Cell Phone Charges After Phone Broke, Can't Cancel Service.

H

Humphrey Bear

New Member
My cell phone broke, but I am still being charged. I tried to contact them a few times to cancel my service. I have been charged over $300 for a phone that does not work.

Can anyone help me? Thank you.
 

Welcome to the forum, Humphrey Bear. Sorry to hear of your difficulty.

Was your cell phone service set up under a contract for a specific period of time (like 12 month, 24 month), or is it the prepaid variety? Is the phone itself covered under any sort of warranty or insurance?
 
Who's your cell phone carrier? If the carrier has a store in your town, go there, or call the store. Can you contact customer service online? Also, if you have a contract for a specified number of months, you may be stuck. If that's the case, get an inexpensive phone and transfer your service to that phone so you aren't paying for a service you do not have.

Also, are you sure the phone isn't working? I've had problems a time or two and thought my phone was not working, but when I took in into the provider's store, I discovered it wasn't the phone, but that I had inadvertently done something that caused it to (in my view) malfunction -- after they discovered what it ws, they reset it for me and it worked fine.
 
My carrier is Verizon Wireless. I tried to recharge the phone and it would not work. I could not reboot or restart it also.

I switched to Consumer Cellular, but Verizon is still charging me $82 for the same service that I am getting from CC for $25 a month.

Next month my Verizon bill will climb up to $500. It feels like Verizon does not want to cancel me.
 
Tommy said:
Welcome to the forum, Humphrey Bear. Sorry to hear of your difficulty.

Was your cell phone service set up under a contract for a specific period of time (like 12 month, 24 month), or is it the prepaid variety? Is the phone itself covered under any sort of warranty or insurance?
Click to expand...

My brother got the phone for me and it was under his family plan contract.
 
If the cell phone is under your brother's contract, get HIM to cancel it. So you pay for part of your brother's bill? Or something? Just how is this working?

Verizon, IMHO, is notoriously difficult to work with. Go in to a Verizon store and talk face to face to a representative anad get this straightened out. Verizon has to cancel you, if the phone is in your name, if you ask them to, unless YOU committed to a contract for a specific period. How is it your Verizon bill will climb to $500 per month?? That just doesn't make sense.

You need to confront this and get it straightened out, you cant just dance around it. Find out exactly where you stand, how they justify charging you directly for a part of someone else's contract, and get it straightened out. When you got your new service from Metro PCS, did you ask them to help you cancel your other service? When my sister changed service to T-mobile, T-mobile helped her cancel her Verizon service. She had a couple glitches with that, but I got it straightened out for her.

Whether or not it "feels like Verizon doesn't want to cancel you" is irrelevant. Either they have the right to continue charging you or they do not. If you have a contract for a certain amount of time and are still within that time, they probably do. If you don't, they don't. BUT, if you don't get it straightened out, they will keep charging you and they probably won't refund back charges either. I would also seriously question how they can charge you directly for service that is part of someone else's contract. Did YOU sign a contract with them??

Don't let Verizon push you around, and don't let this drag on until Verizon sues you over the bill and you end up with a big fat judgment against you. I've tangled with Verizon several times back when I was working.

If you have auto-pay that allows Verizon to withdraw money from your bank account, you can absolutely stop that. BUT, that won't keep Verizon from continuing to charge you. If you can't straighten this out on your own, get somebody to help you do it -- a lawyer if necessary. At $500 a month, you will come out many dollars ahead by paying a lawyer for advice and a couple nasty demand letters to Verizon. If you are a senior citizen, there is probably a senior citizens law office in your area that will help you for free. Your state probably has an office of senior affairs or some such that might also be able to advise you.
 
My brother was paying the bill for awhile then he transferred the phone to me. I was paying the bill for about a year and then the phone broke. I have been paying $82 a month for about 5 months after the phone broke.

What is the best site to get help with senior citizen matters?
 
Humphrey Bear said:
My brother was paying the bill for awhile then he transferred the phone to me. I was paying the bill for about a year and then the phone broke. I have been paying $82 a month for about 5 months after the phone broke.

What is the best site to get help with senior citizen matters?
Click to expand...

What state are you in? The senior citizen stuff differs by state, as do laws.

Have you tried going to a Verizon store and talking to a manager? That is the first step, and the senior citizen help places are going to ask you that question straightaway.

Do you have any papers or contracts, etc. relating to the phone and its transfer to you? Do you KNOW that the phone has been "transferred" to you by Verizon? Does a bill come in your name? I've never heard of a phone being "transferred " to another person by a cell phone provider. Just because your brother says he transferred it to you does not mean that Verizon did so. Did YOU sign anything with Verizon?

