Rochester, NY
Victory!
Won with 194,528 supporters
Verizon: Don't make domestic violence victims pay to stay safe
by Cynthia Butterworth
Supporters are signing:
Victory!
September 27
After nearly 200,000 people joined her
campaign, Verizon reached out directly to Cindy. They told her that
after hearing her story, the realized they needed to improve their
policies to ensure that what happened to Carol doesn't happen again. Not
only are they improving training for customer service representatives
dealing with domestic violence survivors who need to cancel contracts,
but they will be rolling out an entire package of new policies and
trainings to give representatives the ability to connect survivors with
resources and programs they need to stay safe and start healing.
Says Cindy, "“This is absolutely incredible news for me, for my family,
and for all victims attempting to regain control of their lives. This is
proof that one voice can make a difference, all it takes is speaking up
and asking others for support.”
Cindy and her family will continue working directly with Verizon as they
implement the new policies and training for employees. "We can feel
good knowing that no one else will ever have to go through what my
sister did."
This summer, I got a phone call that nobody wants to receive; on the
other end of the line between sobs I heard, "He beat me up." My sister
had been attacked and beaten by her boyfriend and was in the emergency
room.
Without even putting shoes on her feet, she quietly escaped their house in the middle of the night with nothing but her car key. Because he had taken her phone she went to a small pub around the corner to call her daughter, who lives 3 hours away and then drove there for help. Her glasses were broken, her nose was broken, her ribs were cracked, her heart was broken - she knew this was the beginning of a long and difficult journey to reclaim her life.
After the initial shock and urgent care treatment, my sister began to take the necessary steps to keep herself safe and get away from her abusive partner.
As a couple, they were also business partners owning a mobile car mechanic service; it was her only source of income. She booked the appointments and ran the billings. They used her credit to secure a small loan, credit cards and bank accounts. Everything was joint or in the business' name, which meant her abuser had access to all of the accounts. One of the first things she tried to do was cancel their shared contracts with Verizon Wireless - ending the contract was a complicated but extremely necessary step. If Verizon would not end the contracts, it meant that her abusive boyfriend would have continued access to all of her phone records and would know who she was calling and most horrifically, where she was calling from. My sister's life and safety, like many other survivors’, depended on being able to stay away from her abuser. She was shocked when Verizon informed her it would be $500 to end these contracts and stay safe.
She had no money – he had taken everything from her. Not only was she emotionally shaken, but because of Verizon’s policies she would have to pay extra money to keep herself safe.
After a long battle, Verizon finally waived my sister's fees, but thousands of other victims of abuse are in her shoes right now, facing the choice between safety at a huge cost and continued danger.
One in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner every year. It takes so much courage to step out of an abusive relationship, seek help and start over. And Verizon Wireless knows it. They even have programs to help victims of domestic violence, like HopeLine.
But Verizon Wireless is punishing these customers by charging an early termination fee, even when the contract must be broken because the abusive partner is in jail or a court has ordered a restraining order. They can and should do better.
Please sign my petition asking Verizon Wireless to create a policy that does not punish victims of domestic violence for taking the brave steps necessary to keep themselves safe. Verizon should not charge fees for early termination of contracts if they are because the person has been a victim of domestic violence.
Without even putting shoes on her feet, she quietly escaped their house in the middle of the night with nothing but her car key. Because he had taken her phone she went to a small pub around the corner to call her daughter, who lives 3 hours away and then drove there for help. Her glasses were broken, her nose was broken, her ribs were cracked, her heart was broken - she knew this was the beginning of a long and difficult journey to reclaim her life.
After the initial shock and urgent care treatment, my sister began to take the necessary steps to keep herself safe and get away from her abusive partner.
As a couple, they were also business partners owning a mobile car mechanic service; it was her only source of income. She booked the appointments and ran the billings. They used her credit to secure a small loan, credit cards and bank accounts. Everything was joint or in the business' name, which meant her abuser had access to all of the accounts. One of the first things she tried to do was cancel their shared contracts with Verizon Wireless - ending the contract was a complicated but extremely necessary step. If Verizon would not end the contracts, it meant that her abusive boyfriend would have continued access to all of her phone records and would know who she was calling and most horrifically, where she was calling from. My sister's life and safety, like many other survivors’, depended on being able to stay away from her abuser. She was shocked when Verizon informed her it would be $500 to end these contracts and stay safe.
