outrageous bill

Am I reading this correctly? Your stepson having access to your cell
phone and racking up bills is Verizon's fault? The only extortion I
see is the last three lines of your letter. Clearly it's your
responsibility who has access to your phone and for how long.

This is not extortion. This is you leaving your cell phone someplace
where your stepson could get a hold of it.

Pay off the bill or try to negotiate a payment plan or something. And
then make your stepson work off the charges. You are responsible for
anything that happens with your phone.

I'll say what most others are likey telling you, but since I haven't
read the other responses, it's no ones fault but your own. And I'm
pretty sure you might have received some type of notification that
your contract was expiring. They're real good about informing all of
us when that type of stuff happens.

It sounds like to me that you have an out of control step-son that
regardless of the natural biological realtionship, you might want to
step up to the plate and put your foot down. And if he's under age,
why are you just leaving your phone lying around to be abused by him?
You really need to take adult responsibility for your actions. No
legal firm, agency or anyone is going to take any complaint you have
remotely seriously. So keep your dignity in tact, pay your bill and
move on in life. Start by being a good example to your step son. They
learn their lessons from the adults who surround them. If they turn
out well, then pat yourself on the back. If they don't, then please
don't point fingers at others who were responsible. You are. Take it
seriously.

Good luck!

So if your underage step-son set your car on fire, do you think you
would still owe payments on the car? Yup.

Come by and take a look!
http://planetfeedback.typepad.com/mommage/2007/06/teaching-childr.html

Sorry, you are completely wrong. It is not Verizon's responsibility to
monitor your stepson, it is the responsibility of his parents(and
step-parents). And you must know that EVERY cell phone plan charges
for both incoming and outgoing calls and text messages. That is
plainly evident by merely checking your bill when it arrives each
month.
Accept personal responsibility for your debt. Pay the bill and teach
your stepson a valuable lesson by requiring him to pay you back for
the charges. It will be an excellent lesson for him.

what? someone is using the phone? then you pay the bill or comply.

"I was warned I could either upgrade and renew my contract for 2 years
or expect more $2800 bills." Who told her that, Verizon? Why would
there be MORE $2800 bills on her account? The way it's worded makes
it sound like Verizon erroneously billed her and was going to keep
charging her that every month, THEN she mentions the stepson. So
Verizon couldn't possibly have warned her to expect more $2800 bills
UNLESS she told them about her stepson abusing her cell phone, and if
that's the case, of course Verizon isn't going to take responsibility
for that!

I'm wondering something else - $2800 is an awful lot of over-charge,
it would have to take awhile to rack up those kind of charges, where
was the OP while all these long calls were being made? I have my cell
phone on or near me at all times, and I would CERTAINLY notice if
someone in my house was talking on my phone for that long! But that's
just me - I keep a good eye on my kids - and yes, I have a stepchild
who lives with me also, that's no excuse.

If I did this when I was younger my mom would kill me after she would
make me pay the bill. I think I would be spending the summer working
off the payment.

The OP's phone is her responsibility and, if her stepson used her
phone without permission and racked up charges, she should take it out
of his allowance rather than complain to everyone who will listen that
Verizon demands payment for the use of the phone service to which she
agreed.

How dare they!

Go ahead and file all the complaints you want - - there is no way
Verizon is going to "cancel the bill" based on the fact that somehow
your underage stepson used it and racked up an outrageous bill.

And this is exactly why I stopped using my cell phone. At one point,
I canceled my land line and decided to go completely wireless.
Although I had a ton of minutes per month, you can lose track of them
very easily. And if you go over, watch out, because the cost per
minute is exorbitant!

I know cell phones are convenient, but I just don't understand why
everyone needs to be talking on the phone everywhere they go these
days. Whether it's driving on the road, shopping in a store, or going
to a ball game, there's always SOMEONE on their phone. What could
possibly so important that one needs to talk on the phone every waking
minute? I dunno, maybe I'm not supposed to understand it.

Showing my age here: Growing up through the 70s and 80s, nobody had
cell phones, and guess what? Life was still good.

The only thing I use my phone for now is emergencies, such as if the
car breaks down on the road. Other than that, it just collects dust.

