Verizon Should have Contacted Me Sooner

Seriously??? Companies like Verizon has way too many customers & it's
ridiculous if Verizon would pay somebody to contact customers who may
not have received a bill. How is Verizon supposed to know you're not
getting your bill? That's why there is a customer service dept, so you
can call if you don't get a bill. I used to work for a credit card
comp, & I hate it when customers say they didn't receive a bill as an
excuse. You knew you used the service, thus, it is your responsibility
to pay, bill or no bill. and why wait for 4 months anyway?
**flabbergasted **

most times they can tell you the amount over the phone, can take a
credit card number for payment, reissue the bill and change your
address all in one call.

No one prevented you from going to any kiosk to ask about your bill.

You received no bill, the phone still worked... And you didn't
question why.


Now you want to blame Verizon for it?

Why don't you blame your daughter? If your story is true... why not
make her pay the bill then?


And um, why was she destroying the bill? It sounds kinda odd that she
would destroy mail that's not addressed to her - in fact tampering
with the mail is a federal offense.


But as I said earlier... You waited until they called you. You used a
phone for 4 months without paying the bill and when they called you
for the money, you blame THEM?

There's no logic in that, other than... the answer is obvious, but
it's not the one you want to hear.

I must say I know not everyone is tech savy or good with a computer.
Why didn't you ever access the bill online and see how much it was?
Sounds like you need to have your daughter get a job & pay her bill
she ran up. I feel sorry for you that your husband will respond in
that way. Why get upset over bills? It's not like it was the mortage
payment she was tearing up. You won't be thrown out in the street.

Make your daughter get a job. If she's old enough to run up a $3,000
bill she's old enough to pay for it.

Let me get this straight. You've had cell phone service for 4 years.
You've been getting paper bills all along. You don't get a bill for 4
months, and assuming that your service was not cut off, and once you
find out that the bill is crazy expensive then you decide to question
it? I'm sorry but you're completely in the wrong here. When you
noticed your cell phone bill did not arrive around the same time in
September is when you should've called Verizon to find out why you
didn't get a bill. You let 4 months go by without questioning it and
somehow it's their fault for not contacting you? If anything, you
should be angry with your daughter for stealing your bills and you
should be angry with yourself for not staying on top of your bills.

Why didn't you call them when you realized you were not receiving
bills from them? You should have done that in September when you
noticed that you were not. This is no one's fault but your own.

Don't count on Verizon reducing your bill.

I think that after two, if not one, month of not receiving a bill, I'm
probably have contacted Verizon rather than thinking it had been
free.

Perhaps if you explain what's going on to the company (is your
daughter fairly young or does she have a disorder that is connected to
her destroying the bills?) they may be able to set up a payment plan
that will be easier on you, but really, you have to take
responsibility at some point.

I'm just curious..how do you go 4 months without paying your bil and
still have service??

I agree with the other posters, your daughter should pay the bill
since she was stealing and then destroying your bills.

Verizon has not done anything wrong. Your daughter has though, in a
HUGE way, and whether she is a minor or not she needs to pay and face
some pretty serious consequences.

Wow that is a really high bill! As far as contacting you for the bill,
there are bills that will go out of the norm like that for very valid
reasons like international roaming and things of that nature. So there
was no worry for Verizon to consider this or even something that
really any cell carrier has setup. They do however provide you with
options to check your balance not only digitally on the computer but
on your phone as well. I would think that it is very strange no to
get a bill for 4 months and contact them considering just that fact
alone. Have you been paying your bills for the last few months? if
not there should have been details as to why that you where charged
those higher fees. If it was since the bill was not paid (which is
doubtful since it is such great a number) or usage ligitmatly that
made the bill that high you are even if it was your daugthers fault,
liable for those charges sadly. What I would recomend first is to
contact verizon to see why the charges are that high and to see if you
can have them possibly help cover some of it. Really to only other
option is to let one bill lapse so that it is in delinquent status for
a day or two long enough to show up in their system that way but not
so much to interupt service and call them to possibly setup some kind
of payment arrange. Most carriers won't setup a payment arangement
untill the account shows as dilinquent would be your best options.
Best of luck.

