Lost phones and monthly access charges

Question

I have just realized that for the past 12 months I have been paying monthly access fees for a phone reported lost and had service suspended. After reporting the phone lost while on vacation, my husband bought another phone and signed up for service, separate from the Family Share Plan the lost phone had been part of. Today, while at the office, going over monthly expenses with a new practice manager, we realized that there was a monthly charge for the suspended number. When I called to ask about a refund, I was told by a representative and a supervisor, that because I had not indicated I wanted the service suspended and NOT billed, the billing was my responsibility. I would not be able to receive a full refund. 
While the dollar amount is less than $200.00, I found it odd that the responsibility was mine to indicate after 30 days, that I did NOT want to be billed for a lost phone.  So the lesson is, BUYER BEWARE, and just because you report your phone lost and have service suspended, you may not be entirely free of charges, even with a new phone and contract.

Answer 1

I can certainly understand your frustration. When you sign up for service with VZW, you enter into a contract. Most likely 2 years. If you do not fulfill 24 months of that contract, then you will be charged an early termination fee. This is the same for any business. If you suspend WITHOUT BILLING, meaning months go by where you do not pay a monthly access charge, then your contract end date will extend. This is in order to fulfill the 24 months of that contract. You aren't obligated per that contract to pay more than 24 months. Your service continues after those 24 months (which are typically consecuative but in situations where there is a suspense without billing, there could be a gap) and after that contract you are able to cancel without any penalty or continue service month to month, or enter into a new contract.
You can suspend indefinitely when you suspend WITH billing. There are time limits and restrictions for suspend WITHOUT billing. This is for your protection. Again, you would never get out of a contract if you could just suspend that line and not pay anything!!! In your situation, you should be thankful that you have been paying.
Liken it to paying for a hotel. At 2:00 AM you cant go to the desk and say that you want to leave and not have to pay for the rest. You pay for the WHOLE night!! ...well most respectable hotels anyway...
Service is great, but most people expect every company to bend their rules to suit self. Where is individual responsibility. You can't always tell a company what you want to happen. There are guidelines in place for a reason. Same reason I can't go to a restaurant and order a piece of rare chicken! If every customer got their own "utopian version" of customer service (i.e. selfish) it wouldn't be fair to me or the other customers!!!