Verizon Issue Turns Into Nightmare

Do you remember that Verizon story I told you in December. If not, it was in this post. 

Well it has turned into a nightmare of "systematic adjustments", computer generated. That is what the Verizon rep I talked to yesterday on the phone could not understand why or what was going on. So let me back up and catch you up on what has taken place since that post.

Hmmmm looking back I see I left you with my November 30th call to Verizon where the rep said I would receive my refund for days not used in the next 10-14 days. In the past when I canceled Verizon in 2020 to get a better bundle deal with ATT/DirecTV, the transfer was very smooth. Verizon sent me a Final Bill along with a refund check in the mail for the days I had paid for in advance but had not used. So they are capable but evidently not this time.

14 days passed in December and I did not receive a final bill nor any refund check. On December 21st I get an email telling me "your refund is on the way !!!" ... in the form of a Master Card Debit Card for $49.63 and I would receive that card within 7-10 business days. I pulled down my Apple Reminders and added the information but also moved the date out past 10 business days for Christmas Day and New Years Day time off. 

18 days pass ... No Verizon final bill, no Verizon refund debit card. But I did get a "December Bill" that showed my balance due was a CREDIT of $49.63. Strange and scary at the same time. WHY did I have a new billing cycle ?????

Yesterday on January 8th I get my daily email from the USPS showing me mail they have scanned and that I will receive that day or soon after. One of the pieces of mail was from Verizon and on the front of the envelope it said Billing Statement Enclosed. Shouldn't it say Final Bill ???

I forgot to mention in December AFTER they told me they were sending me a refund ... they sent me a December BILL showing I had a credit balance on my account of $49.63 but it also showed my NEW billing cycle was from December 2nd to January 1st. An email from Verizon told me "you are all set up for automatic payment" ... WHY???? My account was closed by me and the Verizon rep on November 30th.

Luckily that December statement showed I had a credit of $49.63

Around 8am yesterday I called Verizon and waited on hold for a little over 30 minutes BEFORE finding out I was about to received a January Bill. While on hold I received that USPS email showing I was receiving a bill. I was about to hang up when I saw that, thinking I would check to see what it said and then call back ... when suddenly I hear a person on the phone. I had gotten through to someone I could talk to. That mail would not be delivered for another 3 hours.

He brings up my account and tells me the following:

• Account is closed
• Refund was mailed to you on December 21
• When I told him I had not received it yet, he said the postal service is slow
• Balance due is ZERO
• "I cannot understand why you are being billed again. OH WOW, OH WOW"
• I ask what is going on that him saying WOW concerns me.
• Then he is talking to himself and tells me ---- 
• If I receive any bills in the mail to ignore them !!!!
• I told him the bill I received in December and labeled as such looks like they changed my billing period from the 15-14th of the next month from the 2nd - 1st of the next month LIKE I HAVE A NEW ACCOUNT ... 
• "I show you have only one account and that was closed November 30, 2021 you should not be getting more bills in the mail.

What my mail "Billing Statement Enclosed" showed me:

• Same account number as the one I closed November 30, 2021
• NEW billing cycle December 2nd to January 1st 2022
• January bill of $64.33 due on January 24, 2022
• The total includes PAST DUE AMOUNT of $64.33
• Auto Pay is schedule for January 29, 2022
• As per my bank recommendation that debit card tied to that Verizon account was cancelled November 30th to prevent future auto pay withdrawals.
• Verizon had already told me by email since my account WAS CLOSED "all future billing will be by mail. (why FUTURE BILLING???)
• Previous Balance THROUGH December 1st --- a credit of $49.63
• Remember they are sending me a refund debit card December 21
• December 21 - CREDIT $49.63 IS REVERSED !!!!!
• December 23 - My November payment (automatic electronic withdrawal) REVERSED
• TOTAL UNPAID BALANCE $64.22 DUE IMMEDIATELY

To say I went insane yesterday inside my house is an understatement. I was so bad I even checked my Apple Watch for my pulse rate, which luckily was still below 70bpm. I could not believe what was going on. AI was full steam ahead and no way to fix it. Computers generating billing for the 2nd month in a row on a closed account !!!!

I didn't know what to do. Obviously the customer service reps and the one manager I talked to in the past cannot stop the "systematic billing" as the rep called it yesterday. There is nowhere locally I can take my paperwork and talk to someone in person because all the Verizon stores do not do billing issues. They sell phones and set up accounts. That is what they told me when I visited the local stores. 

I escaped the real world to get away from Verizon by signing up for Netflix again and watched movies, documentaries until I went to bed. But I couldn't sleep because of this Verizon issue. I get out of bed around 11pm and go back to my computer to do a search ----

"Verizon keeps billing me after account is closed"

Duck Duck Go search engine does not give you a total number of links for your results like Google Search does, but there were pages and pages of people just like me ... having the same questions, the EXACT SAME PROBLEM and no solutions. The majority of links for my search were from "forum.verizon.com" and each time a Verizon rep would comment telling those different people to call a number so they could get it corrected.

People were saying they would call that number and never get an answer.

Finally after 7 pages of links, the same complaints with Verizon started showing up for AT&T and T-Mobile as far back as 2010 and as recently as this past July 2021.

Then I see where someone titled their post "A Solution"

• Filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
• Contacted by the Verizon EXECUTIVE in that branch within 48 hours after filing complaint
• Issue fixed immediately
• No communication of billing from Verizon in any shape or form after that call.

So this morning I filed a complaint with the BBB. I will let you know what happens along with dates and quotes ... stay tuned.

Otherwise, the all night rain has melted all the snow. My backyard has the ponds again, it is a warm 41° and a day full of entertainment. IU basketball at 11am, Indy Colts football game at noon which I will tape and then tune in after the basketball game and watch it commercial free. Tonight is the last night for the new Dexter series ... I have cheated and found out what happens in advance and it's good to see there will be final closure on Dexter unlike their ending in 2013. After the show is over I will cancel my Showtime subscription because I just didn't use it outside of that show.

It is warmer but feels cold on a damp PNW type day here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.