I do agree that as a courtesy to you they could have called you
sooner, however...It was YOUR responsibility to stay on top of things.
I'll admit that I'm not the most organized of people so I could
totally see missing 1 monthly payment if I hadn't received a paper
bill...but not paying since September?? What did you think Verizon
was doing, giving you free service? YOU should have called much
sooner to check on your account. Instead, you waited for them to
catch up with you. Well, they finally have and you are paying for it.

They did contact you every month with a new bill. It really isn't
verizon's fault your daughter destroyed the bills. I understand that
you have a lot going on in your life, but you cannot tell me that you
didn't notice that you haven't paid a bill 4-5 months.

Is your daughter a minor? Or an adult?
If she is a minor, then you will have to work this out between you and
her how she plans to cover the bill.

If she is an adult, demand the money, or set up a payment plan with
her so it is paid back within a couple of months. Get a written
agreement and if she fails to pay you back, take her to small claims
court. The fee in my area is $30, which sure beats being out of
$3023.25.

"I was hoping customer service was a little more on top of things"

Are you kidding?

They WERE on top of things! You even admit they WERE sending you
bills.

You were the one not on top of things, by not noticing you weren't
getting any bills after 4 years!

How are they going to know your bills were being intercepted by your
daughter.

Unbelievable that you would blame Verizon for any of this.

I personally refuse to have cell service from Verizon, because of a
bad experience when I had it years ago.

That said, they DID contact you. Every month. They sent a bill.
They had no way of knowing that your daughter had intercepted the
bills and was destroying them. All they know is that information was
being sent out, but no money was being sent in.

This whole mess is your daughter's responsibility. She knowingly
intercepted & destroyed the bills, presumably so she could run up
large cell bills. She should be the one responsible for paying.

I have to ask, why should Verizon reduce your bill when this was all
caused by your daughter? How did you not notice that you did not
receive those bills when you have been receiving them for the last 4
years?

You need to get with your daughter and find out how she plans to work
off this bill as this is all her fault.

I am very sorry that your daughter betrayed you in this manner.
Honestly. I'm sure this just breaks your heart and only adds to YOUR
stress. I don't blame you for keeping it from your husband: I
probably would do the same in your situation.

Good luck to you and your husband.

You say you have been pleased with Verizon until today, when you
learned that your daughter went behind your back and destroyed
evidence she has rung up >$3000 in telephone bills.

Has it occurred to you that you put your daughter on your account, and
in so doing took responsibility for her use of the account?

You question whether VZ's customer service was "on top" of things.
They sent monthly bills, didn't they?" Would you prefer the telephone
company cut off service to0 customers at a random account balance? Or
perhaps send your account to collections after only 4 months of
non-payment? The phone company assumes you will pay your bill, which
is what you are contractually obligated to do.

Have you spoken to your daughter and asked her how she is going to pay
for this? I doubt the phone company will do much except discuss a
payment plan with you. Those charges are legitimate, and if not for
your daughter's interception of the US Mail (that sounds illegal) you
would have gotten the bills.

Did it not concern you that you received no bill for 4 months and were
using the phone apparently free of charge?

Verizon did nothing wrong here - they provided service and billed you
for it. They have thousands of customers paying their bills late.
They can't call each one and ask when they will be paid.

Your an adult, this was your responsibility not Verizon's. The fact
that you haven't received a paper bill since September means nothing,
you can access your account information online and on your cell phone.
Your letter leaves out several important things--1) who's address is
listed on the account and 2) Did you your bill every month after
September? (It sounds like you didn't). If the account is in your
name, its your responsibility to make sure the bill is paid every
month. When you stopped receiving a bill, you should of contacted
Verizon, be it through e-mail, their website or your cell phone. You
knew this bill was due every month so there is no excuse for not
paying it. You should of been on top of things!