Verizon Explains How Telling Credit Agencies About Your Slow Payment Is A Gift
from the so-that's-how-it-works dept
It’s no secret that companies will often use doublespeak to say one thing while they’re actually doing the exact opposite. However, here’s a fun one pointed out by Dave Farber’s Interesting People list. Verizon has taken to telling the big three credit bureaus how punctual Verizon customers are in paying their bills. This isn’t all that surprising, since being delinquent in bill payments can end up being reflected on credit reports — though, usually from more traditional credit vehicles, like credit cards, loans or mortgages. In fact, the threat of having delinquent bills being reported to credit agencies is often used by companies to get slow payers to pay up — which is exactly why Verizon put this plan in place. While they admit that when asked, that’s not at all how they spun the story to their customers. Instead, they said that reporting their info to credit agencies is a “free gift” for consumers. Free gift? Yes, apparently Verizon wants people to believe this is a good thing, because it will help its customers build up the credit they need. As for the people who already have decent credit? No one seems to have asked that question. The story also notes that this is the gift that keeps on giving. Verizon is including the subscribers phone numbers in some of the credit reports — even if the subscriber is paying for an unlisted number.
Comments on “Verizon Explains How Telling Credit Agencies About Your Slow Payment Is A Gift”
Alas, the first comment.
This is not surprising. Its a telco. Next thing, they will offer “free” traffic filtering to make your service faster… by blocking google.
how it works
Once upon a time there was a civilisation ruled by law and honour. The law worked because its institutions were authorative, and through general concensus they were recognised as such. They were honoured. Then one day the rulers of this great civilisation, so sure of their power, respect and the absolute faith the people had in their institutions laid back on their laurels and decided that for a little temporary wealth they could auction off that trust.
Need preferential treatment for your business? Just pay the money.
Need a good reference? Just pay the money?
Want off the criminal record? Just pay the money.
Want someone on the criminal record? Just pay the money.
Need a University degree, a PhD? Just pay the money.
A good credit rating? A new history?
One day, long after the only measure of a man became how much money he had, when he could buy everything else like love, trust, employment, respect, safety, power…. someone had a dangerous idea. It only took one tiny step of logic.
Want it look like you have a lot of money? Just pay the money.
The only thing standing between the great civilisation and its demise was judgement. But nobody had it anymore. Everybody had forgotten how to make judgements. “Buy me this mans bank records!” shouted the weasel. But the records, along with the very identity of the man himself had long since been bought and tailored to his wishes. “Exactly who is this man?” screamed the weasel in frustration. But in a time where fame or anonymity, wealth in times
of need or poverty in times of taxes, reputation in times of ambition or infamy in times of fear, could all be bought for digital numbers in which nobody trusted the weasel had to bow his head and accept the answer. “I’m sorry Sir, nobody really knows anymore”
Look on any banknote and you will see two important words. Those words are “Trust” and “Promise”. That is the real nature of money.
Without judgement there can be no measure of anything. And the only measure of judgement is integrity, which you cannot buy.
I, for one welcome this collapse of social structure. Not because of its immediate effect but because of its consequences and aftermath. A day will come when a potential employer, sponsor or suitor will have to make value judgements based on me as a person again. They will actually have to meet me in person, look me in the eye and decide whether they trust my stated opinions and stories. They will no longer be able to delegate this task or pay someone else to make the evaluation, they will have to be in possesion of intellect. Those too stupid and lazy to make accurate value judgements will go out of business thus thinning out the pool and raising the quality and vigour of the economic field.
Good for you Verizon, sell it all to the Devil, because the sooner the rot takes hold the sooner the world will be free of people like you.
Re: how it works
The grumpy one has not been reading TechDirt all that long, but that has to be the most well spoken comment I have yet read here.
Brovo Sir, Bravo
GOM
Re: how it works
Well said!
Re: how it works
Wow. Can I cut and paste this to my senator? I think we all should.
Re: how it works
/applaud
Re: how it works
I’m seriously impressed with your comment.Even more so because you came up with it @ 3 in the a.m.!
Re: Re: how it works
3am? In Europe it was probably midday. Do you honestly think an American wrote a post of that quality. I suppose it’s still theoretically possible…
Re: Re: Re: how it works
I’ll assume that was pointed at me since your “reply to post” doesn’t reference which one you were replying to. If I’m wrong, please tell me.
A joke? I’d seriously like to know where people get the financial data to make these assumptions. Are there special receivers in those tinfoil hats that just pluck this info out of the ether?
According to Verizon Communications, Inc.’s year-end financial statement (http://investor.verizon.com/financial/quarterly/pdf/05VZ_AR.pdf), they showed a 9.85% profit margin. Holy shit-damn… I need to make some investments here!!!11!!one
Seriously. Where do you get this image that all corporations are out to just rape the public? There is a section of the public that doesn’t scream “rape” everytime… know who it is? It’s the people who’ve invested money into a company and don’t want to see it lose money.
And no, I don’t work for a cell phone company. You won’t believe me when I say that, but I don’t really care.
———-
Actually, with the spelling errors, I did think it was an American… I just didn’t want to say anything. I have a bad habit of getting on soap-boxes about using a spell checker.
———-
::applause:: Well said.
Re: how it works
Once upon a time there was a civilisation ruled by law and honour. The law worked because its institutions were authorative, and through general concensus they were recognised as such. They were honoured.
Intriguing – I’d like to know exactly which civilization that was. Utopia? Atlantis? Never-Never Land?
Face it, corruption is as much a part of human history as war and language and art and sex and religion. Your perfect civilization is a fairy tale.
