$2 Million Dollar Cell Phone Bill? Verizon screwed up again...

[Trik'Stari]

So, Verizon messed up again. Apparently a couple was charged $2,156,593.64 for a cell phone plan that they had only had, for one. freaking. month. This is absolutely insane. Verizon is blaming the issue on a "programming error in an automated voice response system". I'm curious, how an automated voice response system can mess up this badly.

 

DAMASCUS, Oreg. - (KPTV/CNN) - A couple in Oregon was shocked when they were sent a $2 million Verizon cellphone bill for a month of service, now they may lose their house.

That’s exactly what Ken Slusher of Damascus and his girlfriend say they’re dealing with.

 

“Yeah, it’s been very stressful to say the least," said Slusher.

 

On Tuesday morning, Slusher wired over a down payment on a brand new house. It's a place that he, his girlfriend and their kids can’t wait to move into.

But it may not happen because of what Verizon Wireless claims they owe.

 

Slusher called an automated phone line to check his Verizon account balance. A voice recording said, “Your total amount due is $2,156,593.64.”

 

To make matters worse, it is apparently taking quite a long time to fix this issue, even though Verizon's customer service representatives agree that the amount apparently owed, is not correct.

 

Slusher and his girlfriend say they’ve been going back and forth for months with customer service representatives who agree there’s been a mistake. However, with no resolution, Slusher checked his Verizon account balance again on Monday and that’s when he heard the $2 million figure.

 

Slusher is scheduled to close on his new house next Monday, but with collection agencies coming after him, he says his mortgage company won’t sign off on a loan.

 

“If I don’t get this straightened out in the next 24 hours, I can almost guarantee I’ll lose this house," he said.

 

Late Tuesday evening, a Verizon spokeswoman said they will look into it.

On Wednesday, Verizon issued a statement to FOX 12 regarding this situation. It said, "We have apologized to an Oregon customer for a programming error in an automated voice response system. The error caused him to receive an incorrect voice message that he owed $2 million on his bill. We are correcting the error now and have resolved the issue to his satisfaction.”

 

Source

 

They also stated they had decided to cancel the service before this happened, due to a number of billing errors.

[STRMfrmXMN]

Girls that always be textin'...

[Guest]

So it was only an error in the automated account balance system, and not actually what they owed? 

 

 

programming error in an automated voice response system

[themaniac]

2 words "FUCK VERIZON"

[Nowak]

Computer's don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose.

[Nup]

Look its version!

 

 

Lol i kid Really wanted to use that gif :3

 

At least they saw it and didn't try to get the money out of the poor bastards, somehow. 

[Trik'Stari]

So it was only an error in the automated account balance system, and not actually what they owed? 

If that's the case, then why has it apparently taken months to deal with?

 

 

Computer's don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose.

 

Damn straight.

[Guest]

If that's the case, then why has it apparently taken months to deal with?

 

Because.... 

 

I don't know.  :wacko:

[STRMfrmXMN]

Computer's don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose.

Can I just point out how he spelled "computers"...?

COMPUTER IS DONT MAKE ERRORS

[Nowak]

Can I just point out how he spelled "computers"...?

COMPUTER IS DONT MAKE ERRORS

Dammit, Trik'Stari. I trusted you D:

[Snaeb_aka_Beans]

Not trying to defend Verizon but this stuff happens all the time.  My mother receives treatment for cancer and between the negotiated amounts the healthcare and hospital bills and errors that pop up it's outrageous.  We've seen legit bills for over $1,000,000 and billing errors almost that much.  Thankfully none of it is coming from our pockets but it happens way more than you'd think.  Glad they resolved it.

[Trik'Stari]

Dammit, Trik'Stari. I trusted you D:

I didn't say it, even though I'm a grammar nazi.

 

And you saw how it was spelled in my signature lol

[Nowak]

I didn't say it, even though I'm a grammar nazi.

 

And you saw how it was spelled in my signature lol

actually I didn't until strm pointed it out lol

[reptileexperts]

Look its version!

 

 

Lol i kid Really wanted to use that gif :3

 

 

 

Would just like to point out some nature facts to help when deciding which gif to use.

 

This is a Wood Duck. Wood ducks are tree nesting species that look for holes to build their nest (or boxes). When the  young are old enough to finally be fledged, they must take this flying leap of faith out of the box and land on their down covered bellies to kind of "bounce" if you will. This bounce is so crucial to the birds survival  because its believed by scientist that it breaks a certain enzyme into their body that encourages it to feed or find food in order to survive. Without this drop, their feeding instincts seem to take longer to kick in and the  bird may surely die.

 

So if this is Verizon, they are simply learning to feed to survive. Irony.

[MrRavens]

holy shit! I don't know how, but imagine it was actually legit. O_O

[Trik'Stari]

Would just like to point out some nature facts to help when deciding which gif to use.

