How to Cancel Verizon Wireless

Are you tired of your account problems and service failing to live up to expectations? Maybe you want to cancel just one of your lines for your account entirely. In any case, we explain how to cancel your Verizon Wireless account.

There are many reasons why you might want to cancel your Verizon Wireless account. Verizon does make it fairly easy although you will have to speak with a customer service representative and be the account holder in order to cancel the account.

Cancellation policy

Verizon Wireless has a very flexible about canceling and they have lots of solutions on the associated cancellation page to give you different options before you finally pull the plug.

For example:

If you are moving, they give you the option of seeing whether Verizon service is available in your new location and if it is, they will connect you to your new home as you are moving.
If you are instead going out of town for anywhere between 30 days and 11 months, Verizon will allow you to suspend your services for the duration of your travel rather than cancel.
If you are rethinking the services that you have, they will help you explore other options and you can easily make changes online to your account so that you have fewer services, different services, fewer phone lines, etc

If you really want to cancel your service, Verizon will try to keep you with new special offers that make your monthly bill less or give you more services for the same price.

Step-by-step guide to cancel your Verizon Wireless account

If you are set on canceling your account, you must have your account information ready and call 1-844-837-2262 Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 5:00pm EST.

A customer service representative will walk you through the steps of canceling your account, and explain what you need to do if any equipment must be returned.
If you are renting equipment, it has to be returned within 30 days of canceling, but Verizon Wireless does make it easy for you to print prepaid return labels for shipping.
If you are still under contract you may be charged your early termination fee which will be added to the final bill.
Once your service is canceled, you can still use My Verizon to check the status of your final bill, your equipment returns, and any applicable refunds.

Your final bill will be received on your regular billing date and if you use paper free billing or auto-pay those will both remain in effect until your final payment has been made. If you have a credit balance it will be returned to you after it’s processed but this can take up to 60 days.

Common disputes and complaints when canceling

Many of the complaints that have to do with trying to cancel a Verizon Wireless account circulate around these excessive termination fees. People who cancel their accounts early on in their contract can face the maximum of $350 penalty which can be coupled with additional charges required up front in full for things like equipment.

For example, if you purchase a new phone from Verizon when you sign up for your service but that’s phone price is built into the cost of your monthly payment, you might still owe $700 on the phone when you decide to cancel your payment and then be required to pay that upfront in order to cancel your service and continue using the device with another provider.

Other complaints have to do with final credit balances being returned. When a cancellation is made Verizon does make it clear that it can take up to 60 days to receive that, but that 60 day countdown begins after Verizon has processed the final bill and the remaining credit balance on the account. This amount sometimes simply isn’t correct because extra fees were charged and taken from the remaining credit balance and in other cases customers have noted that it simply takes months longer than they were anticipating to get the money back.

Fees associated with canceling

Verizon Wireless will charge you an early termination fee if you cancel while under contract. This fee is prorated so, as more time passes for your contracts, the less expensive your termination fee will be. The termination fee you are charged will not be more than $350, and it decreases by $15 for every month of your contract.

For this reason that is better for you to try and cancel your policy near the end of a contract rather than the beginning.

What to do if you are unable to cancel or incur fees for canceling

If you have tried to reach out to Verizon Wireless customer service but they still won’t cancel your account, or you were charged unnecessary and excessive fees for canceling, we can help. At FairShake we help you fight big companies like Verizon and get the solution you deserve.