Verizon Wireless data meter accuracy questioned after $9,100 bill

Jon Brodkin

Data cap cash.

Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

Verizon Wireless is facing questions about the accuracy of its data meter after a series of newspaper stories on customers who were charged big overage fees after unexplained data usage increases.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland on Wednesday detailed a $9,100 bill charged to a customer named Valarie Gerbus. “For months, the mother of two from suburban Tampa paid $118 a month for her cellphone package that included 4 gigabytes of data, which she says she never exceeded,” the article said. “That changed last month when Verizon charged her with using an eye-gouging 569 gigabytes for a whopping $8,535.”

Verizon added $600 to the bill when she dropped her plan. Gerbus refused to pay and asked Verizon “repeatedly” to explain how her bill soared, but she got no answer, the article said. "I told them that I won't pay the bill,'' Gerbus said to the Plain Dealer. "I can either wait until they take it to a collection agency or when they take it to court. Either way, my credit history will be ruined. I can go bankrupt here.''

Gerbus was planning to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, but then Verizon agreed to waive the $9,100 bill after the article ran. Gerbus still has to pay a cancellation fee.

Plain Dealer reporter Teresa Dixon Murray described her own "mysterious" increase in Verizon data usage in a story on September 2 and was then flooded with similar stories from customers around the country. In a followup article last week, Dixon Murray wrote that "thousands of people, mostly Verizon customers,” said they had “seen their data use jump significantly—doubling or tripling since the spring in many cases, even though their cell phone habits haven't changed.”

The FCC said it’s aware of complaints on this issue, while “Verizon officials said its corporate office isn't aware of any widespread problem with complaints to the company about cellular data use or billing over-limit fees,” another Plain Dealer article said. “Verizon hasn't yet replied to follow-up questions, including what Verizon is doing now to investigate this massive issue.”

Ars contacted Verizon about the data meter problems yesterday. We asked about the issues raised by the Plain Dealer stories, and for details on how Verizon ensures that its meter accurately counts data. The company provided only this statement: “We’ve talked with the customer who reported the $9,000 monthly wireless bill, and resolved it to her satisfaction. Customers with questions about their bills can call Customer Care team at 1-800-922-0204 or contact a rep by chat on verizonwireless.com We take our customers’ experience with us seriously.”

The questions raised about Verizon Wireless’s data meter are similar to ones being asked of Comcast, which has imposed data caps and overage fees on home Internet service.

In July, Verizon added a “Safety Mode” to wireless plans that limits data speeds once customers exceed their caps instead of automatically charging overage fees. Verizon initially charged an extra $5 a month to enable safety mode, but then made it free of charge. Customers have to switch to a newer plan to get Safety Mode turned on, however. T-Mobile US implemented an identical approach years ago, and AT&T and Sprint have followed suit.