First off I want to say that if you are a Verizon Wireless customer and have been stuck with outrageous charges on your bill from “megabyte usage”, you are not alone. Since Verizon has decided to switch over to a per-megabyte usage charge, complaints have been piling up all over the Internet in response to its vague and deceiving outlines.
Apparently there is mass confusion over what constitutes megabyte usage. I will settle this for now and say anything you do with your phone besides making voice calls uses megabytes. The real question is, what does Verizon want to charge as megabyte usage. Verizon charges $2 dollars for 1 megabyte of usage, so even if you only use your program\application once or download one ringtone you are charged $2 dollars.
What Verizon Charges for
- Downloading and using most applications on your phone. Almost every game and program you can download to your phone will use a data connection that will be charged per megabyte. $7 dollars to buy the game. $2 dollars for 5 uses of the game you never really bought.
- Using a mobile web browser to view web pages on your phone. Pretty self explanatory.
- Browsing for applications, games or anything else under Get it Now. In the past your could browse freely and not be charged a dime. Now Verizon is capitalizing on customers who are simply looking to buy. Definitely not self explanatory.
- New: Sending Picture\photo messages now also uses megabytes. This is confusing as you could possibly be charged megabyte usage even if you are already paying for a picture message package.
This new pricing policy from Verizon is simply out of line. Could you image a store where you are charged by how much you look around for things to buy? That is basically how it works with the new pricing policy. First you have to pay to download a list of applications, next you pay to download a application, then you pay to use that that application, and finally you pay to download your item. You can’t even window shop without paying a fine.
How to Stop the Usage Charges
My first thought to combat these usage charges was to turn off data usage on my phone. All phones have the option to turn data off so I figured it would fix this type of problem. It unfortunately doesn’t stop data from being sent at all.
This next method should work for everybody though. Verizon has certain options that can be added and removed from your phone. Some features that can be added actually block certain services such as application downloads, ringtone downloads and ext. Adding these blocking features should keep you and your family from getting stuck with outrageous megabyte usage charges. Here are the steps to do this.
Update1: Blocking these services will not stop charges for applications and games already installed on your phone. If you already have applications or games on your phone, you either have to delete them or stop using them all together. If you do not delete them, you still may be charged for accidental usage or other “unknown reasons”.
Update2: Rhonda Scott’s comment below points out that even if you block the get it now feature, you will still be charged for accidentally “attempting” to access a blocked service if you click on Get it now. Blocking Get It Now will stop the massive charges though.
- Log into your Verizon Wireless account here Verizon Wireless log in
- On the right, under “Quick Links”, click “Set Usage Controls”
- Next, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Add\Remove Blocks”
- Select the number you would like to block, then select these options
- Block Ringback Tone Purchase
- Block V CAST Music
- Block Mobile Web
- Block Application Downloads
- Block V CAST Video Clips
- Click continue, verify your selection, and you’re done
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Verizon also offers many plans that include unlimited data usage for your phone. These new usage charges are a great way to get people to upgrade to these plans, mainly because people want to continue using their applications and games without paying massive fees. So people are duped into upgrading their plan and paying a rate hike for the same service they had the month before.
I say if you can get out of your Verizon plan, for a reasonable amount of money, do it. Verizon Wireless is ran by a bunch of snakes that are constantly studying how they can convince the consumer into paying more, without actually getting more. I, for one, am done with Verizon and it’s unjust policies.
If you feel your rights as a consumer has been violated voice your opinion below on your experiences
If you wish to file a complaint we recommend you contact the Better Business Bureau, your local state’s Attorney General, and the New Jersey Attorney General.
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Thanks for the info above.
I guess I am the latest victim of Verizon Wireless customer :-(
I would like to sincerely thank you for informing “consumer America” of the Verizon Wireless scam. WHAT PIGS THEY ARE! I actually have Verizon Wireless and recently discovered these mysterious charges on my latest bill… something had to be done! Your article was very informative. As soon as my plan contract expires, I’m cancelling Verizon. If I cancel too early, they’ll charge me for that too!! My goodness!! Anyway, thanks again and I hope someone else finds this just as helpful as I did!
I too have been duped by verizon. I was told I had to switch to the new nationwide plan in order to get the phone I wanted. I have to pay an extra $10 on my plan and now I get all these extra charges for data usage. The thing is, I don’t even know what I was into to warrant these charges! I don’t like having to pay for every little thing.
If there isn’t a block mobile web option, does that mean I’m not allowed to block it?
There should be no reason why you can’t block mobile web unless you are part of a plan that includes mobile web. What is included with your plan and what are you being charged for?
I completely agree. Love the part about being charged to shop. I tried explaining this to the woman with their “customer service” to no avail. The conversation went like this:
Me: So if I download a ringtone you charge me for the ringtone and then the usage to download the ringtone. Aren’t I getting charged twice for the same thing?
Woman: No, one is for the ringtone and one charge is for the megabyte usage.
Me: Yeah, that’s what I said…twice for the same thing.
I myself also found mysterious ‘megabyte charges’ on my phone bill (who knows how long I’ve been getting charges like this). It looks like I was getting charged for time when I had accidentally pressed ‘get it now’ button (Verizon conveniently puts get it now button where it is easily accessiblt and is prone to being pressed accidentally)
I am furious!!!!
Thanks for the info!!! Does anyone know how I can stop Get it now feature?
BEWARE SLL GET CHARGED DATA CHARGES THAT YOU NEVER USED !!! If you have a smartphone and just want to connect it with a USB cable to your computer to “sync” your info with Outlook, they CHARGE YOU DATA TIME!! The phone is never even accessing the internet at all! It’s just backing up the info from your phone to your desktop!! Now I have heard everything…I always heard that VZW would disable features of a phone and then charge you to use them. Now this. WHAT IS NEXT ! I never had any issues for the 7 years I was with Sprint. Now I am with VZW and regret every month of my contract.
i have had verizon almost two year now, and as eager as i am to cancel the plan, i found out every time i change my texting limit, suspend a line or basically call verizon with a question, my contract is extended. i fear i will never be released from verizons hard grib. i have two line and just to leave my plan would cost a fortune. Some how every month my bill is nearring $200.00.
IT IS ABSOLUTLY CRAZY! and considering my boyfriends phone, doesnt have get it now. we question why in one month i had $49.00 of 411 calls and $125.00 of megabyte usage on my line alone! getting things off your bill is a whole nother hassel, it takes to months to be credited to your bill if they are even willing to give you back 25% of what you aren’t even suppose to be charged for.
Verizon does have great coverage and signal at all times. i enjoy the organized set-up of the phones and the constant new and latest phones at verizon.
two bad i cant afford any of them or enjoy anything cause verizon is so pricy!
go with at&t. or even t-mobile. its better for the money! take my advice.
I have Verizon access manager for my home internet and under my plan it allows 5 gig of usage a month, many of there employees do not know how to break down this usage to megabytes I know because I have spent hours on the phone attempting to resolve a $780.00 bill for one months usage.
In the end I did recieve a credit for 550.00 dollars but there usage claim was not accurate at all and they could not explain how it is tracked, Ok today I am aproaching my mega limit which by the way 5 gig = 5020 megabyte or at least so i am told anyway I just got off the phone with tech about the accuracy of usage and he said that there towers may not report for days or weeks on some accounts so you may think you are fine on usage and then at the last minute a tower reports usage from a week ago and now you are over. VERIZON CAN NOT CHECK USAGE ACCURATELY BUT CHARGES YOU AS IF THEY CAN. THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!!!!!
Another victim of this scam. Today I check my bill online and is a new charge for megabites. Few days ago I bought a ringtone, and I was charged $3 for it and $8 just for browsing!!! are you f** kidding me? is like going to starbucks for a coffee, you pay 2 for espresso and 10 to enter! This is outrageous. I called them and they told me that they just changed the plan 2 months ago. but nobody ever told me anything! I’m cancelling VW as soon as my plan expires.
Give it a rest you all, if you go to Wal-Mart to buy something, you still use gas (transport charge) to get your butt to the store, and if you change your mind and don’t buy anything, you still used the gas. That’s what the $1.99 mb charge is, for browsing and if you do buy, you spent the gas to go to the store and you still have to pay for your purchases.
Now if you go online to products.vzw.com you CAN browse what’s available for purchase without the so-called “fine(s)” just like you can save your transport charges or gas by merely browsing Wal-Mart’s website, so how hard is that, and to the “helpful” guy at the beginning of this blog, you can block all you want but it you already have apps on your phone, you’ll still get mb charges if you use the phone’s apps you’ve already downloaded to the phone, so you have to remove those from the phone too (e.g. “guitar hero” and applications that enable future purchases, like VZW Tones Deluxe, etc. Data is here to stay and with the launch of the newest plans, you will have to choose a plan that covers data usage or choose a plan that doesn’t cover data. And for those of you who think the grass is greener with AT&T, Sprint, Alltel, TMobile, etc. don’t fool yourself, if you don’t read, read, read, read read your T&C and ask lots of questions, the other carriers will have similar issues, as VZW and at&t mirror each other’s plans, and fees, etc.
As Jeremy stated, Verizon will charge $1.99 JUST TO SCROLL THROUGH “Get it Now”, without ever even LOOKING at any ringtones. If you get a new phone and are clicking around the options to get used to it and just click on “Get it Now”, then click immediately off, they charge $1.99. I SMELL A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT COMING TO VERIZON. People, speak up!!!!!!!!!!
