Verizon's Nickel-and-Dime Shenanigans

My girlfriend and I just got a landline phone in our overpriced new apartment in Hell's Kitchen. It's to be used solely for the front desk to call us when we have visitors or packages. I got the cheapest package available -- less than $10 a month. It will be the first non-cellular service I've owned in more than five years.

Of course, leave it to Verizon to tack on a slew of hidden charges that appeared only on my first bill -- charges that they conveniently neglected to mention when I registered for service.

I had been notified about their $16 Service Order Charge when I first ordered service online. The rest of these fees were a mystery.

As a result of this, my first month's phone bill went from less than $20 to $100. Surprises include:

• a $12.25 "Premises Visit Charge" -- of which I'm skeptical, since no Verizon employee came to my apartment, and since the phones actually worked before I set up service, it's unlikely that they had to send someone to my building to switch on service.



• an equally frustrating $39.00 "Line Charge" -- which it's unclear how this differs from the Service Order Charge.

Keep in mind that this is for phone service that's around $9.00 per month. A rep I spoke to at Verizon said these were unavoidable one-time fees, but was unable to explain them in any real precision.

And the telcos wonder why people are leaving them for Internet-based services. Idiots. They and their stockholders deserve everything bad that happens to them.

I also like how I also get to pay a $7.47 FCC Line Charge fee every month, which is only a dollar less than the cost of my actual service. To hell with the FCC, which hasn't actually looked out for the interests of consumers, or attempted to foster real competition, in ages.