Verizon - Verizon Wireless - Verizon Communications Verizon- the 'V' stands for VOMIT and the RED logo for DEBT and ANGER Internet

If you (or a loved one) are considering investing in Verizon or are invested in Verizon, please consider the growing legions of customers experiencing abominable service from this company.    I am not a financial advisor.  But I am pretty astute at recognizing trends that are unsustainable.

At present, Verizon is plundering its customers. While this may be extremely lucrative in the short-term, this is not
sustainable in the long-term. Specifically, our family paid over $450 per month for a most basic bundle package advertised to cost $150 per month.  So yes, Verizon made a lot of money off of my family this past year (over
$5,000).  But we (and countless other customers) are so appalled by Verizons deception, were cancelling our contracts
and will do anything legal to ensure other potential customers avoid Verizon.  Please feel free to read a
review of our experience with Verizon:  When I see the V in Verizon, I think of Vomit.  When I see VERIZONs RED logo, I think DEBT and ANGER.   As a Verizon customer, expect to experience all three- vomiting, debt, and anger. 

Following my fathers passing, my mother decided to bundle our familys services through Verizon in order to minimize costs.  Specifically, we purchased the quad plan which bundled DirectTV/Land Line/Internet along with a 1400 minute Friends and Family wireless plan.  Currently a comparable Triple Play bundle advertises for $59.99 per month and a 1400 minutes Friends and Family plan advertises for $89.99.  This bundle incudes basic local landline, DirectTV, and high-speed internet.   When we purchased our bundle and wireless plan, we expected to pay a little more
than the $150 per month as advertised (perhaps even up to $200 per month when taxes and additional fees were added). 

Well after a year with Verizon, we have paid a staggering average of $458 PER MONTH for services advertised for $150!  Note thats over 3 TIMES the advertised amount.  In one year, we paid Verizon $5,496.17 for services that were advertised to cost around $1,800 for the year!  Is this not insane?!  $458 per month for 3 basic cell phone lines
(only 1 of which receives internet- and this was a recent upgrade), basic DirectTV (NOT Fios), basic internet (NOT Fios), and minimal landline services!  Let me repeat, $5,496.17 in ONE YEAR! (note: this does not even include the hundreds we paid to purchase new cell phones this year).   

Most of these fees are attributed to Verizons deceptive practices, and these numerous deceptions are so intricately interrelated, I am at a loss for where to begin.  Lets start with the most recent bill being contested- November of 2011.  In November we were billed an outrageous sum of $636.05.  The purported reason for this excessive bill was that our family went over our allotted 1400 minutes at a whopping cost of over $.45 per minute.

The total number of minutes our family used that month: 1279.  But wait, 1279 is less than 1400 right?  Well according to Verizon, our plan was actually limited to 700 minutes, not 1400. Why had our plan changed from the original 1400 to 700?!  The answer is further revealing of Verizon. 

Earlier in the year we had received yet another outrageous bill (do you see a pattern developing?).  The bill was invalid, but Verizon would not refund any of the mistaken fees. (Note:  We have automatic bill pay, and unfortunately by the time we recognize these invalid charges, Verizon has already withdrawn the money from our bank account.  Subsequently, they are extremely reluctant to refund any of the charges.)  As a consolation though, they did offer a way to reduce future bills- they recommended decreasing our friends and family minutes from 1400 to 700.  This, my mother was told, would save her $20 per month.  Now I love my mom to death, but she can be a tad gullible and easily persuaded by salespeople.  The salesperson (and my mother) failed to note our family frequently goes over 700 minutes per month!  So the next month an apparent $20 savings became hundreds of dollars in overage charges!  Feeling duped, my mom went into the local Verizon store to request that our plan be increased back up to 1400 minutes. 
The salesperson offered her apologies and stated that our plan had been adjusted accordingly back up to 1400 minutes.

Well after Verizon deducted $636.05 from our bank account for Novembers bill, we realized this adjustment never occurred.  Despite the fact that Verizon has record of my moms visit, they are only offering to refund half of the excessive charges.

Please, avoid Verizon at all cost.  Do not use automatic bill pay because once they have your money, they will likely not refund invalid charges.  If for some reason youre still tempted to purchase Verizons bundle, consider the quality of services youll be receiving:  Television- Admittedly we do not have Fios, we have DirectTV.  DirectTV is extremely limited
in local channel selection (not even their premium packages offer an adequate selection of local channels).  For
example, Im a big sports fan and miss out on most of the local professional sports teams games while my neighbors with Comcast or cable get these games.  And Ive never been able to catch local high school or minor league sports teams which are regularly broadcasted on cable.  Oh, and prepare to have a rather large diameter hole drilled through the side of your house upon DirectTV installation (ie a hole big enough to see the lawn outside- and no, we were not told of this prior to the installation). 

Internet-  At the moment Im typing this (~8pm on 1/11/12) our internet connection has been out for over 24 hours and counting.  No there has been no inclement weather, accident, or obvious explanation.  My neighbor (who does not have Verizon services) has internet connection.  I was told by Verizon this outage is due to regular updating.  (Fortunately I can access my neighbors more reliable wifi internet service.)  When our internet is working, it typically clocks in around 0.78Mbps download and 0.69 Mbps upload.  Generally this is acceptable for casual internet browsing, but it is substantially less than the 1.2-3.0 Mbps advertised by Verizon. 

Phone- Well a landlines a landline I suppose.  We have bare minimum (no caller ID for example) and it seems sufficient. 
In conclusion, unless you want to pay nearly $500 a month for a poor television selection, unreliable internet, and the most basic cellular services (ie no smartphone), my family and I recommend avoiding Verizon.  If you dont believe me, check out their Better Business Bureau rating (F). 

Let Verizons V and RED logo be a forewarning- youre in for a lot of nausea, RED-FACED ANGER and RED DEBT.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (Brian) via email: BGabes27 at Gmail.  Id hate for anyone else to experience what our family has experienced with Verizon. Even if youre a current Verizon customer experiencing deception and billing irregularities, get out of your contract now- paying hundreds in termination fees is much more economical than staying with Verizon.