Sorry for the rant. Oh, and Jennifer, sorry but I have to agree with
everyone else on here. By your own admission, your stepson used the
phone. Regardless of who used it, the bill is still your
responsibility, as unfair as it may seem. Not that I like defending
Verizon, but if they were to let you off the hook on this one, then
they would have to let everyone off the hook, even those who knowingly
used their phone, and then tried to weasel out of the bill.

And believe me, there are plenty of people on this website right now
who would do just that. Just take a look at some of the ridiculous
claims written on here.

Unauthorized use of your cell phone. Not Verizon's fault, nor an
outrageous bill. The offer to upgrade might be one you ought to
consider if it reduces what you owe them. Perhaps they have a code or
something with a different contract that would make it harder for your
delinquent stepson to run your bills up. The problem is not with
Verizon, it's with him.
Consider this...I had an internet provider who also offers cell phone
service jump at the chance to zero out six months worth of my bills if
I went with a new contract they were offering. I had gotten into a
dispute with them, taken it to a consumer agency with lawyers, and the
next thing I knew they called me with that offer if I'd just call off
the dogs I'd sicked on 'em. I didn't. Verizon plays tough until you
show them it may cost them. Not that you're right...you're not...but
this is the game America's built on.

I like the people on here honestly. They tell it like it is about
being responsible. It serves to keep me inspired to pay my bills and
be fair to all of my financial affairs. So you owe verizon some loot.
You could ask them to double check accuracy though.

You explained the whole thing when you wrote, "I learned my underage
stepson had been using the phone."

That's not Verizon's fault, it's YOUR fault for allowing YOUR stepson
access to the cell phone where he, not Verizon, racked up such a huge
bill.

You might also want to check with a lawyer to find out if accusing
Verizon of extortion in your state qualifies as a felony under your
slander and/or libel laws, since this doesn't appear to be extortion
on Verizon's part, but an intent to defraud on your part.

That is a VERY high bill, but you still have to pay it. Verizon is not
to blame here, in fact, you will not find a cell phone company that
would cancel your bill or your account. Actually, that is just an
outrageous request on your part.

This is your step-sons responsibility. I'm not trying to tell you how
to parent, I don't have children nor do i pretend that i know a lot
about parenting. The only experience I have is being an Aunt, and
thats definitely not the same. Depending on your step sons age, (I'm
assuming his probably in his teens.) this would be a great opportunity
to teach him about money and finances. Making him pay (or help pay)
this bill off would probably be beneficial to him.

That aside, if this bill remains unpaid, you will get sent to
collections and hurt your credit, possibly preventing you from getting
another phone.

Verizon will probably with with you on the payments.

Where were you when your son was spending all of this time on the
phone, that you supposedly never knew about? Some attentive parenting
going on there.

Make your son get a job to pay for those calls. Actions =
Consequences. Good life lesson for him.

In the meantime you are going to have to pay it. In the future you
might want to consider keeping closer tabs on where your kid is and
where your cell phone is!

When people get these huge cell phone bills.. WHO ARE THEY CALLING?!
My plan has 1000 minutes, that's over 16 hours. I've never gone over
my minutes in my life. Each minute you go over is .45 cents (at least
on my plan.) I'm going to assume just for fun that the plan is that
they have the $99.99 verizon plan with 700 minutes with .45 cents a
minute for going over. That's 6000 minutes or over 100 hours of talk
time! Who has the time to yack on the phone for that much time a
month?!

Verizon did nothing wrong as far as what I can see. Include some more
information like what plan they had you on (how many minutes?). You
need to include a lot more information to make this argument fall into
your favor, cause as it stands right now and from what I can see is
that you're going to be stuck paying the bill. Verizon is going to
press for the charges and if you file a Reg E with your credit card
they aren't going to honor it.

I got my son a Cingular phone 2 years ago, when he was 15. I was not
very 'tech savvy', and thought I could keep it under control by
checking his Incoming and Outgoing call logs and times to make sure he
wasn't exceeding his minutes. I was proud of him when, after 3 weeks,
his calls were well under his monthly limit.