I have been with Verizon for 5 years now. I get 1 to 0 bars in my house, while my friend’s phones (Tmobile and Sprint) get 5 to 6. I drop calls almost every day and my phone often doesn’t ring because of the horrible service, so I rely on voicemail to keep in touch. Still, I would have stayed with Verizon because most of my family has Verizon….however, with these new ridiculous charges I am done. My contract is up in May and I am done. Why even have a camera or video on your phone if you get charged $10 per pic to send them to your computer? I’ll try my luck somewhere else.
Clooney works for Verizon.
As stated in the article you can turn off alot of mb using features, and I’ve done that…but..you can’t turn off Get It Now (per my last Verizon cust serv phone call). I have a $1.99 charge on at least one of my 3 phones every month and I don’t have a clue what they are for. I can tell from my timers that I somehow used 3kb of data but don’t know what on earth I did to incurr them. I’ve called them and get the lecture that I’m browsing games or ringtones, I’m not. I honestly have know idea what I’m doing to trigger the usage? I just want ALL mb using apps/features disabled but I apparently can’t do that. Otherwise I’ve been very happy with verizon.
Do not use 411 Ever! Use 1-800-GOOG 411 (1-800-466-4411) It’s free and will cost airtime only.
As far as Verizon goes, I have been a user for about 8 years (Business user,) and have been the sole manager for all of our cellular lines.
Honestly, their coverage is great (although signal strength in some areas have need for improvement.) The main issues I have with them are:
Lack of trained professionals to assist.
Changes within the Business Support Center usually don’t take affect until the 3rd time you call on the issue.
They have oddities like mailing out your bill to the wrong address; then calling and freaking out because your bill was not paid on time.
Any phone new capable of Vcast will be given this service on purchase unless specified otherwise. The first 30 days are free; then you are charged every month thereafter.
Their new every two thing is kinda crappy, especially when your warranty expires prior to your new every two. DO note that you can always purchased an “Out of Warranty Upgrade” which usually is charged only $50.00. This has saved us $$ on many occasions. They send refurbished equipment, however, on most cases the replacement does work and seems new. We have had 4 instances where this did not hold true though, so assure you look at the replacement carefully.
All and all, Verizon is just like most contract-carriers on the market. I have had sprint in the past, and let’s not even go there on their quality of …. anything. I enjoy verizon service, however, dislike many of the support persons, their abilities, and the lack of ownership when problems arise.
I do work for Verizon. Just to clear some misconceptions.
Being charged to browse Get It Now, or use any data feature on your phone, is not new. Before you were charged Megabytes you were charged air time. Too many customers complained about going over their allotted minutes because they were not actually making phone calls so Verizon devised a way to charge for data separately.
I know a lot of this stuff gets skimmed over when you upgrade or change to a new plan but if you keep asking for an explanation it will be explained what exactly is used and why you’re being charged. The in store reps are somewhat better able to explain- you are there in person and they can go point by point over your bill with you if you want it explained.
Doubt anyone is going to have a successful class action law suit about data charges since you were always being charged anyway, just under a different section of your bill.
My situation is a lot like Derl’s. I first discovered the problem last month and after an exaustive exhange of emails and phone calls with Verizon, I finally got the blocks put on my phone. Well… I thought I did. I asked them how to keep the charges from reoccuring and they suggested blocks for Get It Now and Mobile Web, so I put those on all my phones. They told me this would keep the charges from reoccuring and yet this month I’ve got mysterious charges once again! I see from the first post that I may not have blocked enough (from my kids’ phones maybe), but I know for a fact that I never did ANYTHING for megabyte charges and yet there they are.
Erica, you may work for Verizon, but you obviously have never had this problem and tried to get answers from your own customer service. I tried and tried to find out exactly what I did to get those charges and all they could tell me was that “the charges were valid”. I wanted to know what online page I supposedly went to or what button I hit on the phone and they could not tell me that. If they can track your phone that closely enough to know when to make the charge, they should also be able to track the actions that generated it.
And Erica, don’t give me this crap that I was always paying this charge but it was just in a different place on my bill! That does NOT explain why my bill is much HIGHER now when I have not changed the way I use my phone.
I used to tell my friends and family to get on Verizon to get in the IN network…..I won’t be doing that anymore.
This is such crap! They didn’t even send me a letter telling me this was changing and I got charged $114 extra bucks. Merry f-ing Christmas to me. I hate Verizon.
My phone was only charged $16 for this Megabyte Usage, but I was still very angry about it. When I first called Verizon to see what it was I was even getting charged for, they told me all of this and also said that you even get charged if you accidentally go to your “Get-It-Now” application. Even if you exited out of it right away, you’re still charged for it.
It’s all bullcrap.
I have noticed the same thing on my Verizonwireless bills, the infamous $1.99 MB charge that no one at Verizon can tell me where it came from, just that I used 0.001 KB so it rounds up to 1 MB. As I have asked them, they can tell me where each of my phone calls and text messages are to and from, but something that I have to pay extra for they cannot track? I find this insulting.
I ended up having to upgrade my plan because of the phone I was purchasing; I never got these MB charges before because the Get It Now would come off the time that I did not use to begin with, I have 700 (lowest I could get on a plan) minutes and use approximately 250 per month, so the browsing Get It Now was not hurting my minutes. Now, to get the charges stopped, I had to block all the features and guess what? I am still getting the $1.99 charge. It jumps from phone to phone, I have 5 on my plan. The only thing I did not block was the Internet because of the text/picture/video package that I pay extra for each month and if I block the Internet I will not be able to send/receive picture messages, but they can not pro-rate the text package plan if you block picture messages, that still has to be paid.
Then the customer service reps try to tell you that the charges are valid because here are the dates and times that they were made. Of course you ask what are the charges and there is no way for Verizon to know what they are except for MB usage. Also, this MB usage shows up as 0.00 MB so it really looks as if you are being charged for nothing except on the Verizon customer service reps computer it shows as 0.001 MB, which of course is rounded up to 1 MB.
Also, I was just told tonight when I had to call them about this same issue, that even though I have blocks on Get It Now and downloading on all phones, if someone would try to get on Get It Now or do it by accident, I will still get charged for MB usage just because it is “trying” to access the service. The rep told me that the tech support told her that just trying to connect the phone is using MB usage.
What a crop!!!! Just think what Verizon stockholders are making from these bogus charges at 1.99 per MB, per customer, per month, per year???? on their word against the customer. What happened to the customer knowing what he or she uses???
If they could at least tell me what was trying to be accessed I would be able to accept this, but as it stands, they can tell both ends of all phone calls and text messages, just not something that has extra charges in Verizon’s favor.
If the service was not as good as it is where I live, I would have cancelled Verizon years ago!!!
I’m sorry to hear about everybody being charged for these outrages fees. I recommend everyone who has unjustly received these charges to call or email Verizon and explain your frustration.
Even if Verizon choses not to change their fee structure, perhaps they would consider a half megabyte buffer-zone that is free.
This would at least prevent being charged for accidental usage, which for me, is the most outrageous part of this horrible policy change.
Beware: Verizon charges $10 a month to block downloads…
ugh i agree totally. sometimes ill click on the internet or another browser by accident and i try to cancel out but it wont let me and i get charged for it. its ridiculous!
I just received my Verizon wireless bill and my son had used his new LG Dare to access the web and ran up a data usage charge of over $550.00.
When I called Verizon I was told for $15.00 a month I could get Vcast unlimited data plan.
Will this Vcast plan actually eliminate data charges other than downloading ring tones and other billable software?
Jeff42 -
Yes if you sign up for the unlimited data plan it would eliminate the data charges for web access. You would only be charged for ring tones and software.
You should also demand that they reverse the charges and instead charge you for the unlimited plan for the previous month.
The charges and guidelines are too vague for them not to reverse the charges. If they decline to, I recommend opening a case with the Better Business Bureau.
Hope that helps.
hi, my name is matt. Im 14 years old and i just got a samsung glyde for xmas. I am thrilled with it but now i am worried because my parents and i are on a simple family plan, in fact, im using the mobile web right now to visit this site. I downloaded vcast secretly and its chargin me 15 bucks a month. Do i get unltd data with this? if not i am screwed cuz ive used 450 mb and that would total over 900 dollars with the 1.99 per mb charge. Please help me!
oh and ive downoaded music ringtones games etc. If you subscribe to vcast dont you only get charged airtime?
I too have been trying to get this understood/resolved for months now, had all of the Web, etc. blocks added, still had charges showing up. Long story short, I was finally told that in my case, the data usage fee’s were from picture/video messaging…something I pay to have “Unlimited” usage. The ONLY way to completely stop the MB usage fee’s would be for me to have them block picture/video messaging on my lines. So I have to block something which I’m paying extra to have unlimited usage of???? WHAT !…Made complete sense to the Verizon rep & Supervisor tho. There’s no other way to say it….Verizon is dis-honest and this has Class Action Lawsuit written all over it. And Erica, you should be ashamed of supporting your employer on this one.
Of course Erica is going to support her employer on this one. See gets free cell phone service from them so she is not charged for anything like we are!
If you have unlimited text/pic messageing, you should not get charged for data AT ALL. Whoever you talked to at Verizon is fillin you full of shit. They have no idea what they are tling about and are just trying to get youoff the phone so they can get to the next person.
ok. From what i understand, if you are paying the 15 dollars a month for all the vcast stuff you have ulimited web and data usage. You accumulate data by using the web, get it now, pic/vid messaging etc. Because i am paying 15 bucks a month it will not use up my minutes and the only way i can accumulate any other charges is if i pay for applications, games, ringtones, etc. Hope that helps. Now if you are paying 5 bucks a month you can use the web and it will take up minutes. On this plan however you will accumulate charges for get it now.
if you block “get it now” will you still be able to keep and use the ringtones you bought without being charged for megabyte usage? or do you still have to pay? is the only way to avoid the charges to delete everything you downloaded? because i like my ringtones :(
Hey Michelle,
If you block get it now, you can still use the ringtones you have already downloaded. You will not be charged to use ringtones, only to browse for them and download them.
