Verizon Witless (Part 2)
Two weeks of arguing with Verizon over their early termination fee hasn’t gotten me anywhere. They refuse to waive it.
“It follows the terms of your contract, so it’s a valid charge,” they say.
“I’m not saying it’s not valid; I’m saying it’s not right. So you’d rather have $175 from me now than have me ever do business with you again? You are aware I’ve paid Verizon over $800 during the past two years and used barely any of my minutes, right?”
“It’s a valid charge.”
It seems that more and more people these days are drones who can’t think for themselves and who are unwilling to stick their necks out.
Verizon did indicate, however, that I could get the fee waived if I reactivated my old account for the remaining duration of my contract with no additional commitment. The catch? To reactivate my old account, they’d need to use my original cell phone number, which I already had ported to Sprint. Of course, it’d be too easy if they just let me pay them directly for my remaining two weeks, as I had offered originally. No, their highly advanced computer system required an active account with the original number.
I relented and decided to play their stupid game. Not wanting to get an early termination fee on my Sprint account too, I figured I could change my Sprint number, free up my original, and then reactivate my Verizon account.
After I changed my Sprint number, Verizon informed me that although my original number was now available, it was Sprint’s property and that Verizon couldn’t touch it. To transfer it back to Verizon, they said, I’d need to have a Sprint account using it. Unyielding computer systems win again over common sense.
To add insult to injury, Sprint won’t even let me have my original number back. (Another victory for the computers.) So now I have Verizon’s $175 charge, and I’ve lost my original, four-year old number for nothing. (Not that anyone calls me anyway.) Had I not ported my number in the first place, I probably could have reactivated my Verizon account and had that fee waived. Who knew number portability would bite me in the ass like this?
And did I mention that the Sprint phone was a gift?
I give up. I suppose I’ll pay the stupid fee.
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You give up?
Aren’t I proof that if you bitch enough you CAN win? Ha.
— Robin @ May 30, 2004, 2:50 am (PT)
I’ve read enough crazy persistent customer stories to know that if you talk to the right people (someone higher up than a drone), you will find someone who bends over backwards for you.
…
On the other hand, it’s never worked for me, yet…
— Corrie @ June 2, 2004, 7:28 am (PT)
One problem is that Verizon keeps track of all my calls. I already had escalated my complaint to two supervisors, both of whom were unwilling to bend policy, and now my account has notes that say things like, “Barnabus and Roxanne say this is a valid charge.” Unfortunately, this just strengthens their mob mentality, so I think it’s unlikely I’m ever going to get anywhere.
— James @ June 2, 2004, 9:20 pm (PT)