Verizon Accused of Hostile Reactions to Customer Complaints — Do They Have a Blacklist?

The major telecommunications company Verizon is in hot water after the company was accused of keeping a customer complaint blacklist for people who filed complaints against the company with a third party.

According to Phone Arena, a customer who filed a complaint against Verizon with the Attorney General's Office for the District of Columbia's Consumer Mediation Program revealed the customer blacklist.

Verizon reportedly "harbors a personal vendetta" against customers who file complaints, and the company "retaliated by blacklisting the customer" in question.

According to the customer who filed a complaint against the company, Verizon has a customer complaint blacklist, and it not only prevents customers from buying services from Verizon, but also from other companies by ruining their credit.

The customer in the complaint alleges that Verizon purposely "tried to wreak havoc" on their credit report by re-aging a debt, which manipulates the delinquency date on a debt that had already been paid.

Customers are then unable to get other loans or financial services as a result. Verizon reportedly keeps the "existence of the blacklist a secret" and uses it to punish customers who complain.

"The customer shared evidence, including an email with instructions to blacklist them, to back up their claim. Verizon defended its actions in its response to the OAG's email by saying it had already reported the account to collections when it was paid in full."

Verizon claims that the customer's account was in collections before the customer paid off the debt, and thereby the company did nothing wrong and simply followed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA does not allow companies to remove negative history from a person's credit report as soon as they pay off the debt, and the debt typically stays on credit reports for seven years.

A statement from Verizon denies the customer complaint blacklist and called the customer's accusation a "ridiculous insinuation."

"Consumers on occasion file complaints or concerns with the FCC and/or state utility commissions. When it happens, we work quickly to respond and address their concerns. But these customers ARE NOT put on some sort of blacklist. It's a ridiculous insinuation."

Other customers complained about Verizon's services and rising prices on social media. After a commercial noting that customers could lock in prices for only three years, folks reacted on X.

"I’ve had @Verizon for over 20 years, and I’m finally changing carriers," wrote one X user. "Not only are they expensive, but their service sucks."

Another X user wrote, "Shoutout to @Verizon for making the decision to switch mobile carriers so easy! After 7 years, the combo of degraded service and a price hike was the push I finally needed. Thanks, I guess?"Another customer seemed annoyed by the early bill notifications they Verizon.

"No one is more annoying than Verizon with their payment notifications," wrote one. "Like, b----h I have another 20 days till it’s due, get off me!!"

Others were annoyed that Verizon used AI in the commercial.

"Billion-dollar company using AI slop instead of just hiring a person to make a commercial. We're not gonna make it to 2050," they noted. "You f--kers better be dropping my bill down if you're going to start posting AI slop for marketing instead of paying actors/animators to actually produce an ad," added another.

One X user was a wee bit more blunt with their reaction on X. "F--k you, Verizon."