I hope that helps a bit
okay thanx :)
Authorities need to force Verizon to make it difficult for young people not using the web. Right now, it is too easy to get on the web with no warning advising there will be outrageous charges for the service.
I believe Verizon make it easy so they could unfair charge its customers for” megabyte usage”,
Its just too many people have been deceiving by Verizon. I hope someone could stop them.
Clearly another example of corporate greed. I am all for a company making profit, but this is exactly the kind of behavior that begs for regulation.
I called their customer service to dispute the charge as I NEVER do anything other than use the phone for calls. I was told simply that since the $1.99 charge is on my bill, it is valid! They were supposed to call me back after researching HOW I used the internet. Of course, I never received a call back. I was looking for a reason to switch to an iPhone, and now I have it. As soon as my contract is over, I’ll never use Verizon again!
Like others… I don’t understand Verizon. I get charged Data charges that I haven’t used and when I call, they say they don’t know either, but they say I must have used data because I have been charged for it. Is that crazy? I ask… tell me what I used and how to stop it and they can’t. Same problem as Mark above… my phone is a voyager… even though you have blocked data and downloads they claim with these phones they can’t completely block data unless you block photo and video messages… WHAT? they charge me extra for that, but want me to block it so they won’t charge me for data that I don’t want. Verizon used to warn you prior to going to a chargable application. The warning came up saying charges would be incured if you continue…. Do you wish to continue? If you answered yes, you went on to be charged. Why cant they do this now? Because they want to charge customers for thing they don’t want and don’t use…. Its 4 to 10 dollars per month but mulitply that by all their customers… ITs a huge rip off. Please… some lawyer needs to take this up as a class action lawsuit because Verizon essentially tells you to get screwed.
have been charged monthly for 4 separate phones at 1.99 (sometimes multiple times) for data usage. have fought each month – have blocked everything possible – HATE VERIZONWIRELESS – the stupid idea that just going into get-it-now should be a fee of 1.99 is stupid – when was the last time anyone ever paid to walk thru wal-mart?????!!!! their “window shopping fee” will get them sued one day and I only hope i live long enough to see it because i’ll be on the first wave!! they just merged alltel in with them so now those customers are screwed too. as soon as possible i am switching – don’t care if it is a two-way radio – i am switching all my phones over – and i won’t be signing anybodies 2 year agreement – may just go txt next time -
I got my bill today and they charged me 50 bucks for megabytes that i hav never used thats just wrong i hav a family plan and my parents go what have u been using the phone for even the day they do get sued is the day i will be happy
Thanks everyone. I’m new to cell phones and Verizon and now I am at least aware not to access “Get IT Now”. I’m still waiting for my first bill. May the force be with me.
We have the family share plan and each phone has unlimited picture/text/video messages. Verizon started in the fall tacking on $1.99 data usage fees. Some phones had multiple fees. I call and battle with Verizon over these charges every month and so far they’ve credited them all back to our account AFTER hanging on for an hour.
If you ask them what the charges are for specifically, you’ll get a different answer every time. Last time they said it was because our phones were a picture that was more than 1200 KB. I finally called technical support and the largest picture our phones are capable of sending/receiving is 350 KB.
We have blocks for everything. We’ve never used “get it now”, ringtones, applications or anything but picture, text and talk.
If I press the “get it now” area of my phone, a message appears that says if you continue, there will be a charge of $4.99. I pressed cancel then got hit with a $1.99 data fee. Verizon said its because my phone had to access the web to give me that message.
I’m sick of battling with them for charges they cannot backup with a paper trail – yes, I asked.
I have filed claims with the FCC, BBB and now I’ll contact the attorney general’s office.
We have no problem paying for the service we use but I need my head kicked by a mule if I’m dumb enough to pay fees I did not incur.
I’ve been using verizon for two years, in my area other network don’t work as well so i don’t have other choices. I just found today the mysterious data usage fee. I swear to god that I only used this web browsing or get it now option once, and that’s about two years ago when I first got this phone, I browsed some music out of curiosity, but they began to put this megabyte charge on me every month, and I just found it out now, two years later, what a crock of shit. how can they charge me this fee without my hitting any related button! (Yep, I never hit the get it now button or other web related whatsoever since the accidental one two years ago). these guys are disgusting!! if anyone want to organize a sue against this company, I am in.
My sister upgraded to a Samsung Glyde in Fall ‘08 and basically every month since then has had a $1.99 charge for mb usage on it. We have VCAST, Get it Now, etc. blocked and she doesn’t use her phone but for calling, SMS, and MMS. We even have unlimited SMS and MMS. My mom has to call every month, but they can never tell her what the charges are from and actually tried to convince her that checking your MyAccount on your phone charges you. It doesn’t, btw, it even says it doesn’t charge mb or airtime when you go to it. Luckily she is usually able to get it credited back, but it is really annoying. I thought it might just be her phone or something. It would be so much easier if the people who worked for Verizon could actually give a simple straight answer rather than everyone giving a different one.
ALERT!!!
I guess finding this information was too late for me. I’m now the latest victim of this Verizon $1.99/MB pay as you use scam!
We’ve been with Verizon for years and have had to argue billing with them many times. At one time we were having our bill automatically deducted from our bank, but we had to stop that when they began overcharging and “stealing” from our account. We had to fight them for credits on our next bill.
The latest dilemma is that we wanted to get our fourth child a phone and add him to our plan. Of course we were told that we could only have 5 people sharing, and either he would have to go onto his own account ,or my husband or I could move to another account.
We decided on the latter.
Then the Verizon associate casually told us that we would have to change our plan from the American Choice II Family Plan to this new Nationwide Scam Plan.
We questioned him on it and he said that it was exactly the same plan, nothing would change.
WHAT A LIE!!
Of course as we now know the AM CH II Family Plan was one where data was detucted from our minutes, which we always had plenty of, and the new Nationwide Scam Plan charges you $1.99/MB.
Our kids had always known not to download things but have always been able to browse in the Get It Now section, (especially on weekends or at night because those minutes were free). Once they did that with the new plan, we were charged MBs.
After reading this, I’ve had a block put on all the Get It Now features: App Downloads, RBT downloads, Web Access, V Cast Music, and I’ve had mobile web for MB plans deleted.
I asked specifically about what was mentioned here about just pressing the Get It Now buttons and trying to connect, and they assured me that this would not account for any MB usage. They said that with the block in place we were covered. I AM NOT CONVINCED!
I also asked about the picture/video messaging as we have unlimited on that also. Again I was told that with these blocks in place, the only way to send those was the same way text is sent and that there were no data charges for that. AGAIN I AM NOT CONVINCED!
She also told me that some of the newer phones cannot be supported by the older plans. You have no choice but to switch to the Nationwide Scam Plan! Of course you can protect yourself by buying a $15/month VCast plan!
This is just a grand money making scheme by some smart-ass marketing genius to rape the average Verizon customer! Of course it’s legal because they give you the little pamphlet with the microscopic writing that no-one can either read or understand!
I guess their plan is to eventually phase out those older plans altogether and have all their customers on these money-making plans.
The customer should be given a choice as to how they want these data charges paid for. If you’re like us and have plenty of minutes, you should be able to use minutes. If you are trying to conserve minutes, you could use the pay as you use system or sign up for VCast.
IT”S OUTRAGEOUS!! If I wasn’t going to get hit with all sorts of penalties and charges, I would cancel my Verizon account in a heartbeat.
CONSUMER BEWARE!!!
I was a Verizon customer a few years back before these data charges started. Currently I am with AT&T and they have charged for data the same way for years. It was foreign to me when I switched since at the time Verizon didn’t have this in place.
All I am saying is it’s just not them, I could be wrong but I think all the telecoms are doing this now. Verizon was the last on the bandwagon. Is it a good consumer billing practice? No of course not, it’s designed to increase their corporate profit. The thing is that they rely on the consumer being unaware of what the services actually are, how to use them (or avoid using them,) and how much they will really cost you. Yes they have a convoluted disclaimer here and there, and the store employees will never tell you ALL you should know about what you are getting into. Plus, you signed a contract with those famous Terms of Service that no one cares to read.
It’s corporate greed pure and simple. The credit card companies do it, the banks do it, it’s all over. I’ve worked for a few major corporations over the years (not Verizon) and I guess from experience, we all need to be highly aware of all the pitfalls of the items and services we sign up for so we don’t have a bitter surprise in the end.
Well folks, it’s time to “lawyer up”. I’ve read all of the comments above and I just got charges levied against me for the same thing. If Apple can get sued (and lose) for having scratches on the first version of the iPod Nano in a class action, then it’s time to dogpile on Verizon Wirelss for their “defective product”.
I’ll repost in a couple days with a site where you can “register” to be part of the class and we can start the documentation trail for the attorneys. After reading these posts, I’m not convinced the BBB or state attorney generals are the right place to go.
*Joe
A class action suit sounds like a reasonable way to resolve this issue. Out of curiosity, as I am not a legal expert, why would you recommend a private lawsuit as opposed to contacting the BBB and the state attorney generals?
