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Verizon Bills Dead Man Bill Young, Says 'Death Certificate' Not Enough To Cancel Service

2K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  lovebeingamomma 
#1 ·
Okay, this is just wrong.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_489865.html

Quote:
Don't die without sharing your PIN numbers.

That seems to be the lesson learned from Verizon's recent botched handling of a deceased man's account.

Bill Young of Calvin, W.Va died in June 2009, but Verizon Wireless continued to bill him until February 2010.
 
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#2 ·
Verizon


I will never, ever use their services again. I totally believe this. Verizon customer service has taken many hours out of my life because of their incompetance.
One time I had a very simple question about our DSL services, and spent no less than 2 hours on the phone, talking to no less than 11 people (and that doesn't count the times I talked to a computer
) and nobody could answer that one simple question or figure out which department needed to talk to me.
 
#9 ·
When my dad moved out of his nursing home it took us over 3 months to get Verizon to stop billing the old number - and yes we notified them of the day he would be moving and no longer needing service. I called several times and never actually got a person to talk to, and then emailed, repeatedly, til I got someone to deal with it. And they would not dismiss the extra money and late fees - we had to pay as they sent it to collections and we just got tired of fighting it. Had too much else to deal with with his poor health. I will never use Verizon for anything.
 
#11 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by TiredX2 View Post
What's saddest to me is that Verizon isn't even considered the *worst* in their industry.

We hated them before they were Verizon, and joked that changing they were changing their name hoping to escape their awful reputation. So who is considered worse than Verizon?
 
#12 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Viola View Post
We hated them before they were Verizon, and joked that changing they were changing their name hoping to escape their awful reputation. So who is considered worse than Verizon?
Well, I'm not willing to vouch for the scientific veracity, but last year on Consumerist's "Worst Company In America" contest, while Verizon was in the worst 40, it "lost" in the first round to Sprint:

http://consumerist.com/2009/04/worst...8-bracket.html

There is just sooooo much competition in that category, though!

The Consumerist is now compiling the brackets for "Worst Company in America 2010" (the winner gets a golden poo trophy!) so be sure to vote for Verizon
 
#13 ·
I hate Verizon. I could go further on this opinion, but it would be a UAV


My story:

STBX and I had DSL and basic phone service with them. It was in my name. When I had to leave him, in August of 2009, I called them and told them that I had a restraining order, so I wasn't willing to come in with him in person to do anything. Is there a way to transfer the account to him without me seeing him, or did I just need to cancel the whole thing?

Well the lady assured me that all I had to do was give her permission to notate the account that STBX could transfer it to his name.

Okay, fine.

He called a few days later, gave them his SS# and had it put in his name.

I called them twice to confirm this was done. Both times, yes, it was done.

Then I get a collections letter saying that I owed for the month of December of 2009. I was a little miffed, so I called them. I was transferred to 12 people. No one knew who I needed to talk to. And the ones who could have helped me, refused because- get this- MY NAME WASN'T ON THE ACCOUNT
So then why am I getting billed for it?!

So I paid it. And chalked it up to being too stupid not to have just cancelled the whole dang thing in the first place.

STBX coughed up the checks to prove that he had paid all of the bills, including the December bill I was sent to collections for. Also, he proved that the bills were coming in his name, and only his name.

So they got paid for December twice, whatever.

Guess who got yet another collection's notice for December of 09 last month?
And again, the cycle continues. This time my Mom called and got, I think she recorded 13 people. She pretended to be me because, flipping A, I have to WORK. I already spent hours upon hours on hold with people who wouldn't help me.

Bottom line, I am not paying it again. Screw it, my sanity is worth more than a $22 ding on my credit score.

Someone here told me to send a demand letter, I goggled it and I am waiting to see the results of that!

So yeah, I can not stand them.
 
#15 ·
You know, this is really upsetting because I feel like the average consumer has NO recourse against companies that mess up over and over.

What is the average consumer supposed to do? If a big company feels they owe you money all they have to do is report it to the credit companies and they are believed. The consumer, meanwhile, has to jump through hoop after hoop to get believed. And then, of course, if *you* mess up they can bill and bill and bill you. If *they* mess up, sure you can sue them--- if you have infinate time & money to do so.
 
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