Feds Probe Verizon’s Early Termination Fees, Accidental Data Charges

[The Straight Story]

Feds Probe Verizon’s Early Termination Fees, Accidental Data Charges


droid_motorolaFederal regulators want Verizon Wireless to explain why it’s doubling its early termination fees for smartphone customers and tell how and why it charges non-smartphone customers $2 every time their phones accidentally access the internet.

The FCC sent a letter (.pdf) to the nation’s largest mobile phone company Friday asking the company to explain its policies by Dec. 17.

The move is yet another signal to the nation’s wireless companies that the FCC under the Obama administration is going to be far more involved. Ruth Milkman, the chief of the Wireless Bureau, told Verizon that it was “seeking a more complete understanding of these practices” in light of its ongoing investigation into wireless billing and its interest in fees for quitting a mobile service contract early.

Verizon Wireless doubled from $175 to $350, on Nov. 15, the early termination fees it charges new customers who buy “advanced devices” under a contract that they later break. Verizon, like nearly all U.S. wireless companies, gives users a substantial discount on mobile devices in exchange for signing a two-year contract.

Termination fees, such as the iPhone’s $175 ETF, generally decrease as the months left in a contract decrease. But consumers and consumer advocacy groups see ETFs as a way to lock customers into expensive contracts.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/fcc-verizon-letter/

[GrantDem]

1. They should probe every wireless carrier for their contractual policies.

[justabob]

2. yes

There is a whole lot of bullshit going on. I went round and round with Sprint until I said, " You know what? Just close my account. I don't need this crap" Then miraculously, they waived my ETF for a broadband card (I no longer needed because my laptop was stolen) and gave me a MUCH better deal on my monthly rate for my phone. It took weeks and many calls and "escalations".