It probably isn't news to any of my readers that you can't trust anything any cell phone company tells you. Still, the story one reader recently sent me about his dealings with Verizon is too good an illustration of the point not to share.
The reader wrote:
"Ed, here is another cell phone gripe/horror story, or how the large print gives and the small print takes away. Last month, about two-thirds through my billing cycle I could see that we would go over our shared minutes (we had a death in the family and were using lots of minutes making arrangements). My wife and I each have a phone and 'share' minutes. The quotes around share are there for emphasis as you will learn."
"I called Verizon and talked with Dave, employee # 248223. I explained the situation, that we would be going over shared minutes in our plan and asked if I could purchase additional minutes now at a lower rate per minute than the 0.42/ per over-the-plan minute. Dave said there was no reason to purchase additional minutes, because he could add a one time 500 bonus minutes to our shared account free of charge because we were long time good customers. I asked Dave if there was any charge for the bonus minutes, that I was willing to purchase additional minutes because I was sure I would be over the plan for this billing period. No, they are bonus minutes and there is no charge was his reply. I thanked him and said I would accept his offer. I will add the minutes to your account today, he said. I did receive a written notice from Verizon about a week later stating the minutes had been added."
"When I received my monthly bill, there was a $250+ charge for approximately 600 minutes of over-the-plan usage! The over-the-plan minutes were charged to the secondary phone on the shared plan. You know how long it took me to call Verizon. Here is what the Verizon supervisor, (Debbie, employee #450849) had to say, along with my response:
Verizon: Dave did not have the authority to add that many minutes to the shared plan.
Reader: I have no control over what your representatives say. What Dave said, I have to accept.
V: He was not trained properly and what he added was incorrect and we cannot honor it.
R: Let s talk about the current bill for the over the plan minute usage. Why were the over the plan minutes only on the secondary phone? My wife and I were both using the shared minutes. Dave added the bonus minutes to the shared account. There are still unused bonus minutes."
V: The bonus minutes can only be used by the primary or first phone on the account. They do not apply to the second phone on the account. When the monthly plan minutes were used, the second phone is charged for any over-the-plan minutes.
R: That is not what Dave said. Dave was very aware I had a 'shared' minute account and I was asking how to avoid over-the-plan minutes on either phone. Dave said the bonus minutes could be used by either phone.
V: If Dave said that, he told you wrong. The bonus minutes he added only apply to the first phone and are not shared. Also, to repeat, Dave did not follow Verizon procedure and should not have added that many bonus minutes.
R: Again, from my side, I have to rely on what your representatives say. I have no control on the level of training or how much your representatives learn and follow what they are told. So what you are saying is the bonus minutes Dave added to my shared account cannot be shared?
V: That is correct and if Dave told you different, he was wrong.
R: I have to rely on what Dave said. Can you play back the recorded line conversation between Dave and me to verify what was said?
V: No. If you want to listen or get a transcript of the recording your will have to obtain a court order.
R: Have you listened to the recording?
V: I cannot tell you if I have.
R: I am asking Verizon to remove the $250 over the plan charges because Dave specifically told me the 500 bonus minutes were being added to my shared minute plan and all the minutes in the plan are shared.
V: I cannot do that. What I can do is to offer you to upgrade to the next level of shared plan minutes and I will apply the new plan to you current bill. Then there will be no over-the-plan minutes.
R: How much more per month for the upgraded plan?
V: It will be about $20 total per month and you will have to sign up for a new 12-month contract.
R: So, to remove the $250 false charge, I have to agree to an additional $240 and a new 12-month contract? That does not make any sense.
V: Verizon does not agree $250 is a false charge, it is in agreement with our policy. That is the best I can do.
R: May I speak to your supervisor; we seem to have reached an impasse.
V: I am a supervisor and there is no higher supervisor available (our conversation was taking place at about 8 PM). I can have someone contact you tomorrow, but they will tell you the same thing. What I can offer you is a $25 credit per phone for $50 total, which I will post to your account right now.
R: What about removing the $250 false charge?
V: The $50 credit is independent to the $250, which is still your responsibility. I will also extend the offer to upgrade to the next level and apply it to your current bill to the end of this bill cycle.
R: I will accept the $50 credit and let you know about the upgrade before the end of the bill cycle. Are your recording all of this so there will be no misunderstanding?
V: Yes
R: Thank you and good evening."
"I took the $50 credit which lowered my loss to $200. Now it made even less sense to spend $240 to save $200 plus a new one-year contract. We had one month left on our original two-year contract, now we are month to month. So, we decided to accept the $200 as the cost of learning, again, how slimy any and all cell phone companies are and try to ask all the right questions."
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1:20:16 AM 
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