navalpatel
join:2003-07-28
Lubbock, TX
| Stop Already!
Do all these companies not see that by gouging their customers they are the ones who will eventually lose! Obviously that isn't the case now, but when there is a new way to provide internet service which is vastly cheaper and feasible to use. Cable internet probably costs about $10 MAX to maintain each month, however I am charged $55 for it.
* sigh * there is no point in arguing because nothing will change until someone comes and knocks each of these evil corporations of their throne. We need a broadband revolution ... the telephoney revolution is already here and headstrong with the popularity of VoIP! |
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Roundboy
Premium
join:2000-10-04
Drexel Hill, PA
| well
We are all outraged..
but what are you going to do? You aren't going to cancel your phone or cable or net service are you?
The ones that can afford to are a minority to the companies.. and probably weren't 'money makers' to them anyway.
Any boycot will work as well as the 'gas outs' attempted every year.
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if($power)
{$corrupt;}
elseif( abs($power) )
{ abs($corrupt); } |
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navalpatel
join:2003-07-28
Lubbock, TX
1 edit | Hmm... a boycott... that sounds like fun! LOL everyone on BBB should cancel their broadband service... I can just imagine the doctors at each hospital. "Another patient with broadband withdrawal syndrome!?" |
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bigpapae35
join:2002-10-25
Great Neck, NY
| reply to navalpatel
Re: Stop Already!
Amen, God knows it felt soo good cancelling my 3-line verizon account at $45 per line (includin taxes)to go with voicepulse at $15 per line and taxes only amount to 1.50 per line. Thank god I will never deal with the bells again!!!! They took enough of my money every year. I am somewhat ok with payin 45/month for cable, I am sure the cost will go down in two years, or at least the speeds should double by then. |
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angryinch
join:2004-04-01
| What's the solution?? Is there one???
according to the article "In the end however, the inclusion of business costs in unofficial "fees" is a tactic that works because consumers allow it to work. "
So, what option do we have? I could always cancel my service but then I would have to live without a phone, internet, cell phone, satellite, or cable.
What can we do about it? I could call and complain, but does anyone really think they would take all this crap off my bill??? They add these charges so gradually that sure, we complain about the first one for a while...then we get used to it...as soon as we get used to it, BAM!!! They hit us with another one...before we realize it, we have 3 or 4 of these "fees" tacked on to our bills and by that time we can do absolutely nothing about it.
What's the solution??? |
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navalpatel
join:2003-07-28
Lubbock, TX | reply to bigpapae35
Re: Stop Already!
many people dont want the speed (i do)... a lot of people just want the prices to go down... significantly |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Home/Office setup ..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
| reply to angryinch
Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???
said by angryinch  :
What's the solution???
Write to pro-consumer groups, ombudsmen type authorities, or other regulatory authorities in chage of investigating unfair advertising complaining that fees are creeping in above the (advertised) line cost.
Hotels just got wacked over this, as they charged all kinds of things on top of the room rate.
If there are no rules to cover these tricks, then write to your state rep or senator and complain that there are insufficient regulations covering price advertising for broadband products, or they are not policed properly. |
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studytime
join:2002-03-16 | reply to angryinch
Verizon in Davison, MI. Basic phone plan (just a dial tone)
Phone service: $16.70
Misc. taxes and ripoffs: $16.30
total: $33
Somethings just not right when taxes almost equal the phone bill. |
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GinEric
join:2004-10-03
Washington, DC
| Government, not business charges
All of those USF, FUSF, and the new charges come right out of Washington, D.C., and the people you put in office there. The FUSF is "allegedly" to provide Internet connections for schools. Why? You might ask. Why aren't the parents paying for their children to surf the Internet along with the teacher, when they should be reading books! The 911 charge should be paid by the police that are tapped into the phones, not by the people being surveilled.
And all of the other charges are mandated not by the companies, but by the federal government, both by law in Congress and by regulation, which is just bathroom Washington legislation with a different name.
The phone companies list those charges to let you know how the government is collecting more taxes without calling them taxes.
That BS story had to come out of some DC crony's head. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Home/Office setup ..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
| reply to studytime
Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???
its worse if you move. Check this out. In order to get DSL at my new apartment from covad, I need a dialtone, one that I don't want. The current bill for this move shows:
quote:
$18.24 plus $3.04 tax - dial tone
$.21 number portability - taxed at .04
fus $.57 and then a tax on that for .10
FCC line charge $6.38 plus $1.06 tax
Service order change $56.00 (asking for new service!)
Line Charge $50.05
Premise visit Charge $19.00 (for a guy to go "yep" there is a line here)
Installation Charge $18.21 (there was no install)
Modular jack $3.42 (there was no new jack)
rate adjustment .21 and they tax it!!! .11
Ny gross income tax surcharge .02
other charges (unspecified) .13
municipal surcharge - $3.34
NY State/MTA surcharge ...(huh?) $5.65
LOCAL CALLS: $2.37 with tax on that...
