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Verizon Defends Doubling of Early Termination Fee
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Verizon is defending its decision to double its Early Termination Fee from $175 to $350 after being called to account by the FCC. They claim it's because the higher fees allow them to offer more expensive phones with a lower up-front cost (PDF), and they also say that because they pro-rate the fee depending on how much of your contract is left, they still lose money. Apparently doing something about the Verizon customer service horror stories isn't as good a way to retain customers as telling them that they have to pay several hundred dollars to leave."
It's called nationalization, and it's a shame that Americans shy away from such a pro-consumer action because it stinks of "socialism".
>Speaking of other countries - Why is the USA one of few countries where I can't just pop the SIM or UICC card out of my handset and put it into a new one? Why did it take intervention by the Chinese government to force device manufacturers to standardize chargers to minimize electronic waste?
Simple really. It's because your political system is designed to support and protect the companies that pay them. From outside, it looks like individuals in your country aren't really important.
I feel really sad for you guys.
Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
> But I'm sure somebody would still get pissed at call it deceptive business practices. It's a free market, and they can charge anything they like. This is a total non-story.
One of the free market axioms is that consumers have full information about the goods they're buying. You'll have to forgive me by trying to make it closer to true by making sure that people know about a gigantic fee buried under a huge pile of legalese before they find out about Verizon's customer service.
Also, you might know that there's more than one person who doesn't believe in imaginary property these days.
But wait! My bad. I guess I should have noticed the 'successfultroll' tag on your comment. No cake for you.
It's not freedom, you fucking commie. Where are you getting the money from? From those of us with a steady paycheck who are FORCED to pay for your worthless socialist enterprises.
Imbecile.
Fire fighting, the military, and several other examples of social services which we accept in the United States are accepted by those with a head on their shoulders for one simple reason only. It's called the "free rider" problem. You can't provide a military for only some, for example ... all would benefit from it. And I know *you*, you fucking hippie scum, wouldn't be the one paying for it, yet you'd be reaping its benefits. So, in those cases, we make everyone pay for it.
Arguments can be made that public education benefits everyone, even those without school aged children actively using its benefits, and should be similarly provided for. Same thing, although I would personally disagree, for Medicare and Medicaid.
This is *not* the case for a fucking cell phone company, you whiny, impotent, useless bitch. Go fuck yourself.
No one is FORCING you to purchase a wireless phone, no one is forcing you to purchase an expensive phone. If you require a phone, get a cheap tracphone, or something similar. If a company wants to charge more, then they better offer a better service, or they will lose market share.
I have never been prevented from paying full price for the hardware from any carrier. This allows me to go month to month on the service.
I also do this with sattelite TV companies, and I've noticed they treat me better when I am not contractually bound to their service.
Telecom contracts are for suckers.
-Ted