Re: Re: how it works
Fair enough, all civilizations have been corrupt to some degree. But there was an optimistic time in America where a large number of ordinary people believed in the value of a person’s word of honour and some institutions were deemed trustworthy, and many people in high places had regard for the trust placed in them.
Unfortunately the rot won’t have the desired effect. It will give rise to the survival of the meanest. The only weapon against it is brainpower. And in the USA, that is being eroded by drugs, poor education, anti-intellectual consumer culture, and the mean spirited people who count on it support this agenda while proclaiming the opposite.
Re: how it works
Actually, once upon a time there were congressional rules and regulation.
However a political party and president of the early 80’s decided to convince Americans that this was bad. Abolishing rules and giving corporate tax breaks and de-regulation was good. And the American people believed it.
Now Americans say fix it, fix it, fix it… but what ever you do not regulate.
Re: Re: how it works
I would like to respond to your comment in a mature mannor but I find that all I can come up with is a flame. Were you even born at that time? Hurray for Jimmy Carter (pfft). I guess you had to be there.
Re: how it works
learn to spell
Re: how it works
I think I’m in love. Despite your grammatical errors, I see that you are a broad thinker and are able to see the bigger picture. Verizon is one of many companies that seek to enslave us . There is collusion everywhere we turn. But society is in a trance. People are focused upon themselves in this compartmentalized social order. Consumers are so busy trying to stay afloat that they have no time to protest, but they have tunnel vision and continue to be the worker ants that the government and the “New Corporate Order” wants them to be. Most people don’t have the will or energy to fight the good fight.
I would love to see people everywhere simply pause their lives all at once. Let them stop driving the planet killers (gas vehicles) for a week, stop working, stop playing.
Let them refuse to spend a dime on these abusive companies. Cancel their 2 year cell phone contracts and pay the penalty ($175/ line) over a 2 YEAR PERIOD in payments of $15/mo. Give it back to them in the terms they apply to us.
They lock us into contracts that specifically cause us to waive our rights and make provisions to change the contact terms however they see fit. Not really a contract at all on their end, but a tool to ensure our submission.
It’s sad to look at children. I see a whole generation of automatons, slaves of convenience and technology, indentured to the Great Oligarchy. How will they not hate us for destroying their hope, polluting their future, and laying down laws that discourage dissidence and change for the better.
The terrorists don’t need to lift a finger againt the world.
Give us a few more decades and we’ll destroy the earth ourselves.
It seems America may have been better off tax-wise had we stayed with England. Our forefathers would have gasped at what we pay in taxes and all the different kinds of taxes we pay. This incredulity would be compounded by the flagrant wasteful spending of our firstfruits by our elected.
If the American Dream were a religion, then our leaders would be heretics, and the corporations would be false prophets. Our leaders all have gone astray. But Alas, we are all in a trance and too busy to care enough to demand their return to values, common courtesy, honor, and sensibility.
Re: how it works
I too am anxious for the “rot” and the buzzards.
Ever have service with Verizon?
If you have ever had the misfortune, displeasure, mistake of having had a Verizon cell phone then you can imagine that Verizon gives gifts all the time. Like HUGE cell phone bills and roaming charges and will springs some crazy added charges to your bill. I took over my friend’s contract as she wanted a new phone through them, and they shut off all our phones because they let her brother run up a 950 dollar cell phone bill over the course of a month and a week or so, as he was using it as a business phone. That is ludicrous that they would actually charge someone that much for slightly above average usage or that they would let it get that high before turning off the service. Needless to say that was the end of my short-lived foray into the Verizon hell.
Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
While I do think that Verizon sucks, especially when it comes to service, billing, added charges etc…I do not think their stance in the situation you described is unreasonable.
1) They didn’t “let” her brother run up a huge bill (and while 950 bucks is big…I’ve seen..and HAD bigger), her brother used the phone. The contract for services rendered I’m sure was relatively clear as to the price of those services. If “the brother” was unaware, that’s too bad….if he was not an authorized USER of the phone, that’s another story.
2) This build up happened over 1 billing period from what it sounds like. Again, once the bill came in, steps should have been taken OTHER than non-payment.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
I’ve had Verizon give me one billing contract with plenty of minutes and was given another with fewer. I didn’t notice it until I went over the 1300 minutes they gave us, but under the 1500 they promised. The charge was outrageous, not $950, but way more than the FREE it should have been. I complained to the manager and he removed the charge and said it would be fixed the next billing cycle. Well it wasn’t. And I complained again, also with a promise of being fixed. I also send a letter to the main Verizon branch. I got a “thanks for your comments” letter back.
This continued till I refused to pay my bill till they fixed it. That’s when they turned it into the credit burea. That’s obviously my fault since I made the decission to not pay, but since I was in a contract, I had no other way to fight back. I guess being put in collections fixed my problem, they cancelled the contract, and settled for less than I owed. But, it reflected very poorly on my credit report.
Now I use prepaid phones. Never again will I own a cell phone contract until they offer unlimited whenever minutes for $60 or less a month. There is no technical reason why they can’t, unless you consider their crappy networks, which is a whole other problem.
Re: Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
“Never again will I own a cell phone contract until they offer unlimited whenever minutes for $60 or less a month.”
Try Cricket Wireless, if they have it in your area. Unlimited minutes, text, pictures, long distance, everything for around $45 a month!
Re: Re: Re:2 Ever have service with Verizon?
Cool, thanks for the tip. They aren’t in my area yet 🙁
Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Funny… I’ve had verizon for about 2 or 3 years now and I’ve never had a problem with them… except when I talk too much or text too much. Hell, I just added my girlfriend to my account and got her a phone and there’s still no problem.
