Going on a cruise? Make sure to turn your phone off.

[pc747]

Even if it was the Ops mother's fault, verizon could be better about it as far as customer service is concerned. It is an honest mistake and they can try to work something out.
If they know they have "an International Data Service", then be customer friendly and just charge them what that rate would be for the trip. That is what good customer service would do.
I can see in away why the op would be angry considering the circumstances. Now I am not, and I do not think the op is, saying the mother is not with out responsibility. That is the one negative about vzw, they gouge you to death.

Op try to see if you can reason with someone. What may help is you telling theom you will downgrade all your smart phone lines for basic call plan.

 

[peterjariel]

I mean seriousely 355 bucks is like pocket change for VZW. And now they r goin to loose thousands if the op goes to another carrier.

 

[pyro6128]

The reality is, these phones are being used by normal people, not just dorks who live on web forums.

Knowing how your phone works and what it can do doesn't make you a dork. It makes you a person that doesn't get blasted with a $355 roaming charge for not knowing any better, or for not informing the other party on your plan of how it works. You would have saved a lot of money had you just bought her a cheap casio watch or something haha.

 

[bamfsig45]

I mean seriousely 355 bucks is like pocket change for VZW. And now they r goin to loose thousands if the op goes to another carrier.

Really the only person losing out is the person who sells their phone, pays etf's and switches to another carrier. This wont even be a blip on Verizons Radar.

 

[swaldrop]

I mean seriousely 355 bucks is like pocket change for VZW. And now they r goin to loose thousands if the op goes to another carrier.

This wont even be a blip on Verizons Radar.

True that and Verizon knows it. This is why it's silly to try and maintain any sense of loyalty. It's a wash for me as far as cost to get in to a new contract. I will however save quite a bit monthly.

 

[texasPI]

hmm...would of been cheaper to buy her a watch...lol.

 

[hookbill]

I think if the OP is smart he will call Verizon and reason with them. True, it's really his fault or his moms fault, but it was just an error. From my own experiences with Verizon I find that they are very reasonable and should probably do the right thing and give the OP a break. It's not worth losing a customer over.

 

[soops]

To OP....Man, that sux.

For that much bill, I would follow pilotcharles or hookbill advice & try to contact VZW again. At a minimum you can try to pursuade/negotiate to see if VZW would be willing to charge available international roaming plan or cut the bill in half, or 30%, etc. Say you've been a good customer for so many years, and admit it was a mistake & see where that goes..You may have to talk to a supervisor instead of regular CS. I don't think VZW will drop all charges, but hopefully some reduction in charges can be negotiated & take it as lesson learned. Good luck.

 

[adrynalyne]

Verizon generally has a one time forgiveness policy. They have done it for me. So either you got a jerk CSR, you were rude and they didn't want to help you, or something like this has happened before.

Call and talk to another rep.

 

[swaldrop]

I think if the OP is smart he will call Verizon and reason with them. True, it's really his fault or his moms fault, but it was just an error. From my own experiences with Verizon I find that they are very reasonable and should probably do the right thing and give the OP a break. It's not worth losing a customer over.

This is exactly what I thought before I called. I will try to call again as I am not real excited about paying that $355. But I'm pretty sure that I won't be staying with VZW regardless of the outcome.

Had this not happened I never would have started day dreaming about that dang EVO. Now I'm afraid I have my hopes up. We'll see.

 

[hookbill]

This is exactly what I thought before I called. I will try to call again as I am not real excited about paying that $355. But I'm pretty sure that I won't be staying with VZW regardless of the outcome.

Had this not happened I never would have started day dreaming about that dang EVO. Now I'm afraid I have my hopes up. We'll see.

I'm not trying to put you on the spot here but if Verizon does give you a break then why would you want to go elsewhere? There's no doubt you were not aware this would happen but I'd feel very happy about a company who gave me a break on something like this that was truly my own error.

If they don't then by all means if you want to take your business elsewhere that's your prerogative. But hey, do you think you'd get a break from AT&T? I doubt it.

 

[swaldrop]

I'm not trying to put you on the spot here but if Verizon does give you a break then why would you want to go elsewhere? There's no doubt you were not aware this would happen but I'd feel very happy about a company who gave me a break on something like this that was truly my own error.

If they don't then by all means if you want to take your business elsewhere that's your prerogative. But hey, do you think you'd get a break from AT&T? I doubt it.

Agreed. But I have little doubt that I am viewed as anything but another number, by any carrier. I am not even saying that my CS experience would be better anywhere else.

My point is, why would I be loyal to a cell phone provider, when I can't expect it to be reciprocated? I'll give them another call this afternoon, but I won't allow my blood pressure to be raised in the least. If someone wants to resolve the issue in a manner that I feel is fair to both parties, great. If not, then I will spend the energy posting Ebay ads.

 

[jpoutre]

Your mom should buy a watch if that is what she used it for. Really, why have it turned on? For the time? Really? And Verizon should just forgive it? Or their systems should have flagged the phone as a mom phone and when it started to accrue charged, it should have just shut it down? You should understand that it's not all Verizon's charges that are in play here? And didn't they cut it in half? I think the OP is not being realistic if he thinks this is outrageous. I am sure Sprint and AT&T would all drop these charges. NOT... But have fun with them.

 

[Mule65]

I would definitely ask about the "one time forgiveness policy"

Would powering off the phone have even helped?

 

[cehammond]

About that training

I know this is long after the fact, but in the last 2 weeks we got our first smart phones (Moto Droid for my wife and HTC Incredible for me). The documentation with the Motorola is almost non-existant, and the HTC is a little better. To suggest anyone without considerable exposure to such devices would think of this in advance is absurd. In the past phones much simpler came with a CD tutorial. These much more complex devices do not even have a website reference for a tutorial (ok, the moto has a very short on line tutorial). Typically the salesman talks up all the bells and whistles and tries to get you out of the store so they can sell someone else (by the way, they hate me and my endless questions).

Sounds like class action material to me. Even if the Verizon agreement mentions roaming charges, Verizon is clearly negligent in not providing a source to identify how one can determine if the services are being accessed. If they provide a website or other means for training and you choose not to consult it, then the charge is valid.

I think I'd consider a small claims suit.