FAQs

If Verizon has already placed a negative piece of information onto your credit report, believe it or not it can be removed.

A website called planetloan.com has taken the process and broken it down into a step-by-step instruction guide. Whether the problem is with Verizon or any other company that has incorrectly damaged your credit, you can have those blemishes removed: http://www.planetloan.com/library/credit_repair_removing_1.html

If Verizon hurt your credit while the charges were in dispute (see the bottom of this page), then they are in violation of the “Fair Credit Billing Act.” This means that you are owed restitution and Verizon will even have to pay for your legal fees. Visit this government website for more info .

Filing a complaint with the FCC

The FCC can be somewhat hit/miss. Usually the threat of filing a complaint to them can be enough to motivate Verizon to do the right thing. The FCC is the governing body that creates the rules which all telecoms must follow. This link will bring you to the section where you can file.

People seem to get varied responses from the FCC, but it is worth a shot. You can use this option for both landline and wireless issues.

Filing a Complaint with the PUC/PSC

The acronyms stand for Public Utilities Commission and Public Service Commission. I have more faith in these bodies than the FCC, as they follow-up faster and more aggressively. The PUCs and PSCs both serve the same function, the only difference being that some states call it one name while other states call it the other.

They may be helpful in straightening out problems that you are having with your actual, physical service. Issues such as installation, download/upload speeds, no service, run arounds, etc. they can take care of. This solution is for landlines only.

Filing a Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to hear when you get ripped off by any business and they won’t hesitate to sue on your behalf and others. You should watch the video on this page and follow their steps. You can file a complaint for both landline and wireless.

Filing a Complaint with the Better Business Bureau

I never would have thought that the BBB would have much in the way of teeth, but a number of consumers have reported that filing a complaint with this organization was all they had to do in order to get Verizon to step up. It is well worth the time to visit this page and follow their steps. Whether wireless or landline, the BBB will forward your complaint and give Verizon 14 days to respond..

Class Action Suits

Class action suits will not do much for the individuals involved in the suit with the exception of whoever is the lead plaintiff and the lawyers. For example, people sometimes receive small checks in the mail as a result of a suit that they did not even know they were a part of. Although the award may be for millions of dollars, divide it out between thousands of awardees, a lead plaintiff and an expensive lawyer and you might walk away with a $10.00 check.

The Attorney General

Often the Attorney General’s office is the best choice out of all the options listed so far. Each state has an attorney general who keeps a record of all complaints that are received. Typically it does not take a great many complaints for their office to begin stirring things up, and they have no conflicting interests that may prevent them from wanting to assist you. Additionally, you will at least receive a call or a letter letting you know what they can do for you. You can find your AGs office by visiting this page that lists all of them. From there, visit their website and contact them. For both landline and wireless.

Small Claims Court

If you have an issue that centers around an amount of a few thousand dollars or less, then this is most likely your ticket.

First of all, the maximum allowable amount one can sue for in small claims court is dependent on the state. For some states it’s $2,000 while for another it may be $3,000. You can undoubtedly determine the exact figure for your state by doing a search on-line.

The reason why this is an exceptionally effective tactic is because Verizon only thinks of one thing…$$$. Therefore, they will do the math and determine whether or not it’s less expensive for them to settle with you or if they should send a $400/hour attorney to the courthouse to argue their side. I learned this first hand from a Verizon employee, and then used it myself to recoup some of my early losses. To be honest, it’s worked 100% of the time thus far for anyone who I have suggested it to. Now that it’s a proven strategy, I am more than happy to promote it.

The process will entail going to the courthouse, paying a nominal fee, filling out a form and then returning it back to the courthouse. You will both receive a court date very shortly. Then one of two things will happen: either a rep from Verizon will show up on that date or instead you will receive a letter from Verizon asking you to accept an amount that is slightly less than what you were asking for. This is done so Verizon can comfortably say that there was no admission of guilt and that your acceptance of the check confirms this. When filling out the form, you will need their corporate address which is: Verizon Communications, 140 West Street New York, NY 10007

Also, in some states if they do not respond within the 30 day window, you are allowed to sue them for triple the damages. In order to do this however, you have to spell it out using the particular legal jargon associated with your state. Consult any of the courthouse administrators about this.

Works for both landlines and wireless.

Verizon Wireless is a different company than Verizon Telecommunications, however one was spun off from the other and follows similar business practices, patterns and strategies.

Follow the same steps whether your issue is with wireless, DSL, local service, etc.

When this question is asked, it is virtually always accompanied by the next question of “How do I join?” The answer to both of those queries deserves a slightly involved explanation due to the complexity of the subject. Few people seem to fully understand what it means, and a short explanation seems to confuse them further.

Class action law suits are initiated by an attorney(s) and a lead plaintiff(s) on behalf of a particular group of people (the “class”.) Once the grievance is filed, then the process very slowly moves along. A corporation like Verizon uses this “discovery” period to do everything it can to have the suit thrown out for any number of reasons. Many times when it is initially unsuccessful, a corporate defendant (like Verizon) will file numerous appeals which slow the process even further. Any tactic which will delay, thwart or hold up the case will be used by a conglomerate. It is their hope that the plaintiffs will become financially exhausted, emotionally drained or that some new piece of information or evidence will help them in avoiding a trial.

If a class action makes it beyond this point, then the people involved in the class are contacted. The company’s records are used to contact everyone who was affected during the stated period of time. Usually a short note or post card is sent that states you are part of the suit unless you indicate otherwise. In other words, you are part of the suit without having to do a thing. The only reason you might want to exempt yourself from a suit is if you were planning on joining or initiating another one on your own.