Since we added 3 phones to our service in July 2008, I noticed that our phones were being charged 1.99 monthly for ‘megabyte usage’. I finally got around to asking what this was for & the lady explained it was for ‘Get it Now’ & ‘Mobile Web’. I explained to her that we don’t use those services & if she were to look up the usage….she would see where the buttons were accidentally pushed (dialed & hung up immediately). She said that there was no way for her to see that information.
I then told her that we should not be charged because our phones & buttons are very sensitive & it is easily triggered. If triggered it starts logging into it & once you see what’s happening….you immediately press end. She said this was common (esp. clients with cell phone buttons being triggered in their back pockets) & she hoped things would soon change. However, to disable the megabyte usage you would lose your picture texting feature ALTHOUGH you pay for it along with the unlimited texting bill. She credited the fees back for this month only, but wouldn’t be able to do anything about the others OR FUTURE errors. Of course, I’m stuck with the 2 year contract & 1.99 charge on EACH phone everytime the button is triggered.
I have been a customer of Verizon for almost 10 years now. Everything was great until this last month when they tried to charge me for 140 dollars worth of megabyte usage. As of my online statement just before the end of the month, it said I had used 70 KB (not MB), but this was delayed 6 days. When I called to complain, they stated that I “MAY” have used the remainder of that data in that 6 days. I do not use the website, and I dont browse for games or downloads much at all. After talking on the phone for half an hour or so, verizon explained that when I play a game I downloaded (already paid 7.99 for the game and whatever data charge to download), it uses data. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??? I have an LG Dare now, and before I had a motorola KRZR, with the same game, but I never had any data usage issues. This is clearly their latest scam. The best they did was offer half back. Until this, I was happy with verizon. They have good coverage, and a good selection of phones (short of the iPhone). And after 10 years of being a customer, they are now trying to nickle and dime me with this??? Their heads have gotten too big. They need to be sued over this. I will also definitely look into switching carriers…
I too just got a new phone due to dropped calls occurring in the past 3 months. Had to sign up for a new 2 year agreement. I downloaded a couple of games – Solitaire / Casino and have been using them as I did before with my previous phone, thinking I was only using airtime. Lo and behold, I checked my bill online today, and there are the charges for downloading the games, and, there is also a megabyte charge for using 6 megabytes. Verizon, you are deceptive and decieving. I will be buying out my contract tomorrow and kicking you “CROOKED BASTARDS” to the curb for good. You are like an old girfriend, you leave for a reason the first time, come back because you think things might have changed, yet there is the same old dog with the same old spots as before.
I just got Verizons wireless internet for my laptop. I wanted to get sprint because thats what my cell phone is through but the people at best buy just raved about how good of service verizon has, so I took that. My first bill was a little steep, I just figured it was just because of the first month, now its my second month and I am being charged 190.00 frickin dollars for megabyte usage. I only use my computer for mail, banking, and research. Do they charge for every flippin page you look at? I am so upset. its midnight here and as soon as morning comes I will be calling and I will be ending my contract, and I don’t even care how much it cost to do so.
I had the same experience with Verizon that’s been mentioned previously: $1.99 Megabyte charges for accidentally hitting buttons. To avoid them I was told I had to add a “National Access” block which also prevents me from sending pix or flix – which I’m paying for with the $30 unlimited text/pix/flix package. Even though it’s rediculous that they take away features I’m paying for in order to avoid the $1.99 charge, I did it. I was told condescendingly that I “had been educated” and they would not remove the charge in the future. I will say they were only too happy to remove the charge back in the fall when I didn’t have a contract. Now that I’ve got new phones and a contract they aren’t so flexible. They can be sure I’ll remember this when this contract is up. If a class action suit does come up I’m in.
I just don’t get it. We’ve had this Family Plan for years and never had this problem. It seems to me that if they never charged before and they never sent a form explaining the changes(small print or not), then this stuff is illegal! …It couldn’t possibly be legal. Although you can read now that you’re being charged for accidentally hitting a button or window shopping for songs, when you could do it before without being charged. If they changed their services, the customer has a right to know. Especially since their loyal customers for 5+ years are just about ready to give up because of ridiculous charges! I mean… we have 5 lines total on our plan, and on 4 of the phones this month there are charges close to $10 on each! That makes no sense! I just did what the article said to do and blocked the things that weren’t blocked already, but they’ll definitely get an earful tomorrow!
Hey im a verizon user iv been using them for the past 3 years and right now one of my phones is due for an upgrade… I was going to get a samsung omnia and i was wondering if i should??? I really want this phone and need pic/video txtng… i also wouldnt be able to pay the 15 dollars extra for the v cast plan thing and i need to know what to do???….
Ken,
If the battery life is not a concern then this is a great phone. But be aware that Its battery is terrible, especially if you want to receive you emails with MS Active Sync..
thank you jallen42 i am really really looking forward to getting this phone n the battery really isnt a big deal. i was thinking about getting the phone anyway but i needed someone 2 say wether the phone is good or not. it looks amazing and there are so many things you can do with it. what about the sensitivity of the screen?? can you reduce the sensitivity???
Oh my gosh, where do I begin. I have been dealing with these charges for nearly a year now and have been getting credits for them but not without a fight. Every month I am charged the $1.99 for up to four phones. I have have had helpful customer service reps and nasty reps who have been rude to the point where I would hang up and call back. We do not use any of the features that we are told generate data usage. Everything is blocked (except nationwide access ~ which we payy for and was the reason I upgraded my plan to have unlimited text/pic messaging). We still get charged even with blocks!!! After much research into my account I have discoved in my situation that certain picture messages seem to generate this usage of 0.0 mb (LOL)(the picture message seems to gets stuck in transit). I have never had more than 0.0 mb but still get charged for this. I went back through each and every statement and 99% of the time a picture message was sent at exactly the same time as the data usage charge is generated. You all may want to look into this on your phones if you have unexplained usage charges. Verizon DOES NOT care….and states that it is not picture messaging but can’t seem to explain why this happens or even recreate the situation in which it happens so we can stop doing this in order to not be charged. While it is very frustrating to deal with this every month, it is quite comical how each and every representative has a different explanation for why this happens. Eventually there will be a class action lawsuite regarding this it is only a matter of time!
I for one totally agree that there will be a lawsuit against them but the question is when?? I mean iv been sending picture messages forever and i have the unlimited txt/pic messaging and have never before been charged with it. are you telling me that when i get my omnia that i will get charged for the picture/video messages?!?!
Ken, you will either have to pay $15 extra every month for the unlimited data plan or you will not be able to use get-it-now without being charged $1.99 per megabyte of usage. Also many people have been charged for sending text\picture\video messages even though Verizon claims they do not charge for them when you pay for unlimited text messages.
This is unbelievable. I just got off the phone with them about the $20 they charged my wife’s phone for looking around on get it now. They offered a new plan that would be unlimited. I said I’m sure it is a great money maker for Verizon, but I don’t want a new plan and I think it is really shitty of them to charge these crap fees. No refund or anything- prety unimpressed with them right now. You would think as much as people switch cell carriers, they would try to make poeple happy and want to stay with them- guess I’m just old fashioned.
i will just have to not use picture messaging then. it just sucks cuz i send picture messages all the time. if i have only 1.99/month for the whole month and no more if i send any more picture messages then i will be fine but i think its bull crap but what do you mean an unlimited data plan jeremy?? does that mean that if i get that then i could use the internet and everything else all i want or what??
Thank you for solving a piece of my mystery/ nightmare.
My wife and I are yet one more sad example of Verizon’s newest way to take more for less. We have been satisfied customers for over 6 years, but have always kept our phone usage simple. We recently decided to ditch the home phone and go solely on cell service, after running a two month test of our usage patterns. Prior to the switch we bought Palm Centro smart phones. I paid for the unlimited magabytes because I anticipated hooking up email. My wife did not as all she wanted was a phone/ daytimer. We use the phones to coordinate calendars and have used the computer link feature to keep the calendars on our home computer. (After 5 months I never did hook up the email.) My wifes usage for the first three months was around $5.00 in megabytes. My two sons also have phones, and we paid for the unlimited text and pic feature on all our phones to avoid the teenage text cost nightmare others have faced. We started noticing megabyte charges on my son’s phone (not a smart phone, but it has a camera) and asked what those were for. The answer was “premium text”. No one could explain what a premium text was, and why it would not be covered in an all inclusive text plan. Jessica, in a previous post, says if you keep asking it will be explained. She was kind of right, we asked at least six different store reps and two customer service reps, and we got six different answers. We tried all of their suggestions, but the charges still kept coming. Apparently, unlimited text and picture was NOT unlimited. They charge a megabyte fee on top of the unlimited text/picture fee for pictures.
We finally found out how intrusive megabyte fees are after my wife’s December bill. It had $1300.00 in megabyte fees, for megabyte usage charged to her phone at odd hours, when nobody was using the phone. When we asked to be told what caused the megabyte usage we were told the charge was valid, but we are not allowed to know what sites were accessed, why the fees were billed (other than for “megabytes”), or any other specifics on the fees. We filed a grievance with Verizon, through their mediation process. We were told the challenged fees would be put in limbo until the challenge was resolved. It is still pending (after 2 months) but the Verizon billing department is now reporting us as delinquent on our payment.
Further analysis of the bills shows several charges of megabytes were also levied against my phone during the hours I was not using it. Because I had paid the extra $40.00 a month for unlimited usage, it did not reflect on the bill, but the reported usage is still troublesome, as I had not been using the phone during the times it was billed.
The answer Verizon finally gave to stop further megabyte charges was to put a “nationwide megabyte block” on our phones (an option never mentioned in the stores or by any other customer service representative.) This has stopped the megabyte charges. This blog has shown another possibility to the charges to our phones. I had no idea that downloading pictures from a camera phone to a computer via the supplied connection cord could cause wireless megabyte charges. I wonder if backing up the calendar also incurs those charges.
