Cellular service companies and their bullshit

Discussion in 'The Thunderdome' started by emainvol, Nov 29, 2011.

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  1. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

    My brother and I have shared a plan on Verizon for almost 3 years, and he has been a customer for probably 6 years. In that time, I don't think we have ever managed to get any overage charges, have always paid the bills, and never had our phone service shut down until this morning. Three time in the last year, we have had to deal with either a store, or customer service due to changing hardware (Started with Blackberries, then I got a first gen Droid, then we both got first gen Droid Xs) and on three separate occasions when the question "is unlimited text messaging included/still included on our package?" the answer has been, yes that feature is still in place. Today, I am told that our phone bill is due (weird, since we last paid three weeks ago) and that they have shut off our service (weirder, because we last paid the amount due 3 weeks ago). I am then told that we have text messaging charges to the tune of $500. My brother started dating a girl who is not on Verizon, and those unlimited texts that we have been told on three separate occasions (I have been privy to two of them) that we have? Oh, they simply meant that they were unlimited Verizon to Verizon texts.

    A little back story here, I worked for this company for about 3 months until I realized that they were a full of shit business. I keep the service because it is just the best service around here, but I still hate them because of things like this. Basically, 90% of the [uck fay]ups that come down to customer service are from where some idiot that sold the phone in the store told people one thing, then SURPRISE, that's not what actually happened. Then, they hire a bunch of lazy idiots (and they do have quite a few good people as well, but you will run into a complete idiot more often than not) to work their phone lines. Long story short, I know exactly what to ask for when setting up a line or a service package, and I asked for exactly what he thought we had. I was then told we had that. The guy at the store read the details of the contract back to him, and he signed. What will happen when my brother calls to take care of this, because it is in some ways his [uck fay]up, is that they will likely tell him they can "educate" him on how to keep this from happening again and offer him a better text package. I am fine with the new text package. Then, they will probably tell him that they can't credit back all of it, because despite the obvious [uck fay] up on their part on three different occasions, it is not their fault. I know, because I was basically trained to take this approach, in which you lay the blame on the customer without coming right out and blaming the customer.

    My question is, have any of you experienced this? Will I be in the wrong when I ultimately have to call, escalate my complaint to a supervisor who will probably jerk me around as well, until I have to threaten to end our long relationship with Verizon to get it done?

    When these contracts are up, I am likely looking for a new provider, regardless.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2011
  2. droski

    droski Traffic Criminal

    you just have to raise hell. but i assure you at&T and the others are much worse than verizon.
     
  3. emainvol

    emainvol Administrator

    I would never go to AT&T, and would probably rather stay away from Sprint, despite their offering probably the best package around right now. T-Mobile doesn't sound fun either, so I guess I am stuck.
     
  4. WM

    WM Active Member

    Go prepaid. It's not just for poor people and drug dealers anymore.
     
  5. XXROCKYTOPXX

    XXROCKYTOPXX Chieftain

    We seem to have issues with our Verizon phone bills every so often. My wife usually takes care of them though and ends up getting x amount off our bill for the next x months. Verizon doesn't hold a candle to DirectTv though. They mess up our bill regularly. While my wife has the hassle of calling to straighten it out, we never come away empty handed. We switched over the HD 2 years ago and haven't paid a dime for it yet. Free install when we did and free upgrade to HD DVR. Last year we got another free upgrade and got another HD DVR. It's quite nice actually because we always end up getting stuff for free from them.
     
  6. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    Only issue I had with directv was them not understanding I didn't want a free preview of the opera channel and other assorted rap stations in hd for three months (it would automatically roll onto bill if I didn't call and cancel). No issues with billing.

    Only totally incompetent communications company I have dealt with is Charter.
     
  7. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    I recommend US Cellular. I can't get them here, but they're much better at not sodomizing you in the shower over things.
     
  8. Tex_Volfan.

    Tex_Volfan. Only Mod Approved Posts

    I concur with this. AT&T has been good to me.
     
  9. BearCat204

    BearCat204 Chieftain

    Ive had ATT for over 9 years and have never had a single problem with them. I have called into customer service a few times as well for certain things and have always had a pleasant experience.
     
  10. tankervol

    tankervol Member

    It only takes one or two idiots to [uck fay] up a good business/consumer relationship. Some people could give a [uck fay] less about their jobs, other than just collecting a paycheck. Others, like myself when I worked for VZW, try to be the best in their position and actually do what's right for the customer without conditionals.

    My take is this, call customer service. [uck fay] a store rep. Tell them what happened and that you were told by a store rep that you had unlimited, which turned out not to be the case.

    I would guess your bill normally is around $150-$170 a month, plus the cost in the difference of text plan, so it would seem to me to be a good business decision to refund the overages (minus the difference in plan) to keep you as a customer. Not to mention, the phones you guys are buying when you upgrade aren't exactly old school flip phones with no data plan. If I were the rep, I would definitely credit the charges.

    But who knows? You may get a [uck fay]stick who tells you that you should have looked at your bill and contract more closely.
     

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