Verizon Fee: Mobile Network Operator Scraps Convenience Fee After Customer Uproar

Well, isn't that convenient! After public outcry, Verizon has decided that it will not instate a $2 "convenience fee" for customers paying monthly bills with a credit or debit card via the Internet or telephone.

A press release on the Verizon website announced the carrier's change of heart and credited "customer feedback about the plan" for its decision:

Verizon Wireless has decided it will not institute the fee for online or telephone single payments that was announced earlier this week.

The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions. The company continues to encourage customers to take advantage of the numerous simple and convenient payment methods it provides.

It's a quick turnaround for Verizon, which just announced the $2 "convenience fee" on its website on December 29; within 24 hours, online petitions had begun to circulate, commenters condemning Verizon's corporate greed had made their voice heard on websites and message boards across the Internet, and even the FCC announced plans to investigate the charge. A day after introducing the so-called convenience fee, Verizon caved to public and governmental pressure and scrapped the charge.

The $2 fee, which was scheduled to go into effect in the middle of January 2012, would have applied to all customers paying by credit or debit card on a per-statement basis, and would have helped to defray the cost that credit card companies charged Verizon to process its customers' payments. Though the carrier offered seven payment alternatives to avoid the fee, including enrolling in an AutoPay program or paying via check or gift card or in person at Verizon stores, consumer outrage and mockery was so swift and vocal that Verizon appears to have been left no choice but to change its plans.

"At Verizon," said Verizon President and CEO Dan Mead as part of the press release announcing the fee cancellation, "we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time."

Can't get enough of these embarrassing tech fails? Check out our slideshow of the 13 biggest technology oopsies of the year.

Comments

[Adil Siddique]

11:21 AM on 04/22/2012

you guys shld read this article! http://www.techbread.net/2012/04/verizon-backing-windows-phone.html

[PhillyKing]

10:08 AM on 01/03/2012

Dont blame VZ, blame the US consumer!!! the 2 biggest providers Vz and ATT are great at adding fees and cutting service (see 2GB cap on data and poor customer service) but they have the highest amt of subscribers.... so it seems no matter what they do u guys still support them... so how can they possibly learn??

[James De La Cruz]

09:07 PM on 01/07/2012

Verizon & AT&T Wireless continue to monopolize the majority of broadband spectrum for service providers through the FCC. It prevents smaller service profiles from expanding their networks because some companies aren't using what they've purchased until the prices soar through consumer demand.

[Christianovich]

05:19 PM on 01/02/2012

"The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions."

how would charging $2 to pay your bill improve efficiency?

[War peace]

11:24 AM on 01/02/2012

Let hit the cable companies next. I want a $20 cable bill or the ability to pick my channels.

[Rogo99]

11:01 PM on 01/02/2012

Yes, I'm in support of a la carte cable service. Why should I have 25 all-Jesus and 5 soccer channels clogging up and pushing up the price of my bandwidth?

[barbra1971]

10:45 PM on 01/07/2012

Do you still have cable? If yes your cry can't be heard.

[joepoppa]

10:53 AM on 01/02/2012

That is one great thing about the internet and social networks: it great enhances the power of the individual by communicating information relevant to those involved and allowing them to respond to that information in one voice.

[barbra1971]

10:45 PM on 01/07/2012

Psssssst, don't say a word.

[mcmingus]

05:06 AM on 01/02/2012

What business wants to institute additional fees in times like these?

Verizon.

How do you spell astoundingly stupid and arrogant?

V-E-R-I-Z-O-N M-A-N-A-G-E-M-E-N-T

[Nonpartay]

11:00 PM on 01/02/2012

Well, they just lost my business, I'm happy to say. But not because of this issue. I've had Verizon for years and thought about switching to something else for at least the last two years but was nervous because I was afraid of losing all my numbers and appointments in the phone I have. But I called Credo and I'm getting a smart phone and my husband a new and better regular phone for the same price I was paying for two regular phones. Neither phone cost me anything, and I can transfer all my info to the new phone, too! I wish I had done it before. I'm excited! Should arrive in a couple of days. Woohoo!

[feelingdisposable]

04:06 PM on 01/01/2012

To all of the Verizon customers who are happy to have gotten rid of this "convenience" fee, keep a close eye on your basic bill over the next few months to make sure they're not making it up in other ways or in new "taxes" that you've never heard of before.

[Sabrae]

11:34 AM on 01/01/2012

"At Verizon," said Verizon President and CEO Dan Mead as part of the press release announcing the fee cancellation, "we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time."

If you really want to see major change, start sending them paper checks via snail mail. Trust me, they will fall all over themselves in their rush to negotiate with you.

A local utility tried the same thing, and they reversed their policy quick when we all decided to remove our own 'payment convenience' and mail it in.

