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Comments on news posted 2004-10-05 15:14:17: Critics have long complained that telco's have become masters of obscurity, skillfully crafting inflated fees and other bogus charges to ramp up the cost of simple copper. ..

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zlm44mut4b
join:2003-07-28
Plano, TX

zlm44mut4b

Member

Stop Already!

Do all these companies not see that by gouging their customers they are the ones who will eventually lose! Obviously that isn't the case now, but when there is a new way to provide internet service which is vastly cheaper and feasible to use. Cable internet probably costs about $10 MAX to maintain each month, however I am charged $55 for it.

* sigh * there is no point in arguing because nothing will change until someone comes and knocks each of these evil corporations of their throne. We need a broadband revolution ... the telephoney revolution is already here and headstrong with the popularity of VoIP!

Roundboy
Premium Member
join:2000-10-04
Drexel Hill, PA

Roundboy

Premium Member

well

We are all outraged..

but what are you going to do? You aren't going to cancel your phone or cable or net service are you?

The ones that can afford to are a minority to the companies.. and probably weren't 'money makers' to them anyway.

Any boycot will work as well as the 'gas outs' attempted every year.
zlm44mut4b
join:2003-07-28
Plano, TX

1 edit

zlm44mut4b

Member

Hmm... a boycott... that sounds like fun! LOL everyone on BBB should cancel their broadband service... I can just imagine the doctors at each hospital. "Another patient with broadband withdrawal syndrome!?"
bigpapae35
join:2002-10-25
New York, NY

bigpapae35 to zlm44mut4b

Member

to zlm44mut4b

Re: Stop Already!

Amen, God knows it felt soo good cancelling my 3-line verizon account at $45 per line (includin taxes)to go with voicepulse at $15 per line and taxes only amount to 1.50 per line. Thank god I will never deal with the bells again!!!! They took enough of my money every year. I am somewhat ok with payin 45/month for cable, I am sure the cost will go down in two years, or at least the speeds should double by then.
angryinch
join:2004-04-01

angryinch

Member

What's the solution?? Is there one???

according to the article "In the end however, the inclusion of business costs in unofficial "fees" is a tactic that works because consumers allow it to work. "

So, what option do we have? I could always cancel my service but then I would have to live without a phone, internet, cell phone, satellite, or cable.

What can we do about it? I could call and complain, but does anyone really think they would take all this crap off my bill??? They add these charges so gradually that sure, we complain about the first one for a while...then we get used to it...as soon as we get used to it, BAM!!! They hit us with another one...before we realize it, we have 3 or 4 of these "fees" tacked on to our bills and by that time we can do absolutely nothing about it.

What's the solution???
zlm44mut4b
join:2003-07-28
Plano, TX

zlm44mut4b to bigpapae35

Member

to bigpapae35

Re: Stop Already!

many people dont want the speed (i do)... a lot of people just want the prices to go down... significantly

justin
..needs sleep
Mod
join:1999-05-28
2031
Billion BiPAC 7800N
Apple AirPort Extreme (2011)

justin to angryinch

Mod

to angryinch

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

said by angryinch:

What's the solution???

Write to pro-consumer groups, ombudsmen type authorities, or other regulatory authorities in chage of investigating unfair advertising complaining that fees are creeping in above the (advertised) line cost.
Hotels just got wacked over this, as they charged all kinds of things on top of the room rate.
If there are no rules to cover these tricks, then write to your state rep or senator and complain that there are insufficient regulations covering price advertising for broadband products, or they are not policed properly.
studytime
join:2002-03-16

studytime to angryinch

Member

to angryinch
Verizon in Davison, MI. Basic phone plan (just a dial tone)

Phone service: $16.70

Misc. taxes and ripoffs: $16.30

total: $33

Somethings just not right when taxes almost equal the phone bill.
GinEric
join:2004-10-03
Washington, DC

GinEric

Member

Government, not business charges

All of those USF, FUSF, and the new charges come right out of Washington, D.C., and the people you put in office there. The FUSF is "allegedly" to provide Internet connections for schools. Why? You might ask. Why aren't the parents paying for their children to surf the Internet along with the teacher, when they should be reading books! The 911 charge should be paid by the police that are tapped into the phones, not by the people being surveilled.

And all of the other charges are mandated not by the companies, but by the federal government, both by law in Congress and by regulation, which is just bathroom Washington legislation with a different name.

The phone companies list those charges to let you know how the government is collecting more taxes without calling them taxes.

