patel99 said:pigskins said:I am in NY and found the increase. It went into effect July 1 and is $.07 per line. I'm not prepared to switch companies as we just re-upped a few months ago so I am going to ask them to credit me the $.28 per month for 4 lines for the duration of my contract. Hey even at $.28/mo it means more to me than it does to them. LOL.

I also wanted to stay with Verizon so what I did...
I call them and canceled the contract. They told me that effective cancellation date would be end of your billing period. Few days after cancellation, I went to Verizon Store and asked person if I can sign up for brand new contract so that I can get discount on the phone. Lady gave me their Winback customer department number. I called that number and guy offered me $180 to stay with Verizon. I took the offer and he credited $180 to my future monthly bill. He also made all four of my lines eligible for an upgrade. I just ordered four phones. The only downside is that I had to sign-up for two year contract to get those phones, which is fine with me.

Now, I will wait for another increase in these charges...

so, basically, instead of getting 0.28 per month, I got $180 one time credit and new discounted phones. If you are looking for Winback customer department number, it is posted earlier on this thread.Seriously, you couldn't pay me $180 to stay with Verizon for any reason. I'm never looking back. They are the skimpiest and most anti-consumer carrier you could fathom. They overcharge, under-deliver, and lock down their phones from applications unless they would generate large monthly revenue. Consumers are voting with their feet, and you should have too.

Whether they call it the "Media Center" or its former name, "Get It Now," the Apple App Store and T-Mobile Android Store and Sprint Pre App Store make Verizon look like an overcharging, old-skool, old-money boutique.

thorataz said:I work for VZ..... we are sneaky. Trust me been with Sprint for 10 years and yes have the Palm Pre. You can keep crying about ETF, abuseing winback only to a point. I never waive ETF EVER, unless you can document you are moving where no service is provided. You can refuse to pay it, that's fine. It will go to collections so VZ gets paid either way. As for winback they really should be checking with other providers, calling them up asking about current offers. People call all the time for wavier of ETF cause taxes and surcharges went up. Most of the time these are state and federal increases and dont apply. they have to be from VZ.1. Powerful testimony against VZW when an employee has been using Sprint for 10 years and counting.

2. The fee at issue are not state/federal increases, and are from VZW's discretion to raise prices mid-contract. That's why this issue presents a clear contractual violation that VZW is refusing to abide by.

Actually, you might be able to. Altel and Vz merged and you will be under verizon which might change your contract. I think you will to need cancel before the change over. You should be notified via mail. We cant force you to the vz contract unless you agree to it (remain a customer) other wise ETF would be waived.

Just to follow up on this, after being told four times by Verizon representatives (two before the number ports, once after, and once by someone in their financial group) that my account was being closed with no ETF, I got a bill in the mail from them today for the ETF charge.

The person today said "Yes, I see it marked on your account that you were to be released with no ETF, but a supervisor has since rejected it, so you owe us $300."

A followup to my followup, I complained about Verizon reinstituting the ETF on my account after telling me I could port without one. I got a letter today from Verizon, CC'd to the FCC, saying that they do not waive the ETF due to the increase in the administrative charge, but due to "inconsistent information" that I was given, they'd cut me a check for the $295 ETF I paid.

So while not a full admission that they were wrong, at least I get my money back.

Verizon has been scamming me for years, I really want the iPhone and I would love to get out of my contract without paying $175 (although I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to charge me $350). I obviously missed the 60-day window and the only monetary change made fell under Taxes, Governmental Surcharges & Fees. HOWEVER, I have NEVER receieved a letter from Verizon informing me of monetary changes that would affect my bill, although I'm not sure how to prove that. Any ideas on how to get out of my contract with these fools?