Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
oliversmom
Newbie

I closed our residential account end of July 2010. Paid final bill in full on time Aug 2010. Received letter from a collections agency demanding payment of $27.50 for Verizon account 12/15/10. Verizon then debited my checking acct for same amount without my knowledge on 12/27/10 and then sent this payment directly to collections agency 12/30/10. Called Verizon billing on 1/3/11 and found out that their bill for $27.50 was sent to me (which I didn't receive) on 12/7/10; payment for this was due 1/6/11. So, on the same day Verizon supposedly sent me this bill, they also went ahead and engaged the collections agency to collect this amount. I am appalled that Verizon didn't even wait to receive payment on this account before sending to collections! I was never aware of the charge, and thus never given a chance to pay the bill on time as I would have.

I was told by Verizon customer service in billing, Mr. Patterson, that this is Verizon policy to send to collections the same day that the bill is sent out. WHAT??? This conversation with him was recorded; I hope someone listens to this.

Has anyone else had this problem with Verizon trying to ruin their credit report???

Oh, and this bill was for a deferred billing from 6/16/10-6/30/10 on my internet usage. Verizon changed their billing from the 15th of the month to the 1st of the month, so this charge was not caught until an internal audit was done of accounts at the end of December.

I am furious about their lack of customer service, and their practice of sending deferred bills to collection agencies at the same time they are sending the regular bill to the customer.

Anyone else have this problem?

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
Hubo_VZ
Contributor - Level 2

I know from experience that something like this or even 3rd party charges sometimes take weeks to get to your bill, even after you paid what you thought was the final bill.  So it could have just been something like that, or if the bill was returned to sender it may have triggered Verizon’s system to send a collection letter for any future balances that come in.  However, nothing would have been sent to your credit report until the unpaid amount was 30 or more days past due.  That is the law per the FCRA.  Did this go to your credit report?

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
tom12341
Enthusiast - Level 1

I am having the EXACT same problem.  Cancelled service on 9/6 and still trying to get an explanation from Verizon about this "deferred billing" charge, which they also turned over to a collections agency immediately in my case as well !

Funny how no one at Verizon can explain this charge to me even though I have made at least 10 calls and spoken to at least 15 different people.  It seems that the customer service policy is that if they can't answer the question, they simply disconnect you.  This has happened at least 6 times.  I am now seriously considering talking to a lawyer.  If the charge is valid, I have no issues with paying it, I just want a clear explanation of where it came from.  If it was due to a billing date change then they should be able to tell me that.  Thye must have a pretty shabby accounting system if they can post charges to an account with no explanation.

Good luck to you.  I have a feeling we are both going to need it....

Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
acktroll
Enthusiast - Level 1

Not exactly the same issue, but you can read my post as of today about my terrible Verizon experiences and their highly questionable practices. This must stop. 

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
pepsiboy1983
Newbie

You think that is bad. My wife and I closed our frontier/verizon account after our plan was so messed up. We had gotten the internet and home service for their special of $59.99 a month. After 3 months of sevice we realized that they were billing us separate which meant we werent paying on both but only 1 account.So we tried calling spent a good amount of time on the phone and still no luck, I call the next day and got someone who spoke indian they said they apoligized and would fix it for us. Nope they never did so after that we decided to cancel our phone and keep the internet.

Well sadly to say a month ago all of a sudden we got a phone bill from frontier saying we owe them a whopping $580. My wife was flipping out. Apparently frontier has been charging us service for phone that we dont have. hell i even had plugged in my old phone to the outet and guess what no service.Again we call them and after speaking to 5 agents they gave us a conformation number and told us that it will be straighten out. I just checked my mail today and the phone bill didnt disappear, they charged us another $70.

So now our verizon/frontier phone bill that we dont get and cancelled 7 months is still charging us nd putting us in collection. Is there a way to actually get ahold of someone over there or do they ejoy {please keep your posts courteous} for no reason. I refuse to pay verizon they have already put me in collections,so what the **bleep** do i do now?

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
ElizabethS
Moderator Emeritus

Please clarify pepsiboy1983

Are you still being billed by Verizon?

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
pepsiboy1983
Newbie

nope since the switch over verizon gave frontier all my info since verizon no longer exists in my area

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
akl928
Newbie

I had the same problem.  I changed service, never realized they closed my account as part of a change in service, and continued to pay my bill in full on time every month.  My online account always showed "Paid In Full".  I never received the final bill, was given no notification by Verizon that I had a past due balance and was not notified it was sent to collections.  My customer service rep said accounts go to collections within 30 days of a closed account - the only notification you get is a final paper bill in the mail.  If it gets lost in the mail, you are out of luck.  My customer service rep said "If you knew you had a closed account I would think you'd be more on top of this."  Yes, really, that was his response.  I never had a chance to rectify the situation.  Verizon would not speak with the collections agency or the credit agencies on my behalf to fix the situation and pull it off my report.  I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Verizon.  I've paid my bill on time every month, never been late on a bill ever in my life to any company, and this is going to wreck my credit.  That they're doing this to several of us means it's a problem and harmful to consumers and I hope the Better Business Bureau can help us out.

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
prowalt22
Newbie

Re BBB.  Unfortunately BBB gets paid by companies like Verizon. They will do nothing.  But even if they did, Verizon is beyond BBB reach and no one cares what BBB says about such companies. It's a shame, but there is nowhere to turn nowadays.  Consumers are being taken advantage of all the time, and no one seems to care. 

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Re: Deferred billing on closed account/sent to collections agency
AmyLC1
Newbie

I had a similar problem this week. Canceled the bundle plan at end of January/early February and my mother in law gets a call from collections regarding my account. I never got a final bill/call/email from Verizon for the amount that collections said was due. The amount that was owed doesn't even match any of my billing records. I tried speaking to a Verizon rep who told me that all questions/complaints had to be directed to collections. The collections agent wouldn't answer any questions, they would only tell me what verizon said was due.

I was also told that Verizon wireless is a completely different company so even though the bill is combined, no verizon agent could help answer questions regarding any portion of the wireless bill - I would have to call the wireless company, which I did and was told that I had no outstanding balance.

I am very displeased with Verizon and its customer service. The company as a whole has left a bad taste in my mouth and once my contract for the wireless plan is up, I plan to cancel that service as well- I won't support a company who doesn't repect a customers right to have their questions answered.

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