About a month ago, I decided my old smart phone needed to be replaced. Because I was already a Verizon customer with my phone connected to a family plan, I steered around those tempting "free phone" offers that have (almost) hidden requirements to upgrade to new services at prices that help Verizon offer such "good deals."
I was looking through the phone offers and found one that included a very cheap phone and something like only $24 a month service. Well, of course, that turned out to mean "$24 a month PER PHONE for 4 phones." I should have suspected that Verizon might pull a fast one on me, but I decided to ask a sales rep to sort things out and give me my options.
So, I clicked on "Chat" and talked to a rep for a few minutes. She couldn't answer some of my questions (Verizon's plans are fairly complex--the Web site at one point said my old phone could be traded in for $300, then the chat person later said $150, then finally $15.)
Okay, long to short. I picked a phone and added it to our service plan, and deleted my old phone. In a day or two the new phone arrived and all seemed well.
THEN, a month later, my credit card showed a charge for VERIZON*DIGITAL CHAT for $49.45. I searched all over the Web site to find a customer service link, but all the contacts had phone trees with no option relevant.
FINALLY, I called the 800 number on the bill and asked what was going on. The answer is that VERIZON CH ARGES YOU TO CHAT WITH A SALESMAN TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR PHONES AND PLANS.
There was no warning or statement that Chat cost money. I've never paid for Chat for any company before. So be forewarned.
To Verizon I say, "Start being honest about doing this before someone sues you."