Look people, it’s really simple. Read the freakin’ contract. Know what you can and can’t do before you sign the thing and then play by the rules! Don’t like the rules? Then don’t sign them. No one is forcing you to buy a cell phone. No one is forcing you to go with one company or another. But as soon as you sign a contract, someone is forcing you to play by their rules. And guess what… that “someone” includes yourself. Too bad you changed your mind later. You should have thought of that at the beginning.
I get sick of hearing “my cell phone company is ripping me off because they didn’t tell me about this charge”… waaaaahhhh. Well guess what: they did tell you about those charges. Where? Say it with me folks… “in the contract”.
Or, even better: “my cell phone company is ripping me off because I didn’t realize I only had XX minutes”… boo-freakin-hoo. How is the cell phone company’s fault that you talked too much? How is it their fault that you exceeded the limit that both you and they agreed to?
I’m putting this one right up there with people who sue over “not enough warning labels”.
If you sign a contract without reading it, you don’t get to complain about it later. You’ll have no one else to blame but yourself.
Yes, cell phone contracts could be a little easier to read. But the legalese is necessary because without it, people will find and exploit loopholes in the “looser” language. That’s why the contracts are as they are now (not just in cell phones, this is in almost everything)… to plug those holes that were being exploited. Contracts like that have evolved to protect the company’s interest. And rightly so. They do have to make a profit here. It is a business, not a charitable organization.
Bottom line for this though: if you can’t read the contract for yourself, why are you signing it? This is not one of those situations where you are being taken advantage of because they know you have no choice… this is one where you’re letting it happen yourself. Sorry folks, you’re not getting any sympathy from me.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Like it ot not, you are largely correct.
The real problem lies in the fact that Verizon employs many lawyers to help write these impressively long and confusing contracts, and then counts on a large percentage of the population “giving in” to the normal human psychological pressure [“I just stopped in this shoppe to get a new cell phone, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here” syndrome]. As the majority of cell phone users do not drive around with their lawyers in the trunk of the car [hmmm, there’s an idea, but I digress!], they end up signing the copious pages with only a general idea of what they contain. There is no real knowledge of the specifics.
Once again, the lawyers have designed lawyer-speak that justifies their own existence and pays for their services at the same time. One wonders if we removed the lawyers and their contracts at the same point in time, whether society would really collapse or not.
Re: Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Meh… not really. Contrary to popular belief, most companies don’t have a bullpen full of lawyers for things like this. They employ a (usually small) department of paralegals for their day-to-day forms and get an outside (sometimes retained) lawyer to proof the big things. While the general public does suffer from the “giving in” syndrome, that’s not the purpose of these contracts. The true purpose of these contracts is to lay out, in no uncertain terms, the responsibility of each party. Now, yes, large companies have an advantage over the “little guy” or the “everyday joe” in that consumers aren’t as educated on contract language as they are. But whose fault is that? Contract language for things like cell phones really isn’t that complex or confusing. Read an insurance policy sometime… that’s some confusing shit.
No… lawyer-speak, or legalese, was designed to eliminate guessing and “creative interpretation”. What would happen if we eliminated lawyers and contracts at the same time? Easy: no one would sell a thing. No one would want to take the chance on having someone taking advantage of a loophole and taking them for a ride. I could use my cell phone for hours and hours and hours and not have to pay a dime because I found a “the” where there should have been an “is” in the agreement. Or I could remember our verbal agreement was different than the company remembered. And without a concise and non-ambiguous contract, there’s nothing that the company could do to stop me.
Here’s the question we should be asking: “What would happen if we educated our society and maintained ethics in our law?”
Re: Re: Re:2 Ever have service with Verizon?
Actually sales would go up. There would be no lawyers to sue you. There would be no risks. Pay up front, get services up front. Don’t like service, don’t pay. Capitalism is a far better equalizer than lawsuits.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
You must work for a cell phone company. Your mention to making a profit is a joke…..you should just say its okay to gouge people.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
the only problem with our world today is that people refuse to take person responsibility. I’ve been with VZW for 4 years now and it clearly states how many minutes you get, infact they spend a lot of time with you explaining it to you before you sign anything. They also verbally & in writing tell you that you up your # of minutes at ANY time without penalty. Step up people and take some personal responsibility. If you want more money, than go get it. No one is locking you into a certain salary. This is America. You can have just about anything you want, if you want to WORK for it. Websters defines works as: getting of your fat lazy american ass!
Re: Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
The solution is to buy better services at a lower price. Even if you make more money. Spending more money than needed because you have it is moronic.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Gabriel Tane are you a moron or dense? I’ve read this thread up to your comment, and haven’t read any posts from anyone “whinning” about the mobile phone provider ripping them off when it was in their contract.
One stated that his contract was for 1500 minutes, but Verizon charged him for excessive minutes over 1300.
Well, there was one comment of someone not liking the additional charges added on to the price. Which, when I saw them for the first time, did blow me away also. Virtually doubling the advertised price of the service. It would be nice if those charges where displayed up front in ordering, instead of vague legalease which does NOT state the amounts of the charges.
Re: Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Sorry… this one slipped in while I was replying other comments… damned real-time existance. meh.
Moron or dense? Neither, actually. I am intelligent enough to read between the lines and apply my experience to what I perceive.
I’d like to take people at their word, but when I hear someone say “…but less than the 1500 they promised” my first reaction is either:
1) A sales person lied and you didn’t do your research, or
2) You misunderstood what was being told to you.
“… in vague legalese that does NOT state the amount of the charges.” Why are you signing something that is that vague? Or, more to my point, why are you signing it and then complaining about it later? (not you, personally… “you” as in the person complaining about “hidden” charges).
