Verizon Wireless refunding $90 million in data charges to customers

By on Oct 3, 2010 at 8:22 PM
Business October 3, 2010

Verizon Wireless just hit us up, and the news is very big. Verizon is refunding erroneously billed customers over $90 million next month. 15 million cellular customers were wrongly charged for internet usage, Verizon said, and they will be refunding around $2-$6 (and possibly much more) per customer. If you’ve already skipped out on Big Red, your reimbursement will come in the form of a check in the mail. Why is Verizon Wireless doing this? Well, it’s being reported by the The New York Times that the FCC presured Verizon as hundreds of complaints about this issue had been building up. Here is the full statement from Verizon Wireless:

Verizon Wireless values our customer relationships and we always want to do the right thing for our customers.

In October and November, we are notifying about 15 million customers, through their regular bill messages, that we are applying credits to their accounts due to mistaken past data charges. We will mail former customers refund checks. In most cases, these credits are in the $2 to $6 range; some will receive larger credits or refunds.

As we reviewed customer accounts, we discovered that over the past several years approximately 15 million customers who did not have data plans were billed for data sessions on their phones that they did not initiate. These customers would normally have been billed at the standard rate of $1.99 per megabyte for any data they chose to access from their phones. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others involved accessing the web, which should not have incurred charges. We have addressed these issues to avoid unintended data charges in the future.

Verizon Wireless issue credits to customers from time to time based on regular review and monitoring. When we identify errors, we remedy them as quickly as possible. Our goal is to maintain our customers’ trust and ensure they receive the best experience possible.

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  • Surely

    some people dont realize this is a business…att and vz price their products up 4000% as some asshole said? this is a service the value is only a perceived value so the 4000 mark is completely retarded.

    you get what you pay for and there is no collusion between companies. i pay for my services and dont bitch when my calls drops because i pay less. now with verizon you are paying more for a service that is better…you pay more for a bmw dont you?

    i might have to change providers becase at least verizon can admit they fucked up and do something about it. you think none of the other carriers fuck you over? as someone who listens and processes things instead of being some lunatic asshole who yells at the reps without knowing what’s going on i can say this is the customers’ faults mostly. if i use more than 1 mb, even on accident, then i eat it and shut the fuck up. i have been charged a full mb for 10 seconds of use so will argue that forever but honestly mistake or not, shit happens. get a gig from craigslist to make a few extra dollars and get the fck over it

    • Norm

      I think you missed my point entirely. I was talking specifically about text messaging plans, which are SEVERELY inflated. It doesn’t matter what company we are talking about it, they are all doing it.

      Also, if someone doesn’t sign up for data, they shouldn’t be charged for it. Their already crippled ass phone (assuming it’s Verizon) should also not allow it.

      • Surely

        no, i got your point…it’s still fucking retarded though. i dont sign up for on demand movies with my cable company either but i can still use them and pay per use whenever i want.

        stupid analogy is stupid

  • jimmy cc

    @Norm,

    so what verizon

  • j money

    @Fred,

    you don’t drive in reverse. you need reverse for parking, k-turning, etc. no wonder everyone in the world think we are idiots.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Union City North Atlantic Ocean

  • JM

    Yeah, proactively reacting to getting sued…

  • craphos

    what if i’m not on verizon anymore, snd i’ve switched from the tome being?

    • Joe

      “We will mail former customers refund checks”

      Don’t you fucking people read?

  • http://www.ledlightwave.com ledlightwave.com

    Verizon good

  • bringit

    I WANT MY $2!!!

    • Jason

      ah man great movie!

  • http://deleted Dominator

    wow….when a big company tries to be nice and responsible…..

  • this is it

    VERIZON SUCKS

  • Chris

    LOL. I left Verizon because of those fraudulent charges.

  • Derek

    Well this $2-6 is great and all. But I’ve noticed these charges from time to time and was always told (BS) that the shortcut for the web was pushed or something. This was on my parents’ phones. I’m sure over the 6 years that I was with Verizon (I dumped them last month) I’ll maybe get $6.

  • Bdus

    I left them bc of this strong arm, nonsense billing, and high prices.

    Sprint has been great. Easy to read bill and everything is included. No surprises.

  • Ricotibiri

    all other carriers FTW

  • Gomer Pyle

    Come on people – Golly -you sure are mean pepole. Shame, shame, shame. You sould like Sgt Carter!

