Let me get this straight, Verizon wants to charge me $2 for paying my bill?

[dmcowen674]

This is unofficial, but I was on the phone with a CSR & an internal email came through indicating this new fee program has been cancelled & will not be implemented afterall.

Expect an official announcement from Verizon shortly.

It's all over CNN etc

This is going to disappoint so many greed loving ATOTers.

 

[MotionMan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2216104

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2216061

Quite the collection of threads we have about this.

But it is all moot, for now:

http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/30/verizon-scraps-plan-for-2-billing-fee/

MotionMan

 

[Engineer]

Announcement: (you were beaten)
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32782172&postcount=37

Hey, I posted that CNBC stated it was gone 17 minutes before that post!

 

[spidey07]

So is everybody still ignoring that many/most all other utility companies charge a fee for this one-time payment with a credit card? Your mortgage likely as well.

 

[Lifted]

A lot of people like to get 1% cash back on their credit cards; some are not wholly comfortable with an ACH push from a bank account.

I know I generally try to maximize CC cash back, except for smaller transactions at local businesses.

And here lies the stupidity.

Prices are 2 - 3% higher to cover CC fees, and people love it because they "get back" 1% from the CC company.

In the case of Verizon, these fees have been part of their cost of business forever, and they just wanted to add a few hundred million dollars per year to their revenue at virtually no cost. Soon they'll add a surcharge to cover the cost of their corporate jets used for executive "retreats".

 

[Lifted]

So is everybody still ignoring that many/most all other utility companies charge a fee for this one-time payment with a credit card? Your mortgage likely as well.

I think everyone who has paid bills knows this, but Verizon had this priced into their cost of business already. Were they going to give those of us paying via check a discount once people started covering their own CC fees, or were they just going to pad their profits?

 

[pcgeek11]

This is why I use checks for everything.

 

[foghorn67]

Great. Now Verizon will just raise priced for all instead of the deadbeats paying.

How are people that pay online deadbeats?

 

[spidey07]

How are people that pay online deadbeats?

This was NOT a fee to pay online. It was a fee if you wished to make a one-time payment with a cc.

Your are a deadbeat if you cannot pay your bills on time and instead have to use a last minute credit card charge. Likely ALL of your other utilities have such a fee. This practice is quite normal.

 

[Dulanic]

So is everybody still ignoring that many/most all other utility companies charge a fee for this one-time payment with a credit card? Your mortgage likely as well.

Who cares what any of those do... If all the other carriers don't charge said fee then Verizon customers would be overpaying. It is unrelated. Verizon doesn't compete with your gas company do they?

 

[nageov3t]

Announcement: (you were beaten)
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32782172&postcount=37

silly Verizon... instead of raising the fee all at once, they should have just done it ten cents/month... then no one would have ever noticed/complained.

on a related note, I really need to call Comcast and find out why they're charging me $.20/month for a remote control.

 

[OverVolt]

There is a law that protects check processing so that it is free. So all is not lost lol.

 

[Bateluer]

This is why I use checks for everything.

. . . Its the 21st century now. Only archaic and lazy companies still require dead trees. The only deadbeat organization that requires me to write a check every month is my HOA. I figure my checkbook should last another decade, at least, at this rate.

 

[manly]

And here lies the stupidity.

Prices are 2 - 3% higher to cover CC fees, and people love it because they "get back" 1% from the CC company.

In the case of Verizon, these fees have been part of their cost of business forever, and they just wanted to add a few hundred million dollars per year to their revenue at virtually no cost. Soon they'll add a surcharge to cover the cost of their corporate jets used for executive "retreats".

it's been conjectured that a relatively small number of subscribers pay their monthly wireless bill with a CC charge. You have absolutely no proof there's a uniform across the board 2% higher rate incurred by all subscribers. So if a particular bill payer can recoup 1% of their payment with no explicit surcharge, why should they decline? As you said, the merchant fees Verizon pays to accept CC charges is already baked into their business model; an individual's choice of payment doesn't dynamically alter subscriber rates.

