VERIZON WIRELESS STOLE MY MONEY!

Hey:


Open letter to anyone who cares to hear about the pain I've been put through the past 4 months by Verizon Wireless.  My husband had us signed up with Verizon Wireless.  We have been with them for 14 years as our cell phone provider.  As some of you know, My husband is no longer in any capacity to assist in anyway with anything.  If you don't know the details, it's not part of this blog, maybe later.  ANYWAY, I have durable power of attorney and our "story" is a painful, upsetting one that requires a great deal of courage and persistence on my part to get things taken care of when I am not listed on an account.  I provided to Verizon Wireless over 4 months ago our "story" and the power of attorney.  I was "added" to the account to make changes etc and have been working with them to clear up the accounts.  I called to have his phone shut off and was told that the early termination fee would be waived - while on the line with them my phone shut off...LOL they shut my line down instead of his.  I had to call back and explain to yet another customer service person what just happened and what was supposed to happen.  This customer service person said he would take care of it...reinstated my line and "shut off" my husbands.  Then I got a bill, The bill was for both of our lines to be shut off and they were charging me for both lines to have the early termination fee.  I called back, explained why I was shutting off my husbands line, that my line was shut off in error and was told that they would put a "ticket" in to make sure my account wasn't charged and was told in fact I had a credit once they updated the bill.  I checked the following week and nothing had changed on-line and I was set to be charged, I called again.  This time I had to explain from the beginning, our story, durable power of attorney, explain what durable power of attorney meant, that my phone was not actually shut off (I was calling from my phone) AND that both early termination fees should be waived. I was told specifically that my account would not be charged, and guess what.  I had $559.51 stolen from my account by Verizon Wireless.  I have been on the phone with them for the past (2) weeks a total of 5 phone calls where I am assured they will correct the issue.  My last phone call Thursday I was told the funds would be returned to my account the following day.  I called again this morning and spoke with (2) Customer service representatives that stated that they had to speak to my husband before they could provide me with any information.  When I explained to them our "situation" I was told there was "nothing they could do"  I needed to get the password from my husband.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  It's okay for you to take $$ out of my account but I don't have any access to service?  My bank, Service Credit Union is now working to have the funds returned to my account.  I love my bank, if you are looking for a bank, I strongly suggest Service Credit Union.  If you are looking for a cell phone provider, Don't use Verizon, the customer service people in the stores are really good but over the phone they can't even help themselves never mind any issue you have. 


Do you have a Verizon Horror story you'd like to share?  Please comment below   

Finding financial aid to pay for college

Your student is preparing to go off to college in the Fall, has the school picked out and acceptance in hand.  Now the questions looms, how to pay for it??

The first thing you need to do is complete the Free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov The application for the 2015-2016 year became available starting January 1st.  The application is the Department of Education's site and has a nifty tool to pull your IRS tax information into the application.  You need to have already filed your taxes for it to work, but you can use estimates based on last year and once you file your taxes go back onto the site and update.  

The next thing you need to do it find out what additional steps need to be completed at the school your student is going to.  Check with the aid office, they typically have a website dedicated to spelling out the steps or you can always call.

Once you know what additional forms need to be completed, DO IT.  Don't wait on submitting, you could miss out on some opportunities if your student isn't "complete".  

Check with your local librarian, guidance counselor or State website (I suggest all 3) to find private scholarship sources to apply for.  If your student writes a really strong essay, they can use it again and again to apply for scholarships if it fits what they are asking for.

Check a search engine for scholarships like www.fastweb.com cast your net wide to find obscure little scholarships that your student would be eligible for.  I received in my undergraduate program a scholarship for Brown Eyed girls ~ legitimate scholarship that provided $500 a year that added up to a whole lot of books by the end of my degree!

Make sure that your student applied for any scholarship available through the school of choice and look over all paperwork that comes in for deadlines.

Once you have your award offer in hand, remember ~ it's not a bill, it's an award and not all awards are equal. 

If your student is applying to more than 1 school and you are deciding which school offered the "best" $$ you have to look at total cost for the year and then scholarship offered.  What looks like a huge scholarship may only cover 10% while a small offer and a low cost school could be covering 75%.  You also have to take into consideration Fit.  If the school is not right for your student and is not going to offer the degree they want, services they need or climate they are used too (climate can be cultural, size of school and Temperature) then sending them off because they offered more scholarship funds is spending good money after bad.  You want your students’ college experience to be a positive one.  If you pay out of pocket even $500 a semester to find out after a year it's not a good fit and your student is going to transfer you have just wasted your money. 

All things to keep in mind when navigating the financial aid waters ~