At this point in the process, the suit would usually be settled out of the courtroom. Seldom do these suits ever go to trial, and when they do, it’s often over much more than just money. Why? For one, simple reason: image. Early in the process, most everyone knows (particularly Wallstreet), that these cases almost never reach a courtroom, but once they do, it can have severe repercussions.

What if it did go that far? Well, instead of being forgotten about, suddenly the case becomes front page news almost everyday. Information begins to surface that the world suddenly takes an interest in instead of only a few parties who would have been the only ones to hear it. Most importantly however, the stock begins to be affected…and that’s where the problem is. For Verizon to pay tens of millions of dollars in a court award is paltry, however when a stock depreciates by $.50, $1.00, $3.00 per share because of some negative news, it’s a different game. If you do the math, you will soon realize that it can cost the company (and shareholders) far more than it would have cost to simply pay a lump sum out of court. Additionally, what happens to senior staff when stocks drop? It does not look good. What happens when senior staff do not look good? Suddenly it may seem attractive to replace them.

In the eyes of Verizon and other large conglomerates, an admission or a verdict confirming that they are guilty of wrongdoing is completely unnacceptable. This is why settlement agreements always contain language that explicitly states that the settlement is not any indication of guilt.

Speaking of settlements….

So when the case is settled for an agreed upon sum, the attorney makes a killing, the lead plaintiffs do very well and everyone else receives a small check from what is left. How much does the average person typically receive? Of course it depends on the settlement amount, however it seldom goes above lunch at McDonalds.

Executive Contacts

Ivan Seidenberg was the Verizon CEO who has made much of our misery possible, however he was replaced in 2010 by Lowell McAdam. Thankfully we have acquired his corporate address for those of you who would like express your feelings directly to him:

Lowell McAdam
CEO
Verizon Communications
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007

Phone: (908) 306-7000

For those of you looking to resolve a specific issue, we have also acquired their “Presidential Appeals” number. This is a number only given out by Verizon reps in the worst case scenarios, however it is a great number to use when you are not getting the desired results through the usual channels:

(800) 483-7988.

Plenty. The question is, what are you willing to do to make a difference? What level of involvement do you wish to have? Below I have created an itemized list of ways in which participants can contribute to the war effort. The list is built from a level of the least amount of effort to a substantial commitment. Every little bit helps.

1. Post your experiences

Although this may seem minimal, it is actually very important to us here. Your contributed anecdotes support and legitimize what we do. As a result of so many submissions, verizonpathetic.com has been mentioned in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wired Magazine, and even contacted by ABC News. The data has even proven valuable to the attorneys involved in the class action suits.

2. Submit formal complaints

This type of action will have a more direct affect on the “powers that be”. Writing to the Attorney General’s office, Senator or Congressman will help, particularly when they do not fully understand a confusing issue such as this one.

3. Join Teletruth

By far the most active and educated organization at the forefront of this debate is the group known as Teletruth. This operation which is comprised of various individuals and businesses (including verizonpathetic.com) is causing all of the Bells more grief than any one ever believed possible.

By going to their site and signing up for their newsletter, you will stay updated on virtually every detail of what is transpiring.

4. Dissuade others

After telling people about this project, what it represents and how I got involved, I have prevented an untold number of individuals from using Bell services. Will it cost Verizon a noticeable amount of revenue? Not yet, however one has to remember that beating this giant will require strategies from many angles and over a substantial period of time. Every little bit helps!

5. Volunteer your talents

There are a great many things that are being organized, and if you have the time and would like to see how those talents would best serve the cause, contact us.

I receive quite a bit of e-mail from this site. Most of the messages offer words of praise while others ask for help. Every once in awhile I will receive a note that says, “Don’t you have anything better to do??” or “What a waste of time…”

To be honest, I have much better things to do than to do battle with the phone company…two businesses to run, a sports career, friends to keep up with…however I learned to make time for this.

This “project”, was never meant to be so extensive. My goal was to simply publish a website that made a statement, cost Verizon a few bucks and then leave it at that. So what happened? What happened was that I began to ask questions. Why did I receive such poor service? Why wasn’t there an alternative provider for the services I needed? Why are there so many individuals like myself asking the same questions and no one is doing anything about it?

The more I learned the more I realized that this is a serious problem. Much more serious than most people could imagine. Although we like to focus on the extreme cases, I quickly discovered that every time that you or I or anyone pays their phone bill to a Bell, they are being victimized.

Sure I could blow it off. I could blow it off the same way consumer advocates could have blown off ensuring safety standards in the workplace, or in the way that certain persons could have ignored asbestos being used in buildings or in the way that people could blow off pursuing the HMOs that give kickbacks to physicians for not performing critical tests. It would certainly be much easier that way.

However, if not for those other individuals that took the time to protect all of our collective rights throughout history, this country and it’s populace would be a lot worse off. Is it too much to ask that I do the same when encountered with injustice?

In every interview I have ever given, this is always asked. The answer is “no” to both.

Apparently AT+T is funding a number of opposition groups who hold similar views. I see nothing wrong in this, however, Verizon uses that fact to attack the legitimacy of those organizations. Unfortunately it has been fairly successful, as the press takes note of it in every article that I have ever seen in which someone is quoted.

Personally I would have gladly accepted fiscal support in the early stages simply because it would have been nice to have had some compensation for my time. In light of Verizon’s tactics though, I have opted against this form of financing for myself.

Verizon would like you to believe that the noise you hear is only coming from AT+T and the people who they pay. Verizonpathetic exists not because of any else’s agenda, but because Verizon and the other Bells are affecting us all in a series of negative ways, and something has to be done about it.