Stop Verizon Debt Harassment

I had cellular service with verizon. I called to add home phone and a hotspot to my account. I was told with all fees my next bill would be $168.38. which doable. So i signed up for the service. When the next bill came it was over $700!! I could not afford to pay that and that is not what I was told. Now i am getting harrassing phone calls!

I keep getting calls from Verizon saying I owe $2000 on the phone and I keep telling them I cannot pay that I bought two phones one of them I paid off and they told me that the other will be free would be no charges except for the service and now they’re telling me 1 year later that i owe them money i cant pay this They wont stop or leave me alone

I had a 30 day free trial for Verizon 5G on Jan 11th. By Jan 30th I cancelled and gave my box back to a store. Every step of the way they said a would not be charged at all. Then the emails and calls started about me owing them money. I called them and spoke to someone over 4 times in the coming months all saying that I don’t have to pay anything and it will all be taken care of but I kept receiving the bills. The next call they would tell me not to worry it’s just because the billing is separate so that hadn’t received the information yet. They had in their notes that I was in the right and didn’t have to pay. Now I’m receiving letters from debt collectors which will effect my credit for a debt that I do not owe. I called verizon and a woman I was speaking to said she wasn’t allowed to put me on to a supervisor and that I’d have to call the debt collectors, she then proceeded to tell me I’d have to pay for the service up until I used it which was never the case as it was a free trial regardless of cancellation! When I called the debt collectors they said I would have to call Verizon to get rid of the charge so they keep sending me in circles and I’m at a loss of what to do now. So here I am asking for you help please.

Verizon keeps calling my about phones they say I owe and I told them that I can’t afford it at the moment.

Verizon wireless robo calls me at least once per day, sometimes twice. I have contacted and sent in circles, after an hour on the phone I gave up. Verizon is not my carrier and I have never had Verizon service. I asked for my number to be removed and was told by 3 different people they don\'t have the ability to do so.

On June 17th, 2024 I started a free 30 day trial of the 5G internet service. On June 24th, 2024 I cancelled the free trail and returned off my equipment. Then sometime in August 2024, I get letters and robo phone calls saying I owe $97 for “services” no other explanation as to what I owe $97 for. I call Verizon in September 2024 asking what I owe money for and I was told by the person on the phone that on her end it looks like I don’t owe anything and it was probably scam calls. A few weeks later, I start getting messages from debt collectors! One collector even contacted my father asking for me. Over and over again, I say that that debt isn’t mine and I stop hearing from Verizon from January 2024 to today March 24th, 2024. Today, while I was at work, I got a call from someone at Verizon saying I know owe $115 and she was demanding I pay it. I ask her what for, and she said its because I used the 5G internet from June 24-June 17th and that it was $97 for that week of service and that they added money now that its been so long since they’ve tried contacting me. I explained to her that that doesn’t make sense because it was a free trial and because I was told in September that I don’t owe anything. After some back and forth, she said “I will look into it and call you back.” I am contacting you because I don’t want to them to even call me back, I want this to end.

