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Verizon Responds To FCC Inquiry On ETFs, Erroneous $1.99 Fee
And the excuses are just as lame as you thought they'd be...

As we've been covering, the FCC recently sent a letter to Verizon asking them to explain why they just doubled their ETF fee for smartphones from $175 to $350, and to explain why exactly they've been socking consumers with a mystery $1.99 data fee for no apparent reason. As we noted yesterday, the inquiry deadline was yesterday, but the FCC gave Verizon an extension until Monday. Given that less people pay attention to press releases on Fridays, Verizon this afternoon filed their response to the inquiry with the FCC.

Of course Verizon doubled their smartphone ETF to make more money. They also did it so they'd lose less money by limiting people from getting subsidized phones from Verizon -- then turning around and selling them to interested customers on eBay. Verizon of course doesn't say this, instead telling the FCC the sudden ETF hike is part of a new "two tier" structure for ETFs that's aimed at recouping the costs of running a smartphone network. And here you were thinking that's why you paid significant monthly service costs.

Verizon continues by trying to argue that more people are using smartphones, therefore the higher ETFs are needed because overall costs of supporting smartphones have "increased substantially." Like AT&T -- Verizon's wireless revenues are exploding as well, but you're apparently supposed to ignore that. In short, Verizon doubled their smartphone ETF because they can.

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More interesting is the phantom $1.99 fee Verizon's been hitting consumers with for doing absolutely nothing. The fee was first exposed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer last summer. It only gained the FCC's attention after David Pogue at the NY Times posted a column featuring a Verizon insider -- who claimed Verizon was aware of the glitch -- but was too in love with the millions in additional revenue it generated to do anything about it. Says big red:
quote:
Usage fees for Verizon Wireless’ mobile Internet service, Mobile Web, apply when a customer launches the Internet browser and then navigates away from the default Mobile Web homepage to sites other than a Verizon Wireless customer care site (e.g., My Verizon, the online customer account portal). Usage fees are not charged when a customer simply launches the Internet browser and lands on the Verizon Wireless Mobile Web homepage, which is the default setting.
Not according to Verizon's own users. Not only have users been complaining since last summer about being charged the fee when landing on the Verizon start page, they've complained about being charged the fee when data is blocked, the phone's battery is dead, the phone is off, or the phone doesn't even have the necessary software to go online. Verizon even gave many of these users in Ohio refunds after the practice was exposed by a local paper. But Verizon denies to the FCC that this even happens:
quote:
Verizon Wireless does not charge for Mobile Web blocking notifications. If the referenced article suggested that there is a charge, it was inaccurate.
In short, you've got Verizon denying a billing glitch that they've already acknowledged existed and have doled out refunds for. Worse, Verizon's claim runs in stark contrast to what one of their own employees said to the New York Times recently:
quote:
"Now, you can ask to have this feature blocked. But even then, if you (hit) one of those buttons by accident, your phone transmits data; you get a message that you cannot use the service because it's blocked--BUT you just used 0.06 kilobytes of data to get that message, so you are now charged $1.99 again! "They have started training us reps that too many data blocks are being put on accounts now; they're actually making us take classes called Alternatives to Data Blocks.
Perhaps the erroneous fee isn't what's supposed to happen, but it is -- unless the users who've been complaining to newspapers around the country since last summer are engaged in a mass hallucination. Verizon and Verizon Wireless both have a long extensive history with extensive billing problems and nickel and diming customers with bogus fees. Eventually you have to ask whether such errors are truly accidental.

In this instance, we've got a Verizon employee quoted in a major paper saying Verizon's not fixing the problem in order to generate millions in extra revenue each month. You've got Verizon failing to acknowledge they've been doling out refunds for this problem since last summer. Whether Verizon's dodging the truth here or not, you can probably be sure they'll be shoring up this billing "glitch" now that the FCC is snooping around. If you're still seeing it on your Verizon Wireless bill please drop us a line.

Most recommended from 75 comments



karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Moscow, ID

2 recommendations

karlmarx

Member

Verizon, of course, is correct

Dumb customers = better consumers. Who are they to whine about a measly $1.99 per month. I for one, would be happy to pay Verizon TWICE that, just to have the privilege of using their network. See, as tkjunkmail is so fond of pointing out, it's THEIR network, not yours. You pay them money so they let you use it. Who cares if the advertised $59.99 plan is actually $74.22 per month. That, as tk is so fond of saying, is the governments fault. The solution of course, is to stifle all the competition, that way you get the best service possible. I remember, back in the day, when I dialed (rotary) 0 on my phone, I got a real operator. That was the glory days of ma bell. Sure, I had to pay $.94 cents per minute to call across the state, but that's how much it REALLY COSTS. So, stop complaining, and just pay the fees. Verizon execs NEED your money, otherwise they would have to stop snorting coke and screwing hookers on their private jets to deposit their money overseas. Lets be honest, if you complain about the bill, then you are supporting pedophile pirate terrorists. I for one, am happy our FCC goons are able to retirerich from all the bribes they get.