Verizon Wireless Users BEWARE!! Illegal Data charges!!

[Hissssss]

I just spent the last 2 hours on the phone with Verizon disputing data usage charges with them to absolutely NO avail:bored: So I thought I would post a warning here in an effort to warn any other Verizon wireless users to do a DETAILED check of their online statements, here are the FACTS....

I have a PDA phone that I don’t use for web surfing or e-mail because I work in a black hole & my home is rural so service out here is bad at best, so there was no need for the $30.00 a month unlimited data package that was offered, after 2 months I canceled that feature (2008).
FFW to yesterday (Sep 18 09) my wife informs me that she got a text that we were incurring extensive data usage charges, hmmmm:dw::??: thats strange, I never use my phone for web surfing/e-mail.
Upon close inspection of my on line statement I discovered that for the last 8 months Verizon has been charging me for internet access !:??::shrug: I called and spent 2 hours with customer service who repeatedly told me that my device was indeed accessing the internet and that if I wasn't doing it my kids were....:bs:, my kids are older, mature and very responsible. There was no argument according to them that my device was being used at all hours of the day to access the internet :bs::nonono:
My daughter just upgraded her phone to a PDA as well in July, so we checked her account as well, (she doesn’t have a monthly $30.00 unlimited data program either) guess what???? She also started incurring internet access fees AS SOON AS her phone was activated !:mj: To the tune of $18.00 a month!!
I immediately had a Data BLOCK installed on both phones .:bored: I have irrefutable proof that this is a scam being perpetrated by Verizon..
I am in the military and travel all the time all over the world, I was in Singapore for 6 weeks in June and July, my phone was with me turned off,(not tri band) the entire time, no possible way for that phone to access the internet and was NEVER turned on. Verizon says that device was being used to access the web all of June/July...to the tune of $60.00:fm::bs: when asked how this was possible I was told I must be confused and left the phone home....:bs::bs::bs: I used it to call my old lady to fetch me at the airport for crist sake!:bored:

Excuses Verizon offered for the charges....
1. My kids are surfing the net behind my back:bs:
My son is in the military at Ft Benning & my daughter would NEVER do that.
2. I have an open application that constantly updating from the internet:bs:
I constantly "Kill All" apps to conserve battery power
3. When in Singapore you forgot your ph at home and it updated
via internet:bs:
Just plain didn't happen, it was with me, I called Mama to get me when
I landed:bored:

I got some of the web sights that have been visited and they are all :bs:, some German web sight that is of NO interest to any of us, another called Blue Tie.com...corprate e-mail sight of some type:shrug: the funny thing is that none of the sights are porn...(thank god for small favors...lol)

BEWARE...check your statements and make sure you aren’t getting screwed like I have. My wife and I figure since Feb 09 they have incurred $500.00 in fraudulent data charges against my account :cuss::cuss:

 

[wvmystichrome]

Port your number to another provider and drop them. I am Alltel getting ready to be switched over to Verizon in October. Thanks for the heads up. They better not do that to me or I will just change my provider. I guess since they went to Wireless only they are trying to make up their ground line fees somewhere.

 

[SciFiHiFi]

I feel your pain, arguing with cell phone companies is the worst and you are definately getting screwed. However, do you really believe it's a 'scam being perpetrated by Verizon'? I think it's way more likely that you're on the bad end of a mix up.

 

[Hissssss]

I'ts NOT a mix up, Verizon is adimant that my "device" is the one that is connecting to the net, even though I informed them that this is impossible for June/July as I was in another country with the phone off & dead batt!
Also worth noting is the fact that as soon as my daughters upgraded phone was turned on & we elected not to pay $30.00 a month for unlimited data option they started charging her phone too, so thats two different lines going to the same web pages???at 145am & 345am no, not buying it.

