Skip to main content

Verizon customer paid $1,500 over 5 years for a landline she thought she cancelled

Once you cancel something, you don’t expect to deal with it again. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened with New Jersey resident Lauraine Hollyer, who was charged for a dead landline for five years, reports NJ.com.

According to the report, Hollyer cancelled her family’s second landline at least 14 years ago, since her children had cellphones instead. Weirdly enough, when Hollyer looked over her April 2015 Verizon bill, she noticed there was a $25.94 charge for message rate service and line maintenance. Hollyer deducted the charge from the bill, but she decided to look over previous bills in order to find out where this charge came from.

Recommended Videos

Hollyer found that she had been paying that same $25.94 a month for her previously cancelled landline since April 2010, bringing the total to $1,500.28.

Understandably, this caught Hollyer by surprise, since she wasn’t billed for the cancelled landline for almost a decade. She admits it was a mistake to not check the Verizon bills, but she also believes she has a “right to expect that when a bill is submitted it is correct and that charges for something that has not been charged for over nine years won’t all of a sudden magically show up.”

Hollyer initially contacted Verizon about the $1,500 mishap on June 2, only to be told that the carrier would only refund three months’ worth of charges. She couldn’t connect to a manager that might have opened the refund up a bit more, and she even contacted Verizon chief financial officer Francis Shammo to no avail.

Unfortunately, all these calls did was have Verizon send her a letter, saying that her service would be suspended if she didn’t pay “overdue” charges for April and May. That particular dilemma was overturned, though Hollyer still couldn’t get anything better than a three-month refund.

That’s when she reached out to NJ.com, which then reached out to Verizon vice president Tom Maguire about the issue. According to Maguire, he looked into the dilemma and decided to issue Hollyer a $1,500 refund. In addition, he said that Verizon would talk to the people who didn’t follow through with the calls back that they promised Hollyer.

Hollyer is happy that she will get a proper refund, though she’s not too thrilled with Verizon customer support.

“Service agents need to be taught to follow through with their promises,” said Hollyer. “Supposedly everything is written down on the computer so they should have to check back on a weekly basis to see that what has been promised did in fact occur.”

Williams Pelegrin
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
Our ‘best TV’ is on sale for Prime Day — 65-inch Sony A95L QD-OLED at 17% off
Sony A95L QD-OLED Review

TVs are among the most popular products to buy during Amazon's Prime Day, and if you're planning to get one, make it the 65-inch Sony A95L QD-OLED 4K TV. From its original price of $3,500, it's 17% off to $2,898, which is just several dollars higher than its lowest price ever. Even with the savings of $602, it's still a pretty significant investment, but it's a purchase that you'll never regret if you want an upgrade to your home theater setup. You're going to have to be quick in completing your transaction though, as we're not sure if the offer will remain available until the final minutes of the shopping event.

Buy Now

Read more
The Beats Pill — our favorite Bluetooth speaker — at lowest price for Prime Day
The 2024 model of Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker on a table near a pool.

Are you planning to shop for Bluetooth speaker deals this Prime Day? You're should go for the Beats Pill, which is again available for its lowest-ever price of $98 from Amazon for the shopping event. The 35% discount on its original price of $150 will let you save $52, but you have to act fast. That's because we're pretty sure that stocks are already flying off the shelves for this amazing audio accessory, so before they're all gone, secure your own by pushing forward with your purchase immediately.

Buy Now

Read more
Our best budget headphones are even more affordable for Prime Day at 20% off
Side view of the 1More SonoFlow.

Amazon's Prime Day is finally here, bringing with it huge discounts for headphone deals. For a budget-friendly option that's even more affordable for the shopping event, check out the 1More SonoFlow. From their sticker price of $75, they're down to only $60 for $15 in savings, but there's no time to waste if you're interested because the offer may not last until the end of Prime Day. Push through with your purchase as soon as possible to get these headphones at 20% off.

Buy Now

Read more