Verizon DSL Online

Re: Continued Billing and Referral Collections on a Closed Online DSL Account

I am writing to you as a customer who is deeply concerned about Verizon's lack of follow-up on closed accounts and the failure on Verizon's associates to close-the-loop even when the issue was brought to their attention. Let me tell you a story:

On January 26, 2005, we placed a call to Verizon to close our local, long-distance, and DSL accounts on the above named account as we were moving our residence. That should have been the first and last time we should have heard about that account. Alas, that was not to be the case.

In June 2005, we get a bill from AMO Recoveries (Collections) that we have an outstanding balance on our DSL account of $82.42. Now, we being long-time, loyal Verizon customers (with excellent credit, I might add), were very perturbed by this occurrence. From June 6, 2005 to June 10, 2005, I placed several phone calls to Verizon Customer Service, Billing, and Collections departments to get to the root of the matter. Several man-hours of holding and wasted work hours later, Verizon revealed that we were incorrectly billed and the account remained open until May even though it was to be closed on February 4, 2005. I was assured that the bill would be recovered from Collections and a credit would be issued to our account. I probably should have written to you at this juncture, but I was happy that this issue had finally been resolved and my credit would not be adversely affected.

Unfortunately, the matter did not end there. On December 12, 2005, I received another letter from a different collection agency (CBCS) with a rather stern message that this same amount was due or other actions would be taken to procure the amount. Again, the same perturbation ensued and I called the Collections Agency to immediately rectify the matter. At this time, I had to endure a rather demeaning and insulting phone call where I was given an ultimatum to pay the charges or provide documentation to the fact that this issue had been resolved. Again, an issue that should have been rectified by Verizon many, many months ago had cropped up only now to affect my credit.

On December 13, 2005, I spent 2 hours on the phone with Verizon Billing, Online, and Collections departments to ensure that I receive a confirmation number that the account had been closed and the balance had been zeroed. It turned out that Verizon's internal communications are extremely ineffective. In June, when this matter had initially come up, the Online department had issued the credit, but did not forward the credit to the collections department. The Collections department had placed a hold on the account due to the dispute, but released the hold due to not receiving intimation from the Online department, which led to the bill going to Collections agency for the second time.

On both occasions, I had to spend several hours of my work day trying to resolve the issue. This type of ineffective process is extremely disturbing because it reveals a lack of accountability and reflects a complete nonchalance attitude on part of the company. With millions of customers carrying multiple accounts in a household loyal to Verizon regardless of where their residence might be in the country, it is a very disappointing way of providing customer service.

Today, I have received excellent service and acceptance of accountability from sales associates Mr. Bill, Zabrina Stadler. Despite this excellent service, I am compelled to pen this letter because of the preponderance of inconvenience and hassle that I have had to endure during this year-long process that should have never occurred had the initial phone call placed January 26, 2005 had the intended effect.

Verizon should take a closer look at internal processes and ensure that there are quality assurance measures in place to prevent such aggravating circumstances. These types of process failures can lead to detrimental effects on a hardworking customer's credit report and leave permanent blemishes that are unwarranted.

I appreciate your time and consideration in reviewing this letter.

Still a Verizon customer (skeptically),

Sudha Narayanaswamy & Harish Venkatachalam

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