A woman changed her phone plan before traveling internationally but when she returned from her trip, she found herself facing a phone bill for hundreds-of-dollars.
Dailene Germann and her twin sister love to travel.
“New people, new places, new things,” Dailene said.
Last summer, Dailene visited the Netherlands, Denmark, and Spain. Before she left, she says she called Verizon to make sure she could stay connected using her phone, both for directions and for contacting the family.
Dailene knew it would cost more but wanted the best plan for traveling internationally. Dailene says she called Verizon’s customer service department and told the representative where she was going, how long she would be away and what she needed the phone for.
“The representative said you’re buying the largest plan, $40,” Dailene said.
Dailene said her sister also signed up for the same plan and Dailene’s phone worked great on the trip but when she got home, she was in for a surprise.
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“I knew there was going to be some charges but I didn’t know it was going to be that big, that was a larger amount than my plane ticket,” Dailene said.
Dailene said she came home to a bill from Verizon for more than $600 and Verizon told her she was charged for data usage and roaming. She said she had asked for the biggest plan and that she shouldn’t have faced these charges.
Dailene said she kept calling Verizon for a better explanation of why her bill was so large.
“I got so many different answers, nobody could actually pinpoint or give me an exact answer,” Dailene said.
After four months of fighting over the bill, Dailene said Verizon shut her phone off.
“I saw you on TV and I said, ‘He’s going to solve my problem, he’s going to get my money back,’” Dailene said.
Dailene contacted NBC 7 Responds and we reached out to Verizon. As it turned out, Dailene should have been offered something called ‘the Travel Pass’, a $10 a day flat rate plan. Still expensive but much cheaper than what Dailene had received.
Verizon prorated Dailene’s bill to what it would have been if she had been on the Travel Pass. So instead of owing over $500, Dailene only had to pay Verizon $130.