[pineappaloupe]

05:49 AM on 01/01/2012

Shame on you verizon. I am sure it costs them less to do billing online. "Convenience" in deed.... convenience for Verizon.

[AntiClast]

11:12 PM on 12/31/2011

LOL! "I spread goodness far and wide." "We never stop working for you."

This is what I stumbled onto when I went to check my Verizon bill. Much more sappy bs. What a creative PR person can do on short notice. Too funny.

[justicefor7]

08:24 PM on 12/31/2011

URGENT - Please read more about VERIZON. Things they don't want the public to know!

Please visit my Facebook or Blog Page to see what Verizon did to my family. What they have done to my family, and continue to do is horrific. Today they still will not accept responsibility. So I not stop this FIGHT for JUSTICE!

You can read my story about what VERIZON did to my family by going of Facebook and searching, “Verizon Raped My Family.”

I am a man who has stood up against racism, discrimination, bullying, harassment, hostile environment, belittlement, threats, and retaliation, all while working for Verizon Communications.

I am a man who is trying to hold his family together while in the process of trying to fight for my rights to be heard. I am a man who has brought up his family on morals, discipline, character, hard work, dedication and conviction to believe that good things happen to good people. I am a man who could not be more proud of my family for all their trust and faith in my conviction. I am man who is a proud servant in my community and deserves to be heard.

Also, you can go on Google, and search, “Verizon Raped My Family.”

The links are:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/211642435586082/
http://justicefor7.wordpress.com/

[whoknew222]

09:23 PM on 12/31/2011

I didn't appreciate their policy changes at all. They did a huge campaign to get customers and lured us all in. Now you only get one phone upgrade ever! Had I known that I would have gotten the best phone if I knew it was going to have to last forever. Like you, I have morals and wasn't greedy for my upgrades so I don't get what I don't need so they can keep their prices reasonable. Apparently they don't appreciate having a customer base. Believe me, when my contract is up I am done with them forever.

[CouponSal]

08:25 PM on 01/01/2012

I read your blog post: are the two employees mentioned still employed by Verizon? Is it true that they are equal-opportunity bullies, or do they focus on illegally discriminatory topics (not that one is any more justifiable than the other, but it could affect jurisdicitonal questions). There are allegations that Verizon fired some people after the recent 45,000-employee strike; what is your perspective on that, and how does that situation relate to yours?

[Lucille]

07:39 PM on 12/31/2011

Hooray for us, we did it!!!

[taltal11]

06:53 PM on 12/31/2011

Publicity stunt...

[sacmom3]

08:31 PM on 12/31/2011

I totally agree. Now Verizon comes out looking like it cares about the little guy. Keep an eye on your bill, that charge is gonna come up some how, some way.

[ViktorN]

06:48 PM on 12/31/2011

There should be some form of a United Consumers organization that is ready and standing by for incidents like this. Sort of taking the "Move Your Money" movement to the next level with a standing organization.

If you could get just a few million, or even a few hundred thousand customers to cancel their services and change who they do business with, all in widely publicized, brand-damaging, coordinated acts that happened dramatically all at once, these big corps might finally get some sort of challenge to the incredible amount of power they wield over people's lives.

[cavegal]

07:31 PM on 12/31/2011

I think you are right and in the final analysis may be the last option left to us that actually provides us with a measure of power.

[ViktorN]

08:26 PM on 01/01/2012

Well let's start it :)

[CouponSal]

07:38 PM on 01/01/2012

change.org gathered 57,000 signatures; that is a main reason for the reversal; bad publicity another. Agreed, more larger, coördinated actions would be helpful—talk to your local Occupation.

[Sneakers1]

06:24 PM on 12/31/2011

I guess $1.38 billion in profits, ending Sept. 30th isn't quite enough for Verizon. If I were a Verizon subscriber, I would send a regular, paper check stapled to the bill just to make extra work for Verizon & let them explain how what was once considered an acceptable method of payment is causing Verizon to lose $. The pubic needs to put these greedy corporations in their place.

"During the third quarter, which ended on Sept. 30, Verizon’s profit rose to $1.38 billion, or 49 cents a share, up from $659 million, or 23 cents a share, in the third quarter of last year. Adjusted earnings for the quarter, excluding certain items, were 56 cents a share, compared with 55 cents a share in the previous quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected that the company would report 55 cents a share for adjusted earnings."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/technology/verizon-profit-jumps.html

[brensgrrl]

08:52 PM on 12/31/2011

I am a Verizon customer, and paper billing is exactly what I intended to do to them. I was also going to start a movement to have as many customers "paper bill" as possible. A $2 fee for an electronic payment transaction that is essentially free to them? What nonsense. I figure that if everyone retaliated by reverting to paper billing, it would cost them millions of dollars extra to process payments. But now that it's over, I am missing out on that fun. Darnit!