I'm looking for next steps to take regarding a problem I have with Verizon.

I opened a Verizon landline account in 2005. I always paid my bills on time and never had a problem. Three months ago, I moved to a new area code and Verizon closed my account and opened a new one (they couldn't port the number because it was a different area code and, according to them serviced by a different office).

All this time, I continued to pay my bills online as I always had. A couple of months ago, my online bill began reflecting the new account number. I continued to pay my bill last month and this month. No problems, or so I thought.

Then out of the blue, I get a letter this weekend from Discover saying my account is closed. They say it's due to negative activity on my credit report. I have near perfect credit, so this really concerns me. I order a free report online and see my Verizon account (the old one) listed with the following info:

Balance: $70  
Date Updated: 09/2009  
High Balance: $0 
Past Due: >$70< 
Pay Status: >Charged Off as Bad Debt<  
Account Type: Open Account  
Responsibility: Individual Account  
Date Opened: 08/2005 
Date Closed: 09/2009 
Loan Type:Utility Company
Remark: Account closed by consumer
Estimated date that this item will be removed:01/2016

I was shocked. So I called Verizon. After being transferred from one person to another, I finally learned that my payment was never applied to my old account. Because my online logging began using the new account, it applied to that. So even though I'd paid my bill on time, and made all payment as I always had, the account was sent to collections.

What's worse, I never got any late payment or final bill letters, or any notification it was going to collections. In fact, to this day I still haven;t heard from the collections agency. The only reason I even knew something happened was because Discover closed my account.

I spoke to Verizon this weekend and was told they would move the payment from the new account to the old account and send me a Paid in Full letter. However, when I checked this evening by calling Verizon billing, I was told my account still showed an unpaid balance.

Now this thing is on my credit report, I've already had one account closed (granted, one I didn't use often) and am worried it will spread from here. What can I do? Any advice?

Advice #1: Page CN47

dispute with the bureaus and the CRA's. Do it in writing. Contact the collector and dispute and ask for validation. You have actual damages given the loss of credit.

76hhma said:You have to resolve it from the Verizon end since they should be fully responsible for the error (not following up with the old account). I would bring it to the higher management of Verizon, say the Executive Office.

Once it is successfully resolved with Verizon with written closure, you can pursue it with the CRAs, correcting your credit record.

Errors happen and it is life. Take it easy and deal with it calmly and prudently.

Good luck

Screw that. The OP would have to waste endless hours of his/her time dealing with Verizon. Dispute the debt. And then cancel Verizon and get Vonage.

I already disputed with TransUnion (right after I posted this) but I'm not sure how that will go since Verizon still technically shows the account unpaid (and the new account with a $70 over payment). I thought I'd have to get Verizon involved to some extent to verify the payment has been made. Is this not correct?

I'm not an expert, but does the fact that the cut and paste I did from TransUnion that says the account type is "Open Account" give any clues? I mean, that seems to contradict the line that says "Account closed by consumer."

bozo007 - The reason I still have the landline is because at my old address, Verizon forced me to have a landline to have DSL service (the only broadband that was available to me). They said I was too far from the switching station to do naked DSL (which I always doubted, but that's a whole other story). I actually just moved over my Verizon account as a quick fix when I moved, but planned on dropping them and going with cable broadband anyway (and either no phone or a VOIP phone).

76hhma said "Errors happen and it is life. Take it easy and deal with it calmly and prudently."

And this error resulted in a loss of a few hours over multiple days cleaning it up as well as the closure of a Discover card, which they OP may or may not be able to open back up (maybe with a different CL). As he pointed out, if Discover didn't close his card, he might not have known until he had to apply for something else. Verizon should have looked over his account before reporting to collections. Did they not see that he had a second account in good standing... Too hard to connect the dots or call him up to ask why he didn't pay the bill?

Complain and complain to Verizon. Keep going up the management ladder. Send them a bill for the amount of hours you wasted correcting their problem * your hourly rate. Or see if you can get a few months of free Verizon.

Have fun dealing with Verizon. Best bet is to find one helpful person to deal with and get their name and extension. We had a problem with our Verizon/Verizon Wireless account which was linked with onebill. We closed our Verizon account and made a payment directly to Verizon Wireless. Verizon came after us for the money despite the fact that it was a Verizon Wirless charge and I paid them directly on a credit card. Sending a dispute letter and copies of the paperwork to the collection agency helped to an extent - but Verizon would simply find another collection agency which would start the process all over again (there were three in all). We literally spent hours on the phone with Verizon and Verizon Wireless including conference calls with both. Finally a helpful customer representative simply said she would convenience credit the account whether the billing department agreed or not.

The only way a big company like that will fix it, unless you get real lucky with a CSR, is to SUE THEM. I hate how one huge company makes a mistake and we have to pay for it and spend countless hours and money to get them to fix their mistake. It's horrible and really pisses me off. I guarantee that once you serve them with papers, they'll fix it REAL FAST. Do you agree, CN47?

And the best part is that a couple of million Alltel customers are becoming Verizon customers this month. Mine converted on the 18th. I've never done business with Verizon before, but I'm not looking forward to it.

uutxs - It's funny you mention that because the CSRs I've been dealing with have had a lot of trouble looking at my bill because of all the credits I've had issue due to a bunch of phone/DSL problems I was having last month that took five weeks to repair. The irony is that as they were basically crediting my account with a full month's worth of service, they were also reporting my delinquent to the bureaus.

And having spoken to both the tech and billing support departments A LOT the past two months, I will agree that while equally incompetent, the tech support people are much more responsive than billing.