I got a notification from a credit bureau today saying that a new account had been opened by: Verizon Pen, PO BOX 165018, COLUMBUS, OH 43216.
Since I haven't changed phone service since last year, it seemed odd that there would be a new account from Verizon.My mortgage company had their backup tapes lost in transit (via DHL) a while ago, and so signed us up for a free credit reporting thing.
I called Verizon Residential to see if they would have done a new account or anything, and they said no, that it must be fraud. But, a lady said she would look into it, and make sure that it wasn't some other Verizon company, Verizon DSL, FIOS, DirectTV, etc.
She called back 40 minutes later, but instead of leaving a message, put my voicemail on a conference call with another customer (who, by the way, also complained about the voice prompt system that Verizon has - it is the worst speech recognition accuracy I have ever seen -- three choices per menu, and it is wrong about 80% of the time).
I tried to call her back, but everyone insisted that she didn't exist, and transferred me from department to department trying to get rid of me.
Finally found a supervisor who knew how to click on the "view previous tickets" button, so was able to see that yes, a Tasha in a Verizon DSL billing department did exist somewhere, but he couldn't contact her. He decided it was a Verizon Residential problem, and transferred me there, and then back to the Residential fraud person.
Finally - someone who has a clue - she said that Verizon recently started doing credit checks every month, and because of the way they do the check, the credit bureau would report it as a new account. She also verified the Columbus, OH address, which every other Verizon employee said there was no way that was a valid Verizon address, unless it was a mall kiosk or something.
While I was on the phone with the fraud department, the non-existent lady called back, who had still been working on it, and had gotten a supervisor working on it too. They hadn't figured anything out, and were quite relieved to find that I had found someone with the answer.
Yay for speaker phones, so I could continue working while on hold. I don't think it is a record with Verizon, but this phone call was an hour and twelve minutes long.
I tried to get the fraud lady to tell other people that this exists, but she didn't think that would be really possible. So, since Verizon can't do it, I am providing this page to do their billing support for them.
Posted by
Jon Daley on
March 31, 2006, 2:33 pm
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Verizon is claiming that I had long distance charges for ONE day in Philadelphia when I did not live there. There collections department seem like a bunch of frustrated uneducated people. Is there no getting real answers from these people? I was told to dispute the bill with the billing department who do not have the same information as the collections department, how is this? They are the same company right? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi
Verizon is a mess company...... they try to wrap you with collection,,..... I never pay late but it happens i just apply for mortgage and they pull my credit It come out that i have collection 07 and one 2008. I need the phone number to report to the credit bureau about this
I cancelled Verizon for triple services about 2 years ago. They sent my last bill to my LEGAL address, not my mailing address (they had always sent the bill to the correct address). Then after a few months I was contacted by a collection agency about the bill! I paid the bill and Verizon said they would clear the record as it was their mistake sending the bill to the incorrect address. 2 years later I am refinancing my home and also trying to buy a 2nd home condo. All 3 of the credit reporting agencies say 'serious delinquency' which all points back to Verizon's screw-up. I now have an attorney who will write a letter and attempt to straighten out this mess.
After I moved, Verizon made a negative collections entry on my credit report for $285. I never got a final bill (because I moved). I wrote them and offered to settle the debt if they would remove the negative entry on my credit report, which decreased my FICA credit score by 90 points. They refused. You would think Verizon would offer some kind of incentive for people to settle these old accounts, but they prefer to damage people's credit report rather than collect money that is allegedly owed them.
i actually work for Verizon's credit reporting / Fraud dept. please do not send in random faxes there is a strict procedure that has to be conducted. IF FOR SOME REASON YOU HAVE A POSSIBLE FRAUD CONCERN PLEASE CONTACT OUR DEPT WE ARE AVALIBLE 7AM TO 7PM MONDAY THRU FRIDAY CLOSED THANKSGIVING OPEN 7AM TO 3PM CST. DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL. ID THEFT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. . AS ALWAYS THE SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY
I don't know if the previous commenter is actually an employee or not, as they didn't leave a valid email address, and they don't even use verizon for their own internet. I am also suspicious, since they didn't leave a phone number to call.
In any case, I'd agree that sending a fax with your information on it to a number that may or may not be who you think it is is a bad idea.
There are other commenters on this post (note the "next/previous/1/2/3" links) that have more information and phone numbers to help you figure out how to get this fixed.
I don't even gave Verizon and I never give out my home phone number so how did they get that info as well as my birthdate? I tried to call the 310 and 800 number "Christine" left me but no one is answering the 310 number and the 800 one is just a busy signal
IS there a contact to email, or live chat. To contact Verizion credit. Department for help.