Verizon is charging me minutes for Droid data use

[Vulcan1600]

I have to agree with gadgetrants on the points made, I just didn't want to quote them in my reply.

Are you really on a 500 minute shared plan or a 550 minute shared plan? If you truly are on a 500 minute plan, you're still on America's Choice, which is old. The codes in the system should not have allowed the Droid to be activated, it should have forced you to the Nationwide. Also, if you have an old 500 minute plan, that also means you don't (and can't) have a Select unlimited text plan.

My thinking is if the above I mentioned is true, your old calling plan could be the culprit and needs some fixing up. If you don't use the unlimited text on your lines, then you need to update to the Nationwide 550 Retention Family Share plan. You have nothing to lose there and actually gain some minutes per month.

You need to dial *611 or 800-922-0204 and when you speak to CS, if you get a bad rep who says "I don't know" then you need to ask them for tech support help. If that is not offered, kindly ask to escalate the call to a supervisor who will get to the bottom of it for you.

**Edit: after I posted this I see you have a follow up message so I added to it below**

Since you have a line that does not have a smart phone, and since you are on the old America's Choice plan, it's possible the line that is using the data is the dumbphone line. It could be provisioned incorrectly or be on the mobile web accidentally. Under the old America's Choice plan on a dumbphone, data was charged against your minutes in the peak 6AM to 9PM Monday through Friday and was unlimited from 6:01 PM to 5:59 AM Monday through Friday and unlimited on weekends. Look over your bill and see if it is the dumbphone line that is causing the problem, and if so, then that's it.

Bottom line - update to Nationwide plans.
I speak this from a former CS rep side of things, not just guesses.

 

[Vulcan1600]

Wow, after reading all of this I feel like taking a trip to VZW and giving them a piece of my mind...please post back and let us know the resolution

Not a way to ever get anywhere with VZW or anyone else whether an insurance company, phone company, cable or satellite company. You treat people in a CS capacity the way you'd want to be treated back, and you get further with them that way.

 

[onmyway]

see.....those are what you call answers....the who, what, when, where, how's, and why's.....gold stars....

 

[studiopeg]

OK back from the Verizon store. They are just as confused as the rep last night, so I am really glad I was very patient last night and did not get upset at the rep who kept saying "I don't know."

They looked at my minutes and indeed they see there are data minutes being charged to my 500 minute Family Plan (which yes, is an older plan but it is the one I am on).

The store rep (the same rep who sold me the Droid in the first place and set me up) said that *if* the 500 minute Family Share plan that I am on was not compatible with the Droid X then it would have flagged in the computer and would not have allowed him to upgrade the phone. Bit it did not flag and it allowed him to upgrade it.

They are also confused as to why my total minutes add up to 220 (even with the data minutes) but Verizon says I have used over 600.

So the answer I was given is: wait until the bill is generated next week. If indeed they charge me for all those minutes, I have to call them and say they have not properly applied my $29.99 data plan to this account and have them correct it.

As usual with Verizon, the deal is to initially overcharge the customer, then the onus is on the customer to get it straightened out.

Last month we switched to Verizon for the landline and the same thing happened. We were overcharged by $80, and they said they would give us a future credit for that overcharge.

I feel so helpless, having to put up with this. After I post this, I am going into my wireless account and opting out of auto-pay. So when the bill comes in, I'll only pay what I think the bill should be, instead of shelling out overcharges.

This is so frickin annoying.

 

[gadgetrants]

OK back from the Verizon store. They are just as confused as the rep last night, so I am really glad I was very patient last night and did not get upset at the rep who kept saying "I don't know."

They looked at my minutes and indeed they see there are data minutes being charged to my 500 minute Family Plan (which yes, is an older plan but it is the one I am on).

The store rep (the same rep who sold me the Droid in the first place and set me up) said that *if* the 500 minute Family Share plan that I am on was not compatible with the Droid X then it would have flagged in the computer and would not have allowed him to upgrade the phone. Bit it did not flag and it allowed him to upgrade it.

