Reader Laurynn wants to warn Verizon customers to stay away from “OneBill,” because according to several of the 7 different CSRs she talked to today, it’s “not ready yet.”
billing
Dear Verizon: I Am Canceling FiOS Because Of Your "Ridiculous And Unacceptable Billing Practices"
By 9.15.08
Reader Rob has cc’d us on the Executive Email Carpet Bomb that he launched on Verizon due to the fact that he has been unable to get them to send him a bill. Each month (for the past 3 months) Verizon has been deducting random amounts of money from his checking account, and when he asks them to send him some sort of bill (electronic or paper) they assure him they will — and then they don’t. By his calculations, Verizon has overcharged him $117.68 over the last three billing cycles.
Ever Used A Gift Card At Buy.com? Surprise, You May Owe Them Money
By 9.15.08
Seth was recently contacted by Buy.com and told that due to an error, an order he placed over a year ago had a balance due. They’ll be debiting his credit card “on or about 09/22/08.” Seth emailed them back to ask why they were just now settling the billing issue—surely it hadn’t taken them this long to notice it. Apparently, it had, and it’s not just Seth’s account that’s messed up.
Verizon Tech Made 5,000 Sex Chat Calls On Customer Accounts
By 9.11.08
The next time you’re disputing a 900 number call to a sex hotline and the CSR tells you nobody else could have made that call, remind them of this story. Over the past 10 months, a Verizon technician made 5,000 calls to sex chat hotlines, totaling 45,000 minutes of dirty talk at a cost of $220,000. He placed the calls from over 950 tapped residential and commercial accounts throughout Bergen county in New Jersey. He has since resigned, and been charged with theft by deception and theft of services.
"The Computer" At AT&T Is All Powerful And Humans Have Lost Control!
By 9.3.08
Attention citizens: A machine known only as “the computer” has taken control of AT&T. The humans are powerless to control it — or even to negotiate with it. If it decides that you should be triple billed for phone numbers you don’t need or use, there’s nothing AT&T can do. Gather your children and all the salmonella-free peanut butter you own and report to your basement. Dunk your cellphones, DVRs, Apples and XBOXes into cold water before they rise up and destroy you like they’re destroying reader Patrick.
EECB Scores $100 Direct Hit On United Airlines
By 8.26.08
It took a little negotiating but reader Noah was able to get United Airlines to honor the agreement that their CSR made, despite the fact that it was a violation of some kind of deeply sacred policy.
Comcast: Fire Destroyed Your Cable Box? Pay Up.
By 8.21.08
Here’s one more thing to worry about when a fire destroys your home — Comcast.
UPDATE: Microsoft Offers Full Refund To Overcharged XBOX Live Member
By 8.19.08
XBOX Live member ForceTrainer writes in with an update about his issue with Microsoft. In our last episode, ForceTrainer has been charged $50 for 2 months of a XBOX Live gold membership– the price of a year of service.
Microsoft Charges You $50 For Two Months Of XBOX Live
By 8.18.08
XBOX Live member ForceTrainer says that after he forgot to update his credit card information, Microsoft shut down his XBOX Live account. He was fine with this, but when he tried to update his info, pay his balance, and convert his account to silver, Microsoft demanded he pay an entire year’s fee to settle the two months he was delinquent.
What To Do When Citibank Charges You Interest On A Zero Balance
By 8.15.08
A Consumerist reader was surprised to find that Citibank had applied a finance charge on a zero balance account. She did what every good Consumerist should do: prepared her evidence, jumped quickly ahead to a live person on the Customer Service side, and resolved the issue. Here’s what happened:
Cox: What, We Need Permission To Bill For Sports And Movie Tiers?
By 8.9.08
Cox apparently doesn’t understand that they need permission before billing for extras like sports and movie tiers. The cable provider surprised reader Adrienne with a $130 bill for a triple-play package that was supposed to cost $100 per month, including all taxes and fees. When Adrienne called to complain, Cox straightened out the situation by tacking on yet another unrequested charge, this time for Starz.
You Only Have To Call Comcast 9 Times Before You Just Give Up And Go To Their Office
By 8.7.08
Reader Adam has written in to share his maddeningly typical experience with Comcast. As he says, “They didn’t kill my first born child, but they were a big pain in the ass.”
J. Crew's Notoriously Awful Website Charges You $9,208.50 To Ship The Wrong Shirt
By 8.7.08
J. Crew has a problem with their website. Whatever the problem is, it isn’t small. Meet Per, a J. Crew customer who tried to order some polo shirts and not only did he get the wrong shirts, the bill came with a shipping charge of $9,208.50. Per would like to return these shirts and not pay $9,208.50 in shipping, but he can’t manage to log on to J. Crew’s website.
Sprint Makes Customer Wait 6 Hours For Chat
By 7.31.08
Adam had a question on his bill—either about the $9.68 adjustment in his favor, or the $102,861.30 they say he still owes, we’re not sure—so he decided to take advantage of their online chat. He writes, “Conveniently, they have a link that says ‘Questions about your bill?’ When you click it, it brings you to a live agent. This is a picture of our session.”
Man Sets Himself On Fire At Rent-A-Center After Receiving Too Many Late Payment Notices
By 7.30.08
There are lots of good ways to escalate your complaints. Going to the store, dousing yourself with lighter fluid and setting yourself on fire is not one of them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what one Newark, NJ man did after becoming frustrated with the amount of late payment notices and collection calls he was receiving from Rent-A-Center.
Getting Internet From AT&T Is Almost Impossible If Your Address Is 914½ Whatever Street
By 7.24.08
We’ve seen a few addresses that have fractions in our time on this planet, but we never stopped to think about what it was like to try to order internet at one of these locations. Turns out, its about as annoying as you think it would be. Meet Michael. His address is 914½. This problematic little fraction causes AT&T to completely freak out for two months.
Debt Collector Sends Verizon Collection Notice To A Fluffy White Dog
By 7.10.08
You may think this dog is cute, but that’s bullshit. This dog is a deadbeat that doesn’t pay its Verizon bill.
Both Dell And AT&T Cash Checks Not Made Out To Them, Cause Much Sadness
By 7.10.08
It’s sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we’d always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn’t cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong!
