Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
tvtony75
Newbie

Yes.  They get an extra $24/year x millions of customers.

I have a contract and ithe feet is now added to the current bill.

These are all hidden fees that cable companies are applying.  Equiment increases are another.

Try to replace a Verizon Remote - now cost around $15.

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Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
KGNJ
Enthusiast - Level 1

Agreed. As of this month FIOS has increased the equipment price AGAIN! You sign a 2 yr contract which only locks in your bundle price but then they continuously increase their equipment and fees month after month to make up for that.  Also if you call Customer Service to ask them why or how these Rates or Fees are calculated they don't know..... A % of something..... 

Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
johnredmond
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have the bundle.  I got the notice in March and then the fee on the May bill.  However, my fee is $3.12, not the $1.99 in the notice on the back of the March bill.  So tomorrow the first call is to Verizon.  I've been down this road before over the FDV Admin Charge and the Regional Sports Network fee which has now balloned to $10.24 from $2.42 last month when I was month to month deciding whether to renew.  To make matters more confusing the March bill also announced a new Regional Sports Network fee of $3.48 which I had been getting billed for (but for $2.42 a month) since January.  This whole category of Charges & Credits on the bill is ripe for abuse by Verizon and other vendors that fraudulently billed customers through Verizon.  I've talked to the California Public Utilities staff about Verizon fees and they say they have no authority over internet  fees.  So I emailed a complaint to the FCC which simply passed on my complaint to Verizon who called me up to explain that the contract allows them to add fees for new or unforeseen costs.  I told them I think they are abusing the intent when the fees are created to cover activities they were already performing before they created them.  It amounts to an end run around the guaranteed price.  I intend to write my Congressman and suggest that he introduce a bill to give the FCC regulatory authority over these fees because they are getting out of hand and are totally arbitrary.   

Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Agreed. And from limited hearing about other providers, they are doing the same.

If you think about it, they are not alone.

Look at all of the enw and varied fees that airlines charge.

As long as businesses are paying for Congressmen to get elected, we are all screwed.

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Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
ZandorRI
Enthusiast - Level 3

In response to your TWC comment below.....

I honestly agree with you that this stuff costs way too much!! But you're ignoring the main reason why, it is not soley Verizon doing. Until the $$$ the provders charge are placed in check Verizon has no choice but to tack on these kinds of charges. You want a PERFECT example of this, why do you think they dropped the Weather Channel? It's because the Weather Channel wants MORE $$$$ per subscriber. If Verizon agrees to that, who ends up paying!?!?!?!?! Not Verizon, WE DO!!! But everyone will scream and yell it is Verizons fault. So say they give in, accept the HIGHER PER SUBSCIBER charges and add back the channel, then they add a "fee" like this one to pay for it. Suddenly you all start sceraming Verizon is ripping us off, they are charging too much!!!

TWC actually lowered the subscriber price for Verizon and Verizon walked away while still in negotiations. A search of the net will give you more information.

It's just a way for them to get around fixed bundled prices and showing more for their bottom line & more $$$$ in their pockets. Does not matter if it's FIOS or Wireless, it's the same company with different divisions.

If Verizon wants to keep their customers they need to rethink their customer practices. Because to them we are only account numbers and dollar signs, and as such are treated just like that. They need to be more customer orientated and concerned about what their customers think. If they don't they will continue to loose more customers and the $$$$ loss will be transferred to the current customers by way of more fees. Someone has to pay the piper and keep the bottom line.

Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Something to keep in mind.

People foucs just on the per subscriber costs.

There are also fixed costs that are there regardless of the number of customers.
These include costs to connect to deliver content, franchise fees, etc.

These can be pretty high (maybe $1M or more).

Given the low reported viewership in general of TWC (ratings are maybe a few hundred thousand nation wide), costs per actual viewer ends up being pretty high.

Yes we would all like to pay only for the channels we watch. But I don't think everyone knows on what the real cost to get access to a channel.

And yes some channels (like HBO) are starting to offer direct purchasing vs via cable provider.

But I believe that cost is more than you pay via Verizon.

Yes if you can drop TV completely and only subscribe to a few services, you can save money.

But it everyone were to drop cable TV and try to purchase from servcies like Netflix, Hulu, etc, those costs will have to go up. Content providers want the same level of income to keep providing their content.

That cost per channel is kept low because the cost is spread across a large number of subscribers.

If only the people that watch content want to pay for it, your costs will go way up as their income drops.

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Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
Sk8ter1
Enthusiast - Level 2

With all due respect, I'm certain that there are plenty of profits due to erroneous charges as the ones you described in your post. For example, I never authorized the charge for Techsupport PRO at $10 per month with a bonus savings credit of $5.00. That happens when the contract is renewed - automatically.

Some of us just go along with the bill because we're working our butts off like the rest of the country. Slipping in a charge here and there line the pockets of the executives and shareholders. If the purpose of your post was to generate some empathy for the cost of doing business for Verizon, that's mindboggling. Internet providers have been getting away with these fees for years and now, they can sell our information without our consent. It's a racket and we all know it. The problem is that we'll pay it anyway, present company included.

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Re: New FiOS TV Fee?
LawrenceC
Moderator Emeritus

As this thread is now over two years old, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.

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