Got my verizon bill yesterday. I don’t use any GET IT NOW or mobile web. There was a $3.98 charge for 1 megabyte usage. WTF?? Customer service just said it was for get it now. I asked how the charge was $3.98 for 1 megabyte, when on the BILL, right beside the charge, it plainly states “pay as you go megabyte data $1.99 per megabyte”. Naturally no good answer there, and I told the rep that, so I went to the website and asked for a detailed explanation (still waiting). Think about how big a megabyte is. Phones just don’t use that much data. Some of the stories I have read on here have really got me wondering if T-mobile wouldn’t be a better choice. Alltel was merged with verizon, sprint told there customers to leave about 2 years ago so I would never trust them at all, so T-mobile or AT&T is about all thats left. I have been with Verizon for a long time, and been generally very happy with them, but this is really crappy. And apparently there is no way to stop it??? And they can’t explain it? Ummm….hmmm….
Ok so I read through all this as I prepare to give my 11 year old an extra cell phone on our plan. I went on VZW and disabled all those services listed way at the top. I called VZW and asked about the “accidental data usage” by pressing the mobile web button by mistake and they told me how to change the hot buttons on my phone – so that solved that problem. (I changed all the hot keys from “get it now”: stuff to things like “my pix & my flix”. He also told me – the 1st page of mobile web (which is the mobile VZW page by default) is “free”. So I don’t know how folks are getting a 1.99 charge by accidentally hitting mobile web.
I’m on the National Select plan with 1400 minutes and that gives all of our phones unlimited txt, picture, and video messaging with NO data usage charges. So I guess it really depends on which plan you have as to whether or not they charge you for data while sending pix or flix messages.
Just my 2 cents folks – I appreciate all the info in this thread and hope that some of my info will help out others.
I HATE VERIZON!!!
I GET SOOO FRUSTERATED WITH THEM THAT I WANT TO MARCH IN THERE SCREAMING, BUT ALL THEY SAY IS “IM SORRY, WE DONT DEAL WITH FINANCIAL PROBLEMS” AND THEY GIVE YOU A FRIGGIN 1-800 NUMBER AND ITS ALL RECORDINGS!! THEY DONT GIVE YOU AN OPTION KEY TO SPEAK TO AN OPPERATOR BUT I FOUND THAT IF YOU JUST HIT 0 WHEN THE RECORDING IS GOING IT WILL BRING YOU TO A PERSON. BUT EVEN THEN, GOOD LUCK REACHING SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!
I HATE VERIZON WITH A BURNING PASSION!!!!
AND I DONT HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTE TO THE SNAKES THAT PULL THE VERIZON STRINGS:::::
—-> F@#% YOU!!!! YOUR DIRTY, SELFISH, STEALING JERKS!!!!!!!!!!
We are on the Nationwide Select Family Share plan with 700 minutes AND pay extra for unlimited text, pix and video messaging for all our phones, but my daughter’s Voyager invariably gets charged additional data charges every month. Usually it’s minimal, but this month they’re already chalked up 7 times she’s “accessed” data. We’ve already blocked all the other applications and downloads possible, so it looks like her picture messaging is the problem, based on comments above. My son and I also use picture messaging, but we don’t has “smart” phones and haven’t seen any data charges on our lines.
The only solution Verizon offered is the $15/month VCast package, which, as others have noted, is like rubbing salt into the wound by requiring us to pay $15 more every month to avoid the data charges that happen when she uses the unlimited picture messaging we’re already paying extra for. Tricksy, tricksy, tricksy…
I signed up with Verizon because I could get unlimited texting and picture messages for a little more that I was spending with T-Mobile, and most of my family have friends that have Verizon so calls would not count against minutes.
My first bill had $300 in megabyte charges. I didn’t know what a megabyte was. I found out that there is a $1.99 charge for each text message sent. I asked who would pay extra for a plan that has unlimited texting and then agree to $1.99 for each one sent and received. The customer service person told me that people that don’t text very much. So, why would they pay more for unlimited texting!!! It is a scam to get more money because so many people text.
I now have all my phones blocked from texting and anything else that might use megabytes.. I would leave Verizon in a heart beat but am unwilling to pay $175 per phone to get out of the contract. I have 6 phones. I was told nothing about the megabyte charges for texting. This was totally deceptive. Count me in on a class action suit. I am filing with the BBB.
I have co-workers that just signed up for a family plan with unlimited text and they are being charged $1.99 per text – so you pay for unlimited text and then have to pay $1.99 per text – how does that work? I didn’t see anything in your story about having to pay these fees on just regular text messages.
@Emily – Your comment seems to be inline with what debdeb365 just commented on. You are both saying that people are being charged 1.99 per text. That seems absolutely outrageous to me!
Perhaps Verizon is gouging us for even more money now? I will definitely be looking into this. If you have any more information on this I would love to hear it. Thanks for commenting.
Followup to my previous post. I went through the mediation process with Verizon and they waived all charges associated with the megabytes. We have a block on all megabyte uses, which has really dumbed down the phones, but the random charges are stopped. Warning number 2- block all automatic text messaging unless you use your phone for banking. My son was on MySpace playing some IQ challenge and it asked him his cell number to get the answer. . He put it in and then a message told him to text “Stop” to a number or he would be charged $9.99 a month. Somehow, and I am not sure how this works, just texting stop actually opted him in for the charges, then back out again, so the first month was charged. This happened on three separate MySpace and facebook “challenges”. Verizon bills the charges as data even if you have a block. They say the bill is from a third party provider. The only way to ensure you don’t get charged is to block automated text messages. Or go back to good old Ma Bell.
An update from April 14th,
I called the store where I bought my phones and they told me that there are no megabyte charges for regular texting even if you don’t have unlimited texting. The person at the corporate office has blocked our phones from text messages and I was told that is the only way I wouldn’t get any more megabyte charges.
The person at the store is checking into this for me. I am starting to think that the corporate customer relations person doesn’t know what she is talking about.
Ahhh these charges are so stupid!! After reading most of these comments it would not hurt to add one more proof that verizon customer service are just liars. In Jan of this year I called verizon to ask for any possible way to block these numerous megabyte usages that hadn’t accured, and SURPRISINGLY THIS REP TOLD ME THERE WAS AND APPARENTLY SHE BLOCKED THESE MEGABYTE CHARGES FROM ACCURING WITHOUT BLOCKING PIC/VID TEXTING. She said she understood that sometimes customers accidently pressed the Get It Now and get charged for not even using this feature. She confirmed she had blocked the usage of all features that would result in the 1.99 charge. You guys will be surprised that FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS I HAD NO CHARGES OF MEGABYTE USAGES and felt I had no need to worry about this, until now! In my recent bill I have been charged for megabyte usage on two of my phones. $4 dollars are $4 dollars! I called customer service, told them about this charge, told them what I was told before, and the results of it and how I could not explain how these charges were applied again. The rep said their was “no way” of this being possible without interfering with pic/vid text message (In other words you’re lying). I argued what I was told and the rep compared me to the other phone calls they countlessly get with the same issue about complaint s on charges applied due to megabyte ussage. He said the same thing was told to everyone, “It isn’t possible, just shut up and give me your money!” I asked him to check the notes on my phone call in Jan. and suspiciously their were no detailed notes when in the other calls he mentioned their were always detailed notes. I appreciate the lady rep in Jan who understood my case, helped, and gave wonderful service. I would doubt she’d be the type of employees who don’t do their job well, including noting everything. I am just shocked with the way people become desperate for money. Verizon has dissapointed me once again! Their is a way to block these stupid unused charges!
Fuck you George Clooney I can use my two legs and walk to walmart freely and not get charged for it you dumbass. Why don’t you quit your job at Verizon and stop receiving their benefits so you could see from our point of view why these phantom charges are silly and outrageous. I too have been “going to Wal-Mart” and have been charged for these stupid megabyte usages and I think its grade A bologna. Oh and by the way George, I took a trip to Wal-Mart earlier today and i used less than half a gallon of gas to get there and back. Lets see Gas=$2.30/2=$1.15 hmmmmm yeah great analogy there bucko
I personally detest verizon. Not just the wireless service, everything they do irritates me. They trick you into paying more by giving you more of what you don’t need and less of what you do need. When I heard about this atrocity, it only deepened my hatred of the red check-mark. If i was posting this on a verizon phone, it would cost me several dollars. I wish I had other cell-phone options, but verizon has a complete monopoly of the cell phone industry in my area.
P.S. They tore up my yard to put in their stupid fiber-optics. Why does the government let them do that kind of stuff?
When you sign up for VerizonWireless service(which by the way is YOUR choice) you sign a contract. That contract clearly explains what the service agreements are for both Verizon and customer. If you don’t like it don’t sign up, but then again all wireless companies have the same type of terms & conditions. DEAL WITH IT. I get sick of you whiny people who can’t accept reality bitching about something that you signed up for. Irregardless of whether you read the contract or not… YOU SIGNED IT. So stop bitching, learn to manage your bill like so many other customers and get on with it.
Wow this is so wrong to say that MB charges are a scam. It has never been free to search through the get it now or media center area of the phone for ringtones/games/wallpapers or applications to download it used you minutes and if you are still on an America’s Choice plan it STILL uses your minutes. Changing to the Nationwide plans now charges for MB instead of minutes. So you are doing something to incur the charges so just watch what you’re doing and if your kids tell you they are not doing anything on their phones they are lying so just put the blocks on thier lines
my phone bill this month was 373 275 was them megabytes
I went in to get my phone replaced and asked about this charge. They told me what it was, and I can tell you for certain, I did not incur the charge. As soon as I get my phone I change the hotkeys. So this means even if I wanted to download ringtones, I would have to stroke about 5 keys in perfect sequence to get to the application. Now, I tell you, there is no way I did such a thing since I never use any ringtones except what is on the phone.