She had no money – he had taken everything from her. Not only was she emotionally shaken, but because of Verizon’s policies she would have to pay extra money to keep herself safe.
After a long battle, Verizon finally waived my sister's fees, but thousands of other victims of abuse are in her shoes right now, facing the choice between safety at a huge cost and continued danger.
One in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner every year. It takes so much courage to step out of an abusive relationship, seek help and start over. And Verizon Wireless knows it. They even have programs to help victims of domestic violence, like HopeLine.
But Verizon Wireless is punishing these customers by charging an early termination fee, even when the contract must be broken because the abusive partner is in jail or a court has ordered a restraining order. They can and should do better.
Please sign my petition asking Verizon Wireless to create a policy that does not punish victims of domestic violence for taking the brave steps necessary to keep themselves safe. Verizon should not charge fees for early termination of contracts if they are because the person has been a victim of domestic violence.
Petition Letter
Greetings,I just signed the following petition addressed to: Verizon Wireless.
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This summer, I got a phone call that nobody wants to receive; on the other end of the line between sobs I heard, "He beat me up." My sister had been attacked and beaten by her boyfriend and was in the emergency room.
Without even putting shoes on her feet, she quietly escaped their house in the middle of the night with nothing but her car key. Because he had taken her phone she went to a small pub around the corner to call her daughter, who lives 3 hours away and then drove there for help. Her glasses were broken, her nose was broken, her ribs were cracked, her heart was broken - she knew this was the beginning of a long and difficult journey to reclaim her life.
After the initial shock and urgent care treatment, my sister began to take the necessary steps to keep herself safe and get away from her abusive partner.
As a couple, they were also business partners owning a mobile car mechanic service; it was her only source of income. She booked the appointments and ran the billings. They used her credit to secure a small loan, credit cards and bank accounts. Everything was joint or in the business' name, which meant her abuser had access to all of the accounts. One of the first things she tried to do was cancel their shared contracts with Verizon Wireless - ending the contract was a complicated but extremely necessary step. If Verizon would not end the contracts, it meant that her abusive boyfriend would have continued access to all of her phone records and would know who she was calling and most horrifically, where she was calling from. My sister's life and safety, like many other survivors’, depended on being able to stay away from her abuser. She was shocked when Verizon informed her it would be over $400 to end these contracts and stay safe.
She had no money – he had taken everything from her. Not only was she emotionally shaken, but because of Verizon’s policies she would have to pay extra money to keep herself safe.
After a long battle, Verizon finally waived my sister's fees, but thousands of other victims of abuse are in her shoes right now, facing the choice between safety at a huge cost and continued danger.
One in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner every year. It takes so much courage to step out of an abusive relationship, seek help and start over. And Verizon Wireless knows it. They even have programs to help victims of domestic violence, like HopeLine.
But Verizon Wireless is punishing these customers by charging an early termination fee, even when the contract must be broken because the abusive partner is in jail or a court has ordered a restraining order. They can and should do better.
Verizon Wireless should create a policy that does not punish victims of domestic violence for taking the brave steps necessary to keep themselves safe. Verizon should not charge fees for early termination of contracts if they are because the person has been a victim of domestic violence.
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Sincerely,
[Your name]
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Bluffton, SC14m
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Ohio, NY3h
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Creswell, OR3h
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Hooks, TX3h
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Louisville, KY3h
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Boston, MA5h
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Bronx, NY5h
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Fridley, MN5h
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Baltimore, MD6h
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Aberdeen, MD6h
Supporters
Reasons for Signing
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pam smith
clifton, CO23 days ago
Liked 77
Let us HEAR you doing this or you WILL HEAR me cancelling my accounts! -
melissa posey
Locust Grove, VAabout 1 month agoDomestic violence is hard enough to get away from without worrying about hundreds of dollars in.fees and unneeded expenses. We should be tripping over ourselves to help victims take the hardest step to safety and freedom.
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Shannon Debin
San Francisco, CAabout 1 month agoDomestic abuse victims have suffered enough... Verizon, don't give them any more obstacles to overcome.
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karen pepin
rochester, NHabout 1 month agoVictims should not have to pay to drop all ties from abusers
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Carol Baysinger
Cornelius, NCabout 1 month agoI am a victim of Domestic Violance and my family had to pay over $400 to get my abusive partner off my contract. If they hadn't paid I would have had to keep paying for him to have use of his cell phone for another year.
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