Verizon Wireless: Paying Online Is More Convenient, So Now You Have To Pay $2 To Do So [Updated]
from the say-what-now? dept
Phone companies are pretty notorious for their regular additions of all kinds of silly fees, and Verizon Wireless seems to be even more renowned than others for putting in place all sorts of crazy fees (and then denying those fees even exist... until they suddenly have to pay back $90 million in bogus charges). Its latest is that it's going to start charging a $2 "convenience fee" for those who pay their bills online or by the phone. The company claims it is doing so in order to provide you the "best wireless experience." At this point, you have to wonder if there are just some jokers at Verizon Wireless wondering just what they can get away with. Not that I'm a VZW customer, but perhaps some consumers could look into charging the company a reverse fee for "customer appreciation" in order to help the customer get the "best customer service experience."Update... and backtrack. It's amazing. Does Verizon Wireless employ even semi-competent marketing people who can think through how these things happen?
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Filed Under: convenience, fees, online payments
Companies: verizon wireless
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Paper!
Which, of course, ends up costing them more time and money having somebody process the paper money order than it would have taken by me paying online.
Their choice--carrot & stick and all that...
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Re: Paper!
They'll be begging to have people go back online soon enough.
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How else can they justify the charge? Processing fees? The point of paying online is that its supposed to be more or less automated and fast.
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One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
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You guys are so yesterday!
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Auto Payment
I don't agree with the fee, but I understand the reasoning behind it.
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They backed down.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/30/verizon-backs-down-from-convenience-fee-values-your-two-cents /
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Debunked already
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Re: Debunked already
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The idea is they want in your checking account with automatic deduction. Screw them. First time there is an error in billing and you get charged by mistake then the usual is that when it is finally straightened out, companies want instead of sending you a refund, they want to take it out against future charges.
I dropped them like a hot potato and now have another provider.
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Re: Auto Payment
I heard a report about this yesterday and that is exactly what they are trying to do.
Personally, I stay away from automated scheduled payments. My pay is bi-weekly and most automated pay systems are monthly and I can tell you from personal experience that a couple of days difference between the two can quickly add up hundreds of dollars in "insufficient funds" charges from the banks.
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Corporate America once again trying to rape American citizens. I never like verizon, now i got a reason.
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Re: Paper!
You forgot the part of them charging to receive paper bills in the mail.
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Re:
$4 to accept cash as payment? WTF?
Next we'll see companies only accepting cash with 3 forms of ID, 2 valid credit cards and notarized notes from your mother and employer. Geesh.
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The fewer fingers in my money pie the bett...okay, that came out wrong...
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Re:
"Dear loyal customer: your business is important to us, so we're going to go out of our way to make sure you hate our guts. Love, T-Mobile."
Maybe I should just forget having a phone at all.
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Re: Debunked already - HUH?
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They have supposedly backed down now
Looks like between the public outcry and the FCC promising to investigate VZW has decided to find another way to rake us over the coals....
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Re: They have supposedly backed down now
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Yikes, they do - charge back!
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under $5 per month in 2012.
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Re: Re: Paper!
Quarter rolls in ziptop bags.
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Re:
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Re: One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
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Re: Re: One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
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Re: Re: One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
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Re: Re: Re: One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
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Shysters
Not only that, but every so often, when I make a payment through my bank account, I'll notice on my next statement from the bank that there's a second $1 charge from Verizon at the same time as my payment, but not only does Verizon not know what the payment was for, they deny that the transaction even took place, even though the account name, routing number and other info is the exact match, according to the bank.
Now while a $1 charge may not seem like much, it strikes me that if they do this on as wide a scale as Verizon is capable of, it generates several millions of dollars every time they do it...all illegal profits.
So this latest announcement doesn't surprise me-but I am wondering when the Justice Department is going to open a RICO investigation against the executives in charge of Verizon, but I forgot-they're too busy denying dying people the right to use medical marijuana.
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Quality of Cash
That's what is says on the face of the one dollar bill I am looking at. How the hell do they get off charging a fee for the use of these notes? The same thing is printed on all US currency, yet some places have the gall to claim they do not accept $50 or $100 dollar bills? I know there is an issue with counterfeiting, but are they too lazy to learn how to check the bills? And I believe I heard that this attitude is OK. Not to me.
I see the above and the Verizon thing, and other like it as a fraud upon the people.
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Re:
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Re:
Just got to LOVE the AC's that do everything they can to discredit or belittle Mike.
If they hate him so damn much why are they here day in and day out?
\Don't like what someone writes DON'T READ IT
I hope that this will help those of you who hate what TechDirt has to say but find it hard not to come back and belittle the writers and other grateful users.
It is simple go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc in that location there is a file called hosts right click it click the edit and at the very bottom of that put
127.0.0.1 techdirt.com
127.0.0.1 www.techdirt.com
and save
you will never have to read another article from techdirt again.
