Verizon
Reviews and Complaints

I purchased Verizon service in August 2003 for a night time/weekend unlimited contract. In October 2003, I received their bill of $2000, including all the night time minutes charges. I then got in touch with their customer service department and complained about the bill, they replied that they would check and let me know.

Half a year later, I heard nothing back from them. So in Jan 2004, I called up again. This time, I got the same answer. I contacted them in May 2004, Dec 2004, May 2005 and Dec 2005 continuously. I sent them a registered letter May 2005 too.

In 2009, they sent my case to Pinnacle Credit Services. I called up Pinnacle and asked them to check the bill. I never heard back from them either. Then I called Verizon again, but Verizon refused to deal with my case this time, saying it was not in their hand any more.

So they report me to creditors bureau and have severely effected my credit.

It's very terrible of Verizon to have changed a wrong bill, never intended to correct it and then refused to deal with it.

wow...verizon wireless has hit an all time low. had a customer who was filing an insurance claim. he just purchased a "new" blackberry curve 2. customer tells me an hour and a half later he's back at the store because the phone stops working. the verizon rep looks at the phone and tells the customer to file an insurance claim because he has water damage. r u serious? i asked the customer has he had the phone near any water since he left the store. customer says no, i just purchased the phone why would i ruin it just to spend more money for a deductible? makes sense to me...as i go through the claim i verify information and turns out...verizon didn't even put the insurance on the customer's account. i tell the customer and of course he's pissed. it's a blackberry why wouldn't i have insurance? verifiies with verizon...who tells him sorry. no insurance, nothing we can do. water damage voids the warranty. now he's stuck with a phone he just purchased that doesn't work. i really think verizon sold him a phone that they knew had a little damage to it already.

so...doing a claim for another customer who says he just purchased his phone from verizon a month ago with a new contract. phone stops working. ask the customer has phone been droopped? any type of physical or liquid damage? customer says no. he took it to verizon and he told me verizon rep accused him of dropping the phone. technically if there is no visible damage to the phone you really have no way of knowing if it's been dropped. it is in warranty and it malfunctioned. so why won't they help the customers? verizon hates to honor a customer's warranty. they suck. so glad they are not my carrier. tragic. althought sprint has their problems too...so my carrier is far from perfect. but still better than verizon to me.

So far I purchased verizon 3 package at 115 per month... I then got my sister to leave direct tv... I never saw the 50 dollar referral because she called verizon to ask a question on her order and didnt ask the question online... So I got my parents to switch from cable... They inputed one number wrong on the website but everything else got ordered and they pay 149 a month but I loose my referral and so do they... It cant be corrected... They say try again and I stupidly give them my grandparents both 84 years old... They had trouble inputting all the info on the internet and so the referral didnt go all the way through so I lost that one also... Unless a person knows exactly what they want from the internet phone cell tv they cannot ever get one penny as they are not allowed to contact verizon by phone only by internet
We all wanted to cancel and each was charged 300 to 375 each just to get out of being lied to
I think this is the best scam ever tried and it works every day
Avoid verizon go to direct they pay you 50 dollars as soon as you give the referral name and they sign up
This cost me the 200 dollars in referral fees plus I had to pay [protected] to cancel I would say this was a living hell and I will warn everyone I can

I called verizon wireless customer care to get some information about there netbooks and this was on a wed. And I talked to a nice rep and gave him some information to see if there would be a deposit on opening a new account and gave my debit card information and the rep informed me there would be no deposit. Then we got to discussing what I wanted to with then net book and the rep informed me that I would be using too much data for a netbook and I said thanks for your time. Then three days later on saturday I get a text message stating that my order had been fullfilled. So I called verizon wireless to see what was going on and the rep informed me that I ordered a notebook and I said no I did not! I got information on a notebook and that was it and then she said no you just ordered a notebook and I said ma'am I have not talked to a rep since wed. And I did not order a note book and you better reverse the order and replace the order on the account. The rep put me on hold for 35 minutes and then came back on and said well I could submit a case and it will take 3 days. I said great and while you submit the case you can work on cancelling my account and I will be on the other line talking to at&t. Started the porting process while on hold and then the rep from verizon wireless dont worry I will be happy to cancel out your account. Then it took 15 days not 3 days 15 days to get my money back from verizon wireless,. And thats how they treat their customers.

Verizon Wireless is the most expensive cell phone company out there. They are also the biggest crooks too. They will change their plans and services without notifying customers. Check your bill every month and you will see that it is never the same amount even if you don't go over minutes, use any data, or purchase any games or ringtones. To check your voicemail it counts against your minutes, but wait isn't your number in the so called IN network? The 250 text plan which runs an extra $5 per month doesn't give you unlimited text to any other Verizon Wireless number it counts against the 250 text. If you want to text to another Verizon customers without it counting against your text you havt to go with the 500 text plan which an extra $10 per month. Be careful if you terminate your contract early, the will try to stick you with an extra month of service, even if you cancel on are before the montly billing cycle date. Ask the rep about this before hanging up. Verizon Wireless will nickel and dime you, because they cater to businesses instead of consumers.

I am experiencing the this problem with my verizon email account since March 10th. I moved to a new address and asked Verizon to move my Phone+DSL service to the new address. I was waiting for the completion of my DSL activation at my new address. Meanwhile I had a travel plan overseas and did not mind the delay in DSL activation since I had my webmail access. 4 days ago I was surprised to see that my email account (aysel.[protected]@verizon.net) was suspended/disabled. I tried to escalate it to their management after being a ping-pong ball between the Tech Support and Billing departments. I spent hours in front of the computer for live chats and on the phone with the Verizon Technical Support and billing department while being transferred from one person to another (each time repeating the same information). All my emails sent to my Verizon account are bouncing back (unable to deliver). I wasn't even able to forward my emails to an alternate email account since my email account was disabled without any prior notice. At the end of the 4th day, I started looking for the ways of escalation. I found this web site and saw that other people had almost the same experience like me. I will appreciate if you can guide me on what to the next to solve this problem. I am tired of contacting Verizon to report this issue. It is very difficult especially when you are abroad. Since my email account at Verizon is disabled, I am using now "[protected]@hotmail.com" as a temporary solution.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Aysel Toprakli
Cell Phone: [protected]
PS: I am currently outside of the US and will be back on March 21st.

I have been reading many common complaints on here regarding Verizon Wireless as well as other cellular companies and would like to respond to a few:

1. Complaints regarding loss of ringtones purchased through VZW when switching devices.
When you purchase a ringtone, you do not "own" it. You are purchasing a licensed tone that is licensed to the serial number associated with your device. This is a federal regulation that is in place to prevent fraud. Lets be honest, folks. If you could buy a ringtone for $1.99 and then send it to other devices, you would. This is illegal. If you get upset about it, complain to the FCC. It's not VZW's fault. In other words, yeah it sucks that you cant transfer tones, but its a license issue, not a greed one. Another option that is available to you is called "My Media Retrival" through your My Verizon account. This is a free service that allows you to retrieve licensed material on warranty replacement devices. This is only available for tones purchased in the last 90 days, again, due to licensing restrictions. Which brings me to my second point...

2. "VZW didnt tell me/ call me/text me/send me a message in a bottle to let me know I was over my minutes"
There is a website. Its called My Verizon. Its located at www.verizonwireless.com. When you sign your contract/upgrade a phone, you are given detailed literature on how to sign up for this website. It is likely that you rep mentioned it to you as well. Here, you can view your usage, your detailed bill, suspend/reconnect service, upgrade your phone, view/change your plan and basically manage every angle of your service. You are given many tools in order to make sure that you are always up to date on your account. In addition to My Verizon, your phone is pre loaded with the contact #MIN, which, when dialed, will send you a free text message notifying you of how many minutes you have used.

