Verizon Class Action Lawsuit Says Extra Charges Added to Bills

Verizon Wireless is facing a new class action lawsuit from a customer who says the company adds extra charges to his bill for services without properly notifying him or providing him an adequate contract in writing.

By adding the services without sending him a written contract to agree to, and in light of the company’s push to convince customers to choose paperless billing, Verizon is putting consumers at a disadvantage that violates New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, plaintiff Stephen Simoni says.

Simoni, who lives in Wyoming, filed the class action lawsuit and is seeking to represent a Class of consumers from his home state who had similar charges on their Verizon bill within the last six years. He is unsure at this point how many potential Class Members there might be, but estimates there are “most likely many thousands.”

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, he says. The plan would reportedly cover more than just Simoni’s phone — it would offer him protection for various other household devices that operate with Verizon’s wireless service.

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, the procedure for which would also be outlined in the email.

The plaintiff says he never got a “confirmation of sale” for the protection plan, but Verizon added the monthly Asurion charge to his Verizon bill without him realizing it.

“Verizon did not adhere to its well-established policy of sending consumers a notification of the new ‘Next Bill Summary’ caused by the addition of the new charge,” his class action lawsuit says.

Simoni says he 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.”

The Verizon bill class action lawsuit was originally filed in state court in New Jersey on Nov. 30. This month, lawyers for Verizon moved to have the case transferred to federal court. Now it is being considered by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Are you a Verizon Wireless customer? Have you discovered charges on your Verizon bill for services or goods you didn’t realize you had purchased? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Simoni and the proposed Class Members are represented by Stephen J. Simoni of Simoni Consumers Class Action Law Offices.

The Verizon Bill Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Simoni, et al. v. Cellco Partnership, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-20513, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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