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.
I received an email about my eligibility
So did I, and I found it in my junk mail folder. I was wondering if that email was a phishing scam or the legitimate notice.
Absolutely ridiculous and I’m surprised more people haven’t commented on it.
Out of all the articles that get posted on Mouse Print this is one of the most obviously egregious money grabbing intentionally hidden from the customer charges out there.
It’s this way with every cell carrier unless you’re on Prepaid or a tax & fees included plan and it’s absolutely disgraceful. If it’s not an actual fee or surchage from the government it should have to be at least included in a footnote on advertisements and in the play summary.
I left Sprint for the same reason. Their surcharges were even higher. They didn’t hide them, but surcharges did increase my bill by 1/3rd. I switched to Boost Mobile. They arent perfect, but they come without inexplicable surcharges.
In my opinion, if your phone has service from one of the big three, you are being ripped-off. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) are the way to go for many people. My phone bill for unlimited calling and texts and 1GB of cell data is $10 per month total.
Could you elaborate on this? I’ve not heard of this.
Tello.com would charge $9 for this type plan.
Places like US Mobile, Twigby, Tracfone, Virgin, etc all use one or more of the major networks for their service. For instance, T-Mobile is currently advertising their home internet service for $50/mo. Metro PCS also uses the T-Mobile network and is charging $20/mo. I use US Mobile with their smallest plan on the Verizon network at $5/mo (limited min/text/data).
MrConsumer is absolutely correct as I use Tello. The $10 I quoted includes 911 fees and sales tax, but the base charge is $9 per month.