 

[oldmodman]

Verizon tried the same crap with me. i have five phones on the old Friends and Family plan, which has been discontinued. It costs me 103.45 per month for all five phones. I have all texting and data permanently blocked. And I call them every month to make sure they are all blocked. And each month they try to sneak 10 to 30 dollars of data onto my bill.

 

[Hissssss]

Verizon tried the same crap with me. i have five phones on the old Friends and Family plan, which has been discontinued. It costs me 103.45 per month for all five phones. I have all texting and data permanently blocked. And I call them every month to make sure they are all blocked. And each month they try to sneak 10 to 30 dollars of data onto my bill.

Thanks for the heads up, what a bunch of thieves!! I am going to contact the local media and see if they are interested in doing a consumer report on the evening news, but other than that I dont know how else to go against them other than small claims court:??:

 

[shanezt]

wait how did you drop the data plan? when i tried that they said i HAD to have the data plan with a PDA phone and it could not be dropped.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

wait how did you drop the data plan? when i tried that they said i HAD to have the data plan with a PDA phone and it could not be dropped.

Same thing with me and my blackberry.

 

[My Cobra]

I thought you had to have a data plan with a PDA. I know i did with my blackberry. i get the data charges every now and then i just tell them i am not going to pay them fight them a little bit they take them off.

 

[Hissssss]

wait how did you drop the data plan? when i tried that they said i HAD to have the data plan with a PDA phone and it could not be dropped.

Same thing with me and my blackberry.

I just called customer service (Feb 2008) and told them that I didn't want it and to remove it from my service plan, there was a little bantering by them that I "really should keep the data plan" but in the end I got it taken off.

Here fellas, check out this web sight, http://www.verizonpathetic.com/index.html filled with good info, would love some advice on the best way to get back at these slimy bastards

 

[S197GT]

The same thing happened to my Mom, but with at&t. She just has one of those basic Nokia jobs that you get free. Last month she gets her bill and it says there is $118 in data charges on it. BS, there is no way anybody went on there with that cheap phone that doesn't even have a web browser and racked up $118 in data fees. I called for her and got them to remove the charges, but the fact that they were on there is BS.

 

[txyaloo]

Port your number to another provider and drop them. I am Alltel getting ready to be switched over to Verizon in October. Thanks for the heads up. They better not do that to me or I will just change my provider. I guess since they went to Wireless only they are trying to make up their ground line fees somewhere.

I went through this three months ago. Your plan will be grandfathered in. I just upgraded to a Verizon Touch Pro2 and added it to my grandfathered Alltel plan. At first they tried getting me to switch plans because I would have no data access (I knew better), but I told them to just send the phone. Amazingly, the $30 data package was then available to be added.

The phone is now working fine on my Alltel family plan with unlimited text and Verizon's $30 "unlimited" internet package.

 

[VirtualSVT]

Being on the company side of this here is how I see people that dispute data charges:

I pull up the detailed part of the bill for the past several bills and pull websites accessed. I then will go over every single site on the bill and will ask the customer who is accessing the sites on their device. Its funny when you start seeing adult sites or the same sites over and over every month accessed.

I will credit one month's internet charges if they claim that they did not do it.. I will then require them to block data access or add an unlimited package to cover any further usage.

I will then notate the account that all credits have been applied and no further credits are to applied and that the account is now provisioned correctly for the rest of the customers career at the company and nothing is to be changed.


You would be surprised at how many repeat people we have that think they wont' get charged for using it. Its month after month they come into the store screaming and yelling when they are actually using it.

Point is:

We are lied to day after day about using data on the phones. If you don't have a package then its BLEEDING expensive to use the internet on a phone. Downloading a ringtone can cost you 5-25 bucks NOT including the price of the ringtone itself.

That being said I know at at&t if you block it you will never get charged again. I've been a customer of at&t for 14 years and never once have I had a billing issue with unknown charges from at&t. Third parties yes.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt. Everybody knows somebody with a horror story with every carrier in the market.

 

[VirtualSVT]

OP what devices do you have?

