Sure it's wireless, but plenty of strings attached.

I know, I know ... there's no such thing as a good cell phone company. And I'm not demanding perfection, just a willingness to work with me and make things right.

In the era of electronic bill pay, I assumed managing things from the southern hemisphere wouldn't be too terribly different. But, you know what assuming gets you.

I've had several issues. Some companies, like State Farm, have been incredibly helpful (problems researched and answers given within 24 hours). 

Some companies have been maddening, like US Bank. First, when I called to change my mailing address, I was told it couldn't be done over the phone and I had to do it online. I went online, couldn't figure out how to do it, sent an email and was told I had to do it on the phone. Called again and was told, again, it couldn't be done over the phone. In the meantime, they locked me out of my online banking account and it took five emails and four phone calls to get it fixed. Fortunately, the absolutely wonderful person who finally did fix it for me also updated my mailing address ("they can do it on the phone, it's just a little more difficult with international addresses, so they probably didn't want to"). Unfortunately, I just received a notices that they changed my mailing address back to my previous address and to contact them in writing to make further changes. Grrrr.

And some just make me wonder why they put customer service processes in place that take into account neither the customer, nor service.

Here's where Verizon joins the party.

1. Verizon overcharged me because the company failed to correctly process my request when I cancelled my account and moved to Australia.
2. I was sent notice of a statement in mid June, but couldn't view it online ... again, because my request to cancel was processed incorrectly by Verizon and I couldn't access my account. Had I been able to view it, I would have known I was overcharged and not paid it.
3. I made multiple attempts to work with Verizon's support to view and pay the balance, however, as I did not want to be late in paying the account, I went ahead and paid it without seeing the itemized statement.
4. I requested confirmation from Verizon that the final balance was paid. I still couldn't see the itemized statement.
5. I received a response in July that Verizon billed me in error (again, the cancellation was processed incorrectly), my account would be credited and a refund would be mailed.
6. I requested the refund be credited to the credit card used to make the payment as I live in Australia and wouldn't be able to cash a check from the US.
7. Verizon responded that refunds were only given in checks, but I should be able to cash it, because, after all, they're a US company.
8. In August (about four weeks later), since I hadn't received the refund, I requested Verizon tell me when it was mailed.
9. I was told it had not been mailed and would be sent in four to six weeks.
10. So, here we are, another four weeks later ... and nothing from Verizon.

Nice.