Woman’s Video of Verizon Overcharging Her Goes Viral as Company Settles a $100M Lawsuit

Earlier this year, Verizon settled a $100 million lawsuit which alleged that the company falsely advertised the prices of its plans. Customers claimed the company billed them for extra administrative charges which weren’t disclosed upfront. One TikTok creator, Angel Ardito (@thelousypoledancer), who faced the same issue, is going viral for sharing the details of how she was overcharged by Verizon. The comment section of the video illustrated how common the problem was. In the video posted on TikTok which has over 1.4 million views, Ardito shares what’s infuriating her. She goes on to say that her internet service provider, Verizon started charging her $6 and some cents more per month even though they did not change or provide anything new in the plan which was billed lower last month.

Ardito then goes on to mention some calculations that she did. According to her, she found out that Verizon had 144 million customers as of 2023. She says that if the company similarly charged all of its customers, Verizon would be making to the tune of $11.5 billion for doing nothing and that’s what's infuriating her.

While getting overcharged may seem unfair and even illegal, the comment section of Adrito’s video showed that this is a rather common issue. One user and a customer of Verizon (@ohkman) said that they had been using Verizon for 10 years and nearly every bill they received has varied for absolutely no reason.

Several users offered Adrito advice on how to lower her bills. One of the viewers (@whoaskedher) said that they saw a TikTok video where the user said calling the company and arguing about the extra charge allowed them to lower the bill. To this, Ardito replied that she was going to try this. 

Meanwhile, one of the viewers (@lexusjackson3) said they were charged $10 extra but they did find any reason behind it. The user said that they were told by the company that the extra charge was for "better service." However, the user added that they are yet to see a better service. 

Verizon’s $100 million class action lawsuit

Verizon was sued for overbilling its customers with an “administrative charge,” which users claimed to be “misleading” because that fee wasn’t disclosed in their plan’s advertised monthly price. Verizon openly denied the claims issuing a statement that said it “clearly identifies and describes its wireless consumer admin charge multiple times during the sales transaction as well as in its marketing, contracts and billing,” ABC7 reported. However, for charging customers in a “deceptive and unfair manner,” four different lawsuits were filed against the company. These lawsuits were settled for $100 million in a New Jersey court, where Verizon is headquartered. Following the settlement, the wireless carrier sent an email or postcard to all its eligible customers alerting them to file a claim by April 15 to receive up to $100 in compensation. Hopefully, Adrito was one of those customers who could file a claim. 

For more entertaining, sex education and shopping tips, follow Angel Audrito (@thelousypoledancer) on TikTok.