Verizon review: Verizon’s deceptive practices and dreadful customer service

Verizon’s Deceptive Practices And Dreadful Customer Service

If you are considering using VERIZON mobile service, please be aware of my experience and think twice about it. Since, I switched to Verizon, three months ago, I have experienced multiple rate increases, mishandling of credits and promotions, and abysmal customer service. Here is my experience:

In mid-June 2023, my family and I decided to switch from T-Mobile to Verizon. We were promised a rate of $185 monthly for five phone, that we could trade in our 5 T-Mobile phones for 5 Verizon phones (4 Samsung Galaxy S23 Pluses and 1 iPhone 14) and receive credit for the phones and $200 for each in Verizon rewards and receive two free Samsung Galaxy watches and activate two lines for $5 each. I also paid $2600 to cancel my Tmobile plan.

Prior to switching, two agents assured us that the monthly rate for all the lines transferred would be about $185 a month. A third agent I talked to when I received a higher bill, even gave me slightly a lower monthly amount, around $182, and assured me he would fix the billing error.

Transferring the phone numbers took several trips to a Verizon store and calls to customer service because of the poor instructions received to transfer the numbers. But it seemed like we had finally made the transfer.

After I received and activated the new phones, in mid/late June 2023, following Verizon’s instructions, I shipped our 5 old T-Mobile phones within the box the company provided, with the UPS label it received, attached to the box. All of the five phones had been shipped together and Verizon received the box with them. Nevertheless, weeks later, Verizon informed me that one phone was missing and it refused to credit me for the phone. I do not have the phone in my possession. I shipped with the other four phones Verizon acknowledges the receipt. If, in fact, one phone was missing, it was not my responsibility, but either Verizon's who received the phones or UPS's who delivered them. Since Verizon hired UPS, and I just dropped the box at UPS in Westchester County, NY, there is no way I can investigate the matter or be responsible for its disappearance. Several agents I contacted stated that the phone was likely lost in their warehouse. One of them, who identified himself as Michael, after a two-hour call, assured me that he located the tracking number, confirmed that Verizon received all the five phones. However, he said, one of them had a description of having a 128 GB memory and the actual memory was 256 GB. Because of this discrepancy in information, the receipt of the phone was not processed. Michael promised to escalate the matter with detailed information about what had happened and said it would be resolved within three business days. Like similar promises I received to that the matter would be resolved, it never was. I also filed a complaint before Verizon Executive Relations. The complaint received the number CASE 297781 and was assigned to Executive Relations Marshall. I have countless times called and emailed Marshall. He never takes or returns my calls or replies to my emails.

Meanwhile, as aforementioned, I was promised a monthly rate around $185 for all lines to switch to Verizon. The first bill I received was $497.88. The second totaled $245.69. The third bill was $317.54. Verizon App currently informs me that my new monthly bill would be $247,27. Out of nowhere, Verizon, without my knowledge and permission, has changed my plan to one that does not include promotional credits and is about 60% higher than the $185 rate I was told by three agents.

I have spent close to 40 hours, talking to numerous Verizon agents, as well as with two supervisors, Tyler (who hung up on me) and Lis, trying to adjust the bill to what I was told it would be. Despite Verizon's multiple promises to correct the issue, it never did. It actually keeps changing and increasing my bills, every month. The two last agents I talked to, Rodrigo (on 09/08/23) and Joyce (on 09/09/23), said they could not tell me what my monthly rate is. Lis, Joyce’s supervisor, (on 09/09/73) said that she could see in the records of my calls that I was promised a rate of $185. However, Lis said she couldn’t honor that rate. In addition, she could not inform me what my monthly rate actually is. Whatever estimate she would provide me, she said, it would be a rough one, and it could be different than what we would actually be charged.

Now, I would like to cancel Verizon's service due to its deceptive business practices, negligent handling of my property, and its continued disregard for me as a customer. For this, Verizon has stated it will charge me $5466 to cancel (no guarantee, it could be less or more). This is outrageous and wrong.

Changing my mobile services to Verizon was one of the biggest mistakes I have done and one of the most dreadful experiences I have had. It is a deceitful company, that does not honor its word, misinform the customers, and provide an abysmal customer service. Verizon is a greedy $138 billion business, with a CEO Hans Vestberg who reportedly is paid nearly $20 millio a year, who needs to deceive customers and make a few extra bucks from retired teachers who live on budget, like me.