Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just a few days ago, I was notified by Experian that Verizon had filed a "Collections" report against me for $106. This hostile action by Verizon has reduced my credit score by 160 points!

Let me repeat that: By 160 points!

To make matters perfectly clear: I am a current Verizon customer. I have paid every bill that Verizon has ever sent me. I have paid every such bill on time. This "Collections" report was apparently regarding a missing router that Verizon had wanted me to return, but I was never in possession of this router. I always used my own Apple Time Capsule router with this service. The Internet service was installed using my Apple router from day 1, and that was the only router that was EVER in use on this account until the day that this account was closed.

Before filing this Collections report against me, Verizon did NOT contact me in any way about me owing Verizon any money. They did not send me an email or physical mail. They did not call me or text me. They just ruined my credit without warning. I only find out about the outstanding bill because Experian notified me of the huge decrease in my FICO score.

A few days ago, I was told by Verizon that a supervisor would call me back within 24 hours. I received no such call.

I have since contacted Verizon's billing department and their "Credit Reporting Removal" department. They say that they will tell Experian and the other credit reporting agencies that I have paid my outstanding bill, but they say that Verizon's policy is not to have this "Collections" record "deleted". What this means is that this "Collections" record will, according to Experian, damage my credit score for the next seven years!

The representative I talked to at Credit Reporting Removal actually scolded me for not returning the router. But I clearly can't return something I don't have! She also scolded me for not returning other equipment she said that I did not return. I have receipts from Verizon for the return of the other equipment she claimed that I did not return. She scolded me saying that it was my responsibility to pay my bills, even though I never received a bill. She told me that the bill had been sent to Cambridge. A place that I have not lived for 25 years. She scolded me for leaving an old address on my account. I never gave a 25-year-old address to Verizon. I have only been a Verizon customer for the last six years or so. Furthermore, my account had paperless billing, and so I would check for bills in my email. The last bill I received for the account in question, which was closed in February, was from March and was a statement for $0.00.

I am still a Verizon customer on a different account, but I cannot in good conscience continue doing business with a company that will treat me in this callous and hostile manner. Ruining my credit score over bills that were never sent to me is a completely unacceptable business practice, regardless of whether I am responsible for this missing router. (Which I am not.)

Due to the conversation I had last night with a representative who was very rude to me, I have filed complaints with the BBB, the Massachusetts AG office, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Or Verizon could just do the right thing and remove their "Collections" report with the credit agencies and have my FICO credit score returned back to the "Excellent" score that it's been at for many years until now.

Verizon gets $80 a month from me for FIOS Internet service. They have so for quite a few years, and they would have probably done so for the rest of my life. But Verizon would rather lose my business forever than spend the effort to clear my credit history. What kind of sense does this make? What kind of company is Verizon that it cares so little about a valuable customer who has always paid his bills on time?

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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just in case anyone cares, I was able to get this issue resolved. It took untold hours on the phone with Verizon over the course of more than a week to get this sorted out, however.

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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

As this is a peer to peer support forum, you will need to contact Verizon directly for assistance. We have sent you a private message with contact information for a dedicated specialist who is able to help with a resolution of your issue.

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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you.

I contacted the very department that you referred to me last night. It was the person there who was rude to me, as I described in my post. She also told me that there was nothing to be done and Verizon's policy is to NEVER "delete" records that they have filed with credit agencies. She told me that the best that Verizon can do is to annotate the Collections report as being paid.

But that won't restore my credit score. This Collections report will damage my credit score for the next seven years according to Experian.

I have been on the phone for many hours with Verizon representatives over the past few days. Some of them have been very nice. But none of them have been able to fix this situation. And representatives will tell me things like, "Once the Collections report is marked as paid by Verizon, your credit score will return to its previous value, and so there is nothing to worry about."

But these claims are in direct contradiction to what Experian tells me. They say that with this Collections report on my record, paid or not, I will be unable to achieve a credit rank of "Excellent" again for at least seven years.

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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
jonjones1
Legend

You are missing the point. You state you never had the router or returned it. And that you used your own router from day 1.

contact all three credit bureaus and dispute the trade listing. The bureaus must receive proof of the claim by verizon. Additionally you can send a certified return receipt demand to verizon for proof of their claim. If you have your first invoice from when you used your own router and that it was not listed on that invoice the credit bureau cannot continue to list it.

google the “Fair Debt Collections Practices Act “ and read what it states. Also search on your states regulations on collections and you may have other options.

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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2
contact all three credit bureaus and dispute the trade listing.

I have already disputed this with Experian, but they decided in favor of Verizon for unknown reasons very quickly.

Additionally you can send a certified return receipt demand to verizon for proof of their claim.

Yes, I will do this of course, if this issue is not resolved promptly. But you would think that a company with valuable customers would want to treat these valuable customers fairly and correct mistakes rather than ruining their customers' credit scores for the next seven years.

I pay Verizon $80 a month and have paid every bill on time for years. I would probably have been a lifetime customer of Verizon's, but now they are going to lose me as a customer as soon as I can find a viable alternative.

google the “Fair Debt Collections Practices Act “ and read what it states.

Thanks for the pointer. I'm not sure if anything in it will help me because I paid the outstanding balance on the account as soon as I was notified about it from Experian. I did so, not because I believe the charge to be valid, but because my credit score is a lot more important to me than $106.

But apparently paying the bill was for naught, since Verizon refuses to have their "Collections" record removed from my credit reports. They say that the only thing they will do is annotate these records as having now been paid.



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Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just in case anyone cares, I was able to get this issue resolved. It took untold hours on the phone with Verizon over the course of more than a week to get this sorted out, however.

Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
Rob887766655
Enthusiast - Level 2

Verizon customer service is nonexistant.  They’re rude, unhelpful and lie to get you off the phone.  Good luck.

Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
DarkWater
Enthusiast - Level 2

@Rob887766655 wrote:

Verizon customer service is nonexistant.  They’re rude, unhelpful and lie to get you off the phone.  Good luck.


Don't I know it!!!

You are 100% correct.

I did ultimately get the issue resolved, but only after a monumental amount of effort and time dedicated to restoring my credit score.

What I don't understand is why a company that should want to retain loyal paying customers, would so cavalierly ruin the credit rating of such a customer, and provide no means to have this remedied.

It's almost as if Verizon wants to make me so furious that I'll never want to do business with them again. I don't get it.

Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
jboi1991
Enthusiast - Level 1

That's great that you resolved it, but how exactly did you get them to undo the damage to your credit score? I'm in the same situation except that they're saying I was late for my Verizon Fios cancellation fee when I had no knoweldge that they didn't accept my waiver for the cancellation fee. My credit score also dropped about 165 points and it's infuriating that they wouldn't even contact me before sending my remaining balance to collections.

Re: Verizon put a Collections notice on my credit report and refuses to remove it!
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

Hi jboi1991,

As this is a peer to peer support forum, you will need to contact Verizon directly for assistance. We have sent you a private message with contact information for a dedicated specialist who is able to help with a resolution of your issue.

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