A TikToker said she had to act like a “Karen” for the first time in her life after Verizon supposedly took away the phone credit they gave her.
The customer, Mallory (@.simply.mallory), posted several videos on TikTok explaining what happened. In one video, she said she traded her old phone into Verizon in September and was given an $800 promotion and $285 credit towards her bill.
Mallory said that she noticed that her December Verizon bill was “significantly” larger than she expected it to be. She said she almost just paid the bill but wasn’t able to because of an issue with Verizon’s system that day, so she decided to call Verizon customer service.
She said the customer service representative told her she owed more than $700, but she knew that wasn’t right and asked him for an itemized breakdown of her bill. She continued that he told her the credit she received for trading in her phone wasn’t processed, and the system took it back it in November.
@.simply.mallory Check your Verizon bill if you do trade ins. #storytime #part1 #karen #verizon #whatdoyouthink #wasiwrong #foryou #foryoupage #fyp ♬ original sound – Mallory🌻
The representative said there wasn’t much he could do about the credit and told her she’d have to pay the bill. Mallory said she refused to pay any bill, even after the representative offered her a $150 “inconvenience credit.”
“So I tell him, ‘if your system can decide I don’t get [the credit], your system can put it back,’” Mallory said in the clip.
Despite Mallory’s confession of acting like a “Karen,” commenters reassured her that her reaction was anything but Karen-like.
“Babe. Karen’s are typically in the wrong and over reacting. Ur not a Karen,” one viewer commented.
“Not a Karen, this behavior was definitely warranted though,” another said.
Other viewers encouraged Mallory to hold on to any paperwork or evidence of her $800 credit, and some even suggested pursuing legal action.
In a second video, Mallory said she refused to accept the inconvenience fee. She told the customer service representative that if he couldn’t do what she needed and get the entire bill taken care of, she would talk to his supervisor.
“I pulled that card,” Mallory said. “I don’t care. I worked in a call center. Things can be done. If an error happened where the system just took away almost $300 and added it to my bill, then you guys can put it back and make it right.”
@.simply.mallory After I called him out on belittling me and putting me on hold with out saying anything he changed his tune. #storytime #part2 #verizon #karen #standupforyourself #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – Mallory🌻
Mallory claimed that the representative cut her off while she was talking and put her on hold without warning. She said that when he came back a few minutes later, he lectured her about a lack of appreciation for the inconvenience credit, saying he would have felt “surprised” if he was given $150 in a similar situation.
Mallory clapped back that he would also have been surprised if almost $300 had been added to his phone bill.
“You’re not about to belittle me and talk down to me and make me sound incompetent for doing what I was told. For understanding what I was told in the store,” Mallory said, recounting her words to the representative.
She claimed that the representative tried to backpedal and deny that he was being condescending and went to talk to his supervisor some more. She said that when he came back from another hold, he told her that he could give her credit back.
“Moral of the story: if you trade in your phone, make sure you get the credits that you are given, keep an eye on your bill, and don’t let anybody, anybody talk down to you and tell you how it’s going to be when you know that they’re in the wrong,” Mallory said.
Several viewers shared that they had similar experiences as Verizon customers.
“Verizon does this. They say we owe $1000+ cuz they took all the credits they gave us back,” one viewer commented.
“True Verizon story, when I called re unscrupulous treatment at the store they tried to say I’m elderly and probably got confused. I was a 59 CFO,” another said.
“Verizon banks on customers who don’t view bills and customers who don’t push back,” a third speculated.
In a third video, Mallory expressed shock at the outpouring of support and flood of Verizon horror stories she received in response to her videos. She said she is considering switching her phone provider when she and her husband’s phones are paid off.
@.simply.mallory Replying to @aliciastewart40 all of these comments have me seriously wondering how Verizon is still in business. #HolidayOREOke #reply #verizon #customerservice #scam #money #relatable #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – Mallory🌻
She also clarified that a Verizon store manager intentionally gave her both the $800 promotion and the $285 phone credit. Some viewers commented on previous videos that customers only get one or the other and suggested that Mallory may have been in the wrong for thinking that she got both.
The TikToker said the one thing that was her fault was her mistake of throwing away the paper receipt with the manager’s signature.
The Daily Dot reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Verizon via email.