I think verizon is just charging $2 and hoping people won’t bitch about it.
Verizon sucks.
This is crazy! I got charged about $1,000 just for accidentally pressing on the browser or get it now applications!
I have lost all respect for Verizon Wireless!
This $1.99 data usage fee has been a problem for me since I unwillingly switched plans last December. I have disabled hot-keys. We do no use Get-it-now (never have). Don’t go on the web. No email, IM, etc. We text. We talk. We have LG EnV2s. And still the charges are showing up. They can’t tell me what the charges are for except for “data usage.” It’s like they have a blank check on my bank account and that is completely not okay.
So today I disabled National Access. This means I can’t send pictures. That was my favorite part of having this phone and plan. What’s worse, I’m still paying for it, but it’s the only way (or so they say) of not accruing those other data charges.
What a scam.
This is absolutely a class-action suit waiting to happen.
The charges are ridiculous. I’m switching to T-mobile with the BF. T-mobile apparently is more affordable, better plans, though they don’t have as good coverage as Verizon. 6 years with Verizon… good bye!
We’re just learning of the new policy.
Our son, recently was charged for just browsing. Last night we did a test just starting the Get It Now but quickly unstarted. The word CONNECT will show thus with the new policy you will be charged.
Well we checked our Verizon account online today and sure enough that little quick connect will be billed on the next bill.
Well, I am a teen and we just have received our second verizon wireless bill. It has been a total mystery on how megabyte charges work. Verizon wireless does not explain these charges and have people saying: “no,we already paid for it” (my parents). Verizon are a bunch of cheap rip off losers.
I GOT CHARGED 40$ THIS MONTH FOR THIS!
i am the only user on my plan and all i did was make calls….
THIS IS BS!!!!
I too have had a problem with mysterious mb charges (0.0 & 0.01) and no explanation for how these happen. NO Verizon Tech has ever been able to recreate the situation either (to show us how these are incurred so we can stop whatever causes it). We have everything blocked except for Nationwide Access which is something I pay nearly $40.00 extra a month to have (for unlimited texting/pic messages). I refuse to turn something off that I PAY for. After fighting with and finally being told I would no longer receive credit for these mysterious mb charges, I filed a complaint with the FCC. Within a few weeks Verizon was calling me trying to remedy this situation. For a few months the problem did in fact disappear (was told this had something to do with restricted/unrestricted ip addresses). But now, once again, I am seeing these mb charges appear on my phones. If I see even one more month of these chages, I will file yet another complaint with the FCC and maybe even go a step further and file one with NYS Attorney General’s office and BBB. WTF Verizon, take care of the problem that you are all very well aware of!!!!
My wife has a 3 year old Razor which does not have data communication capability and she was billed the 1.99 last month for the first time. We have been fighting this for months via emails and phone calls to VZW to no avail on our daughters new phone. But mysteriously every month since last Nov. there is the 1.99 charge. If there were multiple charges I would believe she was doing something to incur them. I am tired of VZW putting their hands in my wallet without my permission. Count me in for the class action suit. And I am weaning our family away from VZW as our phones come up for upgrade. Hello AT&T and my new iPhone.
I deal with this type of problem every day being a vzw cust care agent and if you people that complain about mb charges knew about anything you are posting about you would realize that on america’s choice price plans you were seeing data calls on your bill instead of mb charges also you do have the choice to block all data from your acct using national block this does not stop your pix/flix msgs just does not allow them to go to and from you device you can send them and receive them from your pix place acct. Also absolutly not one of you cared to mention how nice it was to get the service and if you did you would have read and kept you terms and conditions it is stated in those about any charges that can be accrued and if you use data we can not track it due the federal govrenments privacy act that way we can not tell you when you have been on that child porn site due to the fact that we can not outright accuse you of illegal acts and due to the fact that different websites use different amounts of mb’s that is why you will see different charges on your bill and with the half megabyte buffer that will not work due to the fact that in that 1/2 mb you could have been on the web for more than 5 mins and oh yeah just to let you know verizon does not charge you $10.00 for blocking your data also as stipulated in your terms and coditions if you are hostile to us customer care agents we can and will terminate your service and you will be liable for all charges so think about that the next time we are going out of our way to rerate your bill due to the fact that you as the customer are not smart enough to do simple math!!!! As. U.S. citizens you discust me because you are held up to standard for once you want to get a class action lawsuit . Really? And next time you call about getting a billing adjustment pay you damn bill on time and you won’t have any reconnect fees
And this is why Verizon can’t fix anything. The rep doesn’t even know how to post with punctuation.
I think its funny how the last person had nothing to say about the Verizon reps post except for punctuation???Really dude.. is that all you can come up with?? Probably cause you know that person is right. I also work for Verizon Wireless. If you all actually READ your contract, there would be no reason for this blog. Oh wait, thats not good. Then you whiners would have one less thing to WHINE about. Boo hoo.Even if you don’t read your contract, you still receive notification regarding any changes made to your account, especially when you switch from an older price plan to a Nationwide plan Ok so here’s the deal. Megabyte charges will not happen unless YOU, YOURS, ANY PERSON CLAIMING TO BE YOU ETC, actually hit the button. Thats why there is such a thing as BLOCKS.. What a concept. If you cannot grasp that concept, well then this blog is the last place you should be.If you still insist on not adding blocks, there are other things available like WHOOPING YOUR CHILD’S BACKSIDE WHEN THEY SAY THEY HAVEN’T DOWNLOADED ANYTHING WHEN THEY HAVE FOR THE PAST 6 MONTHS!?!?! I know, Mom and Dad, that you’d love to believe that your kids are perfect angels and would NEVER do anything like that. Guess what. They’re not and they did. Theres also such thing as parental controls, vcast vpak, usage controls.etc. So please, don’t call us and tell us that you or your kids didn’t do anything to incur megabyte charges.
Very intelligent of you Verizon Wireless Rep. How about when all the blocks are in place except for the packages (text/pic) that is paid separately for each month and you are still getting these charges? I have even moved my hot keys so I do not have GET IT NOW anywhere to be easily hit and my keypad locks instantly.
The newest item now on my account is that I had a discount that was set up because I work at a certain place. I had signed up with this discount and have been employed at this place continuously since. All of a sudden, Verizon Wireless decides to not give me the discount without any warning from them. I have called them 3 days ago and spoke to a person that could barely speak. I was supposed to get a return call from them within 24 hours. Three days later and I am still waiting. Now, when I call them back, they will have no record that I even spoke with anyone and I will have to go through the same thing over again.
I believe it is the same with any of the cell companies, they offer you anything under the sun to get you to come to their company, but once you are there and stay a while, you will get raked through the coals.
Well, the vzw rep named dizz should really talk to his/her customers in that tone, maybe he/she will not have a job to go back to the next day. I would like to see the wireless phone bills for the customer service reps. I bet they do not get these bogus charges. Also, dizz types just as a customer service rep speaks, by not listening to his/her customers and saying things that make Verizonwireless look good. I can understand that many wireless companies are the same and submit charges on the lines that are not warrented, but with the US being the highest paying cell phone country, you would think that these services could come down in price for good customers. I have been a customer of Verizon Wireless for 8 years and have not gotten anything for being a good customer. The phones I purchase, I could purchase them directly from the company for the same price that Verizon Wireless charges me and to top it off, these $1.99 charges per month are driving me crazy. Now I am told that there is no way to block the Internet from the type of phone that I have. Nice to know now that I have had this phone for almost two years and this is the first time I am hearing this, even though I have blocked the Internet on all my lines (5) months after I had purchased this particular phone. I think it is a racket and that is why Verizon Wireless can post a quarterly profit every time!
And, by the way dizz, most of the customer service representatives have not told me the same thing twice. Calling customer service is 100% better than dealing with the reps in the store because they do not even know why they are there, and that is not saying much on most days. And a few of them were downright rude, considering that I am one of a few hundred thousand people who pay their salaries.
Oh, and ME, what do you suggest when all the blocks are in place and you are still getting mb charges on a phone that belongs to you when you know that you have not done anything but make phone calls and almost all of those phone calls are Verizon to Verizon? I bet if you were getting these charges you would be complaining just like the rest of us.
It doesn’t even matter to me anymore, I switched to a plan with unlimited data, because I like to use the internet on my phone. That’s why my only comment was about the punctuation.
I do think Verizon should have sent a notice about this changing though. I don’t recall ever getting anything before I switched to the unlimited plan and I’ve had Verizon for about 5 years. This “data” charge didn’t start showing up until late last year. I do read everything they send.
Verizon wireless employees get no special treatment on their billing except for maybe employee discounts, which are also available if you work for other companies as well.. To respond to your comments regarding the blocks, yes what they are saying is true about the national access blocks. That is the only way to COMPLETELY block megabyte charges. Think of it as a triangle. at the top you have the data network that is used for mobile web/get it now/pix/flix messaging. On one side of the triangle you have mobile web/get it now access, The other is pix/flix messaging. The pix/flix messaging accesses that data network through a different pipeline that the mobile web and get it now apps do. By shutting down that data network you will not get any megabytes but you will lose the pix/flix messaging on your device. There is content filtering as well. Ask your rep the next time you call in if it was completely blocked including national access. if not then you know that you are still able to browse the get it now catalogue at least and incur megabyte charges. You can even block it yourself on the Verizon Wireless website.Last but not least you can also change your shortcut keys to avoid “accidentally” pressing the button.
