'll sell AFTER the proxy comes out to vote for Board of Directors.

Another Wall Street in the making!!!

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Regardless of why it was not paid. Don't you look at your bank statements? No phone payments since May? I think Verizon was quite nice not to cut you off until now. I pay my own bills and that way I know it is the correct amount. I never trust auto payment. It is like opening your wallet and saying take what you want. I don't trust anyone that much. But that is me.

Tad above good? It all depends on what your level of good is. Regardless I hope you find the service you want and things work out for you. Yes I would be upset if my service was cut off, but would have noticed I was not paying for it within a three  to four month period.

[lasagna]

I ran into a similar situation but it was for my whole bill.   Had been on autopay for over a year without any issues and then one day Verizon just stopped taking the payments.   Fortunately, I wasn't paperless and when I started seeing bills show up as unpaid for the previous month, I was able to jump on it quickly.    Verizon does have some serious issues with it's billing system and process -- particularly it's automated billing.   That whole system would seem to be in need of a serious top to bottom overhaul.

Agreed ... regardless of the reason the bill was not paid, it is the customers responsibility to insure payment is made. 

However, I can also say that with all the transactions which go against my bank account each month, it would be very easy to miss a payment which doesn't show up.  I can quickly pick up anything is not proper -- but to see something which isn't present is a bit harder to recognize.

[Justin46]

I have no sympathy for anybody who does not verify every month that their bills are properly paid, however they pay it, their utilities, mortgage, car, whatever. It is your (my) responsibility, period.

I guess I am way old school or something, but I don't let anybody autodraft from my bank account, and I insist on paper bills. But I do pay as many as I can via the web; I have a checklist that I use to make sure I do pay them all in a timely manner, I "print" to a PDF and save every confirmation web page, and I have every website that offers it send me a email payment confirmation which I also save - call me paranoid, but I want as much proof as possible what and when I paid, and I periodically check my bank account to see if all of the debits are as expected. 

As to Verizon specifically, I have been a Verizon (originally GTE) customer for 30 1/2 years, since March 1980. During that time I have probably had 4 or 5 instances where the bill was incorrect; each time I have been able to easily get it corrected. When I first got FiOS service just over 5 years ago, initially the bill was incredibly difficult to understand, but over time Verizon has gradually improved the bill, now simple and easy to read, and the total is consistently what I expect the amount to be. And for the last three years or so I have been paying it via the web, not a single problem with that. So while I understand that some people do have trouble with Verizon's billing, I have to say overall it has worked just fine for me.

Maybe I am just lucky???? And have I just jinxed myself???? 

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.7.1, Build 09.97
Keller, TX 76248

[spamsickle]

Yeah, you've just jinxed yourself.  Verizon has apparently decided to charge customers who don't opt for autopay an additional $3 per month.  "Pay to pay".  Just heard it on NPR, this may be my last month with Verizon after being a customer for more than a decade.

[lasagna]

@spamsickle -- that applies ONLY to credit card transactions.   If you pay using a source account which is an EFT / Checking account, there is not fee.  NPR, as usual, didn't bother to get the entire story before reporting it.

[dcprice1200]

I'm beginning to find my Verizon phone bill unbelievable. When I started with Double Freedom, my bill was around $50. Now after about a year or so, I find that the bill is taking a big chunk out of my monthly budget. The bills keep going up, while my social security income stays the same. My present bill is over $60. That's nearly 25% added for taxes and fees. Does this make any sense?

[prisaz]

With the size of the Verizon bill, it would be hard not to see that one was not paid. No complaints, it is just a good amount.

I guess Verizon is just trying to pass on transaction costs. If their banking sqeezes them, why should they not sqeeze us?

I have not looked into payments through checks and ACH payments. Is that only possible when you have a monthly automatic draft?

Lord knows that one will not happen with any of my accounts. Yea, i'm gonna open my wallet and say take what you want?

[lasagna]

You can pay with checking account drafts without being on the auto-pay plan.  You just need to put the information into the system and then pay your bill online just like you would do with a credit card.  It  just takes a one time draw on your account.

As for auto-pay ... I love that feature and have pretty much all my bills setup that way.   Yeah, it is a bit of "take what I owe you when you want it", but I still receive the monthly statement from each biller in advance so I know how much they will be taking and when and I also still receive the bank statements which detail these drafts as well.  

[prisaz]

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@lasagna wrote:

You can pay with checking account drafts without being on the auto-pay plan.  You just need to put the information into the system and then pay your bill online just like you would do with a credit card.  It  just takes a one time draw on your account.

As for auto-pay ... I love that feature and have pretty much all my bills setup that way.   Yeah, it is a bit of "take what I owe you when you want it", but I still receive the monthly statement from each biller in advance so I know how much they will be taking and when and I also still receive the bank statements which detail these drafts as well.  

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Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was like that. Yea open my wallet and take what you want, will never happen with me. What you owe is open to interpretation. Getting the bills in advance is a good thing I guess. I pay all my bills online monthly when I want, and most through an ACH draft from my checking. I still get my paper bill and like it that way. I just wish they would stop suffing the bills with junk mail, and reduce a little of their own paper.