Verizon continues billing man after death

Dealing with bills every month is enough of a chore without something going wrong. How many times have you been incorrectly billed for something, either by your wireless carrier or any other service provider? If you’re lucky, you make one phone call, get a good customer service representative, and the problem is resolved in a few minutes, and you move on. If you’re not, you spend what seems like hours on hold, being transferred from one department to another, explaining the issue over and over again before it’s finally resolved. Everyone has at least one customer service nightmare story to tell. But what if the problem you were dealing with was precipitated by the death of a loved one—and the company wouldn’t help you?

That’s exactly what happened to Cynthia Lacy of Treasure Island, Florida. Her father, Bill Young of Calvin, West Virginia, passed away last June, and in trying to put his affairs in order, Lacy sent a copy of his death certificate to Verizon. But they kept sending bills, and it took months and media coverage to set things right.

Normally, when someone passes away, provided they’re the only person named on a service account, the account is closed, and any outstanding amount is written off by the company. It happens every day, and you would think customer service representatives, the employees who have the most direct contact with customers, would be trained on such matters. Maybe Verizon does train its employees on how to deal with customers’ deaths, but if they didn’t before, they most certainly will now.

Despite Lacy having sent Verizon a copy of her father’s death certificate, the company continued to bill Young’s account, and Lacy continued to pay it. But while she was paying the bill each month, she was also calling Verizon to repeatedly explain that her father was dead, and asking them to please update their records.

At one point, during one of these phone calls, a customer service rep asked for the account’s PIN. Lacy explained that she did not have this information as the account had belonged to her father. According to Lacy, the rep said, “Well, there’s nothing else I can do for you,” then laughed and hung up on her.

Without access to a recording of that call, there’s no way to confirm that the rep actually laughed at her, but Verizon isn’t denying it. After the incident, Lacy went to the media, contacting the Consumer’s Edge, a column published by the St. Petersburg Times newspaper. Once the issue became public, Verizon finally took appropriate action, closing the account and refunding all the money Lacy had paid.

A spokesman said the case was improperly handled, and that the rep who laughed at and hung up on her has been reprimanded and given coaching. They may be able to provide their reps with the knowledge of how to deal with a deceased person’s account, but no amount of coaching is going to instill any compassion in a rep who would laugh at a grieving person and treat them with such disrespect. Good luck with that, Verizon.

As for why Lacy continued to pay a bill she wasn’t responsible for, it seems that Bill Young’s account was for in-home service rather than wireless service, so the account was attached to his home, which was part of his estate. The family was trying to sell the home, but could not do so until all debts associated with it were either paid or canceled. So in addition to just being rude to Young’s family, Verizon was also holding up the sale of the home, making it impossible for the family to move on.

So if this was a landline and not wireless service, why write about it here, on a cellular blog? Because this case shows that the ignorance of any company’s customer service reps, or a company’s lack of policy and procedure in dealing with deceased customers’ accounts could happen again at any time, to anyone, with any kind of account. If Cynthia Lacy had had her father’s PIN, it might not have taken so long to get the issue resolved. Maybe, maybe not. But it’s still better to have more information in a situation like this.

Take some time to make a list of important details like account numbers, PINs, or anything you use to access your personal data. Keep a list of passwords you use to access Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, and your e-mail. Include your wireless voicemail access code, and your wireless account’s PIN. Because this information may change from time to time (you know it’s a good idea to change your password every so often, right?), it’s not enough to write it all down, seal it in an envelope, and put it in a safety deposit box. Consider keeping a document with this information in an electronic safety deposit box.

Sites such as Legacy Locker and AssetLock provide services that allow you to keep your online account information safe, but accessible to a trusted family member or friend should something happen to you. It may seem like extra work in addition to the standard procedures of preparing a will and taking out an insurance policy, but we live in the digital age. Collecting this information, and making it easily accessible upon your death will help your loved ones with the already difficult task of managing your estate. It’s one less thing they’ll have to worry about. And then when your spouse or child has to call a company like Verizon to cancel your account, they’ll have your PIN. Most of all, they’ll have a little more peace of mind.

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