Begin forwarded message:
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: December 21, 2009 4:11:40 PM EST
To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org
Subject: [ NNSquad ] Verizon responds to FCC regarding doubled ETF fees and mystery $1.99 charges
Verizon responds to FCC regarding doubled ETF fees and mystery $1.99 charges
The link below is the full 12/18/09 PDF document in which Verizon
responds to FCC queries about their doubling of the ETF (Early
Termination Fee) for "advanced devices" -- and Verizon's "explanation"
of the mysterious $1.99 charges that Verizon customers have been
complaining about nationwide.
I will not here address in detail the "rumors" being circulated
suggesting that Verizon is internally *quite* happy with the revenue
that these $1.99 charges (triggered by access to the Internet by
users who do not have data plans) have generated.
I will note though that regardless of Verizon's gobbledegook
explanation of pre-programmed buttons and navigating away from home
pages, if Verizon wanted to really fix this, all that they'd need to
do is force the user to make an affirmative selection (with default
being NO) the first time that the "Mobile Web" was accessed, to
confirm that this was really their intent, and making clear in the
process that additional charges would be triggered if the subscriber
did not have a data plan.
This should require just a few minutes of coding. I'm sure the FiOS
wizards could figure this out if they wanted to.
http://bit.ly/6ZCbWb (FCC [pdf])
--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator