Verizon
Reviews and Complaints

At the end of June, 2009, I removed myself from my husband's Verizon account and transferred my Verizon cell phone and my son's Verizon cell phone to my name. I was not told by anyone at Verizon that I could merge my cell phone number and my son's phone number to one plan and save more than $100 per month until a rep at the Dickson, TN store offered it to me just this month. That is my first complaint. So, all these months, I've paid more than $300 a month - and some months more than $400 per month for TWO lousy cell phones. So, at the same time I switched my and my son's phones into my name, I ordered unlimited texting - in June 2009. I have a small business and my customers text me if I'm on another line when they call my office. So, from June to December 2009, when I got time in December 2009, I called Verizon about my high bill. She said I did not HAVE unlimited texting. I said I ordered it in June 2009. Of course, as true to a Verizon rep, she said she was SORRY. She said she would credit me a lousy 79 dollars. Whoopie! So, last week, I called the Dickson, TN Verizon store to report that my son had not been able to use his phone for over a month because in December, he opened it and it fell off the hinges. My son is not a child. He's over 18. The guy at the Verizon store gave me the phone number for claims (wrong number) and offered to put me on ONE PLAN to save me over $100 dollars a month. FINALLY, after 6 months of no offer. I didn't know I COULD get on one plan. Nobody at Verizon ever OFFERED me that. So, I called customer service - thinking SURELY they would credit me the month's bill for my son not being able to use his phone. No WAY. They offered me a lousy $32 dollars for their screw ups and told me that one of us HAD to have dropped or thrown his cell phone to make it come off the hinges and they would not give me any kind of a credit for the month he could not use the phone. The only reason it took me a month to turn in the claim is, I got tired of being on HOLD for 10 minutes every time I called. Listen to the AT&T commercials people. As soon as I can get away from Verizon, I'm out of here.

Purchased phone and fancy warranty. Phone failed to dial 911 when dialing 911. Called 911 three times, nothing happened. Went to store to make claim on warranty. Eye candy droid girl Bernice claimed helplessness, tried 911 twice finally got through. Asked for manager, told to come back or call *611 (Customer Disservice number). Came back the next day and talked to Bob the manager. He grabbed the phone called 911 and tried twice finally got through. He bottom line? Worked when he tried, not a problem. Made up a bunch of excuses and tried the usual and customary blame the customer tricks. When contract is over in 11 months Verizon can shove it. Told to dirt bag manager if there was another incident and someone got injured I would name him personally as a defendant in a civil liability case. AND I WILL if it goes down!
Drop Verizon at contract end and never go back. Big rip off.

In October of 2008 I changed telephone providers from Verizon to Digital Time Warner. I paid, what they told me was a closing bill, as a matter of fact according to my calculations I owed around $39.00, they billed me $94.00 and that they would return the difference after the account was closed on their end. (You know, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" kind of action.) They never returned the balance and on top of that billed me for continued service, several months later. The amount they say I now owe them, is $177.00. Verizon can go to hell! This is pure extortion and they keep on selling this "contract" over and over again to other "collection agencies". I have had several call me in 2009 and I told them all the same thing. Their threat is that they will screw up my credit. BFD! Like I said, Verizon, go to hell! As far as my credit being screwed up, loosing my job, the death of my husband, two best friends, my house and too many other things to mention has already taken care of that, I could give a rat! Take my credit and shove it!

I have just spent the last hour trying to resolve what are now TEN calls to verizon DA and verizon help. Each time I was provided either a wrong number or disconnected, then transferred twice from 411 to verizon directly where I was placed on hold for 15-20 minutes.

One of the first 411 reps I dealt with said they could process the credit but each subsequent error was met with "we can't do that" and a transfer back to verizon. Particularly of note was a "supervisor" Joan 5592 (I believe) who just responded that I didn't understand telecommunications.

I was in the business 30 years and this kind of customer service should NOT be tolerated. I would like a CPUC/FCC complaint issued against verizon as well as credit for 10 unnecessary calls. Thank you.

This is a warning to anyone who thinks Verizon Wireless is doing business in good faith.

Two months ago, I wanted to cancel the service on my Verizon USB data stick. I call customer service, they tell me it's going to be $110 early termination fee. I say, "wow, is there any way to avoid that?" They say, "sure, you can transfer the service to someone else!" I say "OK, how do I do that?" They say "it's easy, you just ship the USB stick to your friend and tell him to call [protected], we'll put a note on your account and it'll all be taken care of!" I say "great, " pack up the USB stick and ship it to my friend, he calls [protected] and the USB stick starts working under his number.

At the end of the month, I get a bill for $60, the normal monthly rate for my data service. I say, "oh well maybe it takes them some time to process the cancellation." Next month, now I have a bill for $125, I say, "uh oh, something's wrong..." So I call up Verizon Wireless again...

NOW they say that when my friend called he didn't do everything he was supposed to do in order to transfer the service over. Apparently the first person I talked to made it sound WAY easier than it is and skipped some important steps. I say well Verizon gave me some pretty bad advice 2 months ago! If I had known it would be a big production, I would have paid the $110 and be done with it. So let me pay the $110 now and be done with it.

Oh no no no, says Verizon. The bill charges are valid even though they basically lied to me on the phone two months ago. Now I owe them the $125 PLUS a $100 early termination fee. So now if I want to get out from under Verizon it'll cost me $225.

Better read your contracts carefully, people. Verizon Wireless will charge you anything they think they can get away with.

Why don't they sell phones that are phones first and then toys!

First: my samsung sch-i760 failed while it was still under warrantee, but they had no replacement phones. The only phone they offered without a data package had no wifi connection.

Second: they did offer me a nice deal on the motorola droid, but I am forced to carry the data package. With my samsung, I had data blocked, but was able to use wifi to sync the phone with google. So as well as paying for a new phone, I am paying an extra $30/mo for a service I do not want or need.

Third: I was assured that this phone would work “hands free” and link to my blueant car speaker for voice dialing in the car - - which it will not. From reading posts on the web, it is well known that blue tooth voice dial does not work on this phone.

All I want is a phone with
1) a screen large enough for those of us who are over 60 to see it
2) buttons (Not a touch screen) that are easy for older folks to see/feel and use quickly for the basic functions (On/off, dial, end, voice dial and volume)
3) the ability to use the phone safely, hands free, in the car
4) the ability to sync my contacts and calendar with either yahoo or google - - not exchange - - so that they are the same on the phone and/or via the computer, without needing to pay for a data package! Wifi is just fine! Many of us are computer literate enough to want to sync data, but no longer employed and needing exchange capabilities or internet on our phone.

Other features are nice/fun to have, but not worth $30/mo on a retirement budget! And I think there would be a huge market for such a device! I think all the phone designers must be under the age of 40 when presbyopia (Inability to focus on up close objects) and thus bifocals hits most of us! Maybe someone can talk with the manufacturers about a phone targeted to the above specifications.

Verizon retail stores, mainly teams electronics worst customer service you will ever get. They are very rude and if you go in there and ask for help after your phone got stolen to switch your phone number to another phone. Plus your a prepaid customer they will send you away saying they can't help you. Don't go to teams electronics. Such bad service mainly this big guy who will rip you off and send you away. Plus I went to the main store for verizon and asked for help from them. They too sent me away saying they can't help me. Come on now my phone just got stolen and I bought a new one and just needed a my number place on that phone how hard is that? So people switch to at&t better service at retail stores. If you want to buy verizon then buy it online then call customer service they will help you faster and better. Do not go to the verizon retail stores in escanaba michigan or do not go to teams electronics at all. Biggest rip off store in the country. Irs should really check out teams electronics in escanaba michigan behind drifters... Thank you

Buyer beware with verizon wireless. They will do and say anything to get you to buy phones. Here's my problem: I had previously purchased a samsung omnia and had been told when I activated it that I could decline a data plan. When I received my bill, however, there was a $29.99 charge for a data package. When I contacted verizon to complain, they said that phone required a data plan and there was no way I could take the plan off. They suggested I buy a new phone or activate an old one.

So, at upgrade time for 3 other phones on my family plan, I decided to check into new phones on the internet. This time, I carefully looked which phones required a data plan. The lg envy touch had no requirement. I completed the on-line order form declining any data package. I placed the order and even have an email confirmation that there are no recurring monthly charge for the phone. Again, however, first bill I see a data package charge. Again I contact verizon and tell them I was specifically informed that there was no requirement for a data package and have an email to prove it. Again I am told that there is nothing they can do and that I could return the phone, but it was up to their discretion whether to accept the return.

It is clear, verizon will do and say anything to make the sale, even make intentionally false and fraudulent representations.

Stay clear of verizon. Even when you have it in writing they don't honor their word!

I have called Verizon on three occasions to cancel my land line telephone service for two phone accounts in my home. The telephone numbers are [protected] and [protected]. Despite my requests for termination of the phone service, they continue billing me each month.

Now, I have received notification that if I do not pay the bill they will send a negative report to the credit bureau. This is an outrage, and I really believe Verizon is engaging in criminal behavior. They should be stopped from doing this to people over and over again (according to the many complaints I have read)

I intend to pursue this matter with the local and State authorities and with Verizon as well. My e-mail address is [protected]@aol.com.

March 2008, I set up my home internet connectivity via Verizon Wireless, as I had no dial-up where I live. They sent me an aircard (Novatel V720 to be exact) and for 19.5 months, everything worked pretty OK. However, though I was barely on to use my limited 6 G a month (any other company would've rolled that over) in October 2009, they charged me $250 due to overage charges! I called and they acknowledged that I'd never run up a bill that high, but they would NOT reimburse me the money. They merely "credited it to my account". It WILL came out of my bank account. Almost simultaneously, my aircard began to send me "Novatel Unplug" notices. Then, it wouldn't work at all. They tried to trouble shoot, but could never get my card to work again. They repeatedly offered to allow me to "upgrade". They sent me another aircard, but charged me $50 for it due to the fact that the card was over a year old, even though the problem was not my fault. But the unplug notices just kept on coming. I've been calling them, and they had me download new software, but the unplug notices STILL keep on coming. Day before yesterday, I spoke to Customer service who tried to help walk me through trouble shooting. Since then, I get Novatel Unplug notices about every 10-15 minutes, if I keep connectivity THAT long. Verizon insists that it's Mac's fault due to USB drivers. Apple Support says that is not the case because other users (including PC users) are also complaining about this issue. Now I am at an impasse, borrowing SOMEONE ELSE'S iconnectivity so I can complain. This is ridiculous. Verizon insists that the only resource is for me to UPGRADE! for a new 2 year contract and let them send me a new aircard. So, until I UPGRADE my service will NOT WORK? Yes, the customer service reps are nice, and seem OH SO CONCERNED that they help you. But, in the end, hasn't there been a news story recently about how WE the customer are THEIR (Verizon's) source of capital? They count on sucking a certain dollar amount out of all of us! I am out of work, and I can't believe that they continue to suck money out of me like I'm a millionaire! They've sucked me into a NEW cellular contract with a $300+ early termination fee. You'd think they'd have sucked enough out of me!

We had verizon Fios installed for telephone and internet only in the spring of 2009. Worked fine, no real compliants (except for an occasional loss of Internet connection, but no worse than we had had with Comcast).
Then we decided to add FiOS TV, some months later. Long story short, their billing practices are deceptive, thievery even. They advertised the TV service at a certain price, and indeed bill it at that price. But then they changed our previous price for Internet and telephone, effectively raising the price of the internet and telepnoen service. i feel as if I was punished becasue we voluntarily asked for more service from them. they refer to this practice as giving you a new "bundle" but what it means is, "We reserve the right to re-price whatever service you already have if you are so foolish as to ask for something more." So beware! My guaranteed fixed 2-year price for my first FiOS package lasted only a few months becasue of this.

Had set up with an Alltel account for my cellphone, no problems was a customer for over 5 years. They had their merger/buyout and I was as well going out of the country on my honeymoon. As the companies changed.. I of course was not able to contact right company to pay bill figured I would worry about that when I got back home, when I came back home from my honeymoon.. found out that Verizon supposedly had the right to my account (OWNED IT)? So I tried to use my phone to make a payment since it was turned off and now it is calling Verizon... spoke to them and they took my payment.. and LATE FEE... whatever my fault for being late I had other things to worry about (wedding/honeymoon) well I get off the line with the girl, and turn my phone off turn back on, hoping it will work it doesn't.. so I figure wait like 3-5 hours it will work then still doesn't just anytime a call is attempted says "WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN ROAMING NETWORK.. TO PLACE A CALL..." then it starts asking for a Credit card.. but I just paid my bill this is whack, I call them back trouble shoot with them for the next 3 weeks, while they send me two other phones they think will work (an alltel phone first, and then a verizon phone) neither work.. they tell me all I can do is upgrade my phone for similar smart phone that I already have I will have to at least pay an additional $200.00 YAY.. thats what I wanted to do. At this point there was no guarantee my phone would work as I had offered to change phones (at their cost similar to the phone I already had, since they took over my contract.. they should prove they can actually give me a line that will work, since the other TWO EXACT SAME FREE PHONES did not work)

