topic Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!! in General Credit Topics

DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:44:46 GMT

i share a cell phone plan with verizon that i am the primary account holder. My 20 year old son just made 3500.00 in long distance overseas calls and i cant afford to pay this bill. I have been rebuilding my credit and have finally got my scores up to the 670"s so that i can buy my first house. My problem is that this is going to ruin all of my hard work if it goes into collections. I dont have a credit card that i can put this much on and since he is a full time student, he doesnt have a job and cant help me with the bill, even if he got a job 2morrow he couldnt give me the money by the 21st when the bill is due. Can anyone think of how i can keep this from going into collections? Is verizon easy to make payment arrangements with? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have literrally been sick since i got the bill and saw all of my hard work practically vanish right before my eyes. I am needless to say extremely depressed about this and it has really affected my relationship with my son. Please give any suggestions that you can , i really need all the help i can get. THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:42:57 GMT

Wow! I am very sorry this has happened!

I really can't tell you anything about how they are, I have never used them.

But, I think it would be best to contact them and see if they are willing to work with you. Not talking to them before it is due could be worse.

The only thing I can think of is to tell them you did not authorize the calls. I don't know if that would be of any help or not.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

keith021 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:17:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
i share a cell phone plan with verizon that i am the primary account holder. My 20 year old son just made 3500.00 in long distance overseas calls and i cant afford to pay this bill. I have been rebuilding my credit and have finally got my scores up to the 670"s so that i can buy my first house. My problem is that this is going to ruin all of my hard work if it goes into collections. I dont have a credit card that i can put this much on and since he is a full time student, he doesnt have a job and cant help me with the bill, even if he got a job 2morrow he couldnt give me the money by the 21st when the bill is due. Can anyone think of how i can keep this from going into collections? Is verizon easy to make payment arrangements with? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have literrally been sick since i got the bill and saw all of my hard work practically vanish right before my eyes. I am needless to say extremely depressed about this and it has really affected my relationship with my son. Please give any suggestions that you can , i really need all the help i can get. THANKS IN ADVANCE.

That’s horrible! You should add international calling block on his line. In the meantime, call customer care and see if they are able to offer you an international calling plan and back date it to reflect/relieve some of those overages. Be very polite and nice. Explain your situation and let them know you are willing to pay, but it’s not possible for you to pay it all at once.

In my previous experiences with cell phone companies; T-Mobile, Sprint, Alltel, and now AT&T. When I went over my allotted minutes, my plans were upgraded and I didn’t have to pay for any overages because the new plan came with more minutes and it deducted minutes from the overages. I was always very nice and courteous when explaining my situation.

You should definitely speak with them before the due that to sort things out. Your account won’t go into collections, unless you don’t pay ANYTHING or the balance is past due for a while. Good luck!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

asanch12 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:11:45 GMT

i completely agree with keith021. i remember when i first started text messaging and went over, i called verizon right away and they were able to backdate the plan. The rep i spoke to said that its easier to backdate if its before your next statement. good luck!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Kiwill — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:47:51 GMT

I have Verizon and from my experience with them, they are EXTREMELY accomodating but that is a whole lot of money. My son once went over by more than a thousand text messages and over $100 worth and they allowed me to backdate his text messaging plan to a much higher texting package and I made him pay for the "extra" messages he was receiving. I'm sure they will be willing to put the account on hold until the balance is paid in full. Good Luck!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

tianapb725 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:26:21 GMT

Definitely call the company and see what they can do. They may or may not have a value plan for international rates and in most cases, they are willing to work with you. I believe they also have a financial services department where you can set up a payment arrangement to avoid the phones being turned off for non-payment. Most companies are willing to work with their companies, but definitely be polite to the representative. You attract more bees with honey

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

JoeBJay20 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:46:36 GMT

Not to shill for Verizon, but I too have found them extremely accomodating when it comes to these types of situations. They always allow you the option of back-dating your new plan to start at the beginning of the billing cycle. As other posters have stated, call immediately, let them know the situation, and I'm sure they would be willing to work with you.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:40:48 GMT

Spent more than 4 hours on phone 2day with various reps from 3 different depts at verizon. they were willing to backdate a international calling plan back 2 the beginning of this billing cycle but since no calls were made during this cycle it wont help. All calls were made on my last bill which closed feb 26th. The only payment options they cann offer are 578.00 a month in addition to my regular phone bill for the next 6 months. I CANT AFFORD THIS AMOUNT AND THEY SAID THAT IF IT ISNT PAID OFF IN THE 6 MONTHS THEN IT WOULD GO TO COLLECTIONS.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

MattH — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:31:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Spent more than 4 hours on phone 2day with various reps from 3 different depts at verizon. they were willing to backdate a international calling plan back 2 the beginning of this billing cycle but since no calls were made during this cycle it wont help. All calls were made on my last bill which closed feb 26th. The only payment options they cann offer are 578.00 a month in addition to my regular phone bill for the next 6 months. I CANT AFFORD THIS AMOUNT AND THEY SAID THAT IF IT ISNT PAID OFF IN THE 6 MONTHS THEN IT WOULD GO TO COLLECTIONS.

