When Scott upgraded to a smartphone, Verizon forgot to initiate his new data plan, so he was soaked with a $6,000 bill under his antiquated former plan. Since Scott is signed up for auto-billing, his credit card was charged before he could argue. He says Verizon admitted its error and agreed to a refund, but it’s been 30 days and Scott is still waiting.

He writes:

Verizon might be scamming people that switch from a dumb phone to a smart phone. When I activated a new smart phone with Verizon they did not switch my plan over. All of the data transfers were billed as minutes and my first bill was over $6,000. I had my bill set up as auto-pay and the money was taken out of my checking account. Verizon acknowledged that it was their mistake and have said they will refund my money but have not done so. They have had my money for over 30 days.

Do you let the fear of nightmare scenarios such as this determine whether or not you sign up for auto-billing?

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