Mitch Silverman thought he was getting a good deal when he clicked on an online offer from Verizon.
“I always pay the bill online, and I go to the site, and an offer pops up $129.99 and button pops up,” explained Silverman.
Silverman and his wife Vickie were expecting their Verizon Fios Phone, TV, and Internet Bundle price to increase significantly because their current contract was nearing an end. Extending it for $130 a month sounded good to both of them.
“I looked at that box many times. I approached it with caution,” said Mitch. “I hit the button, and the next thing that came up was a page that had all the breakdown. Finally, the bottom line was not $129.99, but $207.60 somewhere around $208. After recovering from the shock, I said what do I do next, I gotta get out of this. I made a mistake.”
Mitch’s wife Vickie was concerned.
“I said call them, call them immediately, and tell them you made a mistake,” said Vickie.
Mitch says he called Verizon within ten minutes of the click, but says he was told it was too late.
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“I wouldn’t have hit the button if it said $207.80 a month,” said Mitch. “I wouldn’t have hit that button.”
“We’d been on the phone for a long time, for a couple hours going back and forth, trying to get a resolution, saying it was a mistake and what are some of the options,” said Vickie. “They wouldn’t budge.”
Mitch asked if the CEO of Verizon could get him out of the mess, but he says two different supervisors said no. Frustrated and feeling like they had been misled by the offer, Vickie contacted NBC10 Boston Responds for help.
“It’s a $350 penalty fee if you break the contract, and we were honestly thinking of doing it if we couldn’t get anywhere,” said Vickie.
We contacted Verizon and asked them to take a look at the situation. Verizon tells us: “When placing Fios orders online, we display any additional equipment charges taxes and fees before customers confirm their orders so that there are no surprises when they see the bill. We’re glad we were able to work with Ms. Schultz to find a resolution.”
Mitch and Vickie are adamant that they never saw the additional charges until it was too late, but are glad Verizon agreed to give them a one year offer.
“She reverted us back to the price $132 a month, which we had been paying all along,” said Mitch.
“I’m very happy. I’m grateful to…you that you got that cleared up,” said Vickie.