My point is this: no one is putting a gun to your head to sign those contracts. No one is telling you to sign without letting you read them first. If you agree to something that you don’t understand, it’s your own damned fault if it comes back to bite you on the ass.
This kind of coddling of “victims” is what’s allowing our general intelligence as a society to decline. Instead of making strides to educate the masses and making sure they can stand up for themselves, we’re behaving like over-protective parents. Every child of an over-protective parent that I’ve ever know has turned into an adult that can’t take care of themselves. So that’s the kind of society we’re setting up. Nice.
Oh, by the way… my response would not have been moronic or dense. If you want to say anything, you could say I over racted and preached about something larger than the symptoms that were stated. Nice personal attack there.
Re: Re: Re:2 Ever have service with Verizon?
I solved the problem myself. I paid less than they claimed I owed, which was the amount I really owed, settling debts, and I discontinued service.
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
You have missed out on some basic information.
1) legalese is there to obfuscate, not clairify. Those contracts are intentionally hard to read. It is not an accident. It’s the same reason that contracts like that used to be printed in 2pt font till that became a reason to nullify the contract. This is a major argument FOR reading the paper before singing, though the sales rep will act highly offended and try to stop you or to get the contract back before you leave. Or at least that is what happens to me every time I stop to read the contract.
One of my favoriate lines reads “By singing this you agree to the agreement contained in (related document) that can change without notice.” The Related Document is hardly ever provided.
2) You are correct that they are in the business to make money. The #1 moneymaker for these companies is …. wait for it …. FINES AND FEES. It’s similar to what you find in the banking world, where for the vast majority of folks the fines and fees are always greater than interest earned. So it is in the telco’s best interest to make sure, as best they can without being called on it, that you get fines and fees. Don’t believe me? Do the math.
And for the guy with the Ex possessing an account in his name:
It costs verison money to correct the errors in credit reports, but is almost free to put errors there. How many corrections do you think are made without court orders? It is better to dispute with the credit agency and report verison for fraud. Verison will likely call you about it, so be ready.
Ahhh, reminds me of when I was with Sprint, and a customer challanged me to _find_ his contract. I looked for a year and never did. We still charged him.
Re: Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
Ah, the proliferation of the tinfoil-hat market. I need to buy stock in that.
A business doesn’t form and intentionally look for ways to hoodwink customers. The cry of “the big bad company is out to get me” is getting really old.
I said it before and I’m not recanting: those contracts are there to prevent fraud. Period. Some sales people may (and probably due) use the confusing language to their advantage, but I can guarantee you that the board members of Verizon aren’t sitting around the table discussing strategies on how to better cheat their customers.
You know, it really doesn’t have to be an “us against them” thing.
Yeah, and? Are you surprised that a company is going to try to maximize their earnings.
“Did you know that the way a football team moves the ball downfield furthest is to give it to their best runner or passer?” Well howdy-do.
Yeah, they may be a little underhanded about it, but that’s not Big-Bad Corporation’s policy. You get middle management yahoos who try to make themselves look good and save the company money by being sticklers for rules (that are defined by the contract) and not bend in ways that would be considered “fair” by us. They give these non-bending policies down to the supervisors and service reps who say “sorry, my hands are tied”.
Again, not surprised there.
And everyone says “you’d think that they’d make and exception for me since (insert reason here, usually based on longevity and monies-paid)”. Well what about the thousands of other people exactly like you? Shouldn’t the same exception be made for every one of them? If that happened, the company would go bankrupt.
Yes they get the majority of their money from fines and fees. Play by the rules and you don’t have to pay those.
And for the stories of ex.’s and brothers and other things “beyond your control”… stop being hostile towards the people you’re trying to get to help you. That’s half the problem there. You get hostile; they get defensive and tight-lipped and don’t want to help you. Flies with honey and all that.
Case-in-point. And how much did all of that yelling accomplish?
Re: Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
The problem was my contract did say 1500 when I was only given 1300, which I didn’t notice that they made a mistake until I went over 1300 and saw extra charges on my bill.
Had I used more than 1500 minutes on a 1500 minute plan that I signed a contract for, then that would be my problem.
Re: Ever have service with Verizon?
You have got to be kidding me. Yet another example of somebody not being able to take responsibility for themselves. It is the consumers job to check on thier minute usage or choose the plan that best fits them. It is not the company’s job to select the plan for you. I don’t understand how somebody could use a cell phone without knowing what service they are supposed to recieve or without keeping track of thier own charges. You CANNOT blame verizon for this. It was not their fault that he racked up that much in usage fees. He should have known what plan he had. I have never used verizon and thus have no opinion of them. But give me a break. WAA!! He overran his minutes and didn’t know his plan after. Not the company’s fault. I resent people with no sense of self-responsibility.
i got one better. After me and my ex had split after living together, my ex decided to get a verizon phone. they gave her service under my name. now i have the ” Gift that keeps giving” on my credit report. and even after disputing the fact that i was living in another state at that time and showing them bills to prove that fact, they still have not taken the negative reports off my name.
Re: Re:
Spouses do that reguardless if they leave you or not :/.
Re: Anonymous Asian
Try and get the credit bureaus to remove the data, not Verizon. This happened with a storage space I rented, and the credit bureau actually removed the faulty data.
Another Gift from Verizon
This just in!! Verizon will be providing every customer with another gift! Some of you have already gotten one but don’t worry you’ll be included in this still!
Congratulations!!! You may now enjoy your Steamy Pile of Shit from Verizon… the company that shows their appreciation in the form of “gifts”
Automatic billing
So I have verizon for DSL now. The automatic billing process includes them charging your account for the month’s bill. They do this, however, in some small amount of time prior to the due date; less than 24hrs, but I forget the exact period.