3. "This phone is junk. You should give me a new one"
This is probably the biggest complaint of all, and partly the fault of the cellular industry. In the 90's, VZW along with other companies handed consumers free phones in order to get consumers to sign up for service. In the decade since, not only has the industry changed, so have devices. Due to consumer demand, cell phones now are slicker, more advanced, and capable of amazing features such as touch screens, MP3 players, full qwerty keyboards, etc., all of which allow the consumer to do all of the "cool" things they want to do. These phones are expensive! The profit margin on phones, quite frankly, doesnt exist for the carriers. Carriers make their money on the monthly access charges. When you look at the price tag on a phone in a retail store, you will see the two year promo sales price, and the full retail price. Allow me to break this down for you: An advanced touch screen device retails for $449.99. Your two year promo price may be $49.99 after $50 mail-in rebate. This is a savings of $400. That phone likely cost the carrier $400 to purchase through the manufacturer. The reason that they are subsidizing the cost of the phone is that they will recoup the loss though the $60+ you are spending per month on your monthly access. Therefore, you are given this subsidy every 2 years when you fulfill your agreement and are agreeing to another 2 year contract. (New Every Two). So, as you can see, this is why you arent given a free phone whenever you want one. In addition, the company (probably due to tiring of so many near sighted customers), is now giving you this subsidy every 20 months...FOUR months prior to the end of your contract!
Now, on to the whole "this phone is junk" theory. As someone who deals with this issue in the store constantly, I can tell you with certainty that there is a pattern involved with people who constantly have problems with their phones. Many, many times, it is user error. NO one wants to hear this, but it is simply true. Two thirds of phones that go back to the manufacturer for "technical problems" are found to be functioning properly. What I see much of the time is that consumers have had their phone replaced under warranty multiple times and yet still think it is the phone and not something they are doing. Running their internal memory until it is completely full (which causes intermittent power cycling and sluggish delays in performance), failing to ever turn their phone off (which reduces capacity of running memory), and dropping and tossing their phone around all cause problems which can be passed off as warranty issues, especially for overworked tchnicians and store employees who are stretched to their limits and too busy and stressed to try and explain to yet another bitter and angry consumer that they have ANYTHING TO DO with their phone issues. Honestly, its easier to replace it then argue. This is not to say that there arent phones out there with technical issues. They are, after all, electronics. What consumers need to remember though is that they are eletronics that are being used 8-12 hours per day, 365 days per year. They are tossed around in purses, pockets, and holsters, sat on and dropped, and touch with dirty, wet, and greasy hands. Add some of those features that consumers like such as touch screens and youre asking for something to go awry. I honestly wish that Samsung, LG and other manufacturers sold their own phones to consumers at cost and then consumers brought them to the carrier for activation. Then consumers would not only realize how much these phones cost but also appreciate the extensive warranty replacement programs that we have in place for them.

These are only a few key complaints, but I felt it might help to address them just to help all of these complaining consumers understand better.

Verizon billed us for services from "USA Voicemail" that we did not authorize. Verizon agreed to perpetuate this scam - it appears anyone can authorize charges to anybody's phone number just by saying so -

I searched online and cannot find a website for USA Voicemail - I found www.voicemaildirectusa.com but that redirected me to http://www.intelicommessaging.com
I found this statement online when you sign up:
"By clicking the "Submit" button I am confirming that I have reviewed and fully agree with the Intelicom Messaging™ Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. In addition, I confirm the information submitted, and my authority to incur charges on the telephone number listed above, and that I am 18 years of age or older."

That's all that's necessary for someone to bill me for services I know nothing about!

In searching online I have come up with complaints going back to 2005 but no company website called "USA Voicemail" so how is it that anybody could conceivably sign up legitimately for services from this company? How can Verizon agree to this?!

Had a Company call me out of the blue one day made a mistake of not writting it down but gave me a spill about how Verizon customers were not happy about there rates on long distance and how they agreed with "Verizon "that they could do better (USBI that is..) and that it would be sooooo much cheaper for me to switch to them..so I told them they would have to call me back so I could talk it over with my husband and next thing I know I was getting charged with a hefty bill the first bill I got was like 40.00 over what I normally pay but the next was like 175.00 more so if you out there are reading this beware of this company...

