Prepaid ripoff
Just so Prepaid users know how Verizon handles your account. Do not put anymore money on the account than you expect to use! I put $100 on my prepaid account to get the 365 day window of usage. After a couple of months I decided to switch to a postpaid plan. I called VW Prepaid and was told that they would refund the unused balance. After many frustrating calls with misinformation being provided I found out the real VW policy.
1. YOU DO NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK. IT CAN ONLY BE USED FOR AIRTIME ON THE PHONE NUMBER THE BALANCE IS APPLIED FOR.
2. YOU CANNOT TRANSFER THE BALANCE AMOUNT TO ANOTHER VW PREPAID PHONE YOU MAY HAVE.
3. YOU CANNOT USE THE BALANCE TO BUY ANY ITEMS IN THE VW ONLINE STORE.
4. YOU WILL NOT BE GIVEN A CASH REFUND- PERIOD.
So I have lost an $82 balance. I would have appreciated a cash refund or at least the opportunity to transfer the amount to another Verizon phone account, or use the funds to purchase good or services from Verizon. So if any lawyers or government folks are watching the forums you have an opportunity to go after the big dog Verizon who is taking advantage of their clients funds. There is no reason why a customer should not be able to get a refund or use their balance to at least purchase items. We need policies that do a better job protecting prepaid wireless phone consumers.
In your shoes, I might have elected to stay on the prepaid account until I'd used the $100, THEN switch to post paid.
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bathgate69, sorry for this inconvenience. Which make/model phone do you have?
For your convenience, you can also reach our Prepaid customer service department at 888-294-6804 for help, as well.
LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!! -
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I have a prepaid account and when I switched to Verizon I traded my old iPhone in and was given a $200 gift card from Verizon. I made sure that you can use the gift card to pay your bill. But when I go into My Verizon, I can't find a place to pay. Does this mean that you can't pay on a prepaid ALL SET plan with a gift card?
Thanks for reading.Flamingo_punk,
You ask a great question. You can use your Gift Card at the store to make a payment on your All Set plan.
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So, how do I resolve this? Take the phone back, because there is clearly a defect? But if it's software, I'll have to get an escalation to get a different phone. Is there a fix? Sue for false advertising? Better yet, start a class action -- there sure seem to be a lot of us in this boat based on web searches.
<< Transcript removed to comply with Verizon Wireless Terms of Service >>
Message was edited by: Verizon ModeratorOK, I have to throw VZW some props here. I went to the store where I bought my phones, and explained the problem I was having with international travel and the s3. The store put me into an iphone5 for free as a warranty exchange -- apparently they know the APN issue is a serious one and they said there was a big lawsuit about it. It cost me a bit for power adapters and such, and a few paid apps, but the iphone has (reportedly) no issues with international travel and local sims.
Way to go, VZW. Mark this one up for responsive customer service. -
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Hi Saramos,
When setting up Family Sharing you must have a credit or debit card as your payment method. See this article for reference -
Family purchases and payments
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How iTunes Store purchases are billed
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
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How can I use "Family Sharing" without giving details of my credit or debit card? I do not want to give my cards data, I have always used iTunes prepaid cards.
Hi Saramos,
When setting up Family Sharing you must have a credit or debit card as your payment method. See this article for reference -
Family purchases and payments
When a family member makes a purchase it will be billed to any gift or store credit that they have first. If none exists it will be billed to you.
As the family organizer, you may not set your billing method for purchases to anything other than a credit or debit card. If you have a store credit such as from pre-paid cards, it may not be shared with other family members. See this article for reference -
How iTunes Store purchases are billed
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L -
On June 26th after 7:00 p.m. Central time I spoke to sales on the phone as the PREPAID website was having issues. I was on an expired VERIZON contract and wanted my current telephone # which is not an option online.
I called customer service to order the iPhone 4 16GB for $99 as advertised, and was sent to Darby, in the Sales Dept. Darby suggested that I not do it on a Thursday night after 7:00 as they would disconnect my current phone, and would not receive the shipment until Monday. He said he would give me a courtesy call Monday (June 30) @ 11:00 to place my order. He did not called as planned.
Therefore I called that night and was given Crystal (removed) (Sales) & informed her of my concerns & she placed the order for 16GB iPhone for $99 as advertised online. I received the order confirmation immediately in an email.
On July 1st I received the shipping confirmation of an iPhone 8 GB.
I immediately called Verizon customer service and was given a few people, different departments and a woman named Cierra told me that we can hope that that is a typo because the only thing offered online is the 16 GB.
July 2nd the 8 GB was delivered to my place of employment. And, . . .I drove directly to the nearest VERIZON store to have them help.
I was there for 3 hours. Finally got the iPhone activated with my old ‘post paid’ account to ‘prepaid’ account which is a nightmare. They are VERIZON and yet separate. They did what they could @ the store for me. I was told that I would have to order and pay again for the 16 GB, . . .then send back the 8 GB, not wanting to be w/o a phone. Also that it would take 3 days probably to receive the credit back in my account.
No department @ VERIZON talks to each other, no department can seems to communicate. We had to ask for someone’s supervisor in customer service because there was no solution, they could not do anything. They said their supervisor was in a meeting. Eventually we spoke with a supervisor named Ray the only solution was to make another order, and stated they would not charge me shipping, . . .and I guess I was suppose to be grateful.
The store could not exchange this 8 GB for their 16 GB as the cost of the in-store 16 GB cost $50 more.
During all this I had stated this is too complicated, I’m leaving this phone here for them to ship back, . . .glad I did not though.
This evening I wasted more time & energy trying to find someone that can communicate to another person about my account, . . .to no avail, . . .finding no department that can take care of the shipping that got screwed up.
