Verizon claimed I had entered into a contract, never provided proof of the contract, charged an early termination fee for breaking non-existent contract Nationwide

On 6 June 2013 I contacted Verizon to purchase new services which included Television and Internet.  On 14 August 2013, I called to cancel my service as I had switched to Dish Network which was a better value to me.  During this call, I was informed that I was bound to a two year contract that I had agreed upon during my initial request for service.  I informed the individual who I was speaking with that I had agreed to no such contract and that I had not signed any documents pertaining to a contract.  He told me that all contracts were done through verbal agreements which were recorded for verification purposes.  I then explained to the individual that I had not agreed to any contract, verbally  or otherwise, and that he would need to produce the recording which he claimed to have if there was in fact one.  He told me that he did not have access to it at that time but would request a copy of the recording and would contact me when he obtained it. 

The next month, I received a bill with an early termination fee attached.  I called Verizon customer service to dispute this charge and explained the above circumstance again.  The representative told me that they would obtain a copy of the recording and contact me when they had it to verify that I had in fact agreed to a 2 year contract.  Again, I never received a phone call.  This same scenario played out again the following month without a callback or any verification that I had entered into a contract.

My next step was to contact Verizon customer service again to dispute this charge for a fourth time.  On 19 November 2013, I spoke with Mr. Bryant at the Maryland Elite Office and explained the circumstances leading up to our conversation.  He told me that it was unacceptable that I had not received a return phone call or any verification that I had in fact entered into a contract.  He told me that at that time he would enter a dispute to have the $220 early termination fee removed from my account but that I would need to pay the $41.36 that remained on my bill for services that I had received.  That payment posted on 4 December 2013. 

I continued to receive bills listing a past due amount corresponding with the early termination fee which I refuse to pay as I never entered into a contract in writing or verbally.  To date, Verizon has not produced any evidence to contradict my statements.  On 20 January 2013 I received notification from I.C. Systems by mail that my Verizon account had entered into collections and that I would need to provide a letter to them to dispute this charge.  I responded to their letter with the above information on 4 February 2014 and when I followed up approximately 2 weeks later I was informed that Verizon had withdrawn the collection from I.C. Systems.  I received no further correspondence from Verizon, not even a bill. 

On 27 May 2014, during an attempt to refinance a vehicle, I was notified by my bank that I had a Verizon account which was in collections.  I immediately pulled my credit report and was shocked to see that Verizon had been reporting my account in collection status to the credit bureaus for 3 months (Mar, Apr, May) without so much as a letter or a bill being sent to me.  I contacted the Verizon phone number which was listed on my credit report and explained my situation to the attendant answering the phone who promptly transferred me to another department.  The next attendant transferred me again, as did the following 5 attendants.  After nearly 2 hours of being kicked from department to department, I was finally able to reach Camille in the In House Recovery department.  She informed me that my account still has an outstanding balance of $220 because of the early termination fee and that I would need to formally dispute this claim through Verizon.  Camille also informed me that my account was sent to I.C. Systems for collection on 16 January 2014 and was withdrawn on 15 February 2014 without a justification.  When asked why I had not been contacted by Verizon or by any other collection agency since this time, Camille stated that I had, at some point, requested to not be contacted by a collection agency.  I never made such a request, nor could I be expected to know about an outstanding balance without being contacted. 

 I want to make clear the fact that I never entered into a contract with Verizon for television or internet services.  Verizon has provided no evidence to refute my claim nor have they been forthcoming with any information which I have requested.  Had Verizon contacted me in response to my letter to I.C. Systems, I would have been able to follow up with this in a timely manner.  I formally disputed the claim that I oweed an early termination fee for my services through Verizon's In House Recovery department on 28 May 2014.  2 weeks later I contcted In House Recovery to check on the status of my dispute and I was informed that Verizon had located proof of my contract but would not be able to provide that proof to me and that I still owed the $220.  To end the madness and clear my credit, I paid my account off on 18 June 2014 and WILL NEVER use Verizon again.