I have been a customer of verizon wireless for over 10 years and have 5 phone lines- in the past I have experience quality customer service but have recently found that their customer service is no longer a quality product. Below is a synopsis of what I have experienced- fustrated and fed up I think its time to switch to another carrier, so much for my loyality.
Two weeks ago, I started to experience issues with my Blackberry 8330. I called the 800 customer serivce number and was told that my phone was still under warranty and that I could go to any verizon dealer and get a new phone. After spending the day searching for a dealer that had any 8330 blackberry phones is stock and of course they had to be re-furbished I finally found a place that had one and I was thrilled. Having had experienced numerous issues with downloading my blackberry contact info into the my verizon site in the past I explained to the sales person that I would greatly appreciate it if she could copy my contacts- after being humiliated, insulted and spoken to horribly a mananage finally said ok - I was at that store over 2 1/2 hours.
So I have my phone for two weeks now and I started having issues once again, the phone starts shutting off on its own, dialing numbers on its own and going black - then it comes back for a day or two and the same thing happens. Being a Realtor I need and use my phone each and every day so being without a phone and paying to have the internet on my phone which is an additional $29.99 a month and not being able to use the service is getting on my last nerve.
Last night after my phone went dead again, I called the tech support hotline did the whole battery in and out thing and then she told me that the phone may also have an issue and that she would send me a replacement phone- she asked me to choose between the Blackberry Curve 2 and the Tour. Since I had not personally held any of these two phones she suggested that I go to a store look at both phones and she would call me back today (her shift started at 2:30pm) to see which phone I was interested in.
So I go to the store today, decide that I like the Tour best- wait but there is no call- so I call the 800# as she had told me that in order for me to get a phone by Wed she needed to order it by 6pm so Fed Ex would send it out. Customer service has me on the phone for over an hour, first says they cannot locate the information on the system, then an hour later they find the info and now he proceeds to tell me he cannot offer me either phone and I need to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor gets on the phone and tells me she does not have any re-furbished phones available to send me and if I want a new phone then I have to purchase a new one and it is close to $500 - I lost it.. how can a company tell you one thing and the next day change their tune. I am paying for a service that I cannot use and plan on cancelling all 5 lines, I am sure that AT& T will want my $350 a month ($4200 a year business).
I am livid and am now searching for a new carrier.

Verizons sales rep located inside Costco told me that I have a 30 day return trial if not satisfied with my new 2 year service contract. Nine days later after finding out that when verizon people called my new cell to welcome me, they were charging my minutes. On day nine I returned the phone and had my number transferred back to AT&T. When I spoke to a Verizon phone rep. she told me in anger that because I moved my number back to another carrier there would be a $150.00 penalty, and when I recieved my bill for nine days with 160 minutes used (data plan was unlimited) the bill was over $300.00. I am now planning to disconnect my in house verizon tv, phone and fiber optics internet connection. I would rather have Charter's broadband back.

I accidently made an international calls using Verizon home phone. And when the bill came, it charges me $66.87 for 23 minutes (almost $3 per minute).

What upsets me most is how arrogant and inflexible Verizon is. I made more than 4 calls to ask to change the rate they charge me to a lower one like $1 per minute. They plainly refused it.

Compared to other companies while I felt treated like a customer, Verizon just doesn't care. Each time the representative repeated "that is the policy, we can't change. You made a mistake, you pay for it".

So here is Verizon: first they set up trap for additional revenue stream. Then they push the sale to you for buying their international plan when you complain. However, if you don't want their international call plan, they are very arrogant to change the rate.

The main tv with the dvr recorder has no picture every time I turn it on. The extra tv in the other
room seems to work fine. It's getting to be a pain in the but every day. I just want to turn on tv and
get a picture every time. I have to unplug it and turn it to channel 4 with my tv remote. Then I turn
on the dvd player. Then I have to turn off my dvd player, and then I have to push Video 1 on my tv
remote. Then I get a screen that says press menu to watch fios. That's an awful lot of work just to
watch tv. The problem just started a few days ago. Can't figure out why. Please help!

Directory assistance is definitely not what it used to be - 9 out of 10 times they are unable to find the number needed. In the age of the internet I don't understand how that is possible.

Today I had the worst experience yet - called 411 from my mobile phone at 11:40 today and asked for the number of a Ben Franklin Crafts in Glen Allen, VA. She asked for the street address (I didn't know off the top of my head). I gave her the road that is literally right across the street. The rude woman told me there were 25 locations, none of which had a Glen Allen address and she refused to read me the street names for me to narrow it down. I started to give her more detailed info and that #itch hung up on me.

My 8 year old could find a number better than them.

Horrible service!

I ordered verizon FIOS service online Feb 3, 2010.
It seemed a good deal to get a modem and a wireless router and installation free.
I heard about the screaming fast internet and I want to have one.

It's already March 1st but I still don't have any internet service. I never imagine myself not hooked on the net one day but it's been already 1 month.

They emailed me to ask couple forms of ID. They emailed me and asked me to act within 24 hours. The options are either fax or Us mail. How can anyone make US mail within 24 hours? I've got their email 6 PM on Friday. I thought that was stupid.
I faxed three different ID forms.

Couple days later, I've got the second request for IDs again. I faxed them again. This time I called the 888 number the next day because I didn't get any confirmation email. The representative said they didn't get all pages. So I faxed them(only the missing pages) again. I didn't get the confirmation letter again. I called again. They didn't get any fax but the first time(Feb 8). I called them 4 hours later to make sure they've got the missing page. The representative told me this time they've got everything and transferred me to the installation department.
I had to wait about 14 min to get someone to answer. They asked me phone number. I told them I am ordering internet service but I don't use the home phone. After talking 2 min, she found out I was ordering FIOS not DSL. She said it's different department and transferred me again. I had to wait another 15 min. The representative asked my phone number. When I told me my phone number, he said "this is not verizon number". I told him that it was about FIOS not telephone. Then, he asked me "how may I help you?" I was very frustrated at that moment. I said "I am (really really really) trying to get FIOS installation." He scheduled me for the next day and that was good.
I think people who work for verizon should be get some training instead of making the customers frustrated. If I called the installation department, they should expect that. If they have any general phone number, the person who transfers should explain not the customer.
I've read too many complaints about Verizon but still want to try out. I hope they do better service because that's what they are selling.

-Hana

After reading several other complaints about Verizon, I couldn't help but add my experiences. Every negative comment regarding Verizon is true and I have also experienced myself over the years. I've had Verizon home telephone services for many years, ONLY because that is what is available in our area. I have no other option. When I talk to the customer service reps, most have been nice people and they apologize for the billing errors, offer you things to appease your anger and not lose you as a customer, only to have me see on the next bill that nothing they said they would do got done. You end up on the phone with customer service every month until they get it right, sometimes that takes several months. ALWAYS write down who you talked to and the date you talked to them and exactly what they said they would do...because several times I've been told they have "no record of that".
My most recent frustrations is that I switched from Comcast cable to Verizon Fios to bundle my services in hopes to save money, and have been regretting that ever since. It's only been two months, and it's been a nightmare. I was told I'd be bundling my services and could have a gift card sent to me OR a certain amount of savings on my bill for the first 6 months, and I chose the savings. Well, so far my bills do not reflect the price I was quoted, and the first time I called to "fix" that, I discovered that they billed me for certain things that I did not request, so they removed those and brought my bill down, but still not to the quoted price but said my first bill is higher due to pro-rating. Ok, so I expected my next bill to be what I was quoted. NOT! The next bill was $55 higher than what I was quoted. SO, called again only to find out that what I was quoted "doesn't exist" and they don't know why I was quoted that price and they can't change it to make it that. Oh, and of course last month they offered me free HBO and Cinemax for my inconvenience, only to have me not see that happen, and a week later had to call AGAIN and they said it was never activated! Surprise, surprise!
Aside from the billing B.S., our cable service stopped working on one t.v. on a saturday. We called the help # and they walked us through troubleshooting and determined we need to unhook our box and take it to the Verizon store and switch it for a new one. Get to the store and they tell me they have no record of this person who told us this and they need to have that in their system before they can give us a new box or else it won't be activated and since it's the weekend (a holiday weekend at that) they can't get that resolved for another 3 days! UGH! We've never had problems like this with comcast, and if it weren't for the $180 charge to cancel our services, we'd be so done with Verizon. As soon as our contract is up, we're dropping them. YOU SUCK VERIZON!

Knew phone I wanted; visited store to switch from AT&T. As of 1/18/10 Verizon GOUGES CUSTOMERS to add monthly $10 data fee for middle of road cell phones. I do not need data service as I have a blackberry from work & never access the internet anyway. My first & last trip to the Verizon Wireless store encountered employees who didn't listen, had to be prompted to get to the next step (even to look at phones). Employees were less than professional; one customer service rep blamed sales rep (to me, the customer) when a mistake was made. I told them they'd have a sale if someone in authority could waive the data fee that I do not need. Employee acted helpless (said "computer" was programmed to do it). Manager simply shrugged shoulders & blamed corporate. Horrible policy; poor service. Verizon lost a customer due to this ridiculous policy & money grab. And I'm telling everyone unless something's done about it.

February 23, 2010

In Dec. 09 I decided that I had enough of my black berry and went into the local verizon store to see about a new phone. I explained to the employee that I am very water active and am interested in a water proof phone. She told me that they do have them in the store but if I where to call or go directly to verizons web site I could get a better deal. I went to the web site- not sure exactly which phones were water proof, I decided to call and make sure I got the right one. Verizon sales person new exactly which phone was best for me, after I explained how much time I spend on the water, she set me up with the water proof phone. I asked her a number of times to verify that it is water proof and her answer was yes. I then decided to add an additional line and get two of the phones and change my calling plan. Then I was transferred to an authority figure whom disclosed that this part of the call was recorded asked if I did approve all the changes and if I wanted any additional changes. I again asked him if the phones were water proof and his response was yes. I told him that was all I needed. About two weeks ago after kayaking my phone was broke and appeared to have water damage (phone got splashed but not submerged) I was surprised and called verizon that night. They informed me to call my insurance company but I felt that paying $39.00 for a manufactures defect wasn't right. The sales man informed me that he didn't think the phone was water proof, then read some spec's to me about the phone being able to go 112 meters underwater and that he will send a new phone out. I received the new phone yesterday and today it broke. I went kayaking but placed the phone in a zip lock bag due to recent experience. Got out of the water to discover it too got splashed and broke. Being very upset about this defective water proof phone I went into the store. There I discovered that verizon originally did not sale me a water proof phone and since 30 days have past I was stuck with what I have or I could buy a water proof phone. This is not acceptable. I feel that I was deceived during the original purchase. I feel that now the customer has to record all conversations with verizon in preparations of a dispute and to have accessible legal recordings for up coming law suits. I should be sent the two phones I had originally purchased, the car power chargers, a financial credit to my billing, and an apology. Thus far verizon representatives 3 sales people and 2 bogus managers have given me the run around and basically informed me that I am stuck with what I have and if I don't like it go elsewhere. Currently searching for pending lawsuits against verizon with similar issues, will contact better business bureau, attorney generals office, post internet add, local paper adds, and contact the local news stations, unless this is rectified with in 48 hours.
Sincerely:
Micah
[protected] currently not working!

Verizon's Billing Department and Custoner Service really Sucks.

I have had Verizon FIOS for almost 12 Months now and I am ready to go back to Comcast. Why one might ask.

Verizon promises Promotion of HBO and Cinemax free for 3 Months, and then starts charging $22.99 per month for no reason. Calling Verizon to get an answer and get a Credit is another Task by itself, that I have given up calling them anymore, I use the live chat.

