Verizon offers half-price discount for dying

A Minnesota debt collection agency recently attempted to acquire an unpaid Verizon bill from a woman who had died three months earlier, according to Forbes. Verizon knowingly deployed a collection agency on one of their customers, Betty Howard, for three months - despite being repeatedly told that she had passed away. Howard's daughter-in-law, Marilaynn Loveless, contacted the phone company regarding the issue, which in turn cut Howard's bill in half - from $110 to $54, as a result of her passing. The L.A. Times reports that on top of the outrageous bill, the internet access that Howard had signed up for - and was being billed for - prior to her passing never arrived, despite Loveless' attempts to order a package of services that Verizon said she needed for broadband. Eventually, Verizon realized its error, admitting to the media outlet that "mistakes were made" and apologized. Forbes points out that the underlying issue remains that widely used companies - such as Verizon or Macys - are the reason why third party debt collectors exist. They are hired by these conglomerates and, due to the expansive number of customers they serve, tend to not treat everything on a case-by-case basis.