Legal Representation Inquiry: Verizon Wireless Billing Misconduct, PII Violations, and Debt Collection Escalation To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to seek legal representation and advice regarding a matter that has rapidly escalated into what we believe to be a series of serious consumer protection and privacy violations involving Verizon Wireless, AFNI Inc., and most recently, Diversified Adjustment Service, Inc. The timeline of events now exacerbated by continued collection attempts and credit reporting despite unresolved disputes and clear violations of federal protections, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and relevant privacy statutes. My fiancée is the primary account holder for a Verizon Wireless account that we canceled in February 2025, after over four years of service. I was listed as an authorized user and historically responsible for handling the billing. We both switched to AT&T as part of their switcher promotion, which required an active Verizon bill to qualify for reimbursement. We were explicitly told by multiple Verizon customer service representatives, both before and after switching, that we would not be billed directly for the remaining device balances after switching to AT&T. Instead, we were assured that the balances could be covered using reimbursement gift cards from AT&T’s switcher promotion, which would be sent to us within 60 days. Verizon representatives made these assurances during numerous (what they claimed to be) recorded calls in March 2025, confirming that our account was closed, AutoPay had been disabled, and no further charges would occur. Despite these assurances, Verizon withdrew the full remaining balance of $1,648.81 from our checking account on the morning of an intrastate move (March 27, 2025), overdrafting the account entirely by over $500.00. Following this unauthorized withdrawal, I called Verizon immediately and stated: “I was told directly by Verizon that my device balances could be handled through AT&T’s switch promotion, and that I would receive a Visa gift card within 60 days to pay off the remaining balance. I was explicitly told I would not be charged directly by Verizon in the meantime. Despite this, you withdrew the entire balance from my checking account without warning, which completely overdrafted me. I’ve already filed a dispute with my bank, but I’m calling to demand a full reversal or refund of this charge immediately.” Verizon did issue a refund at that time. However, weeks later, on April 20th, Verizon sent a “backup payment agreement” via email, which we responded to by revoking all billing authorization and stating that no further charges were permitted. Given Verizon’s repeated refusal to provide written confirmation of these agreements, I recorded the follow-up call regarding the backup payment agreement email and issuance of my formal revocation of billing authorization with both a Financial Services representative and a Senior Account Specialist under Colorado’s one-party consent law. During this call, the Senior Account Specialist explicitly confirmed that Verizon would honor the gift card reimbursement timeline and assured me that all payment methods had been removed from the account and that no further charges would occur. This recording was made to preserve evidence of Verizon’s verbal commitments and protect our position in the event of future billing disputes. Notably, multiple Verizon representatives repeatedly assured me that “all calls are recorded,” leading me to believe that Verizon would possess its own internal record of the verbal commitments made. However, when I later requested those recordings through Executive Relations, I was informed that none of my calls had been recorded, and no notations of the agreement had been made to my account as promised. This sudden absence of documentation—despite earlier assurances—raises serious concerns about spoliation of evidence, as it effectively eliminates Verizon’s own record of the conversations central to this dispute. Additionally, this contradiction undermines Verizon’s claim to internal recordkeeping and effectively erases any trace of the verbal commitments made on their end—leaving only my recording as proof. Despite that explicit revocation, Verizon attempted a second charge of $1,648.81 on April 30th, which was flagged as fraud by our bank due to the previous dispute and resulted in our debit card being locked. We were unable to access our bank account for 12 days while waiting for replacement cards to arrive—causing further disruption, reputational harm, and financial instability. On May 1, 2025, my fiancée received a debt collection call from AFNI Inc., claiming to represent Verizon. My fiancée verbally requested that they cease all further communication and informed them that we were in active dispute with Verizon. Despite this, on May 5, 2025, AFNI sent a detailed collection email addressed to her name but delivered to my personal email address. This message contained extensive personally identifiable information (PII), including her full name, the full Verizon account number, mailing address, the full amount alleged, and internal reference numbers. At no point had she authorized AFNI to use my email address to communicate regarding the debt. In response, I submitted a written request to AFNI requesting validation of the debt, a clear accounting of their authority to collect, and an immediate cessation of contact due to the PII violation. In their response to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaint, AFNI acknowledged that I was not the account holder, identified my fiancée as the primary responsible party, and claimed the debt had been validated with Verizon. However, they did not provide any supporting documentation to us directly, nor have they ever mailed or emailed us formal debt validation. We also submitted a second request for validation on June 13, 2025, from my fiancée’s own email, which likewise went unanswered. It is worth noting that all communications from AFNI have ceased entirely. However, Verizon resumed direct contact and began issuing updated billing notices, both by mail and email, with changing due dates (first June 20, then July 20), as well as new threats of 5% late fees or interest. As of July 21, 2025, we received a new collection attempt from a second agency, Diversified Adjustment Service, Inc. Again, they sent an email addressed to my fiancée but delivered to my personal email address. The email included a privacy disclaimer, suggesting that \"our records indicate we have your permission to communicate with you via this email,\" despite her never granting Diversified any such authorization. This is especially troubling given the specific claims we made in multiple federal complaints about AFNI’s PII mishandling and Verizon\'s billing misconduct. Further, the attached debt statement from Diversified includes a newly added $164.88 in \"fees\" that had never previously appeared in Verizon, AFNI, or any prior documentation, raising further concern about the accuracy and legality of the balance now being pursued. A dispute was mailed on July 28, 2025 by certified mail with return receipt. As of August 5, 2025, we discovered that the Verizon-related debt had been reported to Equifax by Diversified Adjustment Service on July 31, 2025, causing an immediate 112-point drop in my fiancée’s credit score. This was done despite a mailed dispute and validation request to Diversified being in transit, sent certified on July 28 and still pending delivery. Notably, the debt was reported inaccurately under the “Rent and Utilities” category as a closed credit account, not as a collections account, and it does not appear under Equifax’s dedicated collections section—potentially misrepresenting the nature of the debt and compounding the harm done. We believe the following violations have occurred: • Unauthorized Billing by Verizon: Despite revocation of payment authorization and removal of payment methods, Verizon accessed our bank account twice. • FDCPA and FCRA Violations by AFNI: PII was disclosed to an unauthorized third party (myself), debt validation was never furnished, and communications continued despite a cease request. • Failure to Properly Investigate or Remedy: Our FTC, FCC, and CFPB complaints received no meaningful resolution. FTC has yet to respond, CFPB rerouted the complaint solely to AFNI, and FCC closed the matter without meaningful inquiry. • Escalation of Debt to New Agency Despite Unresolved Violations: Verizon has apparently recalled the debt from AFNI and forwarded it to Diversified Adjustment Service in an attempt to restart the clock and circumvent the legal dispute history tied to the prior collector. • Privacy Violations and Potential FCRA Risk: Continued attempts to send financial collection correspondence to an email address not belonging to the account holder, potentially establishing false records of consent. We are seeking immediate legal counsel regarding the following: • Potential claims against Verizon Wireless for unauthorized billing and breach of verbal contract • Claims under FDCPA, CCPA, and FCRA against AFNI and possibly Diversified Adjustment Service • Preventing further collection attempts or adverse credit actions by Verizon or its agents • Assistance compelling Verizon to formally void or discharge the debt due to the mishandling and statutory violations We have preserved full documentation, including personally recorded calls with Verizon under Colorado state one-party consent (Financial Services, Senior Account Specialist, Executive Relations), CFPB complaint and responses, FTC confirmation receipts, Full documentation of FCC complaint and updates, all emails sent and received from both AFNI and Diversified, and copies of mailed bills from Verizon. We would be grateful for an evaluation of our case and the possibility of representation. Given the pattern of unlawful behavior and evasive tactics, we believe this case presents strong grounds for action.