These questions are very important. Simply put, Verizon cannot force you to pay for something you haven't agreed to be responsible for. For instance, I can't just call up T-Mobile and tell them to bill my phone to someone else. For them to hold you responsible for paying that bill, YOU have to agreed with Verizon that you would be responsible, i.e., signed something. Did you?
 
Really out there! Why the hell did you let your bill keep adding up, month after month, once your phone was out of service? What did you think would happen? When you contacted Verizon, you needed to take names, keep going up the chain of command, and resolve your issue, with a case number and written statement that your account has been cancelled. If you have an active contract, all bets are off for any recovery. Keeping your phone operational was your responsibility, plain and simple, unless you have a contract that states otherwise. I'm with Verizon, and have never had a single problem in over five years. FWIW, contacting the governmental departments given to you is probably a waste of time, unless you can document some sort of violations on Verizon's part.
 
treeguy64 said:
Really out there! Why the hell did you let your bill keep adding up, month after month, once your phone was out of service? What did you think would happen? When you contacted Verizon, you needed to take names, keep going up the chain of command, and resolve your issue, with a case number and written statement that your account has been cancelled. If you have an active contract, all bets are off for any recovery. Keeping your phone operational was your responsibility, plain and simple, unless you have a contract that states otherwise. I'm with Verizon, and have never had a single problem in over five years. FWIW, contacting the governmental departments given to you is probably a waste of time, unless you can document some sort of violations on Verizon's part.
Click to expand...

I suggested he contact the senior affairs folks and and senior citizens law office because they can help him figure out what is really going on, if he can't handle it on his own. Here, they do help folks sort out things like that.

You are right, of course, a phone that doesn't work doesn't have anything to do with whether he is liable on a contract or not. They are two different things altogether.
 
applecruncher said:
Butterfly, I think TG64 was referring to Pepper's suggestion that OP contact the FTC & FCC.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I have contacted governmental agencies, with complaints, in the past. I've always received form letters that are full of double talk, and simply push the matter down the road, thus avoiding any active involvement on their part.
 
Going through government channels, showing you've exhausted all possibilities, makes all the difference in the world if your case winds up in Small Claims, or any Civil Court. I've had incredible luck with government agencies, maybe I know how to work the system, being trained in legal procedures.
 
Small Claims Court is an entirely different matter. I was referring to the Federal agencies cited. I have prevailed, twice, in SCC. Part of what I do for a living is to write contracts. Rest assured, I have a great understanding of due legal process. In the original post, there would be absolutely no room for recovery unless the poster had a contract where Verizon agreed to maintain the phone he purchased or cancel his contract. Such a contract doesn't exist, these days, as far as I know. Even notifying the company about his non-functioning phone, and documenting the same, would not void his contract, absent the aforementioned document.
 
Humphrey, maybe I missed it but I don't see any indication that you have called Verizon and spoken to them. It seems to me that that should be your first step in all this. If you don't get any help or cooperation from their "customer service" person, ask to speak to someone higher up. And keep records of all your conversations with them.

Complaining to the FTC or whoever seems a bit premature, if you haven't even discussed this with the Verizon people.
 
treeguy64 said:
Small Claims Court is an entirely different matter. I was referring to the Federal agencies cited. I have prevailed, twice, in SCC. Part of what I do for a living is to write contracts. Rest assured, I have a great understanding of due legal process. In the original post, there would be absolutely no room for recovery unless the poster had a contract where Verizon agreed to maintain the phone he purchased or cancel his contract. Such a contract doesn't exist, these days, as far as I know. Even notifying the company about his non-functioning phone, and documenting the same, would not void his contract, absent the aforementioned document.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. The first thing the OP must do is to talk directly with Verizon, either by phone or in person, and figure out what is going on. I also think the OP may be confusing the contract for cellphone service with the fact that the phone isn't working properly. The phone working properly has nothing whatsoever to do with the matter of his being charged for cell phone service. I seriously doubt this has anything to do with the FTC or any other government agency, but rather the OP's understanding of what exactly he has contracted FOR. In any event, it's not going to go away on its own. If he has a contract with Verizon, he's probably stuck, and SCC or any other court is just going to say so (I also betcha Verizon has a mandatory arbitration clause in its contracts -- as most cell phone carriers do -- so SCC wouldn't be able to help anyway.)

Bottom line here is do not sign contracts you do not fully understand -- ever.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top