Verizon Backtracks On $2 Convenience Fee 281
Velcroman1 writes with a followup to yesterday's news that Verizon would be implementing a $2 'convenience fee' for certain online and phone-based bill payments. In addition to dealing with outrage from customers, Verizon also felt resistance from the Federal Communications Commission, who decided they would investigate the matter. Today, in a brief press release, Verizon announced that they've canceled their plans for the new fee in response to customer feedback.
Big Red Will Still Get Their 2 bucks (Score:5, Insightful)
Saw This Coming (Score:5, Insightful)
Consumers, bend over, we'll screw you another way (Score:4, Insightful)
They need more competition (Score:3, Insightful)
Whenever you see companies treating customers like garbage it means they don't have enough competition. That's all Verizon is telling us here. They're saying "you've basically allowed telephone companies to operate as local monopolies and so as monopolists we don't have to compete for customers."...
Simple as that. It's our own fault. If you don't like what they're doing then don't let them monopolize things anymore. Open up their area for more phone companies. Let other companies run telephone lines if they want in parallel. See if Verizon treats their customers poorly then... they'll be too terrified of losing them. As it should be...
Re:2011 year of the corporate fuck up? (Score:2, Insightful)
You'll find 2012 to be much, much worse for the corporations. To answer your question: it is, of course, a combination of both. Corporate arrogance and greed reached a critical mass where they felt more and more like they could get away with anything. This caused them to make numerous mistakes. The consumer is becoming increasingly aware of how they are getting fucked over and are not tolerating it. There have always been people that are aware, but more and more people are becoming aware, so we have a critical mass of people.
Both causes amplify each other and cause the other. It's not stopping, and 2012 will be much, much worse for the corporations.
Re:Why all the hostility against a la carte pricin (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. This fee screws the people who can least afford it. People who pay their bill online or by phone on a one-off basis are usually the people who are struggling to pay that bill at all. By charging those folks an extra fee, Verizon basically said, "Screw the poor." To which I say, "Screw Verizon."
Sure, those folks pose a higher risk of non-payment. That doesn't mean Verizon has the right to discriminate against them, and it certainly doesn't mean Verizon is justified in charging them extra fees that increase the risk of non-payment. They're basically starting to act like credit card companies, and need to be dealt with in the same way that we dealt with them—with harsh federal regulations that punish such behavior. It's really the only way to deal with companies that are so big that they feel unthreatened by competition.
Re:Big Red Will Still Get Their 2 bucks (Score:3, Insightful)
When the libertarians get their way and eliminate all government regulation, we'll see that. It'll be just like that shining bastion of Free Market economics where The Invisible Hand reigns supreme: Somalia!
Re:Don't you love asshats (Score:5, Insightful)
Auto-pay is hilarious. All my friends have had trouble with it but continue to use it. "Oops, my mistake!" they say after they plunder your bank account for $500 because they billed it multiple times. "Here's your $500 back, less the bill you owed..and you're still in the red because your bank hit you with a couple of overdraft charges!"