$35.00 phone bill turned into $206.18
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ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL
 ·AT&T Southeast
 ·AT&T CallVantage
·VoicePulse
 ·Comcast Formerly ..
| Follow the money
The nicely written piece brings out and describes the issues with the fees, but provides no research or background where the Telco's might actually be paying out on the back side.
Everyone likes to complain about the charges, has anyone actually looked at SBC's or BellSouth financials and look for where the money goes? These are publicly held companies and they have to break out their financials just like all the other public companies.
Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest? |
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micl
Visit Lovely Downtown Port Starboard
Premium
join:2001-10-25
Silver Spring, MD
| said by ricep5 :
Everyone likes to complain about the charges, has anyone actually looked at SBC's or BellSouth financials and look for where the money goes? These are publicly held companies and they have to break out their financials just like all the other public companies.
Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest?
LOL! You aren't likely to find them. The Bells are masters of obscurity and obfuscation... just read one of their public tariffs -- something designed to make the process transparent.
Aside from the unscrupulousness of the bells though, I think the FCC must take most of the blame for letting this go on under the guise of a federal tax. Unfortunately, the misrepresentation is just subtle enough not to make regulators care enought to fight the Bells. After all, the Bells simply pay their multitude of lawyers with these fees.
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If I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture |
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Drex
Beer..It's What's For Dinner
Premium
join:2000-02-24
La Place, LA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to justin
Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???
said by justin :
Hotels just got wacked over this, as they charged all kinds of things on top of the room rate.
Right...I stayed at a hotel in Dallas and was charged like 50 cents per day for long distance and local calls. I asked them about it because I didn't make any calls. I was told they just put that in there just in case and they'll be more than happy to remove it. WHY SHOULD I EVEN HAVE TO ASK?
Back to the topic at hand...I was SOOOOO pissed off when BellSouth started with that "Universal 'It's not a tax' Fund". In fact I threatened to leave and would have if I had an equivalent alternative in broadband. Unfortunately I'm stuck paying the $2.95 fee that's supposed to go towards God only knows what. I asked for an explanation of this fee and was given such a BS answer that I had to shake my head in disgust.
You're right Justin. It is time to take a stand.
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Star Wars Galaxies -- The best form of birth control on the market. |
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MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY
clubs:  
| reply to ricep5
Re: Follow the money
do you really expect for 'Joe "DSL" Shmoe' to be able to figure out where his $0.57 go in those piles and piles of corporate paperwork?...even if he'll mange to have access to them
Instead of whining about the collection, why doesn't someone actually go look at their revenue statements and payables and see if some of them are truly "pass-through" or just pure mark up. Caller ID unit cost is 1c per. Good start. What about the rest? why don't YOU do it? how do you know that caller id cost 1c? did you figure it out from reading their financial statements? or just repeating what everybody else says?
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[Sig removed by Administrator: Signature can not exceed 20GB] |
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Wills
join:2001-01-03
Port Charlotte, FL
| reply to navalpatel
Re: well
That's the thing. This won't change a thing unless they are really taken to task.
So quit the hidden fees you say? Ok, I'll just simply drop them and then add them to the normal upfront fee and by raising my rates on something your not going to do without I, in the end lose nothing.
That's all this is going to accomplish. They're so used to screwing us that the will not stop doing it.
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Abit VP-6 twin 800EB's @ 1002 Mhz.Proud member of the XDC. |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | reply to justin
Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???
Justin, out of curiousity will you dispute this?
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Final Fantasy |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | reply to Roundboy
Re: well
What we need to do is short pay our bills by these fee's.
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Final Fantasy |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | reply to PhoenixDown
Re: What's the solution?? Is there one???
dispute this? what, my phone bill? yes we disputed it and they removed the 3 buck charge for the "new" phone jack they did not install. That was it. |
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tranceaddict5
@66.129.x.x
| not!
that universal service fund fee is a joke. they tried pulling that one on me a year ago. i called and raised hell about it, and demanded it get removed from my bill. from what i was told, it's a percentage of your long distance charges. well my GF at the time called costa rica a lot, and we got hit with a 20 dollar "universal service fund" charge to help the less fortunate. well screw the less fortunate. i've been down and out before, without a phone and not one soul offered to get me up and running with a phone at no charge. needless to say, i dont get universal service fund fees on my phone bill anymore. |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:
| reply to ricep5
Re: Follow the money
Why should we care about where the money goes in the backend?
If company A wants to charge $5 for caller id when it costs 1 cent to provide then Company B will sell it cheaper. This is especially true with everything being package deals now a days.
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Final Fantasy |
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