That BS story had to come out of some DC crony's head.

justin
..needs sleep
Mod
join:1999-05-28
2031
Billion BiPAC 7800N
Apple AirPort Extreme (2011)

justin to studytime

Mod

to studytime

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

its worse if you move. Check this out. In order to get DSL at my new apartment from covad, I need a dialtone, one that I don't want. The current bill for this move shows:
quote:

$18.24 plus $3.04 tax - dial tone
$.21 number portability - taxed at .04
fus $.57 and then a tax on that for .10
FCC line charge $6.38 plus $1.06 tax
Service order change $56.00 (asking for new service!)
Line Charge $50.05
Premise visit Charge $19.00 (for a guy to go "yep" there is a line here)
Installation Charge $18.21 (there was no install)
Modular jack $3.42 (there was no new jack)
rate adjustment .21 and they tax it!!! .11
Ny gross income tax surcharge .02
other charges (unspecified) .13
municipal surcharge - $3.34
NY State/MTA surcharge ...(huh?) $5.65

LOCAL CALLS: $2.37 with tax on that...

$35.00 phone bill turned into $206.18
ricep5
Premium Member
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL

ricep5

Premium Member

Follow the money

The nicely written piece brings out and describes the issues with the fees, but provides no research or background where the Telco's might actually be paying out on the back side.

Everyone likes to complain about the charges, has anyone actually looked at SBC's or BellSouth financials and look for where the money goes? These are publicly held companies and they have to break out their financials just like all the other public companies.

Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest?

micl
Visit Lovely Downtown Port Starboard
Premium Member
join:2001-10-25
Silver Spring, MD

micl

Premium Member

said by ricep5:

Everyone likes to complain about the charges, has anyone actually looked at SBC's or BellSouth financials and look for where the money goes? These are publicly held companies and they have to break out their financials just like all the other public companies.

Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest?

LOL! You aren't likely to find them. The Bells are masters of obscurity and obfuscation... just read one of their public tariffs -- something designed to make the process transparent.

Aside from the unscrupulousness of the bells though, I think the FCC must take most of the blame for letting this go on under the guise of a federal tax. Unfortunately, the misrepresentation is just subtle enough not to make regulators care enought to fight the Bells. After all, the Bells simply pay their multitude of lawyers with these fees.

Drex
Beer...The other white meat.
Premium Member
join:2000-02-24
Not There

Drex to justin

Premium Member

to justin

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

said by justin:

Hotels just got wacked over this, as they charged all kinds of things on top of the room rate.

Right...I stayed at a hotel in Dallas and was charged like 50 cents per day for long distance and local calls. I asked them about it because I didn't make any calls. I was told they just put that in there just in case and they'll be more than happy to remove it. WHY SHOULD I EVEN HAVE TO ASK?

Back to the topic at hand...I was SOOOOO pissed off when BellSouth started with that "Universal 'It's not a tax' Fund". In fact I threatened to leave and would have if I had an equivalent alternative in broadband. Unfortunately I'm stuck paying the $2.95 fee that's supposed to go towards God only knows what. I asked for an explanation of this fee and was given such a BS answer that I had to shake my head in disgust.
You're right Justin. It is time to take a stand.

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY
ARRIS TM822
Actiontec MI424WR Rev. I

MxxCon to ricep5

Member

to ricep5

Re: Follow the money

do you really expect for 'Joe "DSL" Shmoe' to be able to figure out where his $0.57 go in those piles and piles of corporate paperwork?...even if he'll mange to have access to them
Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest?
why don't YOU do it? how do you know that caller id cost 1c? did you figure it out from reading their financial statements? or just repeating what everybody else says?

Wills9
join:2001-01-03
Port Charlotte, FL

Wills9 to zlm44mut4b

Member

to zlm44mut4b

Re: well

That's the thing. This won't change a thing unless they are really taken to task.

So quit the hidden fees you say? Ok, I'll just simply drop them and then add them to the normal upfront fee and by raising my rates on something your not going to do without I, in the end lose nothing.

That's all this is going to accomplish. They're so used to screwing us that the will not stop doing it.

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown to justin

Premium Member

to justin

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

Justin, out of curiousity will you dispute this?
PhoenixDown

PhoenixDown to Roundboy

Premium Member

to Roundboy

Re: well

What we need to do is short pay our bills by these fee's.

justin
..needs sleep
Mod
join:1999-05-28
2031

justin to PhoenixDown

Mod

to PhoenixDown

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

dispute this? what, my phone bill? yes we disputed it and they removed the 3 buck charge for the "new" phone jack they did not install. That was it.

tranceaddict5
@66.129.x.x

tranceaddict5

Anon

not!

that universal service fund fee is a joke. they tried pulling that one on me a year ago. i called and raised hell about it, and demanded it get removed from my bill. from what i was told, it's a percentage of your long distance charges. well my GF at the time called costa rica a lot, and we got hit with a 20 dollar "universal service fund" charge to help the less fortunate. well screw the less fortunate. i've been down and out before, without a phone and not one soul offered to get me up and running with a phone at no charge. needless to say, i dont get universal service fund fees on my phone bill anymore.

