Verizon Charged Marine's Widow an Early Termination Fee

In a decision that was reversed as soon as someone with half a brain in their PR department learned about it, Verizon charged a widow a $350 early termination fee. After the death of her marine husband, Michaela Brummund decided to move back to her home town to be with her family. Verizon doesn't offer any coverage in the small town so Michaela tried to cancel her contract, only to be hit with an early termination fee. From the article: "'I called them to cancel. I told them the situation with my husband. I even said I would provide a death certificate,' Michaela said."

Comments

Let your wallet speak.

[BlueKitties]

I purchased a Motoroal Droid when it came out last year. Shortly after mentioning my purchase, I got a number of warnings about their billing department. Concerned, and also pissed at Verizon, I decided to return it for a full refund (it was well within two days of buying.) Shorty after, I got a huge termination fee, coupled with data charges in the megabytes (I literally never even used it with any 3G service.) and activation fees, even though it was clearly stated I wasn't supposed to be charged. It took upwards of four calls before the charges were removed from my account. Needless to say, I'm glad I did it, especially after seeing more bologna like this. Maybe one day they will realize that for each angry customer like me who cancels, they lose far more than the $350 termination fee.

Re:Just because you've suffered some bad luck..

[bmo]

>unilateral contract change, effectively a contract of adhesion

A customer cannot unilaterally change the contract with Verizon.

What gives Verizon the right to play Calvinball with contract law?

--
BMO

Re:What does being a widow have to do with anythin

[91degrees]

She has cost the phone company a certain amount for the phone they fronted her. This has no remaining value for them.

Does she also get away without paying her credit card bills? Perhaps she bought something for her husband. Will Visa refund that one since she no longer needs it?

is there a list somewhere?

[yyxx]

I feel sorry for her loss. However, I'm a bit unclear about the reasoning behind this. For which fees, financial obligations, and loans is it unpatriotic to ask for repayment?

Waiving such fees is a nice thing to do; it expresses gratitude for the sacrifices that our military makes.

However, I start feeling uncomfortable when members of the military start talking about it as if it were an entitlement or obligation.

Re:Just because you've suffered some bad luck..

[ThreeGigs]

But the person involved in this case _didn't_ die. She's alive and well. She wants to move because her husband died. Her husband didn't have a Verizon contract, she did.

Oddly, when I moved overseas, I was able to cancel my contract with no fee because VZW didn't provide service where I was going. Had they provided service, I would have had to pay. I expected to pay though, and when the rep told me I didn't I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, I believe the $350 in her case was the subsidized cost of her phone, so VZW might be losing money here, depending on how long she had the contract/phone. My cheapie had been long since paid off, and I only had a few months remaining.

Re:Simple really...

[religious freak]

I made the unfortunate choice to be a residential property manager (in the USA). There are a number of provisions for protection of our troops for rentals. Military personnel can terminate leases when they're called up for duty, they are legally protected against being discriminated against for their military service, there are special provisions for eviction if someone is actively serving, and I believe there are also special protections on foreclosures and collections when they own their own home.

This is as it should be, in my strong opinion. Contracts are contracts, but the law supercedes contractual terms. Law exists to protect the rights of citizens, and military service personnel are certainly very worthy of this type of protection. If there is not legal protection for something like a cell phone service contract, there should be. And Verizon should be shamed for this asinine handling of the situation. Not only was he actively serving and quite busy... but he fucking died for Christ's sake. Assholes