Disconnecting Line and Final Bill

Question

I had been a loyal Verizon Wireless customer since 2008. I
was on a share plan with my wife and my brother, and I would pay the bill each
month which was about $160 for the three of us each month. I never missed one
single payment. Well the 3 of us decided to switch to
US Cellular. My brother’s wife had already been there, and they had these new
phones for a penny and it was time as we’ve had these same phones for 5 years
almost now, we were out of contract, and I had a work discount through US Cellular. So.......
February 22, 2014 the three of us went over to US cellular
and started a new plan with new phones. My phone number and my brother’s phone
number switched without a problem. However, my wife, who’s number was from a
different region could not be switched, we needed to get her a new number.
After we switched, US Cellular told me to call Verizon the very next day (which
was February 23rd) and disconnect/deactivate my wife’s line because
that one would not happen automatically as they didn’t transfer her old number.
So on February 23rd, I did
just that. I called Verizon and they said we were disconnecting it and I’d get
the next bill and would have to pay that and should be done.
Well sure enough around March 1st, the next bill
came, and on it is the full balance of $160 due March 10th. I question this and
call Verizon again admitting I thought it would be a lesser amount. They instructed
me to look at the billing date. The cycle was from January 15th to
February 15th on the bill that is due by March 10th. Well
we switched phones on February 22nd, so it made sense to me that
this bill didn’t reflect the few days of February 16- 22nd but
rather the previous full month from January 15th up until February 15th.
So far so good, I just misunderstood the bill cycle date.
So I asked if I could just pay off the remaining amount and
be done with it all. I mean we’re in the beginning of March now and haven’t used
the phones since February 22nd, and they’re all disconnected now,
why not? They told me unfortunately no, I had to pay this whole bill first and
then wait for the next bill cycle to come available which wouldn’t happen until after
March 10th for that last billing cycle which would  reflect those few days of, Feb 16- Feb. 22nd.
The rep ensures me it will probably only be a few bucks per line for those 6-7
days or so.  I said that’s too bad I can’t
just pay the whole thing now but oh well; we’ll do it your way. I guess I’ll just
go online in a few days and pay it  and
then come the next bill cycle (which doesn’t go out until March 10th)
we’ll go online about that and pay the rest; just a few dollars per line.
The rep butts in, “yeah, about that sir, once you disconnect
the line, as you've done, you lose service to your online bill pay and accounts online so you
will have to call us to pay. I’m thinking aww man, another inconvenience, but
oh well, I’ll do what I have to do and call back twice to get these bills paid.
Well, a week later a couple days before March 10th
when the full $160 is due, I call and pay it (which took me forever on hold as
one of their centers was down). She apologized for the delay, took my payment,
and said when that last bill gets generated here in a few days (March 11th that shows usage from Feb 15th to March 15th, but will only reflect the few days I used the phones in that cycle which would be to the 22nd) I can just push pound
something something and pay the last bill through the automated phone system and be
done. I said okay
Come now to March 22nd I get that final bill in
the mail. I expect it to be a few bucks per line as is it would only reflect
from February 15th to Feb 22nd when we disconnected our
lines.  But no, the bill is $120. That's almost
3/4 of the price of all three of our phones for an entire month.  I was thinking something must be wrong, unless they didn't prorate the bill in which case the whole month (which would be a rip off) would be $160 like usual but why all this confusion? I was hoping to just use the automated bill
pay via phone to pay for those 6 days in the last cycle and be done with it forever but no, now I have to call the
company AGAIN to figure out all of this. What happened next was a nightmare!
I called and spoke with a rep asking why the outrageous
price for just a few days of service on those lines. She puts me on hold and
looks into it. She comes back and says my wife’s line was never disconnected. I
said you have to be kidding me; I’ve called in to disconnect it initially and
then even called back w/ questions on how the last bill works and everything
after we disconnect the lines. You can even see that no data or minutes were ever used on
any of those 3 lines since Feb. 22nd. She answers, yes sir I see
that, let me place you back on hold. Okay I figure she’s going to check this
out.  She comes back again, well sir I
see you called a couple times  but I don’t see that you requested to disconnect your wife’s
line. WHAT?! I thought. Why else would I originally call? US Cellular was right and told me specifically told me to do this the very next day and I did! AND THEN I ALSO EVEN CALLED BACK LATER AFTER THE NEXT BILL CAME CONFIRMING ALL THE LINES WERE DISCONNECTED AND HAD QUESTIONS ON HOW I LEAVE VERIZON AND WHAT MY FINAL PAYMENT WOULD BE!   And why was my
account access to pay my bill online turned off (I did try to go online to see
if I could pay the last bill and I was no longer to go online) if my wife's line was never disconnected? This is getting
nuts. She placed me on hold again and returns, okay sir, this is what I’m going
to do. I’m going to suspend her line today and then you can call back tomorrow
to disconnect it.  Then you can pay off the last payment on the next bill cycle.
At this point my blood is boiling, was this a joke. I should
not have to call back again, this should have been disconnected weeks ago! and
you can see nothing has been used on those phones. I told her this is the last bill cycle and  I’m not calling
back and we need to get this disconnected today and that bill lowered to its
fair amount.  She places me on hold again
and comes back and tells me she had overridden something and got the line disconnected
today and she was going to take $40 off my phone bill.
At this point I’m like finally, but an hour later and now my
phone bill is $70 for the three phones that we used for 6 days!!  I said 6 days is about 1/5th of the
month. If our final bill is reflecting only the days of the month we used it
should be more like 1/5 the price of our original monthly bill which was $160. which would be more like $32, not $70. I had to explain some of the simple math to her and she
goes on to push about how the line was active and such, and I said but that
wasn’t my fault you didn’t disconnect it and this is not a fair final bill for
6 days of usage!!  She put me on hold yet
again and finally came back and said I’m going to take off another $40 from the
bill but it will need approval from my supervisor which will take 2 business
days. If and when she approves it, you will get the final bill in the mail for
the $120 minus an $85 credit. FINALLY!!!
I wasn’t even looking for something free, I just wanted a
fair final bill after I’ve taken the time to call to disconnect my wife’s line
and understand how the final bill works and everything. No one should have to
go through this and spend hours on the phone trying to understand how the
process works so you don’t get duped and then end up getting duped anyway and
having to spend more time to fix that. It was a big rip-off and extremely frustrating.
Telling me the line’s not disconnected but taking away online bill pay, and the
final bill itself was not only wrong, but it outright lied in certain spots.
Almost as though they were making up dollar amounts and dates. The bill cycle on the last bill said Feb 15th to March 15th but then under then under my wife's name there was the charge of $120 and the dates next to that said March 15th - April 15th!?!?! The phones haven't been used since Feb 22nd! Not simple at all and very confusing.  Make sure you’re carefully monitoring your
bills when leaving Verizon Wireless. Needless to say, I’m never going back to
them so I won’t have to worry about this again. I just hope this new paper bill that shows the credit gets to my mail box before it's due date of 04/10 so I don't get a late charge. I was assured it would. I hope the CSR is telling the truth this time for once. I have faith in the last one I spoke with. I'm hoping she doesn't let me down too like everyone before her so far has.

Answer 1

Leaving is quite simple via porting out. As you noted when two of the lines ported successfully. However I can see no valid reason why the wifes number could not be ported out. There are porting laws in place. But on to the rest.
If your monthly service runs as you are saying "The cycle was from January 15th to February 15th on the bill that is due by March 10th".
That would be incorrect. If your monthly bill is from lets say January 15 through February 14 then your payment on the account is always that last day. (February 14th.) The next new billing cycle is now February 15th through March 14 again the bill closing date is the day the invoice must be paid. All three lines since they were ported on February 22nd. still must be paid in full (2 ported & 1 not ported). There is no prorating in this case. Now in regards to the bill closing date again would next be March 15, 2014 through April 14, 2014. Since the wife's phone was not closed the only device should be just that line and no other. The other lines are paid up through March 14, 2014 so there should be no further charges.
Some where along the line folks must remember to terminate service (port) a few days BEFORE the next bill comes due. remember we pay in advance.
Good Luck