Verizon Cancels Elderly Woman's Service on Her 84th Birthday Verizon is taking heat this week for cancelling phone service for an elderly woman -- on her 84th birthday. The Boston Globe reports that 84-year-old Joan Tanos was curious why her phone wasn't ringing on her recent birthday, only to discover that Verizon had terminated her service. Verizon terminated her service for non-payment, after she refused to pay Verizon because the company had repeatedly failed to fix problems with the line.

“I have never written a letter like this before, but I feel that I am at my wit’s end. I do not feel I should be responsible for the attached bill so I am returning it with this letter," Tanos wrote to Verizon last June. "Please fix my landline and I would be happy to pay.” Failure to repair phone and DSL service in a timely manner has become a growing problem as Verizon has shifted its focus from its fixed-line networks to the company's wireless and Millennial advertising ambitions. In many states, there are rules on the books saying that the phone company can't just disconnect the elderly when they're living alone. In Massachusetts, termination can't occur until companies make their case to the Department of Telecommunications and Cable, in written submissions that may be challenged at a hearing. That system apparently failed Tanos because this rule isn't automatic; the elderly or their loved ones need to fill out a form that most telcos mail to customers once a year. Often this form is overlooked by the elderly, and companies like Verizon also don't do a particularly good job at actively tracking the age of their customers to track when the form should be sent in the first place. In this instance, Verizon told the Globe “the rules create a procedure to extend elderly treatment to customers, including that the customer has to file the form with us. That didn’t happen here.” Massachussets residents can find the Massachussets residents can find the elder protection form here (pdf), though in most states you'll want to contact your loved one's phone provider to obtain the form and any particulars in state law.







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Most recommended from 58 comments



TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA Motorola MG7550

12 recommendations TIGERON Member Why is this surprising



Take a look at Verizon's bullshit in Tribeca NY : »



Pathetic. Sell the remaining wireline and be done with it. Considering that Verizon has shown repeatedly that the company has NO interest in maintaining fixed wireline (DSL/POTS/copper/fiber) to a customer, this should surprise no one.Take a look at Verizon's bullshit in Tribeca NY : » stopthecap.com/2017/08/1 ··· tribeca/ Pathetic. Sell the remaining wireline and be done with it. Ostracus

join:2011-09-05

Henderson, KY 9 recommendations Ostracus Member Right to protest. Would this situation have been any different with any other company, all else being equal? majortom1029

join:2006-10-19

Medford, NY 8 recommendations majortom1029 Member verizon stinks We have a 48 pair copper cable coming into our building. The cable it runs to on their network was cut. It took them 2 weeks of no service to come back and tell us they were moving the line to fios.



I have had other instances were one of their techs pulled our pair and took them a month to come back and fix it. This is after the tech said oops I pulled the wrong pair.



They will have some serious problems in the NYC area if altice sticks to its promises of rolling out fttp to every customer.

NY Tel

Premium Member

join:2004-04-09

Smithtown, NY 1 edit 7 recommendations NY Tel Premium Member Just port out

They threatened to disconnect my service in a rather "terse" letter, so I ported out.

They got what they wanted which was one less copper pair to worry about and I now have clear landline calls for those times when we don't use our 3 cell phones with unlimited minutes...... I had similar service problems with a copper land line. Could not get it fixed so it was essentially useless and the static (probably caused by water in a cable) would appear after a storm. I'd call them and they would send someone a week after the storm when most of the static was gone. I decided it was no longer worth the fight and ported out to Voipo and now I pay 6 dollars a month for the equivalent of What Verizon would have charged me close to 45 dollars after taxes (even as part of a triple play).They threatened to disconnect my service in a rather "terse" letter, so I ported out.They got what they wanted which was one less copper pair to worry about and I now have clear landline calls for those times when we don't use our 3 cell phones with unlimited minutes......

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 7 recommendations battleop Member Some of this is on her, but just a little. So for the last 19 years she has been getting this form once a year that needed to be sent in so they would flag her account that she was over 65. She failed to fill this form out and then failed to pay the bill (it sucks but you can't do that) and now she is upset that she didn't get the Happy Birthday calls she expected from the grand kids.



Not that this absolves Verizon from not taking care of her but she can't get upset about the lack of following the "Elder Protection Act" if she didn't do her part.



"Utilities can’t shut off their elderly customers for nonpayment the same way they can with the rest of us. State-enforced rules give the elderly special protection, even when they can’t pay for electricity, heat, or their phone."



Oh yes, they most certainly can and they will treat you like shit. EPB cut my mother off several times because she had issues related to what was later diagnosed as Alzheimers. She was beyond 65 and it took a lot of arguing back and fourth with EPB to let me pay the bill for her so I could get her finances sorted out. They were the most difficult utility I had to deal with at the beginning of this adventure call Alzheimers. tmc8080

join:2004-04-24

Brooklyn, NY 2 recommendations tmc8080 Member care not this Verizon Verizon wants everyone to get a cell phone for wireless service.. they could care less about fixing copper anymore.. This would not have been a problem if there was FTTP in place.. Verizon is moving quickly to remove copper where they can so nobody can resubscribe to it.