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ohiofarmer

Beware changing plans at Verizon Wireless

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ohiofarmer

 i do not know where to begin. We are on a family plan and due to a family emergency, we needed to up our data plan.We were at 12 gigabytes with a 2GB bonus.

 

 First mistake was going to a strip mall with a Verizon store that was NOT a company store. Never, ever go to a store that is not company owned. Drive 100 miles if you have to. They stated that we could double our data for only ten bucks more a month.We have two smart phones, one flip phone which I carry, and a portable hotspot [called MiFi that plugs into the computer.  Our bill was much bigger than what was promised and remember that it was under contract that was changed.

 

 Off we went to the company store. They discovered that my smart phone was mistakenly put on as a smart phone and got us back to some level of sanity. However they screwed it up even worse as they stated that our data plan was still OK when it actually turned out to be even worse than we expected. Store #1 had taken our hotspot and converted it to 1 GB and my flip phone was on the 14 GB data plan.

 

 Then we started getting messages that said we were out of data. We were assured that it would be OK once billing caught up with the plan changes.You already know what happened next-- a bill for hundreds of dollars. Customer service at the bricks and mortar store would not answer me so I called corporate the next day

 

 I then called corporate customer "service" You really cannot get through to anybody as you go through the prompts, your password simply does not work. I called them back and used an old tactic that usually gets results. Call the customer service line and just wait, do not touch that keypad, and despite what the recordings say, WAIT. eventually a live person will get on the line.

 

 i was firm, but assertive, assuring the rep that he needed to keep at least part of the promises that were assured, and undo the billing errors that were caused by believing what was told me. He tried to make some of it my fault, but i pointed out to him that he was making me responsible simply because I believed the lies they told me. I got bumped up to a supervisor and wound up paying more but at least got a bit more data for my money. At one point I said the heck with it, just put me back on my old plan. Of course since that plan had a 2GB bonus, they would not renew the bonus because I changed the plan :blink:.

 

Oh, and after all that, my daughters phone would no longer receive text messages, but she got that fixed. I told her to quit upgrading her phone so we could go shopping once her phone was paid for.

 

 I guess it makes sense to verizon to have independent stores lie to people and then the company says 'Too bad"

I guess it makes sense to Verizon to not at least put you back to your old plan when they lie to you about what is in your new plan.

I guess it is also OK to make you wait forever to speak to someone at a COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY.

I guess that bait and switch is also OK

And Finally, i guess that it is a good business plan to completely peeve off a customer who has been with them since 1992.

So if anybody has a good idea of who to see about three phone lines and a portable  WiFi and 16GB for less than $200, i am all ears

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shallowwatersailor

I agree about a company retail store, not a franchisee. We made that mistake the last time we arranged for new phones five years ago. It took a bit of pressure to get the franchisee to provide what a company store would. But they did.

 

We had trouble with Comcast earlier this year with no service or decreased service from June to July. Four service calls and seven technicians along with Corporate Customer Relations later we were back in business. But what really got them going was a complaint to the FCC and my county's cable office. That required a written response concerning the problem documenting the case history. It is now on file and if I have another problem, it will escalate immediately. Similar issue with my telephone land-line which is still copper. Copper telephone lines are still regulated as opposed to fiber-optic lines. We had no service on it and Verizon said they would have it repaired in a week. I filed a complaint with the MD Public Service Commission.online. Within the hour I received a call from a Verizon corporate representative and had the phone repaired later that same day. Once again, Verizon had to provide a service call history to the Commission and that prompted swift action. Government does work in our favor sometimes!

Edited by shallowwatersailor

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obone

I have a feature through them that once my data is all used up it puts me on the 3G network and the data is unlimited. It kind of sucks, but at least you can get online for email and web sites.

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ohiofarmer
10 minutes ago, obone said:

I have a feature through them that once my data is all used up it puts me on the 3G network and the data is unlimited. It kind of sucks, but at least you can get online for email and web sites.

