Another Bait and Switch story-

[AvaM1]

Verizon Bait and Switch—Lies at the very least:

In November my mother called Verizon regarding an offer for renewing her contract to lock a good rate for another 24 months.  Her existing contract still had 6 months to go, but she wanted to make sure her rate would not increase.  Her original package was approximately $127/month and all she cared about was her Colbert Report and PBS.  The woman she spoke to assured her she would have these channels in her new (better) package and ti would be around the same price and she could lock this in for another 24 months.  She is a widow and is concerned about her monthly expenses, so she was shocked when she was her next bill was over$200 the next month!  We immediately called up to find out what happened and either fix it or get her original contract back, but we were told that her original package no longer was available as this was after the New year and all the packages had changed, but they assured us they would do everything they could to give her the channels she originally had for around the same price.  We initially spoke with Amy- (retention?) and she said she would give her credit on her bill to get her down to the $127 till they figured out how to fix the situation and assured us it would be taken care of.  Next month, the same $220 bill.   My mother is having a nervous breakdown and I had to call back again since she was so upset.  Another credit was manually issued and Amy once again assured us it would be fixed and fine next month.  Next month another bill for over $220 again.  This was now March—and we could no longer get in touch with Amy.  Amy did not seem available any longer.  Despite her promises and assurance that this was all noted in the account and promises that she would send an email verification (which never came), we had to speak to various people, explaining each and every time again the issue  after many holds, time spent, stalling, false assurances  with no long term solution in sight.  We were finally escalated to a supervisor, Ms. Martin.

Ms. Martin the supervisor was very professional and nice, even called me back as promised.  However, by that time mom was out of country so she said we’d wait to talk when s Mom was back to determine how we can adjust the package so the charges would be approximate to the cost of her original contract as while Mom was gone she had it on vaca charges and Mr. Martin could not make any changes while in that status.  I reluctantly agreed to this as I was just worn out by this time.  Upon my mothers return, I waited for the arranged call back, but lo and behold, Mr. Martin never called back.    We were not in May.  I left Ms. Martin 5 voicemails over the course of the next month and a half (I had her direct number) but never received a call back.  I kept trying her as I was exhausted from trying to explain each time to otherwise rote customer service reps, who never seemed to all the assured of documentation, just bit and pieces and were never able to track what had occurred previously.  I was tired of having to explain each and every time to each new person what the situation was.  So I kept hoping Ms. Martin would call. 

Finally I gave up, reconciled that I would never hear from Ms. Martin again and talked to a new rep called Mike.  Mike listened to my story and saw that it was beyond his scope of resolution and gave me to Lindsey—a supposed escalation manager.  Lindsey immediately was all business, Verizon business that is.   She agreed to take off the movie packages Ms. Martin would have taken off is she had called back, but would not give credit for previous months charges of them as she said there were no notations to that effect.  Despite many attempts to explain that my Mother had never agreed to the movie package to begin with, she was borderline rude and steadfast that she would not be issuing a credit.  I then asked to be let out of a contract we had never agreed to nor approved only to be told that she would not cancel the contract without the early term fee.  So now my Mother is stuck with $200 of excess charges for services she never agreed to and a contract term for a contract she never agreed to.  She is disgusted with Verizon, as am I, cannot understand how this could happen.  This is unconscionable to bait and switch a widow like this!!!  We would just be rid of Verizon (and I plan on dropping them as soon as I can as well as I am also a current customer) if not for the threat of $350 cancellation charges!  We will pursue this until some justice prevails!!!  Any advise or help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[mugrug1]

I feel your pain. It took me over two months to get my problem taken care of. Many phones calls and emails, and I finally got it resolved. I just happened to get the right person who really cared about my problem. Don't give up until Verizon takes care of your mom's problem. Hopefully someone from Verizon will see your post and take care of everything for you. I wish you the best................Tom

[ElizabethS]

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Before the agent can begin assisting you, they will need to collect further information from you.

Please go to your profile page for the forum, and look in the middle, right at the top where you will find an area titled "My Support Cases". You can reach your profile page by clicking on your name beside your post, or at the top left of this page underneath the title of the board.

Under “My Support Cases” you will find a link to the private board where you and the agent may exchange information. This should be checked on a frequent basis as the agent may be waiting for information from you before they can proceed with any actions.

To ensure you know when they have responded to you, at the top of your support case there is a drop down menu for support case options. Open that and choose "subscribe".

Please keep all correspondence regarding your issue in the private support portal.