So, last night I was reviewing various bills which have come in for my mother's estate since January and came across the Verizon Wireless bill. My brother had cancelled the service last month telling VZ that she'd passed away.

As a result of cancelling the service before the end of the contract period, Verizon Wireless assessed a $175 early termination fee, less a refund of the $0.14 USF surcharge.

So, miffed, I called Verizon Wireless last night and spent ten minutes in phone menu hell only to eventually be informed that they don't provide customer service overnight (what, there's no day shifts in Mumbai?).

This morning I called again and started swinging the baseball bat from the start. It's not personal or anything, I feel sorry for the people at the other end of the line, but I also know that they have a script to follow and if you don't take control of the conversation, you end up where their script leads, not necessarily where you want to end.

So, I started by saying I was calling on behalf of the estate. And then I shifted into when my mother passed away, we cancelled her service and were told there would be no termination penalty. And then ended with ...and I find this surcharge to be really offensive....

The net result is that the surcharge/penalty has been removed, in theory. Since they told us it wouldn't be assessed in the first place I'm planning on writing a ntoe with the final bill noting the date and time of the conversation and again expressing my opinion.

Not sure about the $0.14 USF refund.