Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)
I signed a new contract on December 30. Previously, I had America's
Choice 400 minutes/monthon month-to-month because my old contract
expired a while ago. The new contract is also America's Choice, also
400 minutes/month.
Unfortunately, my billing cycle starts on the 7th of every month; e.g.,
December 7 through January 6.
The latest bill splits that period into two partial months: 12/7 through
12/29 and 12/30 through 1/6.
Since both the old and the new plans give me 400 minutes per month,
Verizon split that 400 minutes into two portions: they allocated me 297
minutes for the period 12/7 - 12/29 and 103 minutes for the period 12/30
- 1/6.
I did not use more than 400 minutes during the entire billing cycle, but
my usage was not evenly spread out during the month; I used more than
103 minutes during the period 12/30 - 1/6 so they are now charging me
$25 for excess minutes. (However, during the entire billing cycle
period, I used less than 400 minutes total.) So if I hadn't signed a
new contract, I wouldn't have been charged for any excess minutes.
Nobody at the store (where I signed my new contract) explained that
Verizon screws you if you don't sign a new contract EXACTLY on the first
day of a billing cycle.
I just got off the phone with customer service and they wouldn't budge
an inch. First, they said I had initialed my contract to indicate that
proration had been explained to me -- but that's not true. I initialed
nothing. Then a supervisor told me that the contract itself explains
proration. But it doesn't; I have it in front of me and it doesn't say
any such thing. Then she said I should go back to the store where I
signed the contract; I asked what good it would do to go back to the
store if nothing could be done and I was stuck paying the extra $25; she
said, "Then don't go back to the store."
I did some digging in this newsgroup and it seems I am not the first to
get caught by this proration gimmick. It also seems to be especially
ridiculous to prorate an existing customer who is going from a 400
minute plan to a 400 minute plan -- why prorate at all, except to have
an excuse to charge the customer more money? (The supervisor told me
that the justification was that my old plan had only 1000 free night &
weekend minutes, whereas the new plan has unlimited night and weekend
minutes.)
It's ironic that Cingular lets you carry unused minutes from one billing
cycle to another; Verizon won't even let you carry unused minutes from
one part of a month to another part of the same billing cycle.
Has anyone gotten any results from complaining to customer service about
this? The women I spoke with today were totally unyielding.
I signed a new contract on December 30. Previously, I had America's
Choice 400 minutes/monthon month-to-month because my old contract
expired a while ago. The new contract is also America's Choice, also
400 minutes/month.
Unfortunately, my billing cycle starts on the 7th of every month; e.g.,
December 7 through January 6.
The latest bill splits that period into two partial months: 12/7 through
12/29 and 12/30 through 1/6.
Since both the old and the new plans give me 400 minutes per month,
Verizon split that 400 minutes into two portions: they allocated me 297
minutes for the period 12/7 - 12/29 and 103 minutes for the period 12/30
- 1/6.
I did not use more than 400 minutes during the entire billing cycle, but
my usage was not evenly spread out during the month; I used more than
103 minutes during the period 12/30 - 1/6 so they are now charging me
$25 for excess minutes. (However, during the entire billing cycle
period, I used less than 400 minutes total.) So if I hadn't signed a
new contract, I wouldn't have been charged for any excess minutes.
Nobody at the store (where I signed my new contract) explained that
Verizon screws you if you don't sign a new contract EXACTLY on the first
day of a billing cycle.
I just got off the phone with customer service and they wouldn't budge
an inch. First, they said I had initialed my contract to indicate that
proration had been explained to me -- but that's not true. I initialed
nothing. Then a supervisor told me that the contract itself explains
proration. But it doesn't; I have it in front of me and it doesn't say
any such thing. Then she said I should go back to the store where I
signed the contract; I asked what good it would do to go back to the
store if nothing could be done and I was stuck paying the extra $25; she
said, "Then don't go back to the store."
I did some digging in this newsgroup and it seems I am not the first to
get caught by this proration gimmick. It also seems to be especially
ridiculous to prorate an existing customer who is going from a 400
minute plan to a 400 minute plan -- why prorate at all, except to have
an excuse to charge the customer more money? (The supervisor told me
that the justification was that my old plan had only 1000 free night &
weekend minutes, whereas the new plan has unlimited night and weekend
minutes.)
It's ironic that Cingular lets you carry unused minutes from one billing
cycle to another; Verizon won't even let you carry unused minutes from
one part of a month to another part of the same billing cycle.
Has anyone gotten any results from complaining to customer service about
this? The women I spoke with today were totally unyielding.