Verizon Online High Speed DSL Ripoff Theft Scam New York New York

I signed up for Verizon DSL back in Sept '07 and was tricked into a 1 year service agreement. In October '07 I moved from that location and continued paying for the DSL, not a problem since I accept my responsibility. In December '07 I relocated from Ohio to North Carolina to find out that Verizon DSL is not available in my area.

I spent hours on hold with customer service at first trying to get my service transferred (that's when I found out it's not available) and then hours and days on the phone trying to get the account canceled. I was told by a representative that I would not be charged the early termination fee because I shouldn't be held accountable for living somewhere where the service is not available. I had the account canceled that day, or so I thought.

It's now March '08 and I just received a charge from Verizon Online this morning on my account. So I called them up to find out why I'm still getting charged. Turns out my account was never fully canceled and now it's 'suspended due to nonpayment'. They were supposed to issue me a refund back in December, which I never received, and now they've promised to return todays charge to me in 1-2 months. And if I cancel the service I will be charged the early termination fee. Why should I have to pay for something that I can't possibly use? Why should I be penalized because I live somewhere where they don't provide service? How is any of this my fault?

Before today I still recommended Verizon Online to my friends and family, but now I say STAY AWAY IF YOU CAN! The whole concept of them charging me for service I don't use and even if they do ever issue me my refunds, they still hold on to MY money for 1-2 months before they'll refund it.

First I call the billing dept to get the charges reversed, they transfer me to the cancellation dept, who eventually transfers me back to billing. They trap you in an endless loop hoping you'll eventually get tired of answering the same questions to a different rep each time you're transferred and hang up. I don't think this issue will ever be resolved, so I am taking further action.

Hex
Shelby, North Carolina
U.S.A.