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Verizon to Refund $100-Mil for Hidden Fees

Verizon Wireless has tentatively settled a class action lawsuit that alleged the company advertised a price for cell plans but then jacked-up consumers’ bills with hidden administrative charges.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The complaint specifically alleges:

The Administrative Charge is not disclosed to customers either before or when they agree to purchase wireless service from Verizon, and in fact the Administrative Charge is never adequately or honestly disclosed to customers.

The current amount of the Administrative Charge is $3.30 per line per month—a more than 8X increase from the original amount of the Charge [40 cents].

The first time Verizon customers can possibly learn about the existence of the Administrative Charge, or the amount of the Charge, is on the customer bills… [but] Verizon’s paper bills fail to mention the Administrative Charge at all, stating instead that a customer should “[c]heck your online bill for all surcharges, taxes and gov fees.”

[F]or years, Verizon explicitly and falsely stated on its monthly bills that the Administrative-Charge is a surcharge imposed on subscribers to “cover the costs that are billed to us by federal, state or local governments.”

For its part, Verizon has denied the claims, but says it has changed the way it describes those fees.

Verizon customers who purchased postpaid cell or data plans from the company between January 1, 2016 and November 8, 2023 are eligible to share in the $100-million proposed settlement. The maximum payment is $100, but that could be reduced based on how many consumers file claims and for how long they were a customer.

Claims must be filed by April 15, 2024 at the settlement website. Most customers were just notified via postcard of their eligibility to file a claim and were given a notice ID and confirmation code to enter on the website. If you did not receive that, here is the official claim form.

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Kohl’s Sued for Exaggerated Savings Claims

Kohl's bargainRecently, a Wisconsin consumer sued Kohl’s for deceptive pricing practices alleging that the retailer inflated it’s regular and original prices on price tags and in advertising to make the savings they promised seem greater than they really were. The complaint also alleges that in many cases the goods rarely or ever sold for the so-called “regular” or “original” prices.

The consumer’s lawyer tracked Kohl’s prices for a 15-month time period, and found over 9,000 products on its website were on sale more than half the time. And…

*MOUSE PRINT:

… some products were perpetually on sale for as many as 90 days out of every 90-day window. In short, the data shows that Kohl’s turns the concept of a “sale” on its head: for the vast majority of products, the so-called “sale” price is the regular and normal price, while the higher advertised “Regular” or “Original” comparison price is the temporary and unusual exception.

MrConsumer says so what else is new? Twenty years ago, he tracked the prices of 20 items at Kohl’s for 103 consecutive days, and found that 55-percent of items rarely if ever sold for the so-called regular or original price. And one-out-of-four items was always on sale and never sold at full price, not even for one day.

Years later, we exposed the ambiguous definitions of regular or original prices used by Kohl’s back in 2006 and spotlighted a similar lawsuit to the current one against the company in 2013.

Nonetheless, we as consumers, should all continue to be outraged that companies use deceptive practices like this year after year, and no one has gotten them to conform to the law.

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Here We Shrink Again – Year-End 2023

NOTE: The next new Mouse Print* story will be published on January 1st.

Some big brands are continuing to downsize their products despite some easing of the inflation rate… so shrinkflation continues as we wrap up 2023.

Huggies Baby Wipes

Better get those very young grandchildren potty-trained because there are 64 fewer Huggies baby wipes in every carton.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Huggies baby wipes

Downy Fabric Softener

Through the miracle of modern chemistry, P&G has reduced the size of Downy fabric softener by seven ounces a bottle, but you still get 60 washloads out of each bottle. Presumably they concentrated the product and adjusted the hard-to-see dosage lines inside the cap.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Downy

Equate Liquid Hand Soap

One of our readers, Steven T., discovered that Walmart’s brand of liquid hand soap recently seemed skinnier. It lost more than 10-percent of its contents, going from a 56-ounce bottle down to only 50 ounces. Remember, it is not just name brands that shrink — stores brands continue to get into the act as well.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Equate hand soap

Folgers Breakfast Blend

Coffee has historically been one of the categories of groceries that has been downsized repeatedly through the decades. This time it is Folger’s Breakfast Blend, which went from 25.4 ounces to 22.6 ounces. And through the magic of modern science, you still at theoretically get the same 210 cups of coffee out of every canister. Thanks to Herb W., the Consumerman, for this submission.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Folgers Breakfast Blend

Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish

There are fewer of those happy little goldfish in every Pepperidge Farm carton these days. The old large 30-ounce carton was reduced by almost 10-percent and is now only 27.3 ounces. Thanks to Richard G. and Reddit for this submission.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Gold Fish

Peanut M&Ms

M&Ms, like many candies, have changed bag sizes so many times, it is impossible to keep track. Some months ago their “sharing size” package went from 10.70 ounces to 10.05 ounces. Who comes up with these crazy weights? Whatever happened to simple eight, 12 or 16-ounce bags?

*MOUSE PRINT:

M&Ms

Stacy’s Pita Chips

Potato chips have not cornered the market on snacks that have been subject to shrinkflation. Pita chip bags have been downsized also, including Stacy’s pita chips that have lost two ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Stacy's Pita Chips

Tide Oxi

Since P&G downsized Downy, how could they leave Tide behind? The oxi-version of Tide in large jugs went from 154 ounces down to 146 ounces, and you even get fewer loads the new bottle!

*MOUSE PRINT:

Tide Ultra Oxi

Walgreens Toilet Paper

It is not just name brands that downsize their paper products. Walgreens recently lopped off 40 sheets on their Ultra Soft toilet tissue with no fanfare.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Walgreen Ultra Soft

Charmin Ultra Soft

When Charmin added a scalloped edge to Charmin recently to make sheets tear more easily, they also cut off 30 sheets sheets from each mega roll. Thanks to our ace shrinkflation spotter, Richard G. for this submission.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Charmin Soft

Pennysticks Pretzels

A dollar store staple has been has been Prennysticks brand of pretzel sticks and twists. They have been sold in 12-ounce bags forever, it seems. Then for the past couple of months they disappeared from Dollar Tree. But now they are back … with two ounces less in every bag.

*MOUSE PRINT:

pretzels

Arm & Hammer Detergent

In what may be one of the largest downsizings ever, Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skim detergent took 49 ounces out of their 189-ounce jugs, but magically you still get 140 loads out of each bottle. One gets the impression that we must have been paying for an awful lot of water in the jugs for years.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin

Nutri Source Dog Food

Phil L. reported that Nutri Sounce large breed dog food downsized from 30 pounds to 26 pounds this past spring, so he loaded up before suffering a four-pound loss on every bag. The price remained at $61.99 for him.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Nutri Source adult dog food

Campbell’s Home Style Soup

Richard G. spotted a complete change in packaging for Campbell’s Home Style soup. The can is smaller and it lost two-and-a-half ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Campbell's Home Style soup

Apologies to other readers who sent in submissions that we did not use this year. Some were regional brands, or more obscure products, or changes that were not recent.

But in 2024, if you find a product that has recently downsized, please send clear before and after pictures including the net weight or net count to Edgar (at symbol) MousePrint.org .

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