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May 20, 2013 By Robert Wilder Comments 5
News
05.25.2010
12 Comments
Get this: It wasn't even his cell phone.
Verizon Rep Threatens To Blow Up Man’s House Over Unpaid Bill (Updated)
Las Cruces man claims unfair debt collections forced him to move
By Corey Pein
Get this: It wasn't even his cell phone. Al Burrows of Las Cruces, New Mexico, sued Verizon Wireless in Santa Fe's 1st Judicial District Court on April 20, claiming violations of state and federal debt collections laws, as well as "negligent infliction of emotional distress"--for which he wants the telecom giant to pay punitive damages. As of May 25, Verizon had yet to respond to a summons.
According to the lawsuit, last year Verizon bill collectors were making calls "too numerous to count" to Burrows over a relative's unpaid cell phone bill. When he hung up on one of these calls, the Verizon rep called him back, and grew "vulgar" and "abusive" in an attempt "harass and intimidate" Burrows.
"In particular, [Verizon's] representative stated that she knew where [Burrows] resided and said 'I am gonna blow your mother fucking house up.'"
The endless collection calls caused Burrows to change his address, the lawsuit claims.
Here's an image of the relevant section of Burrows' lawsuit:
SFR emailed a regional Verizon Wireless spokesperson requesting a response to Burrows' lawsuit. We'll update when the company replies.
Verizon Wireless spokesman Scott Charlston passes along this statement:
"As a matter of policy we don't comment on pending litigation. I can say the alleged behavior is inappropriate and we take such allegations very seriously."
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lawl. first.
Unreal.
Is this a professional journalistic report? It doesn't read like it. Too many details are lacking and the writing needs proofing. Must have been a quick deadline. The report all comes from the plaintiff, and the story is irrational. If any of this story is true, the VZW rep will be fired tomorrow because they record all their phone calls.
Why would he be fired tomorrow? Verizon was sued on April 20 and its already May 25 and they have failed to respond to a summons. Oh, and of course the report comes from the plaintiff, the defendant has yet to respond or comment. Besides, everyone loves to hate the man >:)
Verizon Wireless regularly sells old debts, past the statute of limitations, to collection firms who buy them for pennies on the dollar. Every penny they collect they get to keep. I was once haunted by them to the unpaid bill of a company I used to work for. Even filing a complaint with Experien was useless. VZW is money ruthless. I recently spoke with one of their employees with 38 years with them and their GTE predecessor. He says their claims about customer service are plain BS. The primary corporate goal is to maximize revenue per customer at any cost. Best cell network in the US but zero business ethics. Don't let them fool you with the marketing BS about customer service. They truely do not care.