Verizon's ad could not have been clearer: bundle your phone, Internet and satellite for just $77.99 a month. Knowing that was all he wanted to pay, 83-year old Oregon resident Dennis Streed wrote up his own contract and had a Verizon salesman sign it. In the agreement, Streed included a provision that clearly laid out the terms: "No hidden fees, and no additions, unless we ask for them."
Low and behold, when the Streeds got their first bill from Verizon in May it read $158.49 not $77.99. This was then followed by a bill for $186.33 in June and then $183.03 in July. And when Streed only paid the $77.99 he put forth in his contract, Verizon shut down his Internet and TV service in August. Of course, Verizon's response when questioned by The Complaint Desk at The Oregonian.com was that the salesman should have not promised so many services for that price.
Service providers breaking their bundle promises seems to be a common problem in Oregon. The state's Public Utility Commission reported eight bundling complaints against Verizon and 26 against Qwest just this year. The incident shows how little power consumers often have against large companies with buckets of cash and armies of lawyers.
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