I hate Verizon

I got a notice from a collection agency the other day, for $9.33. Apparently there was a final bill from Verizon that I never got. After a hellish phone experience, I found out the details. The bill, plus all followup notices, were getting sent to my old address. Somehow, despite my mail forwarding, none of these ended up at my new address.

Once I get Drew to help in confirming when I start up my cell phone, it will be entirely likely that I shouldn't have to pay the $9.33 in the first place. There had been a discrepancy somehow, whereupon I had the number ported over to AT&T, but then I got another bill for an account that had no phone number attached to it. According to Verizon (back when I talked to them several months ago), this was an error on AT&T's side, since they were supposed to close my Verizon account when they contacted them to get the number over (why would a Verizon employee choose to leave open an account that had no attached number?). In any case, AT&T said they'd take care of the porting problem and have the account set so that it would have been closed when the number was officially transferred over. Sounds like that didn't happen.

Meaning that I sat on the phone for about an hour and 1/2 today. I got transferred to 6 or 7 people, and I had to explain my issue to each and every one of them despite several of the people, when transferring me to the next, saying they were contacting that person and explaining the situation. A few of them insisted I was in the wrong department before I even finished explaining my problem. One woman made me start crying, and kept interrupting me tell me she was gonna transfer me, without letting me explain my problem in full. I was made to feel like it was my fault that I never received these bills that they had (according to them, at least) been sending me. I asked if they would take off the charge, being as it was ridiculous that, as far as I was concerned, I never received a bill for it, as well as the fact that, at $9.33, it would be cheaper to just refund that to me rather then spend the money on paying the people that had to talk to me about my problem. She said she couldn't do that. Afterwards, I found out from Drew that the response I should make for such things is 'Ok, then transfer me to someone who can do it'. I hate Verizon.

Oh yeah, and two people insisted in transferring me to FIOS, despite that I never had FIOS. I pointed out that fact, but the guy(s) insisted that my account was marked as a FIOS account.

In the end, I realised that I didn't have the proper dates documented to successfully hold up my end of a dispute conversation over the charges, so I grudgingly agreed to have the final bill sent to me. Upon actually having documentation in my hands for when this alleged $9.33 was due, I can then get Drew to look up the AT&T information to see when my number was officially ported over, and therefore, when my account *should* have been terminated if everyone had been doing their job correctly, and also therefore the last date I should have to owe Verizon any money for. So I anticipate having to contact AT&T to get this taken care of, as I am quite sure that $9.33 is not my responsibility.

And the sad part is that it's just $9.33. But it's the principle of the matter. And the fact that I don't want Verizon to have a cent more then need be. And the fact that, well, it's only $9.33, and they should not make it hell to deal with such a puny charge.