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I would have included the link from NYT but not sure if it is allowed here. So this is just a partial cut and past as it very hard to capture the whole thing.
An Uproar on the Web Over $2 Fee by Verizon
By RON LIEBER and BRIAN X. CHEN
Published: December 29, 2011
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The Web lit up with howls of protest on Thursday as word of a planned new Verizon Wireless fee spread wildly — and somewhat inaccurately.
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Ryan Anson/Bloomberg News
Paying at a Verizon Wireless store remains free, but making a one-time credit card payment online or by phone will cost $2.
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Times Topic: Verizon Communications Inc.
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The $2 fee, which takes effect Jan. 15, will apply to people who make a one-time credit or debit card payment of their monthly bill on the phone or online. Subscribers who write checks or have the company charge their credit or debit cards or deduct from their bank accounts each month will not have to pay the new fee.
But Verizon customers nonetheless flooded Twitter with denunciations of the company, setting up online petitions and vowing to use paper to cost the company more money than it would raise through the new fee. Others noted that the people who tended to pay at the last minute were often those who lived paycheck to paycheck.
The outsize reaction in many ways reflects the year that is now concluding. The economy has not improved much, consumers are fresh off their victory in getting Bank of America to rescind its own move to levy a small new monthly fee and airlines and other companies continue to ask customers to pay à la carte for goods and services that were once part of the standard price.
Then there was Verizon, making the announcement in the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s and calling its new charge a “convenience” fee.
“These fees are going to cover the costs of those last-minute payments,” said David Samberg, a Verizon spokesman. “We don’t want anyone to have to pay this.”
So how can customers avoid it? In addition to using a check, automated bank transfer and credit or debit card, Verizon customers can also pay at a Verizon store, by money order, or by using a bank or other company’s online bill payment service. They may also use a Verizon gift or rebate card, or make a last-minute, one-time phone or Web payment by handing over their bank account number and their bank’s routing number.
Verizon Wireless followed other Internet service providers, including Comcast, that have decided to charge fees to customers for certain phone payments. AT&T, Verizon’s biggest rival, has not announced plans to impose charges for electronic payments and a company spokesman declined to speculate on whether it might do so.
Gerry Purdy, a principal analyst with MobileTrax, a market research firm, said it made sense that Verizon was charging for over-the-phone payments, because carriers typically must pay a third-party service to handle those transactions. But Internet payments do not require a third party, he said.
“That’s the one that surprises me, because most people won’t charge you for paying on the Internet,” Mr. Purdy said. “When you book a plane ticket online, you don’t get charged a fee.”
Verizon may be imposing a $2 fee on one-time online payments to pressure customers to enroll in an automatic payment option, Mr. Purdy said, because it creates a higher probability that the payments will come in on time.
Mr. Samberg would not say how many people would have paid the fee this month if it existed now. A study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, a firm that focuses on financial services and payments, found that 23 percent of adults make a last-minute payment to a biller once a month.
Sent from my Verizon Black 64GB iPad 2 w IOS 5.0.1 Update using iPF.net
An Uproar on the Web Over $2 Fee by Verizon
By RON LIEBER and BRIAN X. CHEN
Published: December 29, 2011
RECOMMEND
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
REPRINTS
SHARE
The Web lit up with howls of protest on Thursday as word of a planned new Verizon Wireless fee spread wildly — and somewhat inaccurately.
Enlarge This Image
Ryan Anson/Bloomberg News
Paying at a Verizon Wireless store remains free, but making a one-time credit card payment online or by phone will cost $2.
Post a Comment
Related
Times Topic: Verizon Communications Inc.
Add to Portfolio
Verizon Communications Inc
Go to your Portfolio »
The $2 fee, which takes effect Jan. 15, will apply to people who make a one-time credit or debit card payment of their monthly bill on the phone or online. Subscribers who write checks or have the company charge their credit or debit cards or deduct from their bank accounts each month will not have to pay the new fee.
But Verizon customers nonetheless flooded Twitter with denunciations of the company, setting up online petitions and vowing to use paper to cost the company more money than it would raise through the new fee. Others noted that the people who tended to pay at the last minute were often those who lived paycheck to paycheck.
The outsize reaction in many ways reflects the year that is now concluding. The economy has not improved much, consumers are fresh off their victory in getting Bank of America to rescind its own move to levy a small new monthly fee and airlines and other companies continue to ask customers to pay à la carte for goods and services that were once part of the standard price.
Then there was Verizon, making the announcement in the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s and calling its new charge a “convenience” fee.
“These fees are going to cover the costs of those last-minute payments,” said David Samberg, a Verizon spokesman. “We don’t want anyone to have to pay this.”
So how can customers avoid it? In addition to using a check, automated bank transfer and credit or debit card, Verizon customers can also pay at a Verizon store, by money order, or by using a bank or other company’s online bill payment service. They may also use a Verizon gift or rebate card, or make a last-minute, one-time phone or Web payment by handing over their bank account number and their bank’s routing number.
Verizon Wireless followed other Internet service providers, including Comcast, that have decided to charge fees to customers for certain phone payments. AT&T, Verizon’s biggest rival, has not announced plans to impose charges for electronic payments and a company spokesman declined to speculate on whether it might do so.
Gerry Purdy, a principal analyst with MobileTrax, a market research firm, said it made sense that Verizon was charging for over-the-phone payments, because carriers typically must pay a third-party service to handle those transactions. But Internet payments do not require a third party, he said.
“That’s the one that surprises me, because most people won’t charge you for paying on the Internet,” Mr. Purdy said. “When you book a plane ticket online, you don’t get charged a fee.”
Verizon may be imposing a $2 fee on one-time online payments to pressure customers to enroll in an automatic payment option, Mr. Purdy said, because it creates a higher probability that the payments will come in on time.
Mr. Samberg would not say how many people would have paid the fee this month if it existed now. A study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, a firm that focuses on financial services and payments, found that 23 percent of adults make a last-minute payment to a biller once a month.
Sent from my Verizon Black 64GB iPad 2 w IOS 5.0.1 Update using iPF.net
