Tony and his wife have been waiting for 7 months for their $144.81 refund from Verizon FiOs that they’ve repeatedly been told is coming their way. It hasn’t showed up, but the debt collector trying to collect on that amount has.

Tony writes:

I called Verizon to cancel my FIOS Triple Freedom (phone/internet/cable) Service on 2/5/10. However, the Verizon representative I spoke to insisted that I call back the following Monday, which was 2/8/10, to cancel. On my bill, the phone portion of my service was cancelled and prorated accordingly but not the voice/cable portion.

My wife and I have spent countless hours on the phone trying to resolve this. We have been transferred from one dept to another, often waiting for long periods of time in order to speak to a live representative. Every time I get off the phone, I am told that the matter is resolved and to disregard the current bill and to wait for an adjusted bill that would follow. This went on for several months. In early June, in an effort to avoid the collections process, I paid the full amount of $230.39. This covered the FIOS Triple Freedom service from Feb 7 to March 6 (services I cancelled on Feb 8). My wife and I were about to have a baby and I knew I wouldn’t have the time to pursue the matter for awhile.

On 6/25 and even again on 9/29, I was told by a Verizon customer service representative that I was owed a refund, which I have yet to receive, since the cable and internet portion was not prorated and terminated from 2/8/10.

The problem I have now is twofold. I have a collections company harassing me for $144.81 which they claim I still owe and I have a charge off that was reported to the credit agencies in May. I made honest attempts at resolving this and now my credit rating is suffering.

Can you help…please???? I just want someone competent at Verizon to review our account!!

You need to escalate. First try executive customer service, and if that doesn’t work, small claims. Maybe you’ll get your refund in time to pay for your kid’s little league gear.

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