 

This is a Wood Duck. Wood ducks are tree nesting species that look for holes to build their nest (or boxes). When the  young are old enough to finally be fledged, they must take this flying leap of faith out of the box and land on their down covered bellies to kind of "bounce" if you will. This bounce is so crucial to the birds survival  because its believed by scientist that it breaks a certain enzyme into their body that encourages it to feed or find food in order to survive. Without this drop, their feeding instincts seem to take longer to kick in and the  bird may surely die.

 

So if this is Verizon, they are simply learning to feed to survive. Irony.

I think that enzyme may have gone out of control in this situation.

 

 

holy shit! I don't know how, but imagine it was actually legit. O_O

I'm half expecting this to come back up next week, with Verizon saying "Well we can't fix the glitch so.......you owe us $2 million dollars". Kind of like that branch of Bank of America that foreclosed on a couple that didn't have any debt (or mortgage/loan), and instead of saying "whoops, sorry about that" they actually went to court over it, and the couple ended up foreclosing on the bank. Best news story of my life.

[Albatross]

Isn't this the third time this has happened?

[reptileexperts]

In this day and age I'm expecting a law suit to occur from this from psychological damages, stress, anxiety present and future, distrust in future cell phone companies, loss of time, loss of loan, defamation of character on their credit score causing the loss of their to be home. . . it goes on and on . . . in the end Verizon may end up owing them enough that they wouldn't need the loan at all anymore.

[MrRavens]

I'm half expecting this to come back up next week, with Verizon saying "Well we can't fix the glitch so.......you owe us $2 million dollars". Kind of like that branch of Bank of America that foreclosed on a couple that didn't have any debt (or mortgage/loan), and instead of saying "whoops, sorry about that" they actually went to court over it, and the couple ended up foreclosing on the bank. Best news story of my life.

 

Wow, that's crazy man.

[Nup]

Would just like to point out some nature facts to help when deciding which gif to use.

 

This is a Wood Duck. Wood ducks are tree nesting species that look for holes to build their nest (or boxes). When the  young are old enough to finally be fledged, they must take this flying leap of faith out of the box and land on their down covered bellies to kind of "bounce" if you will. This bounce is so crucial to the birds survival  because its believed by scientist that it breaks a certain enzyme into their body that encourages it to feed or find food in order to survive. Without this drop, their feeding instincts seem to take longer to kick in and the  bird may surely die.

 

So if this is Verizon, they are simply learning to feed to survive. Irony.

 

It is actually a Mandarin duck, although it's also from the Aix genus. Nice duck spotting though, have to say i don't think i'd be able to half guess what it was. 

 

I saw this on BBC's Planet Earth series, and found their falling simply delightful. Such brave little ducks. Thought it would make for a good gif that would inject a bit of humor in my post.

 

So despite the fact that this behavior is in indeed normal and healthy, nature facts and gifs aren't always two things that I try to make over lap on a tech forums while discussing Verison's latest quibble. Just an attempt at putting a smile on someone's face as they read  

[Daegun]

Hilarious. Nothing happens for months and months. They nearly screw over a guys life and cause him lots of stress. Media gets a hold of the story. Gets fixed the next day.

Go to hell Verizon.

[Guest Kloaked]

Would just like to point out some nature facts to help when deciding which gif to use.

 

This is a Wood Duck. Wood ducks are tree nesting species that look for holes to build their nest (or boxes). When the  young are old enough to finally be fledged, they must take this flying leap of faith out of the box and land on their down covered bellies to kind of "bounce" if you will. This bounce is so crucial to the birds survival  because its believed by scientist that it breaks a certain enzyme into their body that encourages it to feed or find food in order to survive. Without this drop, their feeding instincts seem to take longer to kick in and the  bird may surely die.

 

So if this is Verizon, they are simply learning to feed to survive. Irony.

 

TIL

[Trik'Stari]

Wow, that's crazy man.

The repomen who repossessed the bank thought it was fucking hilarious.

[Lethal Seraph]

Sounds like my crazy ex girlfriend going crazier than usual.

[Misanthrope]

In this day and age I'm expecting a law suit to occur from this from psychological damages, stress, anxiety present and future, distrust in future cell phone companies, loss of time, loss of loan, defamation of character on their credit score causing the loss of their to be home. . . it goes on and on . . . in the end Verizon may end up owing them enough that they wouldn't need the loan at all anymore.

 

Yet as a call center employee I experience:

 

1) Psychological damages

2) Stress

3) Anxiety (present and future)

4) Distrust in future cell companies

5) Distrust in America 

6) Distrust in mankind in it's entirety

7) Loss of time

8) Loss of money

9) Defamation of credit

10) Good Ol' Racial profiling and discrimination

 

All in the course of just a few months there so yeah, people on the other side of the line might just join up in the lawsuit if you ask nicely.