Customer Retention - Bait and Switch

Question

In April, after doing a lot of research, I moved a line from Verizon to AT&T instead of renewing my contract with Verizon.  After about a week, I received a phone call from Verizon asking to win back my business, and they offered me a really great plan.  $100/month for two lines, unlimited text and unlimited calls, and 2 GB data for each phone (plus some kind of overage protection) with a WiFi hotspot on my line. (This amount would increase to $110/month after 12 months). I explained that for that deal, I would switch back, but that I would need the phone soon, because I only had a week to return the other one from AT&T.  They said no problem, they'd ship one right out.
A week went by and I still didn't have the phone, and there was only 3 days left in the 2-week grace period for me to return the AT&T phone.  I called Verizon and they said they had a record of the call, but the order for the phone never went through.  They could overnight one to me, but I'd have to pay the extra $15 for rush shipping.  Could I just pick one up at the store? No. It had to come from the website/main company.  I grudgingly paid the money to get it in time, did the return on the last possible day, and activated the new one.
The first bill I got was a confusing mess, with charges for the old plan, and activation fees for the new phone which were supposed to be waived in order to win back my business. I had read on the bill that it usually takes a month of billing for plan changes to show on the bill, but I decided to call about the activation fees.  The operator was very kind and explained that yes, there had been a mistake, but he was able to fix it and get me into the right plan.  He also refunded the activation fee.
A few days later I tried to use the hotspot for the first time.  This is a key feature for me and if it wasn't included, I would never have switched back.  But when I tried to turn it on, I got a message on the phone to contact customer service.  I explained to Sean (removed) the problem, and he activated the hotspot for me temporarily as a courtesy, but he wanted a few days to research the problem.  When he called back a few days later, he said that he discovered that the Customer Retention Specialist who initially called me was a third party who did not work for Verizon, and this person input the plan wrong.  But it should be all fixed now at the rates that were offered to me.  I reiterated the plan details several times for confirmation.
The next bill I received was also incorrect, and so I called again and explained the entire history of the situation to Lily (removed) in the Utah office.  Lily read through all the notes and almost immediately said, "Ahah! I know what happened!  You are supposed to be in the Loyalty Plan!"  She did some typing, checked some things, and confirmed, again, the details of the of the plan that was offered to me.  She also gave me a $20 credit for all the trouble.  I hung up the phone feeling confident the matter was finally resolved.
My next bill still wasn't right.  This time I spoke with Melanie (removed), who had been with the company for a long time, and understood the situation in short order.  She, too, made adjustments to the bill and "got me into the right plan."
Two weeks ago I tried to use my hotspot and got the same message to call Verizon.  This time I spoke with Bree in Utah, who explained that there is no such plan as what I'm describing, and that it is "impossible" to activate my hotspot at the current price.  In order to get the hotspot service I would have to pay an extra $20 per month, although she could waive the first month only.  I said that was totally unacceptable because it wasn't what was offered to me, and I would not have cancelled my AT&T contract for those terms.  She said she understands, it's terrible--her own carrier had done it to her, too, so she knows how I feel. I was flabbergasted.  A manager would not be able to speak with me for about ten minutes, and a manager could not call me back.
As if all these trials weren't enough, I just looked at my bill, and it's wrong.  I'm paying $119.99 a month + taxes to total $135, and I still don't have a working hotspot, the one feature, the linchpin, that swayed me to switch back in the first place.
I'm writing this here in hopes that someone who knows how to proceed will read it and tell me what my next step should be.  Today, it is four months to the day that I reactivated my Verizon service; four months and six interactions with Verizon's customer service later, I am still being charged more money and receiving less service than I was promised.  From my view, this is a textbook bait and switch to re-up a new contract.
>> Edited to comply with the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service <<
Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

Answer 1

I know exactly how you feel, I was thinking about going back, but now that I have read your statement, this makes up my mind for me, seems like all of the reps are incompetent. It's sad that these guys have monopolized the industry. Worst customer service, its questioning how much they pay to have their name rated for best customer service awards. The saying is true, money talks. Out with Verizon.