Grief recovery, loss of child, healing after death & loss 

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Verizon Wireless Text Messages from Deceased

Verizon Wireless sent us another bill today. It was addressed to Phillip Shelton.

Verizon WirelessI have called Verizon Wireless about Phillip's cell phone bill. I called and told them he died and asked to get his text messages. This was a couple of days after he died. So, maybe September 3th or 4th. They said as long as you have a police officer order them, I could get them. So I called the investigating officer from Phil's accident and asked him if he would call Verizon Wireless on our behalf…and he did. They told him they would not release the text messages without a subpoena. This is Verizon Wireless policy. At that point I dropped it. I could understand the privacy issues here and thought I could live without the text messages. They were simply to ease a grieving mother's heart….and for that matter, nothing seems to ease it. I recognized this.

Verizon Wireless….he won't be paying, he died.

I have received many more bills and notices from Verizon about Phillip's unpaid phone bill and then one day I called his voicemail and the phone was shut off. I have started opening his mail now. For awhile I couldn't do it. It seemed like such an invasion of his privacy to open his mail. Yes, I knew he was dead. Yes, I knew he wasn't coming back. Still, it was his stuff. His privacy as a young adult and it seemed….well…disrespectful.

Verizon Wireless Supervisor

Today I called Verizon Wireless and talked to a Verizon Wireless representative and told him Phillip had died and would not be paying the Verizon Wireless phone bill. He said, all you have to do is take an obituary down to any local Verizon Wireless store and they will credit back the amount charged after the day he died. Really? Is that all I have to do? I wanted to freak out. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He said, may I ask why? I said yes you can, the reason I want to speak to your supervisor is, you don't understand that my son burned up in a car crash and I don't want his credit ruined because you are not listening to me when I told you he died and won't be paying his Verizon Wireless phone bill anymore.

I don't care if they credit him. He is not here. He is not paying any of the bill so I don't really care about a credit, does that make sense to anyone?

I know even my husband thought I was being crazy. I just don't like the idea of my son being sent to collections for something he CAN'T pay. He isn't here to handle it…he was responsible and paid his phone bill and I don't think it should go to collections because he died. I was just feeling really annoyed about this.

I don't like opening his mail and I really won't like seeing his credit ruined after he died. My husband thinks I am making too big of a deal out of it. I don't care. I think it sucks. I will send them a copy of the obituary if they will quit sending him bills and put it in their dead person pile….why do they need to keep sending them out?

One good thing that came of this…I did record his voice on the voicemail and I was able to check his messages. He had nothing big but his brother and sister had both called and let them know they loved him. That was a comfort them them that he had heard those messages.

Boy I miss my kid. 22 forever.



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