Verizon Takes Back its Plan to Charge $2 'Convenience Fee'
![Verizon Wireless President and CEO Dan Mead speaks at the Verizon news conference on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas](https://d.medicaldaily.com/en/full/222548/verizon-wireless-president-ceo-dan-mead-speaks-verizon-news-conference-opening-day-consumer.jpg?w=670&f=d9ad883f46572cea2d312bcff6975bf8)
Verizon Wireless will not charge a “convenience fee” for online or telephone single payments after “customer feedback” about the $2 fee, the company announced on Friday after the Federal Communications Commission expressed concern about Verizon’s actions.
Verizon said the plan was initially designed to improve efficiency of single payment transactions, and the company said it “continues to encourage customers to take advantages of the numerous simple and convenient payment methods” that it provides, according to a statement.
Verizon had initially announced their plans to charge customers a convenience fee Wednesday morning, according to a company statement, and the wireless provider said that the fee would start being charged in mid-January 2012.
“Verizon Wireless is implementing this charge effective 1/15/12 in order to balance the support costs required for providing the convenience of these particular bill payment options to customers in the online and telephone channels,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Customers criticized Verizon on Twitter and online discussion forums Thursday after Verizon formally announced their plan in a statement on Thursday.
An FCC spokesman sent an email to several news outlets on Friday saying that he agency would be looking into Verizon’s actions and the reason for the company’s new plan.
“On behalf of American consumers, we’re concerned about Verizon’s actions and are looking into the matter,” Neil Grace, an FCC spokesman said in an email to Bloomberg.
Shortly after Verizon announced that the company “has decided it will not institute the fee for online or telephone single payments” announced earlier in the week.
“At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless.