Verizon Wireless CRA Issue

[Hogwash]

In 2001 I did a relocation from New England to Florida. I was a Bell Atlantic cellular customer prior to the move and moved my service with them to FL. After the move I received a cellphone bill that was in essence a duplicate for over $3.000. I contacted Verizon regarding the over billing and was told to " pay, there would not be an adjustment". I refused to pay the entire amount and the account was closed and sent to collections.

I settled with the collection agency for what should have been the correct amount and they agreed to remove any derogatory from my CR. In 2002 I ran a credit report and the account showed the original amount / 120 days+ and a chargeoff. I disputed through the CRA's and they "verified" the account.

In the next 5 years Verizon added an additional 6 accounts (yes 6) to my credit report that also reported late or charged off. I only had one account with VZ ever. After a period of disputing these accounts and the original account, I decided to try contacting the Executive Relations desk. What started out as a real effort on their part (and after sending them copies of the CCA letter and cancelled check) to finally resolve the issue quickly escalated into claims that I had several accounts with Verizon and I am simply wrong. They openly admitted that the billing systems between the 2 regions were different and they themselves were having trouble making sense of what happened to my account!!

Another bi-product of this is they update the account to seriously past due each time I dispute and now show all of the accounts late as of 03/08. I have talked with my attorney regarding this and provided him with all of the documentation as well as copies of all 3 CRA reports over the last 7 years. He suggested a letter to the CEO Lowell McAdam at Verizon which I have done.

My question is this - has anyone had success dealing with Verizon on this type of issue and would you please share your experience and the outcome. I am going to give them one more opportunity to correct this but short of that, I plan on pursuing legal action as this has caused my FICO to drop almost 70 points.

Anyone had any experience with complaining to the FTC/FCC.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

After a dispute and verizon verifies with the CRA    you would send the OC letter  CMRRR!!  Also by law this should drop from your CR this year.

Be sure to keep all hard copies of you CR  with all 3 CRAs forever. Old accounts have a habit of coming back after 10 years.

Read the letter and make all changes needed. Remember everything in writting!!

HSBC Card Services
Attention: Bureau Dispute Processing
PO Box 19360
Portland, OR 97280

August 2, 2007

Re: Acct #xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To Whom It May Concern:

I recently pulled my credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion and noticed this account was listed on each of my reports as a collection/chargeoff. I immediately disputed this information with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion and the results of the investigation came back as "verified". I did not have an account with HSBC during this time period.

Since I have disputed the account with the credit bureaus, and you have verified them, I would like to see what sort of records you have for this alleged account. Under the new FACTA laws, you are required to conduct an investigation on this account, and I am now requesting it.

I will seek legal action under § FCRA 623 (b) for violations of the FCRA if you do not comply and respond to me with the results of the investigation whithin 30 days of your receipt of this letter.

In order to clear up this matter, I would like to see, a signed contract showing me that I indeed had an account with your company. If you don't respond with the results of the investigation (as is required per the FCRA), I will assume you have no documentation and therefore you were negligent in providing the credit bureaus with accurate information. At this point, you would also be in violation of the FCRA merely for not responding within the 30-day period.

To avoid a lawsuit, I request that you remove account from my credit report. Please delete this listing or I will be forced to seek legal action.


Sincerely

[Hogwash]

Happy Days -

Thanks for the quick response and your very informative post. Dealing with Verizon is like dealing with a black hole that nothing comes out of. It is one very large machine and they do not seem interested in resolution, only rhetorical answers.

Thanks again

[Anonymous]

Hogwash, do you have an address for this CEO? I have a problem with verizon also and would like to write him.  Thanks so much

[tri3nity]

I have a similar problem with verizon there are 4 accounts on my credit and I only had 1 account with them. I disputed as well and they verified and it stayed on there. When you get this resolved please let me know what you did. The accounts are a lot more than the bill was originally for and I just don't know what to do. I thought about making a complaint with the attorney general.

Scores as of 4/18/08
Equifax: 517
Experian: 569
Transunion: 575

[Hogwash]

Mr. Lowell McAdam, CEO
Verizon Wireless
295 North Maple Ave
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

[Hogwash]

Follow up:

Verizon is trying to resolve this issue and has been very communicative. One incorrect charge has been removed and one to go.

Stay tuned...