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown to ricep5

Premium Member

to ricep5

Re: Follow the money

Why should we care about where the money goes in the backend?

If company A wants to charge $5 for caller id when it costs 1 cent to provide then Company B will sell it cheaper. This is especially true with everything being package deals now a days.

SOLdesign
Did I drink a shot of Irrational Whore?
Premium Member
join:2002-07-29
Woodland Hills, CA

SOLdesign to Roundboy

Premium Member

to Roundboy

Re: well

cancelled our phone service 2 years ago and it was the best decision we EVER made.

we have cable modems, and use cell phones.

no marketing calls, no political calls, no outrageous line fees. The few marketing calls we get (only 3 or 4 in the last two years) I always say if they don't stop calling they will receive a bill for the per minute charges incurred on this cell line plus a $25 per minute administrative fee. Amazing how they NEVER call back!

we save over $600 per year (we would have the cell phones anyway and we have great plans)

The only reason we will get a land line in the future would be when we have a baby and we want the security of a landline in case the cells go out (earthquake, or disaster). I know, chances are the landline would be down too!
hehehehe
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

Those fees

I have a Verizon line on budget service which is basically pay as you use. The minimum charge just to have the line goes to the fees and taxes and for having touch tone. The bill is around $16/month just to have the line active. That more than pays for maintenance of the line it goes down one time but for the long haul that line been paid for ten fold or more. This is gravy money to Verizon sure "maybe" some of it goes to taxes but I never seen proof of it as I see no difference in service to me from Verizon or my government if these taxes really go to them to offer me something in return. I don't see this as being selfish on my part its called not being ripped off. If my government even gets $8 of the $16 how come I not benefitting from it personally. I would love to see someone prove to me how I am benefitting from this legalized thievery.

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

something else while on the subject

... but why are the taxes and surcharges for the same product different between carriers? Its something I've noticed and every time I inquire about it, the companies are like "well you'll need to consult your local and state tax codes". Now, I do billing related functions for a telco and even I have a hard time finding that stuff. They bury that as deep as humanly possibly just to make sure they dont get calls about it.
mishaq
Premium Member
join:2004-01-24

mishaq

Premium Member

Just read my signature.

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside to Wills9

Member

to Wills9

Re: well

said by Wills9:
Ok, I'll just simply drop them and then add them to the normal upfront fee and by raising my rates on something your not going to do without I, in the end lose nothing.

That's all this is going to accomplish. They're so used to screwing us that the will not stop doing it.

AT least then when you ask how much the service will cost you will get the actual cost. I remember one time the difference in advertised cost and actual cost was so big the services on my phone were advertised at about $26 but when the bill comes I am paying close to $40.
Maggs
Premium Member
join:2002-11-29
Jackson Heights, NY

Maggs

Premium Member

Ban Verizon ads/reviews on BBR

Hey Justin, bet that would make Verizon give you free service.
SanJoseNerd
Premium Member
join:2002-07-24
San Jose, CA

SanJoseNerd

Premium Member

SBC is Rediculous

I have SBC's simplest calling plan: a fixed monthly charge for unlimited local and long distance. My latest phone bill has 22 separate fees and surcharges added on top of the "fixed" monthly charge! Most are identified by obscure names like "surcharge A" and "surcharge B" (literally!). And that's not including my DSL charges.

This is crazy. If you go to the supermarket, they can't add a "trucking surcharge", a "refrigerator electric cost recovery charge", a "bag boy health insurance fund charge", and so on. They have to add all that in to the cost of business and advertise an all-inclusive price. Telcos should have to do the same.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
·Metronet

CylonRed to SOLdesign

MVM

to SOLdesign

Re: well

Easier to do in CA - in Ohio there are still entire sections that do not have cell service or it is spotty. I had to change cell providers because my wife could not get a signal in her work place - and her phone is the emergency phone for our sons daycare.

There is still a lot of obstacles to cells taking over phone duties - heck till last yeasr I think most cell phones could not give 911 where the phone is located. The spotty 9q11 service is one reason I won't go VIOP anytime soon...

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY

MxxCon to Maggs

Member

to Maggs

Re: Ban Verizon ads/reviews on BBR

or sue him to keep him quiet under some retarded DMCA clause:p

ruscorp
I Never Stop Posting For You
Premium Member
join:2002-08-29
Earth

ruscorp to justin

Premium Member

to justin

Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???

Yea, I get an "MTA surcharge" as well.

WTF?
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