I am curious if their stupidity in automatic billing processes (not doing it earlier, or not letting you choose a time) is going to affect my good credit.
I would hope that giving them access to my bank account would allot for some brownie points.
Any thoughts?
Re: Automatic billing
Lord, don’t ever let them in your bank account. When they make a mistake and overcharge you times 10, it’s gone from your account and not coming back. Won’t they just bill you? At least give them a credit card account, not your bank account.
Bags.
Scumbags.
I was a very loyal Verizon mobile customer for a really long time. The coverage & plan beat out all I could find at the time, but it wasn’t all strawberries & champagne.
The first year (contract) there wasn’t a single month were my bill was correct. If we weren’t charged for roaming we were charged for minutes that should have been covered by our plan. It took them the better part of 4 months to get our PLAN correct.
When it gets to the point where you call the customer support line & the first words out of your mouth is “May I please speak to your supervisor”, it’s time to move on.
True freedom is getting out of a Verizon contract.
i work for verizon wireless and they dont report anything. only when the account is closed and sent to collections because the customer wont pay will it be reported.
Re: read my experience and reply
1.
We switched to Comcast and canceled our verizon account In April 2007..We only received a bill from the DSL portion for 3 months past our end service date.We called The DSL # in June and they credited all the service told us they would transfer the money we already paid to the Long Distance portion and to wait for an adjusted final bill. Perfect..We waited and got a bill NOT adjusted, in August. Tried four times to call in Aug and Sept with wait times of over 90 minutes and never got through. We then in October got a collection letter called them explained the situation and they didn’t care. We got a bill in November and paid it in full deciding for $135.00 we had already wasted more of our own time! We figured they would find the credit and send it to us eventually. Here we are in February 2008 with no credit refund, we paid the bill, and now they reported us to the credit bureau and our credit companies are sending us credit reduction notices, we cant refinance our house at a prime rate, and we are on the heels of an ultra important business loan and we are pissed!! To top it off I just received my July 2007 bill from Verizon post marked January 2008. I AM FURIOUS.When I tried to get call records to dispute with the credit companies turns out they have a legal department , only you can’t speak directly to them, only your lawyer can. All this over $134.00 bill and they owe us $80.00 which is lost somewhere in there accounting!!! We are opening a Small service business in a suburb of Redmond Washington where half of the community is Microsoft execs and I don’t think I will speak kindly of or use Verizon. Does anyone know of a class action against them?? or had similar experinces? appreciate your input.
Add Your Comment
Re: Re:
Not True Dave. Went to buy a car and my stellar credit report went down 90 points because of a late payment to verizon.
Hahahahaha That’s what they tell you dave.
Verizon’s legal contract isn’t that solid. Read it carefully. There are ways out, and eventually you can escape the contract.
I took a new job in September and my Verizon phone didn’t work in the office. They notified us of a new monthly charge in August that would take effect in October. That opened a 60 day window for anyone to escape their contract, and I did just that.
Verizon and Verizon Wireless are different
I think the original post was about Verizon, the land-based telco, not the wireless
To: Gabriel Tane
Yep, you basically covered it all.
The bottom line is most people don’t pay attention to the little details like how many minutes have they used, and if they consistantly run over, by how much and what the next plan increment is, etc.
A co-worker constantly bitched about being “grossly over charged” for being over his allotted minutes. When told that he could double his minutes for another $20 per month – waaay less than he racked up every month with excess minutes, his response was “Well then Verizon should have switched me or at least told me to do that!’
Duh. There’s an amazing number of really stupid and lazy people out there that seem to think everybody owes them something.
I want to know when we, the masses, are going to get smart enough to use a system, similar to the credit systems used by companies such as Verizon, to determine whom we do business with.
Worst Customer Service Ever
Let me tell you a little story…
My girlfriend has Verizon; a loyal, almost 2 year customer about due for her “new every two years” renewal, in which you get $100 dollars toward a new phone if you sign a new contract. She pays for extra phone insurance every month which covers lost, stolen, or damaged phones under any circumstance.
One month from this renewal, her phone randomly stops working. The phone is just out of the manufacturer’s warranty, but she thinks that she is ok because of her $8 or something insurance that she pays on top of her phone bill every month. Surprise!! The very helpful people at Verizon say that it its a manufacturing defect (again, this phone is almost 2 years old) and that it is not covered on the insurance. Of course, i start yelling, which makes the nerdy sales manager shut down and cease to respond.
They offer her an advanced renewal on her contract to get a new phone, at a reduced $50, or the option to replace her phone for $50 with one of the same model (that is greatly outdated, twice recalled, and no longer in existence). It seems to me that for someone who has paid approx. $183 over her 23 months of service for insurance should get something for her money.
I am changing providers as soon as my contract is up, and my girlfriend has already moved on. I suggest the same…
if i saw a credit report with verizon on it, I would jack up the interest rate and get ready to start ripping this sucker off because the person is obviously a moron for using the poorest quality cellular service in existence run by incompetents and nitwits.
Verizon will ruin your credit, don't use them!!
I cancelled my service when I moved only to find out that Verizon hadn’t really cancelled it. 4 Months later I see delinquent accounts, late payments etc. from verizon… dropped my credit by 100 points and got raped on my mortgage. Long story short, don’t get verizon unless you’re willing to spend 3-4 days on the phone to cancel the service, another week on the phone to fix your credit, and 2-3 days in small claims court to be refunded for their errors.
Re: Verizon will ruin your credit, don't use them!
read my story and please let me know how you got them to remove the reporting to your credit report?? Thanks!
