Death Certificate Not Enough To Cancel Phone Line

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A grieving daughter has not been able to cancel her late father’s phone service even after showing the death certificate reports the St. Petersburg Times .

Treasure Island, Fla. resident Cynthia Lacy tried to disconnect her deceased father’s Verizon telephone service, but was told by a customer service agent that because she didn’t know his pin number that they would not stop service.

The customer service representative said, “Well, there's nothing else I can do for you,” and laughed and hung up the phone.

Lacy was frustrated and said, “This is wrong. I've already sent them the death certificate.”

Bill Young of Calvin, W.Va., died in June, but his phone service wasn’t shut off until last week. It wasn’t until Lacy contacted the media to bring attention to the matter that Verizon took action.

According to the Times , the matter was even more pressing because Young’s house was sold and had a closing deadline. If the service had not been shut off, it would have stopped the transaction.

A spokesperson for Verizon, Bob Elek, admitted that the representative did not handle the situation properly. The employee has been reprimanded and is receiving coaching.

Elek said, “The account in question has been discontinued and backdated to Sept. 1. The daughter will receive a credit/refund for the months she paid since September.”

The Times article said that for consumers to avoid this problem in the future, they should keep a record of passwords, PINS, and account numbers and store them in a safe deposit box.

The New York Times reported last year that collecting the debt of the deceased has become a big industry.

Specially trained debt collectors contact the deceased’s next of kin and inform them of their late family member’s debt. The living relative doesn’t always have an obligation to pay however.

Each state has their own laws on the matter, but usually there is no legal requirement for the debt to be paid off by the living.