When I hung up the phone from talking to Verizon’s customer no service department on Saturday, I was less than happy with the experience. The person I spoke with had offered to credit 50% of the $188.75 roaming charges that were on my bill from my trip to California. That’s roaming in MEXICO. When I told her that would be unacceptable, and asked to speak to a supervisor, she said someone would call me on Monday. And I thought, “yeah, sure” but I told her, “Yes, that is what I want.”
So, yesterday when was at the laundromat, my cellphone rang, and do you believe it was Verizon? The very same person I spoke with on Saturday told me she had discussed my bill with her supervisor and they had agreed to take off 100% of those pesky roaming charges. Just like that. No further discussion, begging, pleading, or letter writing required. I thanked her very much.
But then, it made me wonder why put those charges on there to start with. I think maybe there are a certain percentage of people who just pay the bill, no questions asked. And there are probably another certain percentage of people who make the call to ask for a credit, and the first line person offers 50% credit, and they are happy with that, and pay it. And Verizon laughs all the way to the bank.
I am not normally so cynical about things like this, but dang it, 50% of that bill would have been almost $95.00. That is a lot of money out of the customer’s pocket and into Verizon’s, just for using your cellphone service in an unfortunate location. And their TV ads, the “Can you hear me now” ones, as well as the newer ones that tout their “network”, what a crock. Those adds make you think you can get service anywhere you go. I was sitting in a deck chair, at the beach, in a well populated town, and couldn’t make or receive a call.
And to be honest, I didn’t even try to use my cellphone because IT actually told me I was roaming, and I was afraid those charges would accrue. But when I tried to use my internet wireless card, no such message was received. That wireless card was picking up three bars, but when I tried to connect, it was very, very slow–it took me OVER AN HOUR to get to my g-mail account to try to read my email. That was the only time I tried to use it, the rest of the time I went to the coffee shop. So, for ONE HOUR of internet usage, that was incredibly slow, I was charged $188.75.
So, now that my rant is over, the point I would like to make here, is that if you are traveling near the border, either with Mexico or with Canada, and you use your cellphone, pay attention to your next bill. You could be roaming in devious territory.
Cathy says
April 21, 2009 at 7:32 amI have often wondered the same thing about insurance companies. I am constantly having to check and recheck what they pay and make calls.
Sandra says
April 21, 2009 at 9:06 amWe’ve always found Verizon customer service to be very good so I’m glad that it turned out well for you. By the way, we had roaming turned off on our cell phones.
nikki says
April 21, 2009 at 10:13 amgood point!
IEAT_SNOWMANPOOP says
April 21, 2009 at 1:14 pmso far I haven’t had any issues with verizon all the years we have had them. Except that i get no signal at my house…
Talina says
April 21, 2009 at 4:00 pmThere are a third group of people too..
The ones who dispute the charges, are told “sorry, we can’t refund them”. Then they close their account, hang up all frustrated, give up trying to be credited and let the bill go to collections.
N did that with Qwest back in 2000. We are still fighting to get that take off his credit report.
Debbie and Rod says
April 21, 2009 at 5:17 pmWe have T-Mobile and we stayed in Port Angeles last fall for two months which is right across the water from Victoria, Canada. Everytime we used our cell phones it said Rogers Wireless. We found out later that it's a Canadian cell tower and is stronger than the US tower. I called customer service and explained we were not in Canada and they took the international charges off and flagged our acct so that it automatically removed itself the next month.
Debbie & Rod
Twigs says
April 21, 2009 at 6:48 pmYou know what is wild? I was in Tijuana two years ago and made calls on my Unicel phone. I have nationwide calling with it and on previous trips to MX I had no service whatsover. I was a bit worried that the few calls I made from TJ would be roaming in MX but I must have been hitting US cell towers because I didn’t have one extra cent of charges for those calls. Go figure. I think you are right though…you have to be the squeaky wheel to get these companies to back off on unjust charges.
Gaelyn says
April 21, 2009 at 8:13 pmI’m glad this was resolved so easily. Unlike your dealings with Qwest last year. Good advice.
How’s Flag?
Alice says
April 21, 2009 at 9:56 pmGlad to hear all turned out well. We have to watch our bill every month living not 5 miles from the Canadian border.
Hope you enjoy your stay in Flagstaff.
Christine says
April 22, 2009 at 5:12 pmGlad that you got it all sorted out. Does make you wonder.
teeni says
May 4, 2009 at 9:14 amThat is soooo annoying about the cell phones. These companies can be so ridiculous and the charges are so outrageous. Thanks for the information – it’s good to have for those who travel or plan to.