Verizon Verizon The Ripoff Takes Advantage of The Miltary People Franklin Nationwide

My son is currently in the Army. While in AIT School my son and his unit was allowed to leave the base. While off the Base my son phone was stolen. He had just started service in December of 2013 with Verizon. His phone was stolen in Feb 2014 I believe. He called Verizon as soon as he knew it was gone.  And was told that since he didn’t have insurance on his phone he would have to purchase another phone. He then went to the dealer and was told that he would have to pay $799.00 for the phone. He didn't have $800.00 to pay for another phone.  He was advised that Verizon policy meant that he would have to pay the full price for the phone or allow Verizon to charge him for new phone line.

 He went from having his phone stolen to a total nightmare of Verizon taking advantage of him.  They had priced the value of the phone higher than the actual true value of the phone. Online Verizon has the phone listed for $0-479.00. So why did they try and sell him the phone for $800.00 if their highest listed price is $479.00.  This force my son to have to get a new line with Verizon which meant that the first Phone line he had would still be charged as if he has a phone on that line as well.  And now he would have to pay for services as if he had 2 active phones. They took advantage of him and now his bill would go from $108.00 to $250.00 plus per month.

 Because now they would charge him for 2 phone lines and mobile internet service which they also charge as if it is a phone line as well.  They knew he was young and didn’t know his rights. But the sad part is they did this to one of our servicemen and didn’t care.  Matthew asks me to call Verizon to try and work out something with them to lower his bill because they were taking a large part of his active pay.  I called Verizon and talk to a supervisor in March he told me that he would issue a $50.00 credit and that was the most he could do.  But that supervisor lied and worse he never entered any notes to show that he had approved a credit on Matthew’s account.

I soon learned that this is norm for Verizon and their customer service representatives. Each time I talk to them they never notate which means the call and conversation never happened.  So in May I and Matthew called Verizon again to try and work out a payable option and was told by one of the Female supervisor that she was a Army brat so she truly understands and she was going to suspend one of Matthew’s phone lines and credit his June bill so that he would only have to pay $174.00 for the month of June. She even told us to hold on so that she could complete everything while we were on the phone; She said she was offering to take care of everything while we were on the phone because I had told her about the last supervisor who never issued the credit.

 I’m sure at this point you can guess what this agent did as well. She didn’t notate and never issued the credit. So when we got ready to make the June payment were told that the agent never adjusted the bill as she stated said she would .The agent didn’t even suspend  the other line that she promise she would do. And when we called to try and reach her we informed by another agent that they could get a message to her.  The agent went on to say that since there are so many call centers they couldn’t reach her but that we would have to keep calling until we reach the call center she was out of.. Now none of this makes any sense but that was what we were told. It seems that this is how Verizon do business by misleading and mis-treating their customers.  

This is the kind of service we got from them each and every time. They are bullies and don’t care anything about their customers.  We kept trying to call and get someone to help us, all we got was hung-up on and they talked very smart to us. One supervisor kept saying your son is a grown and he signed the contract and hung-up in my face. We must have tried to reach out to them over 20 times or better. But no one would ever work with us or offer a solution. 

Matthew attempted to talk to them one last time before he finally ask them to close his account.  They then charged him 3 different cancellation fees totaling $1,153.85 dollars. This is all due to someone stealing my son’s phone and they took advantage of someone who had already gone through a very bad situation. And now they are threatening to put it on his credit.  I called the when we got the letter and talk to Christine # V1GAC 24 and she said that her Supervisor would call us back tonight but as usual they are never true to their word and only lie to the customers.

I was told by Christine that her supervisor was Anna but she refused to give me her supervisor last name or agent Id#  I never got a call back as usual!!! This was on today 5:36pm July 31^st. I had I talk to someone from the Army and they told me that Verizon is breaking the law. They told me to Google Service Member Civil Relief Act. So I have included that law for you. They were not supposed to charge Matthew a Cancellation Fee and they were supposed to work with him on his bill.  They also can’t place it on his credit.  So I need you help to correct a wrong that happen to my son. (One of our Servicemen). Just think if they treat a soldier like this just imagine how they treat other customers…

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act:

Proposed Amendments in the 110th Congress

R. Chuck Mason

Legislative Attorney

American Law Division

Summary

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), P.L. 108-189, was enacted on December 19, 2003, as a complete overhaul of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940 (SSCRA). The SCRA provides certain rights and legal protections to enable servicemembers to devote their full attention to their military duties. To date, several bills proposing changes to the SCRA have been introduced in the 110th Congress. The proposed amendments cover subject matter such as credit ratings of servicemembers, cancellation of cellular phone service contracts, rent and mortgage relief, child custody agreements, and educational benefits. This report will be updated as events warrant throughout the 110th Congress.