Now after some time as passed, cleaning house & such, . . .I have realized that if I do return the incorrect was that was sent, . . .I will most likely I would automatically be charged the restock fee of what, $35 as no one can communicate to another department on your behalf.
But they’ll sure take your money. Not sure what to do @ this point, as they cannot be trusted.
We asked Ray to have his supervisor John to give me a call and none yet. This evening someone in ‘Sales’ sent an email to Crystal to give me a call, . . .(holiday maybe, no call yet).
Any suggestions VERIZON? Some depart, CORE, . . .they can't help with prepaid either, geez.
>>Edited to comply with the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service<<
Message was edited by: Verizon ModeratorUpdate:
The USPS tracking shows the phone was delivered to Centralized Returns Center in Fort Worth on July 10th. I have spoken with Customer Service & am getting a $21 credit for not being able to use my phone.
Telesales, . . .say's they can only make a 'note' on my account 'Do Not Charge Re-stock Fee as the wrong phone was sent'. Customer Service cannot see this 'note', . . .(shrug).
My mistake:
As soon as I received the incorrect phone, . . .I should have written on the original receipt, . . .
"I was sent the WRONG PHONE, Please Do not charge re-stock fee" and please credit my account".
I have not been charged a re-stock fee yet, . . .not sure if that happens what I will do, . . .speak to Customer Service I presume.
I should NOT have gone to the store for help, . . .they are in sales. But they did get the phone activated, . . .which I believe now I should not have done!
The RETURNS center is unreachable and 'Sales' can only sell, . . and following up on incorrect phones being sent is NOT THEIR issue?????
Too bad there is not a STORE THAT DEALS WITH PREPAID, . . . that can actually deal with 'Shipping' and 'Returns', . . .what a concept!
'Sales', nor 'Customer Service' can reach the 'Returns Center', . . .or figure out if it was the Sales Rep Crystal in California, that ordered wrong, or the Shipping Departments mistake.
I was just told by Terry (Sales Rep) and the manager, Patrick, . . .all I can do now is wait on my credit & it should be there by Monday July 14th. #1, . . .How can they even know that w/o even speaking to the shipping dept or the returns center? They can't, . . .they only suspect, right?
The main problem is that the original Sales Rep,Crystal in California . . .cannot be reached. No one is responsible for sending out the wrong phone, . . . .telesales just want's to sell another phone. At this point 'TRUST' is the issue.
I want to thank Customer Service for working with me.
Not sure what the future will hold with this issue, but only hope to receive my credit @ this point. It is a way too complicated avenue of communicating. -
What is the reason contract phones cannot be used on a prepaid plan?
I originally posted this question in the Basic Phones forum, but I think that may have been the wrong place to ask this.
I am interested in activating a phone on the $50 basic phone prepaid plan, but the phone I tried to activate would not work. It was the Casio Ravine 2 C781.
I already know that contract phones will not work on the prepaid plan. I also have already spoken with two customer service reps, and they were helpful, but they could not answer my questions.
What is the actual reason that basic feature contract phones will not work on the prepaid basic plan? Is it the PTT feature?
The Ravine 2 was new with a clean ESN, and it's just a basic phone. I don't blame anyone except myself, but I would like to avoid this in the future. btw, I gave the Ravine to my mom and dad who are on a contract plan, and it is working great.
One of the reps I spoke with said that this may change in the near future, and that phones like the Ravine 2 may work on the prepaid plan soon. Does anyone know if this is true?
To make things more confusing, I just read an older post that states if a contract phone like the Ravine is activated for at least 6 months, it then can be activated on a prepaid plan. Is there any truth to this?
Finally, I understand that there are some basic flip phones available that I can purchase like the Revere 2 and the Gusto 2, but I prefer the quality of the Ravine 2. I need the rugged phone capability due to my work environment.
Thanks for your time.
JimHi there Gipsonsb!
That's a fantastic question. I would highly recommend contacting our Prepaid department. They're available just for you 24/7. You can reach them by calling 888-294-6804.
Thank you!
MelissaM_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport -
How can I get my 25 pounds back. It's been stolen from my itunes account to buy KingdomConquest stuff. I' ve been hacked via itunes - I had a prepaid card in there.
I work in it, am very careful, and this is the first time since 1985 when i starter using i.t. That i've been hacked. Thank you apple. It seems like a very common problem with apple.
What's the email address i should use to get my money back and report it ? As usual the apple phone lines don' t answer, an they make life as difficult as possible for anyone to gt redress.It's most likely not you, no matter what they say. I have noticed a LOT of fraud with itunes, even with my own account. One time I caught them doing a database restore. I know this because my password automagically reverted back to an old one! I'm an IT guy who helped design DOD classified networks in the mid-pacific. I know security. The best protection for this is to NOT have a credit card listed in iTunes. Use iTunes cards ONLY. It's a pain, but until they step up, it's all you got.
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How do I activate the ability to call Canada on my basic phone?
We want to make sure that you can stay connected, Justexasperated. To discuss all Prepaid options it would be best to call 888-294-6804 as they will have full access to the account.
Thank you,
YaleK_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWsupport -
I was using a prepaid American Express E-Gift card with my iTunes account and now the money is done. How do I remove the card from my account?
Changing Account Information
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1918
If necessary Contact iTunes Customer Service and request assistance
Use this Link > Apple Support iTunes Store Contact -
I used a prepaid MasterCard as my pay method, the card now has a zero balance. My I pad will no longer allw my to download free apps because my pay method is invalid? I can't delete the paymethodwith out putting in a new one? How can I download free ps
Changing Account Information
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1918
If necessary Contact iTunes Customer Service and request assistance
Use this Link > Apple Support iTunes Store Contact
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