Verizon Wireless "Win Back" Department LIES To Keep Customers! Changed their story requiring me to sign a 1 year contract to avoid early termination fee when I only had 2 months remaining Ripoff Nationwide

So, I moved into a new house recently, and my Verizon service was awful at home. Looking online, it became apparent many others in my zip code had issues with Verizon's reception.

My mistake:
I mistakenly thought my contract ended on 6/13/07, but it was actually until 8/13/07.
-But, I must say that when looking at the "New Every Two" meter on my account home page, 6/13 was in BOLD, 8/13 was not. I didn't realize that 8/13 even existed on the scale until after 6/13 had passed! Current subscribers, check this to see if your pages highlight the date exactly 2 months before your end date, and be careful. Okay, I'll admit, my mistake.

On 6/13, I signed into a contract with Cingular, with MUCH better reception at home! Thinking my contract was up, I ported my number over from Verizon, and saw a couple days later I had the dreaded $175 early termination fee on my account (mind you, I had two months remaining!)

Fine, my mistake again. But, due to the timing, I actually was going to be able to finagle something.

Verizon said I had 30 days to restore my service (with my now-ported number) at no penalty to me. They also said that if I wanted to activate a new phone number on the account, I could do that. No mention of any contract!

Great, so if I can just find someone to use my phone for two months, I can finish off this contract, right? WRONG. I found someone who wanted to activate a new number on my phone, but then all of a sudden I am being pushed into a 1 year contract. Apparently it is policy to require a 1-year contract for activating my phone with a NEW number. It is a different story if I ported back my old number, they say. 50%, or 3/6 CSR's agree with me, the other half defer to this policy. Fine, good thing your staff is well trained in your policies!

Okay, so a slight wrench in the spokes of my plan, but what if I massage the system a bit more?
Verizon has given me 30 days to return
Cingular/ATT gives me a 30-day grace period, so I can return to Verizon at any time I want at no penalty.
Cingular/ATT will also take me back within 60 days of cancellation (akin to Verizon's so-called 30 day win-back period)
So, because my contract is only for 58 more days, I can port back to Verizon to see the contract out, then port back to Cingular before day 60 and all is well. Right?

WRONG!
This is where my ordeal takes a turn for the worse, and the gestapo tactics of Verizon became more and more transparent.
Over the course of three phone calls totalling 148 minutes, I spoke with people from:
Customer Service
"Win-Back"
Telesales

Here is the rundown summary of what each department had for me on 7/13/2007 (Friday the 13th, ironically):

Customer service:
We'll transfer you to the win-back department

Win-Back department:
I will need to transfer you to telesales to get your phone re-activated

Telesales:
Okay, so you'd like your phone reactivated? No problem. Do you have access to a fax machine?
me: no, why
Them: Well then you can just go to your nearest Verizon store to get the TWO-YEAR contract signed
Me: Wait...TWO YEARS? I was told I don't need to sign a new contract, that I can just finish out the duration of my remaining contract, which is ~60 days
Them: We ONLY activate phones with TWO YEAR contracts. I can transfer you back...

Customer Service:
Them: "Yes, a ONE to two-year contract is required for phone reactivation. BUT, I see the note on your account saying that we've agreed that you can finish your current contract, and we will honor that. Let me transfer you back."
(note that the telesales person from before was blatantly wrong, pressuring me into a 2 year contract. Though, these people pretty much contradict each other on every level in this debacle)

Unluckily, just as people seem to be on my side, my phone disconnects. I had been doing this driving Eastbound on I-90, and had kept signal from Rochester to Albany! I guess it was bound to happen. No worries, because my situation is documented in my account information, right? WRONG

Telesales:
Them: We DO NOT allow port-backs to waive the cancellation fee without a 1-year contract.
Me: What about what all the others have said?
Them: I don't know who you spoke with or in what departments, or when, but they were wrong.
Me: Yes you do! They made notes in my account, and when I've talked to others, they've seen these notes! You know exactly who I talked to!
Them: I don't know what the point of this call is, because you MUST reactivate with a one-year contract.
It goes back and forth, but this guy stonewalls me completely and frankly is a jerk.

I've omitted about 2 hours worth of conversations and hold time in the interest of slight brevity.

In general, most people seem to want to help me, but when it comes down to talking to the people who can actually do the deed of activating my phone, I get a flat-out no.

It doesn't matter how nice and friendly people are if they either:
A-Don't know or understand the policies of their company
B-Purposely mislead me, and use the $175 fee as blackmail (The win-back department sounds like a team with a mission to impress their customer, rather than blackmail them into submission!)
C-DO NOT HOLD THEMSELVES ACCOUNTABLE TO THEIR WORD!

Verizon was great for ~20/22 months I had them for. But, I will never again use them for their gestapo customer service tactics.

Ming
Rochester, New York
U.S.A.

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