For some reason this reminds me of the recent fiasco about a number of banks who wanted to start charging debit card fees and then later relented.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/verizon-add-2-bill-pay-005857918.html

Pretty stupid, but not really a shock. Heck, most utilities charge fees now. City of Norman does a flat $3 fee for online payments. ONG charges a fee for using a credit card - using an electronic check is still free. It seems that they are all trying to combat the 2-3% merchant fees being charged by the credit card companies.The over the phone payment fees are obviously there to discourage people from using the call center and when they do it is to help cover the costs of having it anyway. Consider their costs are anywhere from 20 to 70 cents per minute (of call activity) for a call center operation, it can get pretty pricey.

Not really much that those of us under contract can do. I did get my droids all changed over to their cheaper 300MB plan for $20 a month. Their CSRs refused to do it at first and wanted to keep me on the $30 2GB plan. I am connected to Wi-Fi most of the time so I'm lucky to use more than 50MB, but the agent on the phone kept insisting I used at least 1GB a month. I explained to the poor child that if you look at my account online it is showing no more than 30-40MB at the time I called in, but on the statement it showed 1GB. Simply because their system rounds up automatically on the statements and that is all the phone reps are able to see apparently. She wouldn't believe me and refused to change it. Finally called back in and explained to the person that time and she had no problem doing it. See no sense in throwing money away if I don't have to, yet you can tell these companies are trying to do everything to hold on to every cent - especially when I recently made them change me to the unlisted 550 minute family plan. I just wish there was a way to completely cut the cord on their data plans and go to full Wi-Fi usage.

I had to laugh venture79. My first thought on seeing the story was 'who do they think they are, norman water?"
We do have some silly stuff with that department

This doesn't make sense. Receiving an electronic payment is far less costly to the merchant than processing a paper check.

This doesn't make sense. Receiving an electronic payment is far less costly to the merchant than processing a paper check.

I think it is due to the higher risk of charge backs. It has been a few years since I handle a large number of transactions, but I always remember getting annoyed with some random person doing a charge back because of 1) forgot what it was or 2) emotional over another issue. Most of my fees were $10 or 20 a month and to get a $20-30 chargeback fee only to turn around and have the customer apologize for not realizing what it was, got pretty expensive. Not sure how much it costs to do the electronic checks. I did process check payments then, but they were pre-authorized initially and we just printed the paper checks at the office and took them in.

This is nothing. Sprint force us to pay $5 monthly if we do not subscribe to Auto Pay. Move on, nothing to see here. Its only a tiny $2.

Verizon changed their mind... wonder what it's like to have 91 million angry customers call you

Verizon changed their mind... wonder what it's like to have 91 million angry customers call you

91m very stupid angry customers, I'd say.

Yes, it didn't take long.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/verizon-reverses-2-fee-one-time-payments-202956036.html

And no one had to spend the night in a park to get it done either. LOL

This is nothing. Sprint force us to pay $5 monthly if we do not subscribe to Auto Pay. Move on, nothing to see here. Its only a tiny $2.

Not exactly.


Sprint has imposed a $4.99 per month surcharge on all mobile phone accounts that have spending limits in place.

An Account Spending Limit (ASL) can be initiated by the user, or imposed by Sprint on customers with a shaky credit history or past late payments.

So the only customers at Sprint that have the fee are the high risk customers that might end up costing Sprint money in the long run. It is not a fee to make a payment to the company. They apparently don't have one.

I wouldn't call them stupid. The customer base is mostly under contract. It isn't like US Cellular which only has an initial contract and then you are done for life. A Verizon customer is likely stuck and forced to pay more just for paying their bill. If Verizon is concerned about high risk customers, then they should either charge them more, only allow them to have pre-paid services, or flat out reject them all together.

91m very stupid angry customers, I'd say.

I thought you didn't have Verizon.

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:


MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/verizon-fee-uproar_n_1176820.html

I thought you didn't have Verizon.

I didn't say I have Verizon. I'm with Sprint and I pay $5 along with everyone else. There are a lot of complaints on the Sprint forum about people there still having to pay $5 monthly despite their credit history. Its like a screwed up system Sprint have. Only way to remove it is Auto Pay. I don't like Auto Pay, cuz I like to pay whenever I feel like it. lol

Oh, I was on Auto Pay for a short time, but the due date didn't work out, so I opt out of Auto Pay, so to pay any other way is the $5 free money they want.