Oh might I mention the two phones they sent me while troubleshooting.. one was lime green same as my original the alltel phone, and the second was a verizon black one (refurbished) meaning there was no back cover over battery.. they told me my lime green cover would be unique as they had no solution to my mis-match phone had it even worked I guess that could have been an eye sore, and an upsetting problem.. As I was in the store when I received the black one.. as I was moving homes.. again just married.. I figured stay there till they make my new phone.. I've never touched it phone work change the number.. change the monthly plan anything.. this is a new phone they just sent me with their VERIZON logo all over it... they were unable to after 4 hours sitting in their office... so unfortunately and I guess girl like of me I walked out of there in tears.. but not to cause a scene. I called their customer service line up all out of answers after 3 weeks and no promise to do anything.. oh and BILL TIME IS now here for this next month I owe again.. but was never able to use my phone.. they wanted to charge me $150... and I had to FIGHT for a $50 credit.. but yet my phone STILL wasn't working and no promise to EVER work.

I told them to cancel my account this IS RIDICULOUS! So they did.. and again only offered $50.00 credit for inconvenience... since then I have contacted the BBB (they have offered another $100.00 at this point.. but have magically increased my account to even more debt/balance even with the $200 cxl + $150 bill it should be $350 tops.. but now they are saying they will offer me $100.00 off cxl fee, and $50.00 credit for not being able to use my phone.. but somehow my phone bill with those credits already taken out comes to $251.00 and some change, weird and also INCREDIBLE)... and the FTC just moments before this post. I will not stop as they took sooo much time from me as well as asking for money that is not rightfully theirs, and still to this day refuse to make it right! NOOO... I have plenty of time to smear them if they want to continue and believe what they have done to me is fair, and several of my co-workers who have been in the same boat.. but have just let them be the corporate giants they want to project.

BOOO to the horrible customer service... booooo to the injustice... booo for always trying to bully AT&T... booooo for taking away a good company ALLTEL...!

Also side note... one of their Floor Supervisors I spoke to Mike.. who had the most wonderful customer service skills or should I say lack of... refused to let me speak to a manager.. refused to tell me who is manager was, tried to make me say "I will sue you, or I will contact my lawyer" when I asked him.. what are the details of my contract... I thought that was a simple question.. he could email me it.. or he could read it off to me... but his response was... "I cannot get into that with you, if you threaten a lawyer I will have to disconnect with him" I refused to say any of those choice words, as I can't believe their objective was to actually frustrate me... lose me as a customer (NO MORE CONTRACT NO MORE MONEY FROM ME) and to get me off the phone, in no way did they actually try to use their time with me (when I called them) to appreciate me as a customer.. to try and get to the bottom of this... ALL I can do is warn others of their practices... I was sooooo happy with Alltel, and I have also used USCELLULAR when I lived in Nebraska.. both wonderful companies... I sadly cannot say the same for VERIZON

Had set up with an Alltel account for my cellphone, no problems was a customer for over 5 years. They had their merger/buyout and I was as well going out of the country on my honeymoon. As the companies changed.. I of course was not able to contact right company to pay bill figured I would worry about that when I got back home, when I came back home from my honeymoon.. found out that Verizon supposedly had the right to my account (OWNED IT)? So I tried to use my phone to make a payment since it was turned off and now it is calling Verizon... spoke to them and they took my payment.. and LATE FEE... whatever my fault for being late I had other things to worry about (wedding/honeymoon) well I get off the line with the girl, and turn my phone off turn back on, hoping it will work it doesn't.. so I figure wait like 3-5 hours it will work then still doesn't just anytime a call is attempted says "WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN ROAMING NETWORK.. TO PLACE A CALL..." then it starts asking for a Credit card.. but I just paid my bill this is whack, I call them back trouble shoot with them for the next 3 weeks, while they send me two other phones they think will work (an alltel phone first, and then a verizon phone) neither work.. they tell me all I can do is upgrade my phone for similar smart phone that I already have I will have to at least pay an additional $200.00 YAY.. thats what I wanted to do. At this point there was no guarantee my phone would work as I had offered to change phones (at their cost similar to the phone I already had, since they took over my contract.. they should prove they can actually give me a line that will work, since the other TWO EXACT SAME FREE PHONES did not work)

Oh might I mention the two phones they sent me while troubleshooting.. one was lime green same as my original the alltel phone, and the second was a verizon black one (refurbished) meaning there was no back cover over battery.. they told me my lime green cover would be unique as they had no solution to my mis-match phone had it even worked I guess that could have been an eye sore, and an upsetting problem.. As I was in the store when I received the black one.. as I was moving homes.. again just married.. I figured stay there till they make my new phone.. I've never touched it phone work change the number.. change the monthly plan anything.. this is a new phone they just sent me with their VERIZON logo all over it... they were unable to after 4 hours sitting in their office... so unfortunately and I guess girl like of me I walked out of there in tears.. but not to cause a scene. I called their customer service line up all out of answers after 3 weeks and no promise to do anything.. oh and BILL TIME IS now here for this next month I owe again.. but was never able to use my phone.. they wanted to charge me $150... and I had to FIGHT for a $50 credit.. but yet my phone STILL wasn't working and no promise to EVER work.

I told them to cancel my account this IS RIDICULOUS! So they did.. and again only offered $50.00 credit for inconvenience... since then I have contacted the BBB (they have offered another $100.00 at this point.. but have magically increased my account to even more debt/balance even with the $200 cxl + $150 bill it should be $350 tops.. but now they are saying they will offer me $100.00 off cxl fee, and $50.00 credit for not being able to use my phone.. but somehow my phone bill with those credits already taken out comes to $251.00 and some change, weird and also INCREDIBLE)... and the FTC just moments before this post. I will not stop as they took sooo much time from me as well as asking for money that is not rightfully theirs, and still to this day refuse to make it right! NOOO... I have plenty of time to smear them if they want to continue and believe what they have done to me is fair, and several of my co-workers who have been in the same boat.. but have just let them be the corporate giants they want to project.

BOOO to the horrible customer service... booooo to the injustice... booo for always trying to bully AT&T... booooo for taking away a good company ALLTEL...!

Also side note... one of their Floor Supervisors I spoke to Mike.. who had the most wonderful customer service skills or should I say lack of... refused to let me speak to a manager.. refused to tell me who is manager was, tried to make me say "I will sue you, or I will contact my lawyer" when I asked him.. what are the details of my contract... I thought that was a simple question.. he could email me it.. or he could read it off to me... but his response was... "I cannot get into that with you, if you threaten a lawyer I will have to disconnect with him" I refused to say any of those choice words, as I can't believe their objective was to actually frustrate me... lose me as a customer (NO MORE CONTRACT NO MORE MONEY FROM ME) and to get me off the phone, in no way did they actually try to use their time with me (when I called them) to appreciate me as a customer.. to try and get to the bottom of this... ALL I can do is warn others of their practices... I was sooooo happy with Alltel, and I have also used USCELLULAR when I lived in Nebraska.. both wonderful companies... I sadly cannot say the same for VERIZON

I have a pay as you go wireless phone/plan with verizon wireless. I have had problems with this account before but I resolved some of them with verizon and let the others go, this problem I don't want to let go. I think everyone should know that verizon has several rules or practices that seem criminal to me. The problem I have is as I have already said I have a pay as you go wireless plan no text messaging or other extras and when my minutes are getting low verizon would send me text messages to let me know and I had assumed ( I guess I made an ### of myself) these messages did not cost me anything, as if I am an idiot and don't know my account is getting low ( every phone call I make lets me know how much time I have left ). I don't think a company this big getting assistance from our govement in order to make bigger profits and sustain thier own infastructure should be allowed to use criminal tactics to bill me out of time that I have paid for and should be rightfully mine. I have already lost about 15 to 1800 minutes.

I'm getting charged by USBI on my Verizon bill. I was getting ready to drop Verizon because my phone bill was so high. Come to find out USBI attached to my phone line and is charging me for something. No clue who they are.

Be aware! Verizon is making millions of dollars of people who return their cell phones just to have verizon say that they didnt recieve it and now you owe them another 500 dollars. This is happening on a regular basis all over the country. Running the total into the millions of dollars of fradulant charges to peoples accounts. They send you a package to send it back in to your local fed ex. Well you dont recieve a tracking number they get it. Dont make sense right. So you cant prove that you ever sent the package. And because you dont pay for the shipping it only stays in fed ex system for 29 days. Well verizon banks on you throwing away your reciept, cause they dont tell you that they never recieved your phone until 3 or 4 months later when they call you and say you owe them 500 dollars or they will shut off your service and send you to a collection agency. How do I know this it happened to me and after researching this it seems to be happening to many other people. This is the biggest scam of any telephone company be aware, be very aware, they are out to scam you and you will not be able to do a thing about it.

