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The following applies to our calling plans except Prepaid plans, which are governed by our
Prepaid Customer Agreement.
My Verizon Wireless Customer Agreement
(Para una copia de este documento en espa?ol, llame al 1.800.922.0204 o visite a nuestro website: espanol.vzwshop.com.)
Thanks for choosing Verizon Wireless. In this Customer Agreement, you'll find important information about your Service, including your minimum contract term, what happens if you cancel a line of Service early or don't pay on time, our ability to make changes to your Service or this agreement's terms, our liability if things don't work as planned, and how disputes are resolved.
My Service
Your Service terms and conditions are part of this agreement. Your Plan includes your monthly allowances and features, where you can use them (your "Coverage Area"), and their monthly and pay–per–use charges. You can also subscribe to several Optional Services, like text messaging packages. Together, your Plan and any Optional Services you select are your Service. The terms and conditions for your Service can be found in the brochures that are available when you activate, or online at verizonwireless.com.
How Do I Accept This Agreement?
You accept this agreement by:- Agreeing in writing, by email, over the phone, or in person;
- Opening a package that says you are accepting by opening it; or
- Activating your Service using your wireless device.
When you accept, you're representing that you are at least 18 years old and are legally able to accept an agreement. If you're accepting for an organization, you're representing that you are authorized to bind that organization, and where the context requires, "you" means the organization.
If you don't want to accept, don't do any of these things. If you do accept, you can cancel a line of Service within 30 days of accepting without having to pay an early termination fee as long as you return any equipment you purchased from us at the time you accepted, but you'll still have to pay for your Service through that date.
My Privacy
We may collect personal information about you. We may also gather some information through our relationship with you, such as information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination and amount of your use of our telecommunications services. You can find out how we use, share and protect the information we collect about you in the Verizon Privacy Policy, available at verizon.com/privacy. We may investigate your credit history at any time and share credit information about you with credit reporting agencies and other Verizon companies. If you'd like the name and address of any credit agency that gives us a credit report about you, just ask.
What Happens if My Service Is Canceled Before the End of My Contract Term?
You're agreeing to subscribe to a line of Service either on a month–to–month basis or for a minimum contract term, as shown on your receipt or order confirmation. (If your Service is suspended without billing, that time doesn't count toward completing your contract term.) Once you've completed your contract term, you'll automatically become a customer on a month–to–month basis for that line of Service. If you cancel a line of Service, or if we cancel it for good cause, during its contract term, you'll have to pay an early termination fee. If your contract term results from your purchase of an advanced device after November 14, 2009, your early termination fee will be $350 minus $10 for each full month of your contract term that you complete. (For a complete list of advanced devices, check verizonwireless.com/advanceddevices.) Otherwise, your early termination fee will be $175 minus $5 for each full month of your contract term that you complete. Cancellations will become effective on the last day of that month's billing cycle, and you are responsible for all charges incurred until then. Also, if you bought your wireless device from an authorized agent or third–party vendor, you should check if they charge a separate termination fee.
Can I Take My Wireless Phone Number to Another Carrier?
You may be able to take, or "port," your wireless phone number to another carrier. If you port a number from us, we'll treat it as though you asked us to cancel your Service for that number. After the porting is completed, you won't be able to use our service for that number, but you'll remain responsible for all fees and charges through the end of that billing cycle, just like any other cancellation. If you port a number to us, please be aware that we may not be able to provide some services right away, such as 911 location services. You don't have any rights to your wireless phone number, except for any right you may have to port it.
Directory Information
We will not publish your wireless phone number in any available directory or give it to anyone for that purpose, unless you ask us to.
Can I Have Someone Else Manage My Account?
No problem – just tell us by phone, in person, or in writing. You can appoint someone to manage your account for a single transaction, or until you tell us otherwise. The person you appoint will be able to make changes to your account, including adding new lines of Service, buying new wireless devices, and extending your contract term. Any changes that person makes will be treated as modifications to this agreement.
Can Verizon Wireless Change This Agreement or My Service?
