It must have seemed like just another day for Verizon Wireless executives. “I know,” someone in the CFO’s office said, “We’ll charge people who make one-time credit or debit card payments on the phone or online $2 to pay their bill.” It must have seen like another fine way to nickel and dime their customers and make the bottom line better. Then, the customers got word of it and all hell broke loose. A day later and Verizon announced it would drop this new charge.
In their statement, Verizon said, “Verizon Wireless has decided it will not institute the fee for online or telephone single payments that was announced earlier this week.” Why? “The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions. The company continues to encourage customers to take advantage of the numerous simple and convenient payment methods it provides.”
Dan Mead, Verizon Wireless’ president and CEO added, that, “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.” You think?