Today, I was going to pay my Verizon phone bill. I have the cheapest plan ($40.00 w/ no extra features) and a 2 year agreement. It costs $.10 to send and receive txt messages and $.25 for picture messages. With the government fees and Verizon charges, my typical bill is $50, and that’s what I’ve come to expect. However, as I skimmed over my recent bill there was trouble in little big town.

This months statement read $56 and that was not right. I looked over the plan and saw a new feature which I didn’t add. It was “250 MSG Camera $5″. It means that for $5 extra dollers, I can send 250 picture messages. There was a partial charge of $2.10 for 9/01 – 9/13 and a $5.00 for 9/14 – 10/13. I went online to check my statement and it was on there too. Through the website, I removed the feature, but that still didn’t sit right with me. I wasn’t sure if they had changed theirs/my plan.

Could I still send pictures for $.25 or would it automatically trigger this $5.00 fee? Could I get this $5.00 back or was I stuck with it? If I was stuck with it, you’d be damn sure I was going to take 250 pictures and send them up to this 10/13 expiration date.

After listening to the automated teller, I was connected with a service representative. They told me my plan had remained the same, and “I” must have added the $5 messaging feature. I told them no, and I dont know why it showed up. They confirmed to me that the feature was removed, but I still wanted my $5.00 back that they were going to charge me. The rep said they’d credit the money back to me on the next bill and I’m content with that. So, everything should be back to normal.

Overall, I’ve been content with Verizon for this past year and the LG phone I have. I’ve never had a problem with their service or the phone, and reliability is my #1 concern. They sent me a check back for the ridiculous down payment I had to front. However, $40 is still pretty steep for the basic needs I have with my phone. Once this contract is over, I’m going to research other providers for a less expensive plan.