We switched to Comcast and canceled our verizon account In April 2007..We only received a bill from the DSL portion for 3 months past our end service date.We called The DSL # in June and they credited all the service told us they would transfer the money we already paid to the Long Distance portion and to wait for an adjusted final bill. Perfect..We waited and got a bill NOT adjusted, in August. Tried four times to call in Aug and Sept with wait times of over 90 minutes and never got through. We then in October got a collection letter called them explained the situation and they didn’t care. We got a bill in November and paid it in full deciding for $135.00 we had already wasted more of our own time! We figured they would find the credit and send it to us eventually. Here we are in February 2008 with no credit refund, we paid the bill, and now they reported us to the credit bureau and our credit companies are sending us credit reduction notices, we cant refinance our house at a prime rate, and we are on the heels of an ultra important business loan and we are pissed!! To top it off I just received my July 2007 bill from Verizon post marked January 2008. I AM FURIOUS.When I tried to get call records to dispute with the credit companies turns out they have a legal department , only you can’t speak directly to them, only your lawyer can. All this over $134.00 bill and they owe us $80.00 which is lost somewhere in there accounting!!! We are opening a Small service business in a suburb of Redmond Washington where half of the community is Microsoft execs and I don’t think I will speak kindly of or use Verizon. Does anyone know of a class action against them?? or had similar experinces? appreciate your input.
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A Gift?
I thought the “gift that kept on giving” was herpies.
Is Verizon gonna give me herpies if I don’t pay on time?
What’s Nextel’s number again?
Looked, but didn't touch
When I was looking for a cell phone several years ago, I looked at Verizon, Cingular, AT&T, and Sprint. Cingular had limited coverage, AT&T didn’t have anything I was interested in (and I think they were slightly overpriced), so it was down to Verizon and Sprint.
The Verizon people really pushed hard for the sell but I was able to get away w/o buying. I looked at the pamphlets and compared to Sprint and realized that Verizon wanted me to pay nearly $20 more per month for fewer minutes and several options that Sprint provided for free cost $5/month with Verizon, not to mention that at the time Sprint offered free cell-to-cell calls but Verizon wanted an extra $5-10 for that.
Then I talked to several people and heard enough horror stories that I stayed away from Verizon. And nowadays I’m even more glad that I didn’t go w/ Verizon. They really don’t care about their customers, just the money. And they’ll do whatever they can to keep it coming, even if you leave.
On a side note, I guess it’s slightly better that they use your phone number for reporting purposes than your SSN, though they probably have that too. But at least you can change your number when you stop using Verizon.
Verizon is a rip off service !!
I hate Verizon. They screwed me over for about 2000 dollars until I discontinued their account. Even then they didnt disconnect it and kept charging me without notice. Until by chance someone called me from there about non payment. I was so feeling cheated, on repeated requests they only waived a month’s fee(when they had already charged my for 5 months). I am happy I am out of their clutches, I am so disconcerted that I wdn’t even accept Verizon if someone gave it to me for free. Injustice is injustice.
Re: Verizon's sticky web of contract clauses
People Need to simply refuse to sign contracts that are obviously in the Company’s favor. I’m half tempted to bring a lawyer to the store to loudly go over the BAD terms in the middle of store in front of a crowd of customers. Let my lawyer cross out the unacceptible terms and send it to the company for renegotiated terms. People swallow all the BS because they want and need phones, but we need to stop selling our souls to get them.
If people would simply walk away from the traps, they would stop using them.
My biggest gripe with Verizon: They are inflexible. If you get a divorce and don’t need two phones, they don’t care. You are hit with $175 cancellation fee for a stupid secondary phone. Try making changes like upgrading or downgrading plans and you are locked into another 2 year contract. I dont mind a 2 year commitment, but please don’t keep renewing it just because I upgraded or simply want to cut back a little.
I canceled both phones because they don’t acknowledge that peoples’ lives change as do our communication needs.
They are smug in their 2 year contract. I will pay the $350 penalty, but will do so over the next two years in pmts of $14.58/mo…just to be fair and keep that 2 year thing going.
My biggest question is why they would demand $350 and happily let my business go ( approx. $2300/yr).
That’s $23,000/decade…approximately $100,000 as a lifetime customer… all LOST over a $350 BS fee. Let them multiply those figures times the thousands of angry ex-customers they generate. We as consumers have power, but lack will-power. When we shop for phones, we need to simply demand fair terms, or NOT sign their rididulous contracts.
Yes, phone units are expensive enough, but instead of hanging a neverending contract over our heads, why don’t they just charge up front or by installment on our phone bill. DTV and DishNetwork don’t renew your contract obligations if you add HBO. Why should the phone Co. renew contracts for plan modifications?
I would love to get a group of investors together and form a phone company, perhaps customer-owned, that offers flexibility, monthly plans without suprises, and grinds the jerk telecom co.’s in the dirt by eradicating their collusive consumer traps and price-fixing policies
Re: Verizon's sticky web of contract clauses
People Need to simply refuse to sign contracts that are obviously in the Company’s favor. I’m half tempted to bring a lawyer to the store to loudly go over the BAD terms in the middle of store in front of a crowd of customers. Let my lawyer cross out the unacceptible terms and send it to the company for renegotiated terms. People swallow all the BS because they want and need phones, but we need to stop selling our souls to get them.
If people would simply walk away from the traps, they would stop using them.
My biggest gripe with Verizon: They are inflexible. If you get a divorce and don’t need two phones, they don’t care. You are hit with $175 cancellation fee for a stupid secondary phone. Try making changes like upgrading or downgrading plans and you are locked into another 2 year contract. I dont mind a 2 year commitment, but please don’t keep renewing it just because I upgraded or simply want to cut back a little.