We may change prices or any other term of your Service or this agreement at any time, but we'll send you written notice first. If you use your Service after the change takes effect, that means you're accepting the change. But if a change to your Plan or this agreement has a material adverse effect on you, you can cancel the line of Service that has been affected within 60 days of receiving the notice with no early termination fee.
My Wireless Device
Your wireless device must comply with Federal Communications Commission regulations, be certified for use on our network, and be compatible with your Service. Please be aware that we may change your wireless device's software, applications or programming remotely, without notice. This could affect your stored data, or how you've programmed or use your wireless device. You don't own the software in any SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card that you may use with your Service. The SIM card software is licensed to you for use with the Service only, and we may change it remotely and without notice. If you bought a wireless device from Verizon Wireless that doesn't use a SIM card, and you want to reprogram it for use with another wireless network, the default programming code is set to "000000" or "123456." But please note that your wireless device may not work with another wireless network, or the other wireless carrier may not accept your wireless device on its network.
Where and How Does Verizon Wireless Service Work?
Wireless devices use radio transmissions, so unfortunately you can't get Service if your device isn't in range of a transmission signal. And please be aware that even within your Coverage Area, many things can affect the availability and quality of your Service, including network capacity, your device, terrain, buildings, foliage and weather.
What Charges Are Set by Verizon Wireless?
You agree to pay all access, usage and other charges that you or the user of your wireless device incurred. Our charges include Federal Universal Service, Regulatory and Administrative Charges, and we may also include other charges related to our governmental costs. We set these charges; they aren't taxes, they aren't required by law, they are kept by us in whole or in part, and the amounts and what they pay for may change.
Government Taxes, Fees and Surcharges
You must pay all taxes, fees and surcharges set by federal, state and local governments. Please note that we may not always be able to notify you in advance of changes to these charges.
What Are Roaming Charges?
You're "roaming" whenever your wireless device uses a transmission site outside your Coverage Area or uses another company's wireless network. Sometimes roaming happens even when you're within your Coverage Area. There may be higher rates and extra charges (including charges for long distance, tolls or calls that don't connect) for roaming calls, depending on your Plan.
How Does Verizon Wireless Calculate My Bill?
For charges based on the amount of time used, we'll round up any fraction to the next full minute. For outgoing calls, usage time starts when you first press SEND or the call connects to a network, and for incoming calls, it starts when the call connects to a network (which may be before it rings). Usage time may end several seconds after you press END or after the call disconnects. For calls made on our network, we only charge for calls that are answered, including by machines. Usage cannot always be processed right away and may be included in a later bill, but the usage will still count towards your allowance for the month when the Service was used. Remember, you can always dispute your bill within 180 days of receiving it, but unless otherwise provided by law or unless you're disputing charges because your wireless device was lost or stolen, you still have to pay all charges until the dispute is resolved.
What Are My Rights for Dropped Calls or Interrupted Service?
If you drop a call in your Coverage Area, redial. If it's answered within 5 minutes, call us within 90 days and we'll give you a 1–minute airtime credit. If you lose Service in your Coverage Area for more than 24 hours in a row and we're at fault, call us within 180 days and we'll give you a credit for the time lost. Please be aware that these are your only rights for dropped calls or interrupted Service.
About My Payments
If we don't get your payment on time, we will charge you a late fee of up to 1.5 percent per month (18 percent per year) on the unpaid balance, or a flat $5 per month, whichever is greater, if allowed by law in the state of your billing address. (If you choose another company to bill you for our Service [such as another Verizon company], late fees are set by that company or by its tariffs and may be higher than our late fees.) If we use a collection agency to collect from you, we may charge you for any fees the collection agency charges us, if allowed by law in the state of your billing address when we first send your account to a collection agency. We may require a deposit at the time of activation or afterward, or an increased deposit. We'll pay simple interest on any deposit at the rate the law requires. We may apply deposits or payments in any order to any amounts you owe us on any account. If your final credit balance is less than $1, we will refund it only if you ask. We may charge you up to $25 for any returned check. You may have to pay a fee to activate Service or to reconnect Service if it is interrupted for non–payment or suspended for any reason.
What if My Wireless Device Gets Lost or Stolen?
We're here to help. It's important that you notify us right away, so we can suspend your Service to keep someone else from using it. If your wireless device is used after the loss or theft but before you report it, and you want a credit for any charges for that usage, we're happy to review your account activity and any other information you'd like us to consider. Keep in mind that you may be held responsible for the charges if you delayed reporting the loss or theft without good reason, but you don't have to pay any charges you dispute while they are being investigated. If we haven't given you a courtesy suspension of recurring monthly charges during the past year, we'll give you one for 30 days or until you replace or recover your wireless device, whichever comes first.
What Are Verizon Wireless' Rights to Limit or End Service or End this Agreement?
We can, without notice, limit, suspend or end your Service or any agreement with you for any good cause, including, but not limited to: (i) if you: (a) breach this agreement; (b) pay late more than once in any 12 months; (c) incur charges larger than a required deposit or billing limit, or materially in excess of your monthly access charges (even if we haven't yet billed the charges); (d) provide credit information we can't verify; (e) are unable to pay us or go bankrupt; (f) resell your Service; (g) use your Service for any illegal purpose, including use that violates trade and economic sanctions and prohibitions promulgated by any U.S. governmental agency; (h) install, deploy or use any regeneration equipment or similar mechanism (for example, a repeater) to originate, amplify, enhance, retransmit or regenerate an RF signal without our permission; (i) steal from or lie to us; or (ii) if you, any user of your device or any account manager on your account: (a) threaten, harass, or use vulgar and/or inappropriate language toward our representatives; (b) interfere with our operations; (c) "spam," or engage in other abusive messaging or calling; (d) modify your device from its manufacturer's specifications; or (e) use your Service in a way that negatively affects our network or other customers. We can also temporarily limit your Service for any operational or governmental reason.
Am I Eligible for Special Discounts?
You may be eligible for a discount if you are and remain affiliated with an organization that has an agreement with us. Unless your discount is through a government employee discount program, we may share certain information about your Service (including your name, your wireless telephone number and your total monthly charges) with your organization from time to time to make sure you're still eligible. We may adjust or remove your discount according to your organization's agreement with us, and remove your discount if your eligibility ends or your contract term expires. In any case, this won't be considered to have a material adverse effect on you.
Disclaimer of Warranties
We make no representations or warranties, express or implied, including, to the extent permitted by applicable law, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, about your Service, your wireless device, or any applications you access through your wireless device. We do not warrant that your wireless device will work perfectly or will not need occasional upgrades or modifications, or that it will not be negatively affected by network–related modifications, upgrades or similar activity.
Please be aware that if you activated your wireless device through our Open Development program, we can't vouch for the device's call quality or overall functionality.
Waivers and Limitations of Liability
You and Verizon Wireless both agree to limit claims against each other for damages or other monetary relief to direct damages. This limitation and waiver will apply regardless of the theory of liability. That means neither of us will try to get any indirect, special, consequential, treble or punitive damages from the other. This limitation and waiver also applies if you bring a claim against one of our suppliers, to the extent we would be required to indemnify the supplier for the claim. You agree we aren't responsible for problems caused by you or others, or by any act of God. You also agree we aren't liable for missed or deleted voice mails or other messages, or for any information (like pictures) that gets lost or deleted if we work on your device. If another wireless carrier is involved in any problem (for example, while you're roaming), you also agree to any limitations of liability in its favor that it imposes.
How Do I Resolve Disputes with Verizon Wireless?
We hope to make you a happy customer, but if there's an issue that needs to be resolved, this section outlines what's expected of both of us.
You and Verizon Wireless both agree to resolve disputes only by arbitration or in small claims court. There's no judge or jury in arbitration, and the procedures may be different, but an arbitrator can award the same damages and relief, and must honor the same terms in this agreement, as a court would. If the law allows for an award of attorneys' fees, an arbitrator can award them too. We also both agree that:
(1) The Federal Arbitration Act applies to this agreement. Except for small claims court cases that qualify, any dispute that results from this agreement or from the Services you receive from us (or from any advertising for any products or Services) will be resolved by one or more neutral arbitrators before the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") or Better Business Bureau ("BBB"). You can also bring any issues you may have to the attention of federal, state, or local government agencies, and if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.
