Ronnie Ginsberg has spent the past several months trying to dispute charges on her Verizon Wireless bill.
"This all started back in June of 2015 when I was going on a trip with my husband to Europe - the trip of a lifetime that I had spent a year and a half planning," the Massachusetts resident said. "I called Verizon Wireless, which was my carrier, and I asked to be put on five weeks of international service so I could reach everyone in the states."
Verizon told her she had to sign up for a minimum of two months of international service, which she agreed to. She asked that the service end on Aug. 23, 2015, and said she enjoyed an amazing vacation.
But long after the trip ended - more than a year later - Ginsberg realized that she was still being charged monthly for the international service. That's an additional $91 a month for 17 months - over $1,000 in all.
"I called customer service reps, I spoke to a number of supervisors," she said. "I was told, 'Well, we can only give you credit for a few months because it goes back too far.' The supervisors said, 'There is really nothing we can do.'"
Ginsberg was told to write a letter to the Verizon Wireless correspondence team in Connecticut to explain her situation. But that still didn't bring about a resolution.
"I was angry, I was frustrated, and it just seemed wrong," she said.
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To make matters worse, as she continued to dispute the bill, Verizon charged her again for the international service in December and January.
So Ginsberg contacted NBC Boston Responds. We reached out to Verizon to see if they could address the problem, and a few days later, Ginsberg got a call from a Verizon executive who apologized for the situation and immediately credited her $918.34.
"I was stunned, amazed, excited and very grateful, because NBC Boston managed to do in the space of a couple of days something I wasn't able to accomplish in over two months," she said. "It's nice to have someone fighting on your side."
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