I canceled both phones because they don’t acknowledge that peoples’ lives change as do our communication needs.
They are smug in their 2 year contract. I will pay the $350 penalty, but will do so over the next two years in pmts of $14.58/mo…just to be fair and keep that 2 year thing going.
My biggest question is why they would demand $350 and happily let my business go ( approx. $2300/yr).
That’s $23,000/decade…approximately $100,000 as a lifetime customer… all LOST over a $350 BS fee. Let them multiply those figures times the thousands of angry ex-customers they generate. We as consumers have power, but lack will-power. When we shop for phones, we need to simply demand fair terms, or NOT sign their rididulous contracts.
Yes, phone units are expensive enough, but instead of hanging a neverending contract over our heads, why don’t they just charge up front or by installment on our phone bill. DTV and DishNetwork don’t renew your contract obligations if you add HBO. Why should the phone Co. renew contracts for plan modifications?
I would love to get a group of investors together and form a phone company, perhaps customer-owned, that offers flexibility, monthly plans without suprises, and grinds the jerk telecom co.’s in the dirt by eradicating their collusive consumer traps and price-fixing policies
Phone companies
You are all missing the point… Stop complaining and DO SOMETHING! I’m certain that Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and all the other telecom service providers would like your business.
Re: Phone companies
What’s the point in signing up with another company that employs the same consumer traps? I’m holding onto my money. We need to stop buying and using cell phones, as painful as that may be, until the telco’s desist their abusive, inflexible policies. Wall Street and economists know that consumer spending is what keeps the engine running. We, as consumers, are powerful, but that power can only be efficiently wielded when a majority of us act in unison.
No lawyer in the world can force us into signing their bogus contracts. If we don’t sign contracts that force us to waive our rights, their lawyers will draw up better contracts.
Question is, do enough Americans have the willpower to hold out for 6 months or a year from cell phone use in order to effect positive changes?
I have done my part by cutting off cell phone use in protest of their ridiculous contracts and policies.
But am I alone?
Hey, Gabriel Tane.
Give it up. The smart folks know. The other just don’t listen.
Hey Maximus,
“The #1 moneymaker for these companies is …. wait for it …. FINES AND FEES”
Fines ? No. Fees? Well, yes. Fees are the basis of your contract; a fee for services provided. I think you probably meant penalties or overage charges for exceeding the allotments provided by your service plan. Sheesh.
Hey Ranjit Singh,
When you cancel a contract, ASK FOR WRITTEN CONFIRMATION! They are required to provide it. And per your contract, if you did not complete the 1 or 2 year term, you are required to pay them an early termination fee, something they hardly ever waive because it offsets the cost of the “free” phone you likely got when you signed up.
And before anybody over-reacts on Verizon, look at your most frequently called numbers. All those Verizon IN network calls are FREE and use up ZERO minutes.
Took way too long to explain to my daughter’s best friend (college senior) why her 1000 minute + T-Mobile plan was not the bargain she insisted it was because the 6 people she used almost all her minutes on were all on Verizon. If she switched to Verizon they would all be IN network and use NO minutes…
For half the cost of her T-Mobile plan she could (and eventually did) add herself to her mother’s family plan and doubled the minutes.
Caveat Emptor. And, no, I don’t work for Verizon.
Re: Re:
No, you’ve got it wrong. Its “paranoid folks believe. The others just don’t care”.
And paranoid folks believing are scary as hell. Me; I don’t care. I can watch my own ass when it comes to business, so I don’t need to rely on the “protection” of simpler contracts or whatever else people are clamoring for in the name of “fairness”
But you’re right, Caveat Emptor.
Re: Required to provide written confirmation of cancel
But when I tried several times to cancel my service and they would not. I got more direct, then aske dhow they would confirm, and they said they had a policy of not providing it in wiriting. I finallly “got the guy” to say he would make sure he gave me an order number, which would be added to my next bill, and this would turn my next bill inot a final bill. ??????????????
More of the same with Verizon
Yep, got duped by Verizon too. They reported to the credit bureaus before a dispute, before notifying that they seem to think they did not receive payment in under 60 days. It was paid within 30 days, but they cooked the books , acted all nice, but yes, admitted they were doing this on purpose, admitted that they (2 of the reps I spoke with) also got it up the butt from their own employer, and on and on and on. I have serious doubts that they tape their calls. These reps were either told to lie, or were admitting things that were all against the law. All I can say is DISPUTE THE CREDIT RATING CHANGE caused by Verizon, and cancel your service WITHOUT explanation afterwards. We can only save each other by saving ourselves, and vice versa. CROOKS!!!!
Just cancel the service
Too bad for Verizon. Nowadays, you can just get a prepaid cell phone and cancel your landline. Report that.
Holding large agencies accountable
Its quite normal that large organizations loose documents every so often. However it is important that you show evidence that you have submitted a form or document. So the best advice when it comes to dealing with organization with poor filling procedures is to simply “officialize” every document sent back and forth. When you send something to them, sent it registered mail, if you are dropping off a document in person get a “received” chop on the document. Last but not least. Don’t call them, because there never is a record of conversations.
Verizon Reporting to Credit Companies
In response to Verizon Wireless stating that reporting slow paying consumers to credit agencies is a “gift” –
It is more like EXTORTION.
I have been battling with Verizon Wireless for overcharges and billing errors that occurred in August of 2005. It is now August of 2006.
Through the Better Business Bureau they have admitted to making a mistake – but instead of letting it go (having to buy signs, new telephone, new business cards – which will amount of approximately $500 – almost the initial overage they charged)… they are only willing to agree to $135.