Oh and smartass, do you remember what price plan you had before?If you had an older plan you wouldn’t have been notified about megabyte charges until you changed to a Nationwide ( the name of the plan) calling plan. If you were on an older plan It may have gone against your minutes, which would’ve also been disclosed to you as well.
That’s what happened. It was going against my minutes and then all of the sudden I had a huge bill one month. I didn’t even know my plan was changing. That’s when I originally posted here in December, probably minutes after I saw the huge bill, and was furious.
I didn’t try to get it taken off though, I just called and asked what it was about and paid it, since I knew I used the service. Signed up for the data plan after that. I still get texts telling me I’m going over my data usage though, even having an unlimited plan. No one can tell me why.
I see so you probably had voice overage on that big bill. What plan do you have now? Data is not just megabyte charges.It can also be texting/pix/flix messaging as well. The unlimited minute plan doesnt mean you have unlimited texting etc either just fyi.
I have NATIONWIDE BASIC FAMILY SHARE PRIMARY 700, plus Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Messaging PLUS 5000 additional messages, and the Vcast Vpack. I never go over my minutes, I barely even use 200. I prefer to text lol. I’ve never gone over my texts either.
Ok so its not COMPLETELY unlimited messaging lol. Sometimes the system will warn you if you are on pace to go over, not that you have yet. Say for instance you use 250 in one day,you may get a message that says something to the effect of you may be on pace to incur additional charges for data,voice etc. Its a courtesy warning to give you time to call us or change your plan online.
Also, check your other lines on your family share account to see if they have any usage. Sometimes it will send one to the main account holders phone even though it may be a different line on the account that may have the usage.
It’s probably the first reason you posted about! We only have one other line and the phone on it is so dead it won’t even turn on. My husband has a work cell, so we just use that. Waiting for the plan to run out, so we can take it off.
how many txt/pix/flix messages do you think you do in a month that are non verizon wireless?
Pretty much all of them. The people I text the most have Alltel. They didn’t get changed over in our area when Verizon bought them.
are you in the midwest area??I don’t believe that portion or at least some markets have migrated over yet.You use all 5000 messages or are you saying that everyone you text is non verizon wireless?
I am in Utah, in a very small town. I don’t use all 5,000, probably closer to 3,000 and almost all are to Alltel customers. I’d say 20 out of all of them are to Verizon customers.
I see. well I’d feel comfortable in saying that (and this is of course without looking at your account lol) that it is just a warning most likely that if you keep texting or doing whatever at the pace you are doing it at you could incur overage charges. I have been a consumer of other carriers as well as verizon wireless. T mobile said that my husband and I did international text messaging to Canada. We don’t even know anyone who lives in Canada! lol. Sprint, well.. its Sprint. . what more can i say? lol. I never once had an issue with Verizon wireless that wasn’t caused by my own doing (ie doing over 15,000 messages in one month!).My main point of my blog entries is for people to take responsibility for their actions, whether it be a mistake or not. If I caused an accident, for example(I know its not the best analogy), then I would fully expect to be at fault and would expect to pay for the damages.
Verizon needs to take responsibility for being one of the worst companies in regards to customer service, plans, and phone choice in the industry.
How can anyone justify charging $2.00 for a single view of the horrible get-it-now service? They should change the name to Get-it-away-now.
Sounds like a way to force people to upgrade their plans and if they don’t, they may be “magically” charged for data charges.
If you think that 1.99 per megabyte is bad, why don’t you call AT&T or Sprint to see how much they charge?If you don’t want to be charged, don’t access it, even on accident. If you have a habit of accidentally accessing it, have it blocked completely. Plain and simple.
Oh and by the way, if you are on any plan other than the Nationwide plans, you will not be billed per megabyte when you access mobile web or Get it Now. So to say that Verizon Wireless is forcing you to upgrade to a Nationwide plan and if you don’t that you will be charged for megabyte charges is actually untrue. It is impossible for the older plans to charge per megabyte. The only time you will be advised to change to a Nationwide plan is if the phone or service that you want requires it. Verizon Wireless has what are called terms and conditions and also customer clear disclosures , which are required either verbally or by written form (which is automatically sent out no matter what). So basically, if you have to change to a Nationwide plan that would incur megabyte charges, you are notified of the changes. If you do not want to move to the Nationwide plans and the phone that you WANT (not REQUIRED to have) has to have a Nationwide plan, well then you do have the opportunity to not get the phone and not change your plan.
I like this “If you do not want to move to the Nationwide plans and the phone that you WANT (not REQUIRED to have) has to have a Nationwide plan, well then you do have the opportunity to not get the phone and not change your plan.” (as quoted from ME). I have just run through the circle of upgrading my 5 phones. I never upgrade them just to upgrade and have the newest phone out there, mostly because by the end of 1 year the phones no longer work, so we struggle with them for the second year. I was told in the store and on a call with *611 that ALL phones now require at least the Nationwide plans and very soon all phones being sold are going to require some type of MB package. With 5 phones, I might as well let my contracts expire because there is no way to afford that! Again, that was from 2 different VW customer service reps.
I do think $1.99 is bad. I never said AT&T or Sprint is better. Were talking about Verizon and what they charge, just because the other carriers are terrible doesn’t excuse Verizon’s faults.
This article has been viewed over 15,000 times by people confused about where these charges came from and I like them was confused at first, as well. It took RESEARCH to figure out what was causing these charges. When a customer has to do research just to figure out why they are being charged, the company in question is simple out of line.
Part of the problem has been Verizon’s Customer Service not explaining how the new charges will work for customers that switched to the new plans with the per megabyte charge and part of it is the fact that there is no warning when you click on Get-it-Now that you will be charged and gives you the option to back out.
One word for Verizon’s handling of these new charges: FAIL
Me, I like how you say, “if you have to change to a Nationwide plan”. That is funny because I was told by no less then 3 Verizon Wireless customer support people that all plans are switching to the Nationwide plans of some type. I really was not given a choice to keep my old plan (Family Shared Plan).
Another think you say is to block the services you do not want to be charged for. Well, I have blocked all Internet, downloads and get it now features and everything that I could block except for the video, picture and text package that I pay separately for each month and I still get charged for Internet usage. I have even changed my short-cut keys on all phones so there is no possible way of accidently accessing.
My husband’s phone had the 1.99 charge on it at a time when his phone was locked in his lunch box while he was at work. As a matter of fact, it was even turned off, but the customer service representative proceeded to tell me and my husband that my husband had been on the Internet during that time and downloaded something.
The 1.99 charge is not a high charge, but I am one of those people that refuse to pay for something that I did not use. So far, for all the 1.99 charges that I would have paid for that I did not use the services, Verizon Wireless would have made about 39.98 plus tax. When you multiply that by the number of customers Verizon Wireless has, they are making a hefty chunk of money for services not rendered.
As I have said before, I would never dispute this charge IF I used a service, but I will dispute it when the service I am being charged for is not even active from my phone.
I dispute that charge EVERYTIME and have filed my FCC complaint. It’s nasty how the faceplate button is defaulted straight to GET IT NOW. I did the online thing to prevent downloads but the web browser still starts and I get the $1.99 charge.
So far, VW has credited me but it still sucks. What about the thousands of people that have their bill on auto-pay? I just pay once a month.
And now their early termination fee has doubled?! What’s up with that. Thieves.
I’ve had this same problem for over a year. My family has 4 Verizion phones and we get between 1-3 of the $1.99 data charges just about every month. Verizon has removed them when I call. Sometimes I call, sometimes I don’t.
I called today and they told me I could turn off the shortcut keys on my phone that lead to Get it Now or Web Browsing, etc. But finally, after trying that and calling again, I was told by tech. support that my phone and many other versions of phones have built-in shortcut keys and cannot be changed.
Based upon what I have read on this site, I’m not sure that would have stopped the charges anyhow. I’ve never seen my phone connect to anything in the past 2 months that was data-related – I only use it for voice. But the charges were there on my line. So, it could be that the phones are connecting automatically (buggy, whatever). Or something else is happening that is not visible.
I told the reps in several conversations today that the problem wasn’t with the phones, or with the plans – unlimited data, etc.
The problem is with Verizon wanting to charge $2 (per line) if data is accessed for 1 second. The problem is greed. It is a symptom of corporate greed where businesses want to be paid without rendering an actual service to the customer.
There is absolutely no reason why this cannot be stopped by Verizon. All they need to do is not start data communication billing until 5 seconds of connectivity is reached and only bill for actual usage. This would fix most of the inadvertent button-hitting issues, which is probably a great percentage of the issue. But they will never do this because they are making millions of extra dollars by their current aggravating practice. And I am starting to wonder if they are not even illegally creating data accesses within their billing systems that are not even occurring by the user. I hate to think this way, but they are refusing to act to stop this. On August 27, Verizon’s spokesperson, Tom Pica, said, “It is obvious to [Verizon] that we need to fix this aspect of our service.” But I doubt that they are doing anything. It is too much free income for them.
Class Action may be the only solution.
