VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS Verizon Rips you off if you don't enroll in their International Calling plan - You can't escape this! Bridgewater, New Jersey

What ripoff?

Unless you have signed up for a discounted international calling plan, then Verizon, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Bell South and any other carrier can charge you their going rate for international telephone calls.

What you can do in the future, is change your long distance carrier to someone else who charges from 2 cents to 5 cents a minute and who also has special low rates for international calls.

I changed my long distance carrier, Pioneer Telephone, only charges 3.9 cents a minute from California while AT&T (formerly SBC) charges 90 cents a minute. In 2006, AT&T erroneously charged me $6.30 for a 7 minute call to Canada and I never made the call. AT&T never refunded me the charges. I changed to Pioneer Telephone the next month after the error.

Ok this is the dumbest complaint i have ever read.  First verizon can block international calls.  Second the international calling plan they offer is similiar to plans of other major cell phone carriers.  Also international calling can be very expensive no matter who your with depending on where the calls are going to.  I would have verizon tell you where the calls went and at what time.  Then ask your relatives if they made the calls and if the answer is yes then simply hand them the bill.  Dialing international numbers by mistake doesn't happen to often cause you can't just press any random numbers and reach international numbers.  But either way assuming your kids did make the calls by mistake.  They are your phones and your responsible for not only the phones but the kids also assuming they are yours.  You should lock your phone when not in use.  Most or all of them have the lock feature on them.  This will stop unauthorized use of the phones.  Now as for what verizon pays for the international calling it is costly that is why international calling plans are rarely even advertised.  I have never talked to a sales rep who was trying to push international calling unless I ask about it first.