Verizon - Sign Up at Your Own Risk
Written: Apr 17 '02
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Pros: Competitive Pricing.
Cons: Monthly bill wrong more often than not. Coverage not up to competitors.
The Bottom Line: Inability to get billing correct. Coverage OK but not as good as competitors. My experience says to shop elsewhere.
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| mccorma's Full Review: General Reviews of Verizon Customer Service |
I signed up with Verizon wireless in the fall of 2000 as I knew that I would be moving cross country soon and wanted a wireless plan that would move with me. The sales agent assured me that I would not have any trouble transferring my Texas rate plan to Georgia.
Once in Georgia, I attempted to "transfer" my service and phones. The rep in Georgia told me that they did not offer the "family plan" pricing plan that I had in Texas and I would have to choose something else. This is when the nightmare began.
My wife and I each have a phone and are very light users. Sometimes I go weeks without using my phone. We therefore wanted a plan with a low monthly cost, and minimum minutes were not a problem. The rep told us about a "special" for $20 per month access with 250 minutes. The "regular" price of this plan at the time was $32.95. We signed up for this plan on both of our phones.
A month later the first bill arrived with a monthly price of $32.95 instead of $20. I called customer service and was told that since this was a "special", my bill would always show $32.95 but also a $12.95 credit to bring the net amount down to the $20. They promised to apply the credits and correct the account.
Well, for the next four months, the arrival of my Verizon bill resulted in another call to their customer service as the monthly charges continued to show the $32.95 instead of the $20. I figure that I wasted from 30-45 minutes on each of these calls. Finally, in June of 2001, I got my FIRST correct bill--- after starting service in Georgia in JANUARY!!
I must say that every time I call their customer service, I get someone on the phone pretty quickly and they are always courteous, it just seems incredible to me that they can't get the bill correct.
For the next few months, the bill was correct. Then, two months ago I got a letter telling me that there had been "a credit of $12.95 per month applied to your account in error for the past several months....". Here we go again, I thought. I got a customer service rep on the phone who assured me that the letter was in error and that no changes would be made to the account, that the rate plan I had (at $20) was still in effect.
Well naturally, when the next bill came it was wrong and I was back up to $32.95!!! I called customer service again, and was told that the credit was removed in error and would be put back on the account.......as of now, I am waiting for the next bill. I am also shopping for a new carrier!!!
During the time that we have had Verizon, the coverage appears to be fair, but tends to go out of service in buildings and other places more than competitors. My wife was recently out shopping with a friend in the far north Atlanta suburbs and her phone showed "no service" while her friend's phone still worked and was not roaming (she has Cingular). This could be a shortcoming of the particular phone that Verizon uses (Audiovox) instead of the coverage area.
I see that Verizon is offering competitive pricing but with their total inability to get the billing right, I cannot recommend them-- unless you enjoy talking to customer service once a month when your bill arrives.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 20.00
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Epinions.com ID:
mccorma
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Financial professional, age 52, male.
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