Then the first bill came. His monthly plan was $49.99 for something
like 400 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends. His first
bill? $378.26. I was unaware that they charged for text messages,
downloading ringtones, downloading games, and accessing the internet.


I did not call Cingular and try to blame them for my own ignorance. I
repo'd the phone, and it stayed in my possession until my son had paid
off the bill, which took him 3 months.

This is not Verizon's fault. It is your stepson's fault and you need
to deal with it accordingly. If my son had not been able to pay his
bill, I'd have been listing all of his video game systems, games, and
accessories on eBay to recoup my money.

This letter really makes me appreciate how responsible my son is with
his phone.

Is it just me, or do a lot of people have to learn things the hard way
when it comes to cell phones?

So you think you should not pay for a bill because your stepson was
using the phone?

I'm not sure why this has to do with signing a contract, unless it
means you're not under any particular calling program at all.

I think your stepson has also been going to relatives' houses and
calling Taiwan.

It's normal for cell phone companies to charge for incoming and
outgoing calls, depending on your plan and what time of day or day it
is (if your plan has something like free nights and weekends for
instance). With most plans, the only thing that matter is minutes of
peak time use. If you go over, then you get charged. It's also normal
for the company to charge for text messaging, unless you pay a monthly
fee for unlimited text messaging. I have worked for three different
cell phone companies. They ALL do it that way.

It's not extortion to make you pay what you took. When you signed up
for service, you agreed to pay them for the service. If you refuse to
pay, they probably won't sue you, but they definitely will turn you
over to collections, which will hurt your credit rating.

They don't have to waive the charges or give you a re-rate. If they
offered you a re-rate in exchange for renewing your contract, then if
it were me, I would take it.

You are misplacing the blame here. Verizon didn't allow someone
irresponsible to use the phone, you did. Tell dear stepson that he has
to pay you back.

This is you being billed for services used. Maybe you didn't use them,
but the phone company does not care. You did not report the phone
stolen, and you did not keep others from using it. It is not their
fault AT ALL.

It is, however, your fault that your stepson was able to get ahold of
the phone and use it. Teach him a lesson in responsibility and make
him work off at least part of the bill.

This reminds me of that one woman who blamed SunCom for her 18 year
old military son running up the phone bill. Talk to your stepson about
the phone. Limit his phone time or better take the phone away from
him.

I think there a couple of solutions to this problem (which likely is
common):

(1) Require a code to be punched into the phone prior to being able to
make or accept calls. It doesn't have to be lengthy -- three digits,
four -- just enough to stop a kid. (911 would go through immediately
with no code.)

(2) Allow customers to set up their calling plan so that when the
pre-agreed upon monthly minutes have been used up, the phone no longer
works (except for calls to 911), until the first of the next month.

(3) Wireless companies could, for a small fee, email you as soon as
you've hit your limit on minutes for the month (you could still go
over, but at least you'd be aware), or perhaps when you have only 10
pre-paid minutes left.

Of course, there are always pre-paid phone options.

Along with rarely using your phone you seem to not have been as
vigilant about where it was and who was using it than, in retrospect,
you ought to have been. (I know nothing about your family situation
including whether you had any reason to know that your stepson might
do this, but either way, you know now.)

If you can make a case that given the plan that you had and the use
that was made of the phone you should not have been billed $2,800 then
I hope you'll consider rewriting this and including your evidence
(whether or not you post your letter here).

If you can't make that case, you owe them the money. I recognize that
that seems unfair, but the reality is that you are responsible for
what is done with your phone. If they'll let you upgrade your plan
and apply it retroactively, that may be a good choice for you. But
you do owe them the money.

Good luck with it.

Give the kid a smack.

Sorry Jennifer, but there isn't an agency that will care that your kid
stuck you with a huge phone bill. The only person you should be angry
with is your stepson (I have to wonder how old he is).

If you can't trust him, consider checking your phone bill online daily
or weekly so you can catch things before they get out of control.

to personal responsibility? Your family member ran up the bill, and
you don't feel obligated to pay? If I ever pulled anything like that
with my parents I'd be paying them off for a long time, and finding it
difficult to sit for most of that period! It would never occur to
them to take the "my underage (step)daughter is the one that called, I
don't owe anything" approach. I find it sad that it even occured to
you.