I have experienced these aggravating $1.99 MB charges. We have five phones on our plan with my kids having three of them. Even though they protest that they don’t use get it now or anything unless getting prior permission, I feel they do anyway. Usually I only have a problem with one son’s line and I think he is probably not always honest. We have a nationwide family plan with 1400 minutes, so we have unlimited pix/text. Recently my son has went through three phones in a period of two months. He had two games on his phone, which he can play as much as he wants without incurring MB usage, and had to redownload the games twice in one billing period. When I got my bill it had an additional $56 in charges, $32 for the games and $24 in MB charges. After a heated exchange with him, in which he assured me the rep at the store said we wouldn’t be charged, I called customer service. The women was pleasant and after I explained things to her she gave me a credit for the games. She asked that I hold on so she could check if the MB’s were charged for playing the games. She told me that some games do charge MB’s while playing. After checking she told me there was no charge for playing and gave me a credit for the MB usage, saying that some of the MB’s were for the redownloads. Even though I’m sure all the MB charges were not related to downloading the games she gave me credit for all of them. I guess my point is that if you do not start the call with an attitude and remain civil you can accomplish what you set out to do.
My wife and I have never been charged any MB usage even though we text and send pix. We still occasionally get $1.99 MB charges on the other lines, but I suspect they are legit. I have called about these at times, and again, being civil have managed to have them removed. The only complaint I have is that when I call they cannot tell me how they were incurred. But trading that off for privacy of not having Verizon snooping on where you are web browsing or whatever is fair.
Just to let you know, I do not work for Verizon, I work in a steel mill, and I also do not read the small print, mega page contracts that we get anytime we interact with them. If I am charged something allowed by the contract I don’t like, it is my fault for not for not reading it. Some of their business practices may not be to my liking but it is my choice to do business with them or not. I think you will find most businesses do things to increase their bottom line that someone disagrees with. It seems we in this country are lawsuit happy. Everytime we disagree with something or feel we are wronged our first thought is sue the bastard. I remember, not long ago, there were no cell phones. Everyone seemed to get along just fine. Point is nobody is forced to use one. Also I’m not some right wing fanatic, actually I’m very liberal in my outlook. So if your unhappy, get rid of the thing.
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This web site makes me more afraid to use my phone than I was before. I can apparently be penalized (charged $1.99) if I choose not to use features but accidentally push a wrong button??
Don’t think this has happened so far.
That is terrible.
But even worse is being charged $1.99 when I am sleeping, and my phone is on, but tucked away in my purse. This tells me something is going on internally at Verizon???
Linda
We have been Verizon customers since the beginning of cell phones, but we are fed up with the data usage charge. I have yelled at my kids over this, and until my own line was charged in a month when I used only 7 minutes on my phone I wasn’t certain what was going on with this charge. I know damn well I didn’t go on the internet. I hardly even use my phone for voice. I have to say that the 4 times we have received the charges they have been credited back, but it takes time on the phone and I truly resent the insinuation that we are somehow lying about our phone usage. Now, we have twice had the charges occur when everything internet related is blocked on our lines! Just today I was told that this month’s $1.99 was for hitting the mystery button (the browser button) and it had to tell us that we have no access. Yup, they claim my daughter touched that dreaded button and because they had to tell her she doesn’t have access, it costs $1.99. The local Verizon store did credit back the charge, but they tell me there is no way to prevent this from happening again. Excuse me?? This is your charge, your plan, your $1.99 ticking on my bill! Fix it! You have until the end of my contract to do so!
Same story here. We all got new phones, they came loaded with icons that made it look like a game or application was already on the phone. But, if you click the icon, it connects to Get it Now. If you disconnect as soon as you see that’s what it is doing, it doesn’t matter..you are still charged a minimum of $1.99 for “browsing”. Very deceptive, and the reply I got from customer service was totally unsatisfactory.
This whole, “hit the icon” (that VZN put there as if the app is on your phone) and then be charged for “browsing” is entrapment, and a deceitful business practice. If we all complain, maybe Verizon will get the message. Let your state’s attorney general and the FCC know about Verizon’s crummy business practices.
I have been charged $416.55 for megabyte usage which I think is complete bull. I bought the Nationwide Pack, which INCLUDES unlimited text, photo, and video messaging, but on the bill I just received, I have been charged for each message that was sent, AND received. There were 1000 something messages. This pisses me off. The buttons that were accidentally pressed, were charged also. This is a scam to get more money for the company. I’m going to let the state attorney know about this. AHHHHHH! This makes me so mad.
I received 2 pictures and saw a $4.00 charge! $2.00/each and the 50cents. I wrote – the last time that happened, VW wrote it would credit me ONCE. That’s bull.
Thanks for the tip on blocking but those dirty rats – in the 4 block services they have $10.00/month for something so it’s a good thing I looked before hitting SUBMIT.
Hope you post when a class action is filed!
Selfish Selfish. I’m cancelling when my 2 year SUCK IN is done.
Thanks for this page!
Wow, I just got this charge for the first one. Congratulations Verizon, you found another way to screw your customers over.
I have called Verizon about ‘random’ MB charges, and the CS rep took me through the steps to remove get it now and mobile web as shortcuts on my phone. This helped, but didn’t solve the problem. Although I have “Unlimited PIX-FLIX Messaging” with my service, I am being charged for each one sent and received? What the hell is wrong with these people?
Hey guys, I have a Verizon LG 6835 phone and it was set by Verizon to have “short cut keys” that are set for “data” service and get hit by accident all the time. It is that round disc with the OK button in the middle. If you hit the arrows on the disc without hitting the OK button data services are launched. To change shortcut key hit OK and arrow right to “setting and tools” and arrow down to “phone settings” then “set short cut keys” Then hit the left top button on keypad to change all settings to calculator. Maybe this will stop help accidental .001 MB charges. Verizon is CRAP
omit name
Yes, I am so upset with Verizon Wireless because of the megabyte charges on my bill every month . Each month I call a rep and get the answer “they can be on there by accident” but does not take them off the bill. We have the nationwide plan, unlimited texting and pixs. Rep tells me only way to “stop megabyte charges” is to block pixs. I pay for that service. Some agency needs to step in and examine what Verizon Wireless is doing to customers.
I just got off the phone with a VZ wireless rep. I didn’t ask for the bogus charges to be taken off, but I did let her block the pic.flix mess service on my wife’s phone. I asked her if she could tell me what the kb usage was for, she said she could give me the ip address. I got 2 adresses and looked them up. They are listed as cellco DBA as verizon wireless. It had a lot of info on it, including a phone # to reach vz data services. 1-800-770-1779. hope this can help someone. I will try to call the # in a couple of days.
Actually, you can block “Nationalaccess” and be done with the charges all together…….
There is the remedy.
@ VZW EMPLOYEE – What if you are paying for unlimited Pix Messages? Blocking Nationalaccess will block all Pix messages.
Therefore I wouldn’t really call that a remedy, that sounds more like a band-aid. Why not simply cure the problem by not charging for any data under 500k (half a megabyte)? Surly Verizon must have at least one programmer around that can write the code for that!
I have everything blocked and I have removed National access on our 4 phones and we no longer get the 1.99 charges . . . however we also no longer can send pix which is something WE ARE PAYING FOR. It galls me to send VZW almost $150 a month and not be able to use our full plan.
Thanks for this info. Hard to believe Verizon would discourage customers (by charging them) from shopping from their cell phones.
Also wanted to let you know Verizon has made it harder to find the web page to block these controls. I was able to find it, but it was more by blind chance than being able to figure it out.
I’m glad you found the info helpful Kevin. Thanks for the update on Verizon’s changes on how to block these features. I just updated to the new steps and added some pictures to help illustrate exactly where these links are. It took me a few minutes to do the digging, so I can see why it was difficult for you as well.
Now I just hope the FCC will do something about these charges, they are already investigating Verizon specifically for these $1.99 megabyte usage charges and other violations. Julius Genachowski is the new head of the FCC and is doing a better job then her predecessor just by even talking to Verizon about these charges.
I am the latest victum of this bull**** fraud of a company Verizon. My little brother got charged 500 dollars usage for megabites. plus all of my other family members bills.Wich came out to 800 dollars in total charge. I’ve been with the company for 10 years and i have never seen anything like this. Now thats 10 years down the drain. Iam canceling my contract with verizon. thanks alot Verizon.
P.S F*** Y** Verizon
thank you for this, i was just charged 130 dollars for one month in megabyte.You helped me alot.
I have had a great few years with VZ, but I just got the kid the rogue and put 2 games on it. WTF, i got the $9.99 25 mb plan and that is a joke. In only 4 days she used 54mb by playing the game. NO where does it say that the game uses data. They charge for the game and then the download counts against your data plan. COME ON THAT IS CRAP VERIZON! The phone is probably getting cancelled. I told the rep today, 2 of the 5 lines on my plan have left for the iphone and it looks like a 3 is about to. I mean what they are charging, I can get the kid an iphone!
Very upset that Verizon is making charges to people who are hard working in earning each dollar. I’ve come to realize that for the past 19 months they were charging 1 out of my 5 lines a $15 fee for VCAST? Never was it used! This totals an amount of $285 not including taxes. I called them to have my money back and all they can do is 3 months! I will need file a complaint to the FCC and get my money back. What a dishonest company!
This is rediculous this has got to be against some kind of ammendment this is rediculous tipical america. Picking on the little guy hey look were a big buisness lets let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer stealing our money. Hey i got charged for 11 dollars of megabyte charges and they dont even mention what they are. This is bull i also have charges of two downloads one problem i didnt download anything big busines’s ruin this country no heart anymore this is rediculous same with healthcare watch the movie sicko that movie pissed me off and showed how rediculous this world has become.
If you have unlimited text/pic messaging you can still be charged for sending picture messages, unless Verizon changed something. There is no way to tell if they did because though don’t announce price\service changes.
Many people in the past have complained about being charged for sending picture messages while being on a unlimited plan.