a complaint from a senior citizen about Verizon gathered from the NY CraigsList posting

from KC in NYC:

"Like many, I live a simple life, watch my pennies and try to live within my means - sound familiar? In order to save on phone/tv/computer I fell for the Verizon Fios deal and surrendered Direct TV.  I was a bit tired of not being able to see TV when the weather was bad. The FiOS product does work well. But, the problem is that Verizon, apparently, knowingly did not send a payment I made to them but owed to Direct TV to them. So, for the past 3 months I have had many, many phone calls from Direct TV. I have spent many hours speaking with both companies....and of course we are still in the same place I have been left to fend for myself with this. Had I been told in the beginning that no matter how I scheduled the installation - I did it as close as possible to the end of my billing cycle - that Verizon would keep the entire amount and use it at their discretion and therefore leave me holding an empty bag with Direct TV...Now - Direct TV wants more than the amount billed for whatever reason they can dream up, because I always ask them what is the amt billed, $103.00, for no one can ever tell me.  The response is always that that is the amount Verizon says is owed! So around and around we go, the issue is never resolved and I will not pay a fee I feel is unjust."

Let's be clear, folks, this blog is not about bashing Verizon....we will be an equal opportunity basher with any corporation that is senior citizen unfriendly. As the author of Paradise Costs, which came out in 2007, I was already in the mix with elder abuse and elder exploitation. This social ill killed my father in the worse way imaginable. I moved away from being an advocate simply because my journey had exhausted me.

However, a recent run in with Verizon in my own life really shook me up because I know, without a doubt, that most baby boomers will not be able to navigate the deliberate maze companies like Verizon have in place.

I have no doubt that creating mazes that are profitable to corporations have resulted in other companies like credit card companies, banks, medical insurers, big pharma, etc have already and will continue to result in ill gotten gains that will shock the public. When I was writing Paradise Costs, a staggering statistic crossed my path:


20 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY...IN ONE SINGLE DAY,  EVERYDAY OF THE YEAR IS SWINDLED FROM SENIOR CITIZENS IN CALIFORNIA ALONE!

It just so happened that Verizon acted as an inspiration to me to re-involve me in a cause near and dear to my heart...STOP ELDER ABUSE AND ELDER EXPLOITATION NOW.

With the whole country fed up with corporate greed, I have not heard a single word about what segment of the population that is most at risk: SENIOR CITIZENS.

Therefore, since I have invested almost 12 years of my life trying to get justice for my father, damn straight I will do everything I can to get justice for myself and any other senior being ripped off by corporate greed. 

So Verizon just happened to cross my path and reawaken the anger within me at this system of ours that uses seniors, baby boomers, disabled, etc big time.

While there are organizations out there who are supposed to protect us, they fail because they are involved in the political systems which, of course, is part of the problem and not part of any solution...at least, not yet.

So, Verizon, who is ducking we customers, in my opinion, and in the opinions of too many, is especially senior citizen and baby boomer unfriendly.

Here's another complaint written to me:

AJD from Florida:
"I won't do business with Verizon, they deliver no customer service."

I will be posting in detail, my saga that's still ongoing. Here's a helpful hint about how to get customer service from Verizon or any other corporate giant straight from an attorney:

1) research who the corporate officers are

2) send them a letter via certified mail

3) explain the problem you are having in detail

4) let a VP figure out why you had to bother him rather

than the chain of command in customer service doing THEIR JOB.
5) heads may roll within that corporation

Sounds like a plan to me. I will be posting more RED FLAGS
indicating elder abuse or exploitation maybe underway later
or tomorrow.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE...BOOM!