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FCC investigating Verizon’s $2 ‘Convenience Fee’ [UPDATED]

For those of you who are Verizon customers, you may have heard that Verizon will be charging a $2 convenience fee for all bills paid online and by phone starting January 15. Certainly there are ways of getting around this, and $2 may seem little to you, but it still causes a great inconvenience to Verizon customers. Well, fear not, as the FCC has just released a statement this morning regarding Verizon’s stance on the new fee and they are currently investigating this matter:

“On behalf of American consumers, we’re concerned about Verizon’s actions and are looking into the matter,”

Since I’m a Verizon Wireless customer, I’m certainly unhappy to see the world’s greediest wireless carrier become even more greedy,  but I use My Verizon online to pay my monthly bills, which is one of the ways to avoid the $2 convenience fee. Nonetheless, it’s great to see the FCC take measures against Verizon.

Source: NYTimes

UPDATE 12:20PM PST: Verizon has just announced that they will be terminating the $2 convenience fee, and will continue operations as usual. Full statement can be found below.

Verizon Wireless Will Not Institute Single Payment Fee

Media Contact Info

Tom Pica
Thomas.Pica@VerizonWireless.com
908-559-7516

12/30/2011

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.

“At Verizon, 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,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless.

Source: Verizon