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Verizon Wireless teamed up with a warranty provider to secretly add extra charges to customer bills without properly notifying them or providing them any sort of contract in writing, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Stephen Simoni’s proposed class action lawsuit against Verizon and warranty provider Asurion was moved to a New Jersey federal court Friday, because the potential Class of impacted customers is more than 150,000 across multiple states with charges over $10 million, the lawsuit states.
Simoni previously filed a lawsuit that did not name Asurion, but removed it voluntarily and filed this most recent complaint against both Verizon and Asurion.
The Wyoming resident alleges the pair conspired to sneak unauthorized charges for Asurion Warranty Services Inc.’s “smart home support” plan into customer bills, and then hide it.
“Verizon and Asurion fraudulently cram customers’ bills with surreptitious charges for Asurion’s Total Home Support and conceal them with paperless billing, automatic payments, and deliberate failure to send promised sales confirmations and “next bill summaries.””
According to Simoni, one of his wireless phones got damaged between November and December 2019 and he initiated a claim for insurance coverage through Verizon’s carrier, Asurion.
While working with an Asurion agent to process the claim, the agent solicited Simoni to purchase a monthly “Smart Home Support” protection plan that would cover other household devices, according to the class action.
Simoni says Asurion told him he would receive an email explaining more about the plan and its terms and said he could cancel it at any time, with the info to cancel in the email. He never got a “confirmation of sale” email for the protection plan.
“[Simoni] recognized that the contract for the purchase therefore had not been consummated and did not pursue any effort to purchase it,” the lawsuit says.
However, Verizon started adding the monthly Asurion charge to his Verizon bill without him realizing it. Simoni says he only became aware that he had been charged for the plan nearly a year later, when he got a paper receipt and account summary while purchasing a new wireless phone.
He later contacted Verizon and demanded reimbursement. The company “only provided a minimal refund and blamed [him] for not having read his monthly paperless bills.”
By signing Simoni up to the service without providing a contract, and then pushing him into paperless billing to conceal it, Verizon and Asurion violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, the class action lawsuit states.
Simoni is seeking to represent a Class of consumers who were charged for Asurion’s Total Home Support warranty in the last six years without a contract.
Simoni is asking for damages, restitution, statutory damages, punitive damages, sanctions, interest, court costs, attorneys’ fees and injunctive relief stopping the defendants from selling the warranty without a contract.
Meanwhile, in another class action filed against Verizon last year, an Arkansas couple claimed they fell victim to a Verizon “bait and switch” scheme in a two-for-one iPhone deal that was “purposefully deceptive, false, unconscionable, fraudulent, and also allowed Verizon to be unjustly enriched.”
Do you have an account with Verizon? Do you check your bills to make sure you haven’t had any additional charges added? Let us know in the comments.
Simoni and the proposed Class are represented by Stephen J. Simoni of Simoni Consumers Class Action Law Offices c/o Jardim, Meisner & Susser PC.
The Verizon Asurion Hidden Warranty Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Simoni v. Asurion Warranty Services Inc. et al., Case No. 3:21-cv-04311, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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547 thoughts onVerizon Sneaks Extra Charges into Customer Bills, Class Action Lawsuit Says
I have a long list of discrepancies with this company and have documents to prove my case please add me
Please add me
I’m currently fighting a Verizon bill for over 3,000 incurred from “roaming minutes” in just one month. Verizon NEVER notified me these charges were being incurred or made any attempt to contact me over the charges. Plus, I was using wifi calling the entire time! Please add me to this suit if possible.
I have been a Verizon customer for over 10 Years. I would like to be added. Many Thanks!
I have been a Verizon customer for many years. Just looked at my bill and I see administrative charge and I don’t know what else! I would like to be added to the
Please also add me. Who knows how long Verizon has been charged us the add-on protection plan $17 per month for one device and Verizon cloud $5.99 per month for another device, but just found out today that they charged us these add-on for at least 2 years. 2 years ago, I bought Iphone 12 pro max directly from Apple with 2 years AppleCare+ with theft and loss. I paid off the phone and 2 years AppleCare+ at once, but now just realized Verizon also charged $17 protection unauthorized for the same phone. I am not that stupid buying protection for the same phone at 2 places. The AppleCare+ plan is still not expire until December 8, 2022. On other devices was being for for $5.99 Verizon cloud which also unauthorized for. $22.99 being charged per month for the charged I didn’t authorize and not even aware. The bill is auto pay so each month is being charged directly from my credit and received a receipt payment made but never a bill for breakdown or anything. I was applied for some promotion last week and just check the bill just now realized I being over charged for at least 2 years.
I bought three devices from Verizon last week, an I phone, IPad and Apple watch. They charged me for insurance and a travel plan, that I did not order, and was unaware of until today. I don’t want any of it. I did not sign a contract. I spoke to someone about it today. When I accessed my account through my app, it doesn’t look like they are changing anything. I was not given a detailed receipt.
Please add me
I am on the phone now with verizon because i just looked at the bill which my mother in law recieces, i pay my portion to her. Now i just looked at the bill and found i have two charges of 20.36 for cellular data to two tablets . i own both but nevre approved two tablets to have cellular. I have been paying this for maybe two years now.
Verizon agent is telling me that the tablet that should not have cellular has been using the cellular . well thats because i gave it to my daughter and she had no clue it wasnt to have cellular data . Im sure they will do nothing to rectify this by all the comments on here. Im on hold now and she hasnt returned to the phone now for at least ten minutes now. terrible all around, I was so much better off with t-mobile. ADD ME
Mobile protection plan was added to the bill inspite of us declining it while we were in the store signing up for a new phone. Charged us for two billing cycles and when we asked for a refund- they gave us a partial refund. The explanation was that we will get an automatic refund with the next bill. So as a favor they refunded half the amount from the current bill. I should not be forced to pay any amount for a plan I declined.
the last 5 g my husband had to get rid of his phone a construction flip nothing wrong with it worked fine the phone they offered us was their cheapest version of android we were to get a discount well free, but the phone was not worth, they had nothing comparable to choose from we end up having to take the next one up over 1,000.00 for a phone. We still don’t have 5g and the phone works great, but it raised our bill by 35,00 not counting the 185.00 we had to pay for startup and 20.00 add him to my bill and other charges