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Re: Quality of Cash
I called my MPs' office and told them to expect a call from me when/if I was accused of stealing. I quoted a "fiat money" paragraph from an economics textbook I had. They agreed with me.
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Ontario has similar convenience fees
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Re:
;)
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Re: Shysters
This happens to be the same Verizon that holds the controlling interest in Canadian telco Telus who, not so long ago, gave an employee a cell with a number recently belonging to someone who sold drugs out of his home and then delivered them. Didn't take long for this guy to figure that out but THEN the wireless arm of Telus decided it wanted to charge the employee for the change of number on the cell.
Couple of grievance meetings later and the very real threat of going public with this cockup and they changed the number for free.
There's the book on how to do things and then there's intelligence. At Verizon/Telus there is no intersection point between the two at the executive, marketing or billing levels.
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Re: Ontario has similar convenience fees
They tried that out here a couple of decades ago so people refused to pay the surcharge or went home, came back and counted out the entire fee plus surcharge in pennies. Lasted a couple of weeks before the surcharge was withdrawn.
The surcharge was dropped. OK, we're kinda loopy out here in Lotus Land but we can also be cranky. ;)
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Re:
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Cingular and AT&T
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I'll keep my Virgin Mobile and Metro PCS, thank you very much.
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Re: Re: One reason to be grateful for crappy ATT
No, it's not.
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Re: Re: Debunked already - HUH?
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Re: Re: Ontario has similar convenience fees
Not sure what the cut-off is, $1,5,10,20 but they can ask you to go to the bank to exchange the pennies.
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Re: Quality of Cash
That doesn't mean a business is legally required to accept cash. It means they're legally required to accept dollars.
Your local McDonalds, for example, can't charge you 5 Euros for a Big Mac and Home Depot can't require payment for that lumber in Yen. They have to accept dollars. However, they're free to accept those dollars in any form they choose. It can be cash only, credit only, checks, or any combination of payment methods.
So yes, they can decline to accept cash altogether or say they won't accept $50 bills or whatever. Perfectly legal.
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Re: Re: Quality of Cash
Perfectly illegal!
"People are willing to accept paper money in exchange for valuable goods and services because other people are willing to accept it from them in exchange for goods and services. The declaration in law that our currency is legal tender has helped to increase its general acceptability. This is so because declaring money to be legal tender means that if it is offered in payment of a debt, it must be accepted; otherwise, the debt is considered to be legally discharged. Fiat money is legal tender."
Macroeconomics 5th edition
Elijah M. James
2nd bolding set is mine.
Not the same paragraph I quoted to my MPP, but similar.
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Re: Re: Re: Quality of Cash
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Re: Re: Re: Quality of Cash
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Re: Re: Debunked already - HUH?
The original poster either does not understand the meaning of debunk or is a liar.
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Re: Re: Quality of Cash
In other words, Verizon can't refuse cash as a payment for an amount you already owe them; but they could, say, refuse to sell you a new phone for cash. Once money is owed, cash has to be accepted; but prior to the transaction, a seller can decline to accept cash.
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On second thought, AT&T, despite how stupidly your Modem reset system works (why on earth do I need THREE DAMN SECURITY QUESTIONS to reset a modem, and if I get them wrong once or fail to answer correctly in 5 minutes I get locked out of the account and have to call you fools to fix it? I just want to set up a new wireless router, it's not the keys to the United States nuclear defense system!), you guys are not half as bad as the morons over at Verizon.
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Re: Re: Re: Quality of Cash
> Macroeconomics 5th edition
Your economics text book is wrong. Wouldn't be the first time, either.
I'm a lawyer and a federal agent and I work specifically in financial crimes. I know what the US Code requires and what it does not.
But don't take my word for it. Here's the US Treasury's official response:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx
The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."
This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Quality of Cash
Bus lines accept all denominations to purchase tokens/tickets. They also accept bills on the buses to insert into box, but you won't get any change.
Most stores have no such policy. Either they accept cash or they do not. Without informing me first, you are stating that you don't trust the government to back the bills.
For what reason can they refuse fifty dollar bills?
Cash on hand? Too much business for that excuse to last more than 30 minutes.
Counterfeit? Back to not trusting the government. If money is no good to a corporation, what good is it to me?
In that case, I need to be paid in gold. Paper money is no good. Is this what the government wants?
First they declare it is legal tender then they say a store can refuse it? Make up my mind. Which is it? Because if a store can refuse it, it is not legal tender and is not being backed by the government. Remove the writing from the bills.
I trust the combination of plastic cards, computers and banks much less than I fear paper bills.
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Verizon - Fee the Beast
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Paying Verizon Online
I've done the above for the past three months. I did the above for the Verizon store manager. She then called someone who assured me that the onlime payment problem would be rsolved soon. I also requested to receive a paper bill in the mail so I could mail a check every month and not drive to the mall.
After three months they have not repaired the online problem nor have they switched me to a paper bill.
In six months my contract runs out. I will leave Verizon as soon as I can.
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More power to your site.:}
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More power to your site.:}
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Many thanks
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