Push your son really really really hard to man up and find a part-time job to pay this. If he can find something that pays ten bucks an hour and works 15 hours a week he can cover the amount. I worked various jobs including food service while I was a student, and with good time management had no problem keeping up with my studies. What I sacrificed was partying; that's life.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:55:12 GMT

And tell him that if he doesn't get it paid off in time, and you get sent to collections, he's off your cell phone plan, and he can go get his own pre-paid Trac-Fone or something equally glam.

I hope you've put every restriction possible on his phone line. I hate to say it, but he is showing an astonishing level of immaturity. Time to grow up.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:46:04 GMT

Had his phone turned off , and if i can legally do it i am going to make him sell his truck.. Ive worked so hard and i just cant let all my hard work go to waste. IM MAD AS HELL AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

RobertEG — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:10:18 GMT

Wow!

I agree with prior posters,

Get on the phone with Verizon now, and make a FIRM payment plan offer to pay in exchange for this not going to collection.

If you commit to a firm payment plan, you can avoid collection.

With an agreement for repayal in their pocket, then it substantially reduces their incentive to place it as a charge off, or collection.

They will probabably negotiate with you, if you are willing to put your agreement into writing.

Then take that kid out behind the barn!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

MattH — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:27:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Had his phone turned off , and if i can legally do it i am going to make him sell his truck.. Ive worked so hard and i just cant let all my hard work go to waste. IM MAD AS HELL AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

You can legally say "sell the truck this week or you will never again get any help from me whatsoever for the rest of your life" to him.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

tbone74 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:31:42 GMT

@MattH wrote:

You can legally say "sell the truck this week or you will never again get any help from me whatsoever for the rest of your life" to him.

LMAO! Sorry...but very seldom is there anything funny posted around these parts. That definitely gave me a laugh!

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:13:34 GMT

http://consumerist.com/2010/03/reach-verizon-wireless-executive-customer-service-2.html

This contains contact info for a helpful executive customer service rep for the Northeast. A search of this site will turn up additional higher-up contact info.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:20:06 GMT

First of all, take the phone away from the kid! Next, call Verizon and explain what happened. They are NOT going to let you off the hook, but the can and probably will, let you set up some kind of payment plan. Next, before you kill you kid, tell him to get a job, because HE is going to pay you back. I'm not kidding. I reallly should be scolding you for letting an obviously immature person share a phone with you. How in the name of god did he dial up so many minutes? Take him out to the woodshed and whip his hide! Get the idea?

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:25:50 GMT

I agree with what many of the other users said, and you did the best thing by calling Verizon right away. To put a positive spin on the punishment front. This is an opportunity for your son to learn tp take responsibility for his actions, and help him make more positive finachial decisions in the future. I work with teenagers, and I can tell you they don't process (it is a brain development thing). I am not excusing the behavior, but again this is an opportunity for him to grow and learn about finachial responsibility.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:41:45 GMT

I would have no problem whatsoever making my son or daughter sale their belongings to ~~help~~ pay for something they brought about.

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:35:30 GMT

Hello Desperate

Im also very sorry for this happening to you but now its time to take action. First of all Get him off your account immediately if he can make these calls he can pay for them. Second, I also have verison and this has happened to me too. Call them and make an auto payment arragement with them to get this paid down. You can also go to a bank and get a loan and pay it this will also help your credit after six on time monthly payments. By making payments to verison over a long period of time, It will not show credit worthiness. Make this bad situation into an advantage. Get that loan pay it off and make the payments to the bank. If he wants a cell phone let him pay for it himself. I hope this has helped you. Make lemonade.

nadine

Re: DESPARATE FOR HELP!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:42:47 GMT

Sorry to hear your misfortune and your son needs a spanking! LOL...just kidding! Have you tried to work out a payment plan? I would just speak with them and be truthful. Let them know that your son ran up your bill without you knowing. I can only assume but the last thing they want to do is lose money.