B. Non Payment of Early Termination and
other Fees
Another prevalent issue surrounding Verizon
Wireless that we have had to address lately is their use of an "early
termination fee" of $175 if you opt out of your contract early.
This penalty has been used in an aggressive fashion to
prevent customers from switching carriers, even when the service is poor
or non-existent. Consumers have asked
us numerous questions regarding non-payment of this fee.
Whenever this or another large bill is not paid to
Verizon or Verizon Wireless, the account is then handed over to a
collections agency. The agency is not a division of Verizon, but a
separate entity who they contract out to. Agencies have agreements
whereby they are only paid only if they are able to recover the
monies that Verizon could not. The typical return is 30% of the
recovery.
The
tactics of these agencies vary from the passive letter requesting prompt
payment to the threatening phone call about deductions from your paycheck. Legally,
these agencies cannot do anything other than to try and
contact you. If they manage to fool your employer into handing over
your check, then contact the Department of Labor. They will deal
harshly with those types of strategies.
Once the agency realizes that they will not be
able to recover your monies, the account is sent back to Verizon with
recommendations. Typically the account is then forwarded to another
agency in the hopes that a new approach may work. Remember, this
does not cost Verizon anything since it is strictly on a contingency
basis.
Those of
you who have concerns about being sued should rest
easy. There has yet to be a case of a suit being issued by Verizon
for something as small as a early termination fee (Their lawyers cost $400/hour,
so economically this does not add up.) On the other hand, they
theoretically can create a blemish on your credit record. Again,
we have yet to see this happen. Even if it did, there is a process
available to you whereby you can challenge the notations and refute
them. Ultimately it will have a minimal impact.
C. Recovering
Overcharges
Consumers who have taken our advice on
how to recover monies owed them by Verizon have ALL seen the majority
of their funds returned.
The greatest weapon a consumer has is the small
claims court. Depending on the state, a citizen can sue for anywhere
between $2,500 to $5,000. The process is as simple as going to your
local courthouse, filling out a form and paying a nominal fee to initiate
the process. In fact, if Verizon is remiss in responding within the
allotted time frame, some states allow for up to triple the penalties in
damages.
A Verizon attorney will assess the action and
submit a proposal to settle for an amount that is "reasonable" but less
than what you are asking for. It is not in their best interest to
send a representative to your town to defend the claim since it will cost
them far more in legal fees to do so.
If you have a dispute that is less than the state
maximum (99% of customers fall into this category), then this is the
solution.
D. Automatic Newsletter
Updates
For those of you who would like to receive the
newsletter directly to your email, please create an account in the
forum. Newsletters are first emailed to forum members before being
posted to the site. If you have difficulty creating an account
(particularly AOL) users, please contact us and we will create on for
you.
Next Newsletter at the
beginning of April!
