Verizon Wireless Sucks

So, as we all know I got an iPhone on Sept 19th, which meant I switched my cellular carrier from Verizon Wireless to AT&T. The number was ported, it all happened within the afternoon. Calls to my number went to my new phone on the 19th. My billing is for the calendar month and I'm paying bill, expecting it to be prorated for just 19 days.

Nope.

First off the bill is needlessly complex. On page 6 (I have other Verizon FiOS service all on the same bill) it says "Quick Bill Summary Aug 2 - Sep 1" and a "Total Amount Due" of $41.80. On page 7 I see "Monthly Access Charges Current Calling Plan 9/2-10/1" for $34.99 and then various fees added on and the bottom "Total Current Charges" $41.80. Now it could be they are showing me last month's info along with the current month but I don't think so, the data bill (for text messages) is $2.40 in both. I doubt I sent the same number of messages in the complete month of Aug and the first 19 days of Sept. So I called Verizon.

I said I changed cell service on Sept 19th and asked if they prorate the bill, she said "yes". She looked into it and got back to me and explain how I'm all set and the current bill is for a full month and next month I'll just pay $2.40 for the text messages. I said hold on, when do I pay for just a partial month? She asked me to hold. She came back and explained something about how on the 19th my account was suspended without billing and on the first it was disconnected. I said well from the 19th to the 1st my calls went to the new phone. We went back and forth a few times, she using these terms "suspended without billing" and "disconnected" and saying how there's no way to do it differently. I of course asked why not? Is there a law or is it merely Verizon policy? I got the cog-in-the-wheel answer of there's no way in the system to do it. I said, so what you're saying to me is that you don't prorate for the partial month? She said no they don't. I said well that's clearer and it's also the first question I asked. She continued repeating what she told me and I said "you know the double-speak you're using is really astounding. I didn't use your service for 11 days of the month and yet your billing me for it". Well no we'll only bill you $2.40 I said but because you're saying the access charge is paid the month in advance. She said, it's always billed the month in advance. I said so I want a credit for the 11 days I prepaid that I didn't use. More doublespeak.

So I remembered reading that Verizon was prorating cell phone cancellation and I wasn't sure of the details or if it was an FCC mandate. So I needed to surf and while I was impressed with the level of doublespeak, I would make no progress with this drone and wasn't ready for the dreaded "can I speak with your supervisor". So googling I'm not finding much. Yes Verizon is apparently one of the few carriers that prorates the Early Termination Fee for the cellular contract, but my contract had expired back in January so I wasn't subject to that. Unfortunately that was a big story so it's what's coming up on google searches. I'll do more digging before calling Verizon back, but if anyone knows the answer to this I'd appreciate the info. Does Verizon Wireless prorate the monthly cell phone fee for the portion of the month that service is cancelled? Is it legal for them not to? Why the hell not?

Update: This Customer Agreement says: "Otherwise, all terminations by you during a monthly billing cycle become effective on the last day of that billing cycle. You'll remain responsible for all fees and charges incurred until then and won't be entitled to any partial–month credits or refunds"

Takeaway lesson: when you switch from Verizon to get your iPhone, do it on the last day of your billing cycle. Though I suspect I shouldn't be concerned with about $12 in fees (plus taxes) when I bought a $300 phone an phone plan that included unlimited data access for about twice as much more a month than I was paying.