Just a few questions...

First, the background

I've been with Verizon Wireless for a while (I think ten years or so) - in the past couple of years, I've been traveling out of the U.S. to Brazil, India, China, Japan, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.

On most of these trips, I have happily taken advantage of Verizon's Global Data Plan - unfortunately, that plan does not yet cover the United Arab Emirates.

How I was charged $200 for two minutes of data access that didn't do me any good

So, I arrived in Dubai on Saturday evening, March 15 and one of the first things I discovered was that I couldn't access any wifi networks on my Verizon Wireless device. I was too tired to deal with it then. On Sunday morning, I called Verizon and worked with a friendly representative as we started trouble-shooting the issue. I mentioned during that call that I was willing to turn on the data for a minute and pay $20 or $40 if that would allow me to do what was needed to be able to access wifi during the next ten days.

As soon as I hang up, I get the following text messages (Note: there's an 8 hour time difference between the UAE and the US)

So, I do two things - first, make sure my data is completely shut off for my device - second, call Verizon back to say, "Whoa, let's take another look at these charges" - and they agreed - and an hour later I get this text:

OK, sounds good.

Until, a week later - when I get this text:

and, sure enough, I'm billed $211.21 for having my data turned on for two minutes:

So, I've called Verizon to ask about the investigation and if I could find out how it was determined that being charged $211.21 for two minutes of data while I was just trying to access wifi was valid, and I was told they didn't know who did the investigation.

So, some simple questions:

1. What kind of investigation was conducted to determine that $211.21 for two minutes of data was a valid charge?
2. Is there a way to contact the department in charge of such investigations?
3. Is there a way to appeal such an investigation?
4. Under what circumstances would charging an average of $100+/minute not be found valid?

So, if anyone from Verizon wants to help shed some light on the whole thing, I can be reached at:

ken.grant7@gmail.com

302-588-4151

@kengrantde

https://www.facebook.com/ken.grant7

or just google "Ken Grant, Delaware" - I should be easy to find.