Verizon backtracks on bill-paying fee

In late 2011, Verizon Wireless, for some unexplained reason, thought that consumers would quietly accept a $2 fee for the privilege of paying their bills on line. They didn't.

Following an outburst on Twitter and blogs, instant petitions flooded into Verizon headquarters. Within one day, the telecom giant was forced to backtrack and scuttle the plan. Said Verizon, "The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions."

Exactly why Verizon, which had 2010 revenues of over $100 billion, chose to add this small, visible - and extremely irritating - charge is unclear. Verizon made no effort to explain that this was "for one-time credit or debit card payments by phone or on the company's Web site," not regular payments. But regardless of the scope or intent of the charge, it was immediately clear that consumers are tired in general of seeing dubious additions to their bills, whether they're luggage charges on airlines or "bill-paying" fees.

"I just think people are sick of being nickeled and dimed by big companies," said Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org. "And it's just baffling to me why a company like Verizon Wireless or Bank of America doesn't do market testing on something like this first. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there is going to be a backlash."

Perhaps the backlash was symbolic, but it does demonstrate that corporations don't hold all the cards. "The carrier's reputation among consumers," Forbes.com wrote, "likely would have plummeted as attention over the change intensified, but Verizon's abrupt withdrawal of the 'convenience fee' it planned to institute shows the customers do still hold some power."

Verizon News Center (Verizon.com, Dec. 30, 2011)

After Outcry, Verizon Abandons $2 Fee (The New York Times, (Dec. 30, 2011)

Consumer World website

Verizon Revokes $2 Fee After Consumer Outrage (Forbes.com, Jan 3, 2012)