I signed up for service on 09/25 (to start on October 1) and the Verizon sales agent, after running a credit check, told me at that time that I needed to pay a $250 deposit. This surprised me and when I asked why, she replied that there were a variety of factors that went into it, and not just my credit score. So I went ahead and agreed. A couple of days later, I was still puzzled and called back about it and was given the same answer. At the end of last week, I received a letter in the mail from Verizon stating that the *only* reason I had to pay this deposit was because I had "No credit history" after they checked with Transunion. Having always had good credit rating, this really surprised me and I called Transunion myself and they verified that I did indeed have credit history and a good one at that.
Back to Verizon again, where I try to clarify this. They run my credit check again and a different sales agent this time says she has no idea why I was charged a deposit ! She tells me to check with FInancial services for a refund, who passes me off to the credit dept, who then sends me back to sales. This third sales agent confirms that the original person who signed me up used the short form of my first name - without confirming it with me(!!) - and that's why I was charged a deposit, while the second one didn't and used my full legal name. I point out that this is their fault and that I am owed the $250 at this point. This agent says the only way I can get my $250 back is to wait a year or quit my services(!) - even though this entire situation was created by Verizon in the first place. I try repeatedly pointing out that it is their fault - all to no avail.
I switched to Verizon from Comcast because of crappy customer service, and I am pretty frustrated and disappointed with the same treatment here. I am hoping customer service on this forum can help out.