Verizon Wireless is still trying to get away with a mistake that costs the consumer (me & you) and charge for the privilege of doing so.
How can they do this? Because they have pending a blight on my superior credit report.
Verizon Wireless is not the only corporate sponsor of the Bush administration who feels impugnity to get away with murder….
So does Homecomings Financial – they play the same game – but with different rules. Recently my mortgage went up from 7% to 10.75%. How does this happen with a cap of 2%? Details in the contract (tip – do not rely on your mortgage broker to explain the contract – ask him to show you in the contract where it says a 2% cap and understand).
Anyway, when I tried to refinance – Homecomings sends the new lender a letter reporting me 30 days late. This gets taken care of – then Homecomings has the nerve to send a second notification of a 90 day late two years ago – which never happened!
The game is they make mistakes and put an onerous burden on the consumer to correct it! The consumer is footed the bill for the mistake or the bill for reparation.
Folks – CALL or WRITE your senators if you are experiencing Corporate Irresponsibility such as the above.
Corporations should be held accountable for mistakes they make – otherwise we are all subject to penalties from Corporate Extoration such as the above mentioned examples.
By the way – Better Business Bureau receives it’s funding from corporations. You may be better served by filing your complaint and going directly to court – do not agree to arbitration – since the arbitrators are paid for by the corporate sponsors you are complaining about.
GOOD LUCK and don’t give up! You never know when you really need to get credit and corporate extortionists can harm you.
Persist in holding your elected officials responsible for creating laws that protect consumers.
verizons free gift
i think that verizon is one of the worst corporations in the US. They have never failed to supply the worst customer service I have ever experienced and they are always making mistakes. So now i have one of the most unreliable undereducated idiots reporting to credit bureaus. When I moved it took them over a month to get my service moved and when they did it never worked correctly. After getting sick of them I moved to Comcast for my telephone service. The customer service rep was to credit my account..they never did. Thanks to verizons free gift, this account which should have been closed and zero’d out is now on my credit report as charge off…I have called verizon to fix the error and disputed it with the credit agencies but I shouldnt have to do this. They can take their free gift and shovei it. Verizon sucks!
What a Joke!
It’s so funny how big companies like Verizon try to put a spin on things to hide their true intentions. People are smarter than this.
Verizon should just come clean, and tell everyone that its their way of keeping customers paying on-time.
BEWARE VERIZON UNFAIR CREDIT REPORTING AND BUSINES
We switched to Comcast and canceled our verizon account In April 2007..We only received a bill from the DSL portion for 3 months past our end service date.We called The DSL # in June and they credited all the service told us they would transfer the money we already paid to the Long Distance portion and to wait for an adjusted final bill. Perfect..We waited and got a bill NOT adjusted, in August. Tried four times to call in Aug and Sept with wait times of over 90 minutes and never got through. We then in October got a collection letter called them explained the situation and they didn’t care. We got a bill in November and paid it in full deciding for $135.00 we had already wasted more of our own time! We figured they would find the credit and send it to us eventually. Here we are in February 2008 with no credit refund, we paid the bill, and now they reported us to the credit bureau and our credit companies are sending us credit reduction notices, we cant refinance our house at a prime rate, and we are on the heels of an ultra important business loan and we are pissed!! To top it off I just received my July 2007 bill from Verizon post marked January 2008. I AM FURIOUS.When I tried to get call records to dispute with the credit companies turns out they have a legal department , only you can’t speak directly to them, only your lawyer can. All this over $134.00 bill and they owe us $80.00 which is lost somewhere in there accounting!!! We are opening a Small service business in a suburb of Redmond Washington where half of the community is Microsoft execs and I don’t think I will speak kindly of or use Verizon. Does anyone know of a class action against them?? or had similar experinces? appreciate your input.
Gabriel Tane, it’s funny how you believe so steadfast in the methods of our society with regards to large corporate entities and their treatment of customers. (I’m not saying that it’s the most terrible treatment ever, but it’s definitely lacking) And if someone makes an observation about the validity of their (co) practices you automatically write them off as a “tinfoil hat” wearing conspiracy theorist, or an unresponsible customer trying to get away with more than they paid for. I like you believe in self responsibility to the utmost, however I will not push that upon others in such an aggressive manner as you will, apparently. Furthermore, you defend these companies’ contracts which are ridiculous in the first place. VZW calls their data plan “unlimited” however it’s not even close. I know this argument wasn’t started about the data plan only being 5GB a month, although they state “unlimited” but you seem so bent on defending them, why not try with that new issue. Also a sales person is an agent of the principal, their direction whether legally binding or not can still hurt consumers. What you believe doesn’t change the fact that people have been screwed by sketchy contracts for a long time. why don’t you defend the Railroad companies of the 1920’s running company stores and screwing workers into perpetual debt so that they could have free labor? Then you could really rack up on the Karma
bad customer service
this is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard. verizon has terrible customer service on top of that.
Ever have service with Verizon?
Idiot! No one at Verizon can tell you how much your bill is going to be. I have unlimited everything and tec support couldn’t even tell me!
Ever have service with Verizon?
I am a successful business owner. I can turn a nice profit without lying to my customers.
Verizon will ruin your credit, don't use them!!
In December 20006 tell sept.2018 mess up all 5posted in credit report.by version wireless company I owed zero as of October before November 2006 but no help no refuse but they claim I owed money but when I request info on myself they’re Denise me all proof. And promised as of September 2006 to find my cellphone by hack the one that have my cellphone..lies from them again . I’ve cleaned record on me and keep my credit reports fair only my real. Not lies..if you can help me with getting lawyer take case I’m on fix income please reply dtime52575@gmail.com no bull reply there lawyer number that will take case..