They are also confused as to why my total minutes add up to 220 (even with the data minutes) but Verizon says I have used over 600.

So the answer I was given is: wait until the bill is generated next week. If indeed they charge me for all those minutes, I have to call them and say they have not properly applied my $29.99 data plan to this account and have them correct it.

As usual with Verizon, the deal is to initially overcharge the customer, then the onus is on the customer to get it straightened out.

Last month we switched to Verizon for the landline and the same thing happened. We were overcharged by $80, and they said they would give us a future credit for that overcharge.

I feel so helpless, having to put up with this. After I post this, I am going into my wireless account and opting out of auto-pay. So when the bill comes in, I'll only pay what I think the bill should be, instead of shelling out overcharges.

This is so frickin annoying.

Wow Peg I'm impressed by your patience and persistence. Sounds like your mystery is slowly working itself out...slowly being the operative word.

I agree it's a PITA, but I'd encourage you to look at the overbilling (and later fixing) this way: the process often works both ways...on at least 2 or 3 occasions, I've had Verizon phone reps bend over backwards to fix something for me (e.g., getting a rebate on a network extender, adding a new line). What I mean is that sometimes crap happens, but I've also spoken to reps who've basically said "what do we need to do to make this right?" They were informed, helpful, awesome. On each occasion I asked to speak to their supervisors, and told them how well I was treated.

On the other hand, I usually expect the front-line rep to be (a) tired, (b) relatively uninformed, (c) cranky, etc. Like others have said, you can hang up and call again, ask for a supervisor, etc., dial-a-rep until you get a good one. But once you do they often solve the problem and then some. (No, I have no affiliation with VW)

OK, end of plug for Verizon phone reps. Of course, in-store (including corporate) is a WHOLE OTHER experience!

-Matt

 

[studiopeg]

OK my Verizon bill just came in yesterday, and they straightened it all out. I guess what was going in my account on-line had to wait until the actual bill was generated, as the store mentioned.

Kudos to Amherst, NH Verizon store. Smart people there.

You know, I feel badly for the front-line Verizon reps. They don't seem to know as much as the stores, and they bear the brunt of customer irritableness. They probably get paid diddly squat and thus don't have much motivation.

I love the movie "Office Space" where Peter tells them Bobs he slacks all day long because of no motivation, then they contemplate offering him a stock option.

 

[gadgetrants]

OK my Verizon bill just came in yesterday, and they straightened it all out. I guess what was going in my account on-line had to wait until the actual bill was generated, as the store mentioned.

Kudos to Amherst, NH Verizon store. Smart people there.

You know, I feel badly for the front-line Verizon reps. They don't seem to know as much as the stores, and they bear the brunt of customer irritableness. They probably get paid diddly squat and thus don't have much motivation.

I love the movie "Office Space" where Peter tells them Bobs he slacks all day long because of no motivation, then they contemplate offering him a stock option.

Waitwait! It's been a few days! It was quite the mystery..you have to fill us in on all the details.

-Matt

 

[studiopeg]

Er... the Amherst store was puzzled by my on-line usage showing I was getting charged for data minutes. They said to wait until the actual bill was generated.

The bill was generated yesterday, and I looked at it this morning and all those data usage charges were gone, replaced by the $29.99 monthly data fee.

 

[everstar80]

I think you got screwed. They are tying your data usage to something else like your minutes. But does your plan cover texting is a good question. Has anyone else ever heard of this? Wait, I remmeber a thread like this a few weeks back saying they too were chaeged a fee even though they had unlimited data package. Stay on them about it though because if they didn't make something clear they may let you off since its the first time with that. Hope it works out.

 

[takeshi]

SMS and MMS are not data (though MMS uses data for attachments).

 

[mtz_gto]

WOW! this was exciting to read!! lol

Glad everything got worked out

why havent you changed plans to the updated 550 shared...?