(2) Unless you and Verizon Wireless agree otherwise, the arbitration will take place in the county of your billing address. For claims over $10,000, the AAA's Wireless Industry Arbitration ("WIA") rules will apply. We agree that in large/complex cases, the loser can ask for a panel of three new arbitrators to review the award. For claims of $10,000 or less, the party bringing the claim can choose either the AAA's WIA rules or the BBB's rules for binding arbitration or, alternatively, can bring an individual action in small claims court. You can get procedures, rules and fee information from the AAA (www.adr.org), the BBB (www.bbb.org) or from us. For claims of $10,000 or less, you can choose whether you'd like the arbitration carried out based only on documents submitted to the arbitrator, or by a hearing in–person or by phone.
(3) This agreement doesn't allow class arbitrations even if the AAA or BBB procedures or rules would. The arbitrator may award money or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim.
(4) As part of your agreement to arbitrate on an individual basis, we provide you with a free internal mediation program. In our mediation program, we assign someone who's not directly involved in the dispute (though possibly from our company) to help both sides reach an agreement. That person has all the rights and protections of a mediator. Nothing said in the mediation can be used later in an arbitration or lawsuit. If you'd like to know more, please contact us at verizonwireless.com or through customer service. If you'd like to start the mediation process, please go to verizonwireless.com or call customer service for a mediation request form to fill out, and mail it to us at the address shown on the form. Or if you'd prefer to start the arbitration process, please contact the AAA or BBB for the forms you'll need to submit.
(5) If you opt for the mediation program and take part in at least one mediation session by phone, but we aren't able to settle the dispute between us, we'll pay any filing fee that the AAA or BBB charges you for arbitration of the dispute. If that arbitration proceeds, we'll also pay any administrative and arbitrator fees charged later, as well as for any appeal to a panel of new three arbitrators (if the arbitration award is appealable under this agreement).
(6) We may make a written settlement offer anytime before arbitration begins. If you don't accept the offer, or if we don't make you an offer, and the arbitrator awards you an amount of money that's more than our offer but less than $5000, then we agree to pay you $5000 instead of the amount awarded. In that case we also agree to pay any attorneys' fees and expenses, regardless of whether the law requires it for your case. If the arbitrator awards you more than $5000, then we will pay you that amount.
(7) An arbitration award and any judgment confirming it apply only to that specific case; it can't be used in any other case except to enforce the award itself.
(8) If for some reason the prohibition on class arbitrations set forth in subsection (3) cannot be enforced, then the agreement to arbitrate will not apply.
(9) Also, if for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than through arbitration, you and Verizon Wireless agree that there will not be a jury trial.
About this Agreement
If we don't enforce our rights under this agreement in one instance, that doesn't mean we won't or can't enforce those rights in any other instance. You cannot assign this agreement or any of your rights or duties under it without our permission. However, we may assign this agreement or any debt you owe us without notifying you. Please note that many notices we send to you will show up as messages on your monthly bill. If you have online billing, those notices will be deemed received by you when your online bill is available for viewing. If you get a paper bill, those notices will be deemed received by you 3 days after we mail the bill to you. If we send other notices to you, they will be considered received immediately if we send them to your wireless device, or to any email or fax number you've given us, or after 3 days if we mail them to your billing address. If you need to send notices to us, please send them to the customer service address on your latest bill.
If any part of this agreement, including anything regarding the arbitration process, is ruled invalid, that part may be removed from this agreement.
This agreement and the documents it incorporates form the entire agreement between us. You can't rely on any other documents, or on what's said by any sales or customer service representatives, and you have no other rights regarding Service or this agreement. This agreement isn't for the benefit of any third party except our parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, agents, and predecessors and successors in interest. Except where we've agreed otherwise elsewhere in this agreement, this agreement and any disputes covered by it are governed by the laws of the state encompassing the area code of your wireless phone number when you accepted this agreement, without regard to the conflicts of laws rules of that state.
Last Updated: 11/15/09