*shudder* I keep on reading letters on PFB about kids / teens /
immature 'adult' children using mom and dad's cell phone and the
parents...instead of being ...gulp... PARENTS and educating your son
and telling him he'd better get a part time job to pony up the cash,
you blame the company. Too funny...too sad.

PS -> I teach grade 7 and a lot of my students have 'beginner type'
part time jobs. Don't coddle the kid, tell him he messed up, he's
gotta pay...and you do too.

I hate to say it Jennifer, but Jeffrey is right on the money with this
one.

At first, your letter came off as if the bill was indeed an error and
no one had the phone. But then we find out that your stepson actually
had it.

AHA! The plot thickens!

While it sucks that your stepson's actions cost you so much, there
really isn't much you can do about it. The bill is legitimate. The
service was used and the fact that it wasn't you can't get you out of
it. You didn't close the account or report the phone as being stolen
and whether he was authorized to use it or not, you weren't keeping
tabs on your phone.

If it were my son, you can best believe he'd be working A LOT of long,
hard hours to pay me back for that bill.

Bottom line, you really can't lay the blame at Verizon's feet for
this, so your threats and outrage are a little misplaced. They simply
billed for what was used; nothing more, nothing less.

(1) $2800 is clearly huge. I'd think it a mistake, too.

(2) Exceeding minutes CAN carry high charges. From what I can tell,
additional minutes seem to be in the 20-45 cent range, depending on
plan.

(3) Usually when a contract expires, you're put on month-to-month or
your contract is auto-extended. I'm not a Verizon customer, but I've
never heard of them switching you to some sort of pay-by-the-minute
service. Anyone?

(4) You should NOT have been told that you'd be sued for contesting
the change. You have a right to contest a change. However, Verizon
has the right to show that the charge was legit. At THAT point, you
either have to pay or they can sue you. Or, you can sue them.

(5) Your stepson was using the phone. Therefore, you are responsible
for the charges. Simple as that.

(6) At 45 cents per minute, a $70 call would be 2.6 hours. I don't
know your stepson, but I can see a youth making a 2.6 hour call. The
question is: how long WAS the call? If it was short (like 30 minutes
or less), I can see calling $70 exorbitant. But if it really was 100+
minutes... you should expect to pay. Oh, and if roaming was involved,
then the price/minute can be very high.

(7) However, this is only after you've exceeded the minutes in your
plan. The issue here seems to be that they're claiming you have no
plan. Right?

(8) Text messages can add up. You're not the first person to be hit
with a $1000+ bill due to text messages (especially when a youth was
involved).

(9) Extortion? Not really the right word, now is it?

So, Jennifer, how many minutes were in you plan? How many minutes did
you go over? Did your stepson really use all those minutes?

If the phone was used and was used consistent with your contract, you
will need to pay. If you were charged in a manner inconsistent with
your contract, then you have a valid case.

That's a huge bill! That's exactly why my 13 yr old son doesn't have
access to my cell phone. You (and your step-son & his parents) are
responsible for that bill. Any way you look at it, Verizon did
nothing wrong.

It's not extortion. It's all laid out in the contract that you signed
when you got the service. If your contract is up, you can definitely
leave Verizon & choose another provider. But you still owe Verizon
Wireless $2800 for usage on your phone. I just don't see any way
around that fact.

Good luck. I'd be punishing my step-son & he wouldn't soon repeat this
mistake!

This is not Verizon's fault, this is your stepson's fault, he used
your phone. He obviously used it for services that are not on your
plan. Unless you report your phone lost or stolen, you are
responsible for the charges.

You are upset with Verizon because you were irresponsible with your
cellphone? Why is is such a surprise to you that incoming calls used
the minutes too? This is pretty much the same across the board in the
wireless industry. No matter who uses your phone, unless you report
it lost or stolen to your wireless carrier, you are responsible for
the usage. Unless our of the kindnest of their hearts, Verizon
doesn't owe you a credit because your stepson used your phone.