If anything, they probably still come out ahead after the 2% juice vs. somebody mailing in a check to be physically handled. As you do allude to, this is a case of VZ Wireless wanting to eat their cake and have it too (encourage people to sign up for auto-pay, less need for phone agents to accept a CC payment). They're within their legal right to levy the surcharge but they should've anticipated backlash, especially after the well-publicized LTE outage that dinged their normally solid network's reputation.

 

[foghorn67]

This was NOT a fee to pay online. It was a fee if you wished to make a one-time payment with a cc.

Your are a deadbeat if you cannot pay your bills on time and instead have to use a last minute credit card charge. Likely ALL of your other utilities have such a fee. This practice is quite normal.

I'm not a deadbeat if I pay online everytime, on time for years.
None of my utils have the same fee. Not my cable, not my electricity.
I prefer VZW not to auto withdraw.
They have made a profit for years before they thought about this fee, it isn't needed.

 

[Pardus]

 

[Engineer]

Your are a deadbeat if you cannot pay your bills on time and instead have to use a last minute credit card charge. Likely ALL of your other utilities have such a fee. This practice is quite normal.

No you are not. Deadbeats don't pay their bills at all. Paying with this method does not make you a deadbeat. Get off your high horse (not possible at this point I'm afraid).

 

[spidey07]

No you are not. Deadbeats don't pay their bills at all. Paying with this method does not make you a deadbeat. Get off your high horse (not possible at this point I'm afraid).

If you cannot pay your bills with using a last minute credit card you are a deadbeat who cannot manage their bills properly.

Consequences to poor behavior should be painful. Ka fees.

If one is using a credit card to pay bills one has much deeper finacinal trouble than one is realizing.

 

[Engineer]

If you cannot pay your bills with using a last minute credit card you are a deadbeat who cannot manage their bills properly.

Consequences to poor behavior should be painful. Ka fees.

If one is using a credit card to pay bills one has much deeper finacinal trouble than one is realizing.

Disagree 100%. I use credit cards all the time (auto pay) to pay my bills. Am I in financial trouble?

How would you comment if I said that the consequences of poor government behavior (spending) should be more taxes, especially at the upper brackets?

 

[boomhower]

Using a credit card doesn't make you a dead beat. I use my credit cards for everything. Personally I enjoy the several hundred dollars of free money I get back every year. It is possible to use a credit card and pay it off every month.

 

[dan4patriots]

If you cannot pay your bills with using a last minute credit card you are a deadbeat who cannot manage their bills properly.

Consequences to poor behavior should be painful. Ka fees.

If one is using a credit card to pay bills one has much deeper finacinal trouble than one is realizing.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

 

[911paramedic]

I'm with the OP, this surcharge on fucking everything these days is ridiculous. It's a forced tip jar.

 

[Dulanic]

If you cannot pay your bills with using a last minute credit card you are a deadbeat who cannot manage their bills properly.

Consequences to poor behavior should be painful. Ka fees.

If one is using a credit card to pay bills one has much deeper finacinal trouble than one is realizing.

You're a ....... retard. Just because someone doesn't do it the spidey way they are a deadbeat.... Whatever.

BTW you do know this would have applied to debit cards too right? So they are a deadbeat for using a debit card too?

Edit: forgot this was ot...cleaned it up a bit

 

[spidey07]

Disagree 100%. I use credit cards all the time (auto pay) to pay my bills. Am I in financial trouble?

How would you comment if I said that the consequences of poor government behavior (spending) should be more taxes, especially at the upper brackets?

The one time fee would not apply to you.

 

[spidey07]

You're a fucking retard. Just because someone doesn't do it the spidey way they are a deadbeat.... Whatever.

BTW you do know this would have applied to debit cards too right? So they are a deadbeat for using a debit card too?

Yes. If u cannot pay your bills properly than you have much greater problems. Most all utities work this way. Pay your damn bills.