Verizon isn’t having a good week so far. Its popular Unlimited plan was broken down into three less-reward and more-cost data plans. It’s network has gotten so many new users that the average network speeds fell below both T-Mobile and AT&T. Verizon Wireless isn’t the only one having trouble now. The company’s landline department seems to also be messing things up.
The Boston Globe wrote a very thorough story that tells the story of a 84-year-old woman who had her landline service cut on her birthday. She refused to pay her Verizon bill because of her landline being broken and the company not fixing the issue.
To make matters worse, the woman’s medical alert button required a working landline, so cutting off her service could have potentially had severe consequences. Instead of trying to figure out the issue with their customer, Verizon just cuts the line without caring about anything.
The story did have a happy ending for the Verizon customer.
The 84-year-old Joan Tanos first opened her dispute with Verizon letting them know that she’s having problems with the landline and would not pay the bill until the issue has been fixed. She states that “I have never written a letter like this before, but I feel that I am at my wit’s end. I do not feel I should be responsible for the attached bill so I am returning it with this letter. Please fix my landline and I would be happy to pay.” She had been experiencing “loud noises and static on the line, calls going to voice mail without the phone ringing, and messages not showing up for 24 hours.”
Instead of trying to fix the issue, Verizon proceeded to suspend the account for non-payment. Verizon claims that Tanos was informed well-ahead that her account was about to be suspended for non-payment, but Tanos says otherwise: “She said the last communication she had was that a Verizon supervisor would be calling her within two days. That didn’t sound to her like Verizon intended to go through with the suspension. But the supervisor never called.”
Her account was ultimately suspended. So now she would have been only able to call 911 or Verizon’s customer service department. She didn’t realize her service was suspended until she missed calls from her family and friends on her birthday. Her family and friends began to worry about her wellbeing and went to check on her.
The issue was ultimately resolved with Verizon giving a billing credit to Verizon, and her landline issue being resolved by the company technician.