Back in August I moved and canceled my Verizon internet/phone. I was told that I had 30 days to return my router and that a prepaid envelope would be sent to me. Two weeks later, I got the prepaid envelope and sent my router back a few days later.

I received a bill a few weeks later for unreturned equipment. I called Verizon to inquire about this, and after being transferred a few times was told that they received my equipment "one day late" and had to bill me but not to worry, in 2 to 3 billing cycles, I would be given a credit. I pointed out that it took two weeks just to get my prepaid envelope in the mail and asked when my 30 day time limit started. They answered that they didn't know but that my equipment was a day late.

About two weeks later I received a bill from a collection agency. I called Verizon again. After several hours on the phone, they again told me not to worry, that in 2 to 3 billing cycles I would be credited. They said if I didn't want to get calls from the collection agency, I could just go ahead and pay the full balance and they would eventually refund it to me. Ha!

When the collection agency told me one day that if it wasn't cleared up by the first of the month it would be going onto my credit, I called Verizon again. After speaking to a person in each of Verizon's departments (not kidding.. I have 3 pages, front and back, of notes, phone numbers, names, etc) they put me on hold while they called the collection agency. After coming back on the line, the Verizon associate stated they just cleared it up with the collection agency, and I had nothing to worry about. I asked for the phone number they called so I too could verify it was taken care of. When I called the number Verizon claimed to have called to clear everything up, it was for the wrong collection agency.. they had NO record of me and said they aren't even the company Verizon uses.

I called Verizon back. I had to sit on hold, go thru the voice prompts all over again, explain my situation, and be transferred a half dozen times to get back to where I started. I finally gave up and called the corporate office. The people there reassured me that Verizon doesn't credit report so I have nothing to worry about. I explained that since Verizon has outright lied to me about the situation being fixed that I was more apt to believe the collection agency when they say that it WILL go on my credit.

The day this error was put on my credit report ( the ONLY negative thing I have ever had) I called the collection agency to confirm the bad news. They did so. I then called Verizon and again, after about an hour of being transferred and placed on hold, finally got through to someone in the corporate office. They admitted that oops, we DO credit report after all, sorry.. and now it's too late. I spent another two months trying to get Verizon to send a letter of deletion to me and the credit bureaus to fix their mistake. It was only when I threatened to have an attorney help me and stated that I would file a complaint with the FCC that they followed through with the letter of deletion.

In my opinion, when a business screws up, the customer should not have to spend 40 plus hours of their own time trying to fix the company's mistake. Verizon seems to be so large a company that they don't know what they are doing.. there are so many departments and you cannot deal with the same department for an internet billing question and a phone billing question. Additionally, they are quick to charge your account with something, but it takes 2 to 3 billing cycles to do a credit?!?!? I will NEVER EVER go back to Verizon, even if they are the only company left on earth.

I had cell service with Alltel for over five (5) years and was NEVER late with bill. Verizon bought out Alltel and rasied my bill by Ten Dollars a month without notice. When I inquired, I was told Verizon did not offer my program so my bill increased to meet Virozon nearest plan. I now pay Ten Dollars a month for one bar service to a company I didn't (DO NOT STILL) want or ask for !

Verizon data plans for blackberry's and smart phones are to high it is another way to get over i was going to get a blackberry tour entail i found out about there high price data plan one was 30 and 45 a data plan for a phone should not cost no more than 15 to 20 dollars the most maybe if no one buys them they will drop there data plan cost

For the past two months there has been a charge of $19.98 on my cell phone bill labeled "Premium TXT Messaging".
I have never authorized any such service, and only rarely use text messaging at all.
In talking today with Verizon customer service I was informed that they cannot refund the charges or cancel the service.
I spoke with a supervisor and got the same unacceptable answer. They say that they are only acting as the billing
agent for the provider, therefore cannot refund the money, even though the charge is made on my Verizon bill.
The bill does not anywhere identify any other party involved other than me and Verizon. They said the charge was
from Solo.com. No such site offering text messaging exists per google search.
This is an unbelievable situation. And the fact that Verizon can bill me for a service that they are not providing
and deny any responsibility for the charges is infuriating.
Obviously this is come kind of scam in which Verizon is a participant either knowingly or innocently, but the
refusal to take responsibility even though they threaten to terminate my service if I don't pay is unacceptable.
But I really don't know where to turn next