I once singed up for auto bill deduction from my Bank Account, and then stopped this feature on my account twice. Still has not taken effect and Verizon is still withdrawing my incorrect bill amount from my Bank account.

I am so fed up, so fed up with their service that I am ready to move to Comcast as of this coming week.

One night my call to Verizon Customer Service took nearly 80 Minutes, why? I called one service, after 20 minutes on hold Rep said we only service NY Customers. Gave me another number. Called that Number and waited another 10 Minutes and then was transferred to another number which disconnected. So called again and waited another 30 Minutes, finally did not get any right answer.

Short & sweet, if you can do without Verizon, don't get it, their customer Service really sucks...

The following is an active complaint with the NC Atty General and the FCC regarding Verizon Wireless deliberately crippling the connectivity of customers who elected to stay on Alltel data plans. This would mostly affect people in fringe areas (though advertised as full coverage areas) An update to this complaint is that Verizon is retaliating by removing credits that we had been given because of previous service failures. Please spread this information around, especially to any Verizon customers you know who may be having connectivity problems. It COULD be deliberate.

FTC complaint # [protected] NCDOJ Complaint # 1001670 FCC complaint 10-C00194123

This may need a technical person to understand the details.

Verizon Wireless bought Alltel and the Alltel customers could remain on Alltel plans. Verizon is now deliberately crippling the connectivity of smart phones that are on the Alltel plan instead of the more expensive Verizon plan.

We came over to Verizon Wireless when they purchased Alltel. We were/are on a data plan with one "smartphone" and the rest regular phones.

I was expecting to get better phone reception once the transition was done to merge Alltel etc. Instead I found that my phone (the smartphone) would not work well as a phone. I was advised that the smartphones don't get as good of reception (why don't they advertise that, eh?)

I have endured months of poor phone service and have gone through several phone changes (which meant wasting hundreds of dollars in accessories that I had purchased for my original smart phone).

The event that prompted me to change phones and lose my investment in accessories was an event where my wife was desperately trying to call me because our grandson was bleeding and it would not stop. My son was with me and she was able to call him to contact me, but what if he had not been there? (I thought).

For months we would be in the same car and she would be unable to call me but his phone would work just fine (same plan but his is not a data phone).

Verizon tech support suggested going to another brand of phone and one on the Verizon system so that I could get a "hybrid" PRL (preferred roaming list) so that I could get phone reception. After several more phone swaps and wasted time I was finally advised of the cause.

Verizon Wireless is deliberatly crippling the smart phones which are on an Alltel plan instead of the more expensive Verizon plan. This is only the smart phones that are being crippled. My phone has a PRL of 40059 which deliberately limits my connectivity even though I am in the advertised full coverage area. You can imagine my anger at discovering that all these months Verizon had been deliberately crippling my connectivity to try to get me to move to their more expensive plan. The Verizon plan data PRL starts with a 6

I believe that their actions may well be criminal as they are discriminating against former Alltel data phone customers.

It was a tech support manager who revealed this to me because they are very frustrated in trying to give support to people whose phones are being deliberately disabled by a crippled PRL.

This deliberate crippling of smartphones that are still on Alltel plans could cause public safety issues such as the incident when my grandson was bleeding. Imagine when I discovered that my phones failures and poor reception was a DELIBERATE marketing strategy by Verizon.

Update 2/17/2010 I was contacted by one Karen Milbrodt from the Verizon Wireless President's office stating that because I was on an Alltel plan that I was not entitled to the same connectivity that I would have if I was on a Verizon plan. She basically confirmed my allegations. Also she advised me that I was not entitled to the credits that had been applied to my account by an earlier customer service manager and that they were going to remove the credits. I had been concerned about this retaliation by Verizon Wireless.

If you are a smart phone customer who is on an Alltel plan with Verizon wireless and you are having connectivity problems please note the complaint numbers at the beginning.

Steve Winter