 

[weems]

I have had two PDA's and a blackberry, and I have always been told that a data plan is required or they won't activate the phone.

 

[VirtualSVT]

All major carriers a data plan is required for a PDA phone. Blackberry, WinMo, iPhone, Symbian S60 and higher.

 

[txyaloo]

All major carriers a data plan is required for a PDA phone. Blackberry, WinMo, iPhone, Symbian S60 and higher.

While that may be true now, before Alltel was bought out, they would allow you to use minutes in exchange for data. So after 7pm (free nights and weekends) you could tether your phone and get free internet. Unfortunately, Verizon has discontinued that.

 

[NyteByte]

Well, I definitely won't be using Verizon ever.
You're not the first person that I've heard this same complaint from. They do it to everyone.

 

[Quin]

Being on the company side of this here is how I see people that dispute data charges:

I pull up the detailed part of the bill for the past several bills and pull websites accessed. I then will go over every single site on the bill and will ask the customer who is accessing the sites on their device. Its funny when you start seeing adult sites or the same sites over and over every month accessed.

I will credit one month's internet charges if they claim that they did not do it.. I will then require them to block data access or add an unlimited package to cover any further usage.

I will then notate the account that all credits have been applied and no further credits are to applied and that the account is now provisioned correctly for the rest of the customers career at the company and nothing is to be changed.


You would be surprised at how many repeat people we have that think they wont' get charged for using it. Its month after month they come into the store screaming and yelling when they are actually using it.

Point is:

We are lied to day after day about using data on the phones. If you don't have a package then its BLEEDING expensive to use the internet on a phone. Downloading a ringtone can cost you 5-25 bucks NOT including the price of the ringtone itself.

That being said I know at at&t if you block it you will never get charged again. I've been a customer of at&t for 14 years and never once have I had a billing issue with unknown charges from at&t. Third parties yes.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt. Everybody knows somebody with a horror story with every carrier in the market.

I think there is something to be said here... Verizon employees don't even use em. The only reason I got Verizon to begin with was the free in-house texting, now everyone offers unlimited texting to anyone for a minimal fee. I will be glad to be rid of my shitty reception and their TERRIBLE customer service, along with my limited phone choice and ability.

 

[Hissssss]

Being on the company side of this here is how I see people that dispute data charges:

I pull up the detailed part of the bill for the past several bills and pull websites accessed. I then will go over every single site on the bill and will ask the customer who is accessing the sites on their device. Its funny when you start seeing adult sites or the same sites over and over every month accessed.

I will credit one month's internet charges if they claim that they did not do it.. I will then require them to block data access or add an unlimited package to cover any further usage.

I will then notate the account that all credits have been applied and no further credits are to applied and that the account is now provisioned correctly for the rest of the customers career at the company and nothing is to be changed.


You would be surprised at how many repeat people we have that think they wont' get charged for using it. Its month after month they come into the store screaming and yelling when they are actually using it.

Point is:

We are lied to day after day about using data on the phones. If you don't have a package then its BLEEDING expensive to use the internet on a phone. Downloading a ringtone can cost you 5-25 bucks NOT including the price of the ringtone itself.

That being said I know at at&t if you block it you will never get charged again. I've been a customer of at&t for 14 years and never once have I had a billing issue with unknown charges from at&t. Third parties yes.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt. Everybody knows somebody with a horror story with every carrier in the market.

As you can see in my post Verizon is in fact adding these FRADULENT data charges on my account because there is no possible way that my phone was able to access the internet for the months of June & July, It was with me in Singapore!!:dw: I have orders that show when I left & returned, as well as several members of my team that saw it there with me, giving me crap because it isn't a Iphone and I couldn't use it over there:bored: You tell me why I have $60.00 worth of data charges on that line for those 6 weeks??? I will tell you why, Verizon is STEALING MY $$$$, plain & simple.

OP what devices do you have?

Old Motorola Q..:bored: