Verizon Wireless is backpedaling after a U.S. soldier called them out for charging him more than $21,000 for calls he made while overseas.
Before Brent Worthington left for a five-month tour in Iraq, he went to a local Verizon store to sign up for an international phone plan, he told WFTV.com. He was in luck, a sales rep told him, because they were running a great promotion for unlimited international calls for $200/month.
"(The Verizon representative) sounded like she knew exactly what she was talking about and made it sound great to me," he said.
Turns out she was wrong. The promotion didn't include Iraq and Worthing was left with thousands of dollars in charges he couldn't pay. His bill was sent straight to a debt collections agency.
When he called the company, they stuck by the charges – until Worthington's story made headlines. They've agreed to work with him to lower the charges, they told WFTV.
But the damage may already have been done. Even if Verizon forgives the charges, Worthington's credit's likely to have taken a beating. It can take up to seven years for negative claims to disappear from credit reports.
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