 That is what mine was supposed to be, but they cheated me out of it. Actually, at this point, I am unsure of what they may do with my plan

 

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Sarge

These phone companies have been allowed to get too big and deregulate the old system that protected the customers - the FCC does not enforce the existing rules very well either . With AT&T and Verizon being the two largest and owning tower rights above everyone else we are at the mercy of their bad business practices - you have nearly no choice but to deal with the Big Two in one way or another . I've worked in communications before and the changes that have been made in the last 25yrs is staggering - all to benefit the large corporations . AT&T now makes over 1 Billion per month in profit - that alone tells you how well their devious tactics work against their customers . Verizon is a tight second place but their split entities hides their profit margins - they actually in total do better than AT&T overall in profit . The reason they can give away nearly $1,000 phones is due to how they can screw customers on their plan rates and billing - and you have almost no recourse . Couple that with very poor infrastructure updates and service quality is rural areas the whole thing is like a bad joke - around here people die due to no service in areas they claim to cover - many people are having to try to rely on land line phones on a copper system that is 50+yrs old and rotting as we speak - they do not care because the profit margin is in the cellular business side . Now that almost all the small carriers are long gone these big corporations are not investing into upgrades on the old land line system - they do install some fiber here and there to keep things running but it's all to benefit the cellular network - not the land lines . The whole thing is coming to a head soon - but until people start getting Congress and the rest of our government involved nothing will change - it must be done en mass to get any results .

 

Call your Senator and Representative - I know it seems fruitless but once they start hearing from enough consumers being screwed they might actually do something about it . If you ask around , almost everyone you know has been taken advantage of by these carriers - encourage them to file complaints with local , State and Federal entities . The complaint string isn't hard to find on a simple search and it's less time to do that than to try to reach out to a company's "customer service" department - and more effective . Almost no one has the time/patience to sit on the phone for hours at a time to try to deal with these thieves , especially when your phone isn't working .

 

We used to have a sort of rotten joke when I worked for the engineering company that did communications work in both phone and cable tv - if we cut a phone drop and the resident complained we told them to just call the phone company - most would run right back into the house to do just that , and then come back out - really mad the second time , lol . In the end , I'd either make the call for them using one of the phone peds or just repair the drop myself to keep a good relationship - it took the phone companies on average 3-5 days to fix one lousy drop - that is a split second in comparison to how they work now .

 

Good luck dealing with your carrier when there is a problem , no matter who that is - you have very few rights .

 

Sarge

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rmaynard

I'm on Consumer Cellular. I get unlimited talk and text, plus 10gb of shared data data on my phone and my wife's phone for $55.00 per month. I can add more phones for $15.00 each per month, or get a second plan.

 

I don't know how many phones you need, but assuming you needed a total of 4 phones, you would pay $110.00 per month and get unlimited talk and text plus 20gb of data.

 

Consumer Cellular uses either AT&T or the T-Mobile network. I've used them since 2008 and have been very happy with them. I have been from Maryland to  Maine, California to the Carolinas, Wyoming to Texas, Florida to Colorado and many places in between, and coverage has been great.

 

 

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BaySide1

I refuse to go to a Verizon Company Store !!  Mainly because they are Rude and Pushy. Why you ask? Because the People working at the Company/Corporate locations work on commission.

They always want you to get the newest plan even if it is not in your best interest because they get a commission only on New Plans.

 

My solution which has worked very well is Best Buy. Best Buy employees are friendly and want to help and they do not work on commission.

 

Whenever changing your plan always make sure you take the time to go over everything carefully with the person you are dealing with.

 

Then, make sure you revist the changes again before 14 days pass. After that, I still check my next bill with a fine toothed comb.

 

I have the older More Anything Plan with unlimited cals and text with 10GB of data a month and upgrade my phones every two years. I get a $25.00 a month Statement credit for each of my three lines.

So basically, when I upgrade my phones it costs me nothing extra per month. Currently, we have 2 Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus's and a New iphone 8 Plus.

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953 nut

Our local Radio Shack (private owner, not corporate) is a Verizon outlet and they are great to deal with. They made adjustments to our phone/data plan that saved us about $ 20.00 month.  :woohoo:  Being a local small town store they do the best they can for the customer.

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benji756

I have had better luck by going thru bestbuy for my phone plans both verizon and now sprint

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