Tweet
Verizon DSL recently increased fees in what I think is a very sneaky manner. Here is the letter I will be sending to them. If you have Verizon DSL I advise you do think about the tactics they are using.
- Mark
I recently received an e-mail from Verizon stating that “starting May 1, 2004, Verizon Online will begin adding a monthly Supplier Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery fee on DSL Service.â€
The FAQ page for this e-mail message states that this fee was invoked in the Telecommunications act of 1996. This got me to wondering why this fee was just now being applied to the customers? Upon calling Verizon and speaking with a billing representative I discovered that Verizon had been paying this fee and only now decided to pass this fee on to the customer.
I strongly feel that this policy is wrong. To my knowledge nothing within the Verizon organization that provides me with DSL has changed since December of 2003 when I signed up for DSL at 34.95/month. It seems to me that Verizon has decided to pass this fee on to me to increase their bottom line.
The billing representative told me that I should direct further questions so the FCC and she would not provide me with a phone number or e-mail address of her superiors. I asked her, “did the FCC call Verizon and tell you to start charging the customers directly for this fee?†Of course they didn’t and she couldn’t answer this question except to say, “I’m sorry if you ….†Of course this is the “on-answer†with which she is programmed. I was not upset with her since she did not make this decision. Unfortunately, she does have to defend it without facts.
What do I want and why am I writing this letter?
1. The manner in which the customer was informed of this fee is sneaky. It is implied in the e-mail and the associated FAQ that the government is to blame for this fee being suddenly passed on to the customer. It is not. Verizon made a conscious decision to change their rate plan by adding this fee to my bill. If Verizon has been forthright about this and just said, “due to increasing broadband fees we are unable to carry a Federal tax that we have been paying…†I wouldn’t be so upset about this.
2. Where is this going to stop? If you can pass this fee to me why not pass along some other fees as well, thus continually increasing my monthly fee even though your internal costs may not be increasing? Also, since no real explanation is provided this is all the more suspect.
3. I had hoped that Verizon DSL would honor my monthly rate of $34.95/month for a year since after a year the DSL modem would be mine to keep. Yes, I do have a month-to-month contract, but I would hope that some valid reason for a rate change would be provided, not just that Verizon needs to make more money.
I thank you for your time and ask for a reply to my questions above, and ask once again, what internal cost increase precipitated Verizon to suddenly begin to pass this fee on to its customers?
- Mark
I recently received an e-mail from Verizon stating that “starting May 1, 2004, Verizon Online will begin adding a monthly Supplier Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery fee on DSL Service.â€
The FAQ page for this e-mail message states that this fee was invoked in the Telecommunications act of 1996. This got me to wondering why this fee was just now being applied to the customers? Upon calling Verizon and speaking with a billing representative I discovered that Verizon had been paying this fee and only now decided to pass this fee on to the customer.
I strongly feel that this policy is wrong. To my knowledge nothing within the Verizon organization that provides me with DSL has changed since December of 2003 when I signed up for DSL at 34.95/month. It seems to me that Verizon has decided to pass this fee on to me to increase their bottom line.
The billing representative told me that I should direct further questions so the FCC and she would not provide me with a phone number or e-mail address of her superiors. I asked her, “did the FCC call Verizon and tell you to start charging the customers directly for this fee?†Of course they didn’t and she couldn’t answer this question except to say, “I’m sorry if you ….†Of course this is the “on-answer†with which she is programmed. I was not upset with her since she did not make this decision. Unfortunately, she does have to defend it without facts.
What do I want and why am I writing this letter?
1. The manner in which the customer was informed of this fee is sneaky. It is implied in the e-mail and the associated FAQ that the government is to blame for this fee being suddenly passed on to the customer. It is not. Verizon made a conscious decision to change their rate plan by adding this fee to my bill. If Verizon has been forthright about this and just said, “due to increasing broadband fees we are unable to carry a Federal tax that we have been paying…†I wouldn’t be so upset about this.
2. Where is this going to stop? If you can pass this fee to me why not pass along some other fees as well, thus continually increasing my monthly fee even though your internal costs may not be increasing? Also, since no real explanation is provided this is all the more suspect.
3. I had hoped that Verizon DSL would honor my monthly rate of $34.95/month for a year since after a year the DSL modem would be mine to keep. Yes, I do have a month-to-month contract, but I would hope that some valid reason for a rate change would be provided, not just that Verizon needs to make more money.
I thank you for your time and ask for a reply to my questions above, and ask once again, what internal cost increase precipitated Verizon to suddenly begin to pass this fee on to its customers?
... inthere raises the problem... Verizon cannot remove the landline as that is the only way they can identify you in their billing dept for the DSL service! Also when I demanded a refund of this double charging of the line they iterated that they couldn't do that but they would drop my rate fron $60/m on the DSL to $35 as M$ was having a special promotion offering MSN at a discount rate.
Comment