I didn't say I have Verizon. I'm with Sprint and I pay $5 along with everyone else. There are a lot of complaints on the Sprint forum about people there still having to pay $5 monthly despite their credit history. Its like a screwed up system Sprint have. Only way to remove it is Auto Pay. I don't like Auto Pay, cuz I like to pay whenever I feel like it. lol

Oh, I was on Auto Pay for a short time, but the due date didn't work out, so I opt out of Auto Pay, so to pay any other way is the $5 free money they want.

Not 'along with everyone else' - I don't have a $5 fee and I don't auto pay.

I believe Sprint deducts $5 if you choose to use AutoPay. I guess if you're a 'glass half empty' kind of person, you could look at it as they charge you $5 that people using AutoPay do not have to pay.

Thunder, have you looked into other discounts available at Sprint? Are you a member of a credit union?

Not 'along with everyone else' - I don't have a $5 fee and I don't auto pay.

Did you call to ask them to remove it after a certain time? A lot of people do. I haven't bothered with it.


I believe Sprint deducts $5 if you choose to use AutoPay. I guess if you're a 'glass half empty' kind of person, you could look at it as they charge you $5 that people using AutoPay do not have to pay.

Thunder, have you looked into other discounts available at Sprint? Are you a member of a credit union?

I get unlimited everything for $30 plus $10 for smartphone (they call it premium data, but its really a fancy term for 4G...and I don't have 4G signal access). I'm discounted already. Only exclusion is the voice and thats 20 cents a minute. I don't use minutes lol

Did you call to ask them to remove it after a certain time? A lot of people do. I haven't bothered with it.

Based on what I put earlier, it appears people with good or higher credit aren't billed the fee.

Based on what I put earlier, it appears people with good or higher credit aren't billed the fee.

Not the case. Most people with flawless credit history are paying the fee. Only way to avoid the fee is by joining the Auto Pay. I don't care what Sprint "officially" say on their site, its the other way around for sure. I can avoid the fee by getting on Auto Pay. I've been with them over two years already.

Like I said, people are crybabies about Verizon's mini fee. Two lousy bucks.

Like I said, people are crybabies about Verizon's mini fee. Two lousy bucks.

You dont get it, but im not surprised and i wouldnt expect anything else for you. The thing about auto pay is that you allow them total access to your banking account to make and deductions that they see fit. I've ran into situations in the past with att where i was erroneously charged almost 60 dollars (international fees) over my normal monthly amount just to have them tell me after 45 minutes of arguing on the phone that they would take 60 days to credit it back to my bank or i could just use the amount towards my next monthly bill.

In addition, check out the complaints that are filed against fitness clubs (all american, golds, etc) over autopay issues. Personally ive had an issue where I changed gyms after my membership ended and properly notified them in writing that i was not continuing my membership and to cancel my autopay. Then I still received 3 months ($30 a month) and then a yearly gym maintenance fee ($50) for a year when i was no longer a customer ( red rock fitness).

But with all that said - Its the fact that a company is trying to charge customers a fee for properly paying their bills on time and before the due date.

Not the case. Most people with flawless credit history are paying the fee. Only way to avoid the fee is by joining the Auto Pay. I don't care what Sprint "officially" say on their site, its the other way around for sure. I can avoid the fee by getting on Auto Pay. I've been with them over two years already.

Like I said, people are crybabies about Verizon's mini fee. Two lousy bucks.

I've never been charged that $5 and I pay online when its convenient. My great is excellent, but I also opted out of getting a bill by snail mail years ago.

I don't pay a charge, and I use online bill pay through my bank and pay it when I feel like it. See the Sprint surcharges below.
C. T.
Federal-Univ Serv Assess Non-LD $0.95
Oklahoma State-Univ Serv Assessment $0.60
Administrative Charge $1.50
Regulatory Charge $0.40
--------------
$3.45
Government Fees & Taxes $2.89

Annoying fees http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/30/news/companies/most_annoying_fees/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3