[Baba booey]

So, my dad just called me saying he got the bill in the mail from Verizon...second month in a row with a bill $50 higher than it normally is.
Last month, I moved, and was without internet(a means to communicate with people)...so I used Mobile IM, thinking that it would only run off my basic texting plan....WRONG, $50 bill for data usage.

So...THIS time around...
I get another similar sized overage.
When I first got my plan(back in September), the people at Verizon lied to me, saying "This plan(for $5 a month) gives you UNLIMITED VZW-VZW, and 250 out-of-networks texts, sent+received."
Also, apparently accessing Get-it-Now charges the $3/MB, even if you don't do anything...sure the 10min game demo is free, but not GETTING to it.
I call them today, as to seeing why my bill was high...
They claim the $5 plan is "for 250 texts to ANY NETWORK, and that UNLIMITED VZW-VWZ+500 out-of-network texts would be an ADDITIONAL $5 a month".
So, my texting plan is gone(as expected).
Would I be wrong to file a complaint to the head of a Verizon retailer(Rt.17, Paramus, where I activated my previous phone, the EnV)?
Should I just go back to one of my back-up phones(LG 8300, Moto E815)?
Has anyone experienced things similar to this?

 

[catachresis]

For eight months, I kept a Verizon account for myself and my girlfriend, though we could not get consistent reception within our apartment, and we could not place calls out of our apartment. To call Verizon Support, I had to stand in the driveway behind our apartment building. Verizon reps were always very courteous, but they could not solve the problem with firmware updates, and they subsequently "lost track" of our outstanding service ticket.

After months of wrangling and losing an average of 8-10 calls a day, the message we received was that there was some sort of geographical interference in our area of Birmingham. We were informed that there were no immediate plans to correct the problem. The only thing that Verizon consented to was permitting us to cancel our annual contract early without penalty, and they did in fact automatically charge us penalty fees when we canceled the account. It took months to get the whole disgusting predicament resolved.

--So every time of see one of those countless smug Verizon ads, I'm nauseated with anger.

 

[Baba booey]

Wow man...I'm glad I don't have reception problems

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I've heard countless nightmare threads about Verizon and their phone service, but so far in the year that I've had it w/ my BlackBerry Curve, it's been smooth sailing. I just wish my poor parents didn't have to pay $100 for it every month!

But go figure, I chose the service because it has free calling with other Verizon phones, and I saw that as a nice plus because I had a girlfriend on Verizon as well back then.

P.S. Oh, and I get great reception no matter where I go, and there have been countless times where my friends and peers with their AT&T service and iPhones have had to borrow my phone to make a call, either because of their poor reception or battery life.

 

[earthpeople]

I get reception in places where lots of friends don't. Any time I've had a problem or I accidentally pressed the internet button (I don't have internet plan on my phone), etc. they've always marked the charges off after I called them.

My only big point of discontent with them is their lack of good phones (IMO as least) and how they like to change the UI.

 

[Kirosia]

^ Verizon is getting some good smartphones (Samsung Omnia II, HTC Touch Pro 2) if you're into that. I'm on AT&T, and their phone selection is cruddy unless you're into basic texting or the iphone.

 

[earthpeople]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ Verizon is getting some good smartphones (Samsung Omnia II, HTC Touch Pro 2) if you're into that. I'm on AT&T, and their phone selection is cruddy unless you're into basic texting or the iphone.

Yeah, I've noticed a nice trend starting, hehe. Have another year to go until I can get the upgrade discount, but I'm pretty excited to see what they'll have then.

 

[dallan]

I get reception where others don't but Verizon generally costs a bit more over the years. I often have had people look at me talking up in places like Yosemite in total disbelief(couple of years back). Dropped calls happen about once a month or two unless talking to my dad who has an iphone, those calls are frustrating in that i can't hear him 20% of the time and the calls invariably get dropped one out of three times by At+t.

 

[priest]

Notoriously unethical company. Having said that, I use them for cell service, and their signal is pretty good. Never had a problem or a dropped call. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them though.

 

[yuckymucky]

Honestly every company out there you are going to hear these same complaints. It is just the way it is with huge companies and they way they are.

I had AT&T for about 8 years back in the day until I moved and my house became a roaming area for them so I switched to Airtouch (now Verizon) and I have never had an issue with them. I know plenty of other people who have never had issues with them but I also know people who have had issues. It is just the way of the world, but don't think that going to another huge communications company is any better.

 

[tvrboy]

Customer service sucks. But that is not a problem unique to Verizon. Any company that uses this business model is going to be horrible to their customers:

1. Hire uneducated, unskilled people as "customer service representatives"

2. Give those people incentives to sell as much as possible to as many customers as possible, regardless of the customers' need.

That is the model most retailers use today.

 

[Baba booey]

My dad got on the phone with them last night and managed to get a decent refund(~$30).

 

[cyberidd]

Wow, this thread is REALLY making me appreciate my provider and plan! For $18 CAD / month I get 500 minutes, evenings and weekends, free calling within the provider network, unlimited free texting throughout North America, and unlimited data usage (at evdo speeds, not evdo rev a) anywhere in Canada. I have friends on Rogers, Telus, etc. plans who have experienced similar problems as you though.

 

[salannelson]

How about a thread of discontent for cell phones?

 

[TopPop]

@OP: pardon my ignorance, but I read through your post once, skimmed it a second time, and I'm still not catching how you think you've been wronged. It seems like a pretty basic plan... same one I have, in fact.