  • Stephanie

    Yeah I left Verizon in Feb of this year. Way too expensive and I couldn’t use my phone in the house unless I stood in one spot. They claimed to have perfect coverage in my area but refused to send a field tech out to check the tower in my area. They insisted that is was my phone and keep sending me replacements and I had the same issue with all of them so clearly it was NOT the phone. They suck!

    • Firegvw

      did you ever upgrade the towers for your phone. like your supposed to every 2 months. cause verizon actually ajusts them periodically to improve reception. you we’re prolly geared for the wrong tower in your area. go to a store that knows what their talking about next time. (also don’t call customer service)

  • biasedboygenius

    1 point for AT&T

    • Randall

      Why would owning up to an issue, issuing credit, and fixing the problem be “1 point” for AT&T?

    • Firegvw

      The street persay goes both ways AT&T has lots of issues as well.

  • http://www.visualizefree.com/ Visualization Reporter

    I used to get billed erroneously when I’d accidentally press the button on my phone for connecting to the internet, back before I had a data plan. I’d call and complain and they would say it was my fault for pressing the button. I can’t wait to get my check.

    • Firegvw

      thats not what their talking about. their talking about software built into the phone like vcast and navigator that they were double charging for or charging for data they sent to you phone. it’s still your fault for pressing the button. you can block data on your feature phone.

  • http://www.reawakener.com Evelyn

    I Love Verizon. I have never been in a spot where I could not get phone service. I’m glad they’re bucking up and taking responsibility. I just hope that someday for $30/month I can get Internet & Data, instead of it being $30 for each one separately.

  • lucky me

    6$ each ???
    I’m a millionaire
    http://4k26bj.dev3.webenabled.net/archives/7

  • doublejizzle

    I am not affected by this, but I do think that they don’t really give people enough help preventing this. I know that I occasionally get texts that I don’t want, or spam. Of course, they don’t really have a block all feature. They allow up to 5 numbers and of course, when i didn’t have a data plan, this went against me.

    As others have said, they are ripping us off on text, charging both parties for the same text that is using essentially very little data. I have asked them time and time again to no avail, WHY is text billed as “data”, but not included in my unlimited data plan. Of course, no one could ever explain it

    • Droid User

      Because it’s a label.

    • Firegvw

      go to a verizon store and ask to block texts. there is a feature, thats free, that does this. also data but with data its only if you have a basic (feature) phone.

  • Capt.Obvious

    It’s 15 Million customers, 80% of you wont see a dime.

  • SMK

    Verizon will do what you want them to do but you just have to have some balls when you talk to them on the phone. Case in point, 2 years ago my family and I decided to upgrade our phones and I got a new (at the time) blackberry storm. Of course, soon I found out what a piece of complete crap this phone was so a week and a half later I wanted to return it, and of course I got the sarcastic rep with the “sorry we have to charge a $35 return fee”

    I got pissed, they had sold me a buggy, shitty phone and yet I HAD TO PAY THEM to return it or keep it for 2 years?? Bullshit, I told them “I AM WITHIN MY 30 DAYS AND MY PHONE SUCKS I WILL CANCEL EVERY ONE OF THE 4 LINES IN THIS ACCOUNT RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON’T START SHOWING A LITTLE CONCERN”
    Of course, I was able to trade without the fee.
    Then my sister got an LG EnV Touch and they wanted to charge a 9.99 limited data plan for it even though she NEVER uses the internet feature, she just wanted to text and talk on it. Of course it took another half hour on the line with them but we got that situation fixed too.

    • Jessie7373

      SMK – I have a three questions for you?

      1. When you go to Best Buy (for example) and lets say you buy a DVD player, or maybe a computer, don’t you expect that you are getting a brand new unit and not something someone returned?

      2. When you purchase that piece of technology which you would ideally only like to purchase “brand new” do you expect the company you buy it from to eat the cost of shipping it back to the manufacturer to be refurbished or reconfigured?

      3. When you were at the store did the rep not explain the restock fee and make you sign the receipt and possibly even highlight the $35 restock/return fee?

      I’ve been in the stores and many times people ” want what they want” without every giving the rep a chance to qualify them for the right device. They want to be in and out and not take the proper time to consider whatis the right phone for them. They simply want it because it’s new and cool and they “have to have” the latest and greatest device without thinking about what the phone will be like for the long haul. Companies to have to protect themselves from indecisivness (sorry I’m a terrible speller). If it truly was not functioning or being a piece of crap, then there are policies in place to get the customer a working phone, but it sounds like this wasn’t the case.

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