Mysterious Fios bill increase!! (Fairfax: rental, credit, how much)

[Gekkota]

After my Fios "new subscriber" special expired I begrudgingly signed up for a two-year contract. For the past 8 months, I have paid a monthly total of $139.68 (including "Taxes, Governmental Surcharges and Fees" and "Verizon Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits." Ha! )

So, today I opened my bill, and the amount has mysteriously increased to $140.84. Now, I know it's a buck, but it's the principle of the thing. Will it increase again in a few months??

Now, my question: since I signed up for the two-year contract, how can my bill increase? Doesn't that fly in the face of what a contract is?

Anyone have a similar situation? I have Fairfax Verizon Fios, if it makes a difference.

[Carlingtonian]

Probably some minor fee that went up. The other thing they do is have these multiple confusing discounts that expire at different times.

[snatale1]

Nothing mysterious about it, Mystery bill increases is Verizon's mission statement! I will never have any service from Verizon again. Comcast X1 all the way! They screwed me when I had a cell phone years ago, then I got FiOS prior to Comcast having multiroom capability and the instant they got it I left and very glad I did.

[farplaner]

Log in to My Verizon Email - Verizon News and TV | MyVerizon, and then go to this address to view your bill:

https://www.verizon.com/foryourhome/...ResMyBill.aspx

[Jon_In_NOVA]

If you are watchful with your entertainment service bills you will notice all the major ISPs and media providers do this. Not that I have tangible evidence in front of me but I have noticed this with Comcast, DirecTV, and Verizon. At least when Netflix’s monthly subscription goes up they are transparent and send you a notice about it, and more importantly why it went up. What I have learned throughout the years is learn to play their game or you’ll lose without even knowing it.

I understand completely with your point, when you call and get the run around you never get a solid answer.
[SIZE=3]As a consumer it is our own due diligence to break their cryptography of the credits and their longevity. [/SIZE]

[newvadad]

Someone has to pay for the rising cost of doing business. Our bill has a lot of line items that make no sense but they all track back to some government fee or surcharge.. My first cable bill was less than $45 dollars back in the mid 90's, now I pay more than that in taxes, surcharges and fees. I can't blame the companies for passing along the increasing overhead to it's customers.

[FCNova]

I'm not a fan of Fios. They do nickel and dime the crap out of you and have the worst customer service imaginable. Their internet is very reliable, albeit could be faster. Seems to drag sometimes for me. You'd think for how much I pay them I'd get the fastest internet. Their tv leaves a lot to be desired. Does weird things like momentarily freezing now and then. Ordering from PPV is a chore. I often have to restart the cable box after ordering to get it to play properly. I try to use Redbox and avoid their PPV like the plague. I've refused lately to sign a contract because I want out. Comcast looks like an option. I'm sure they have their issues but can't be any worse.

[pattonadams]

I've had a similar experience. The increases are mysterious to us the customers, but not to Verizon.
- Our last contract (voice;HDTV;Internet 15/5, aka "Triple Play") was running 104.99. Here's how it broke down:
> FiOS digital voice: $30; FiOS TV Prime HD: $54.99; FiOS Internet 15/5: $30.00
> voice discount: ($5.00); contract discount: ($5.00)
I negotiated those discounts when I signed onto that contract 2 years ago. But on top of the service charges, Verizon added a $19.98 fee to rent 2 set top boxes. Add taxes and other Verizon fees (transferring government fees to the customer), the grand monthly total was $137.12.

When the contract ran out, I signed on for another 2 years at roughly the same rate: $109.99 for the same voice service, same TV service, and though I thought I ordered the same Internet speed, the summary they sent upped it to "Quantum" which is just 50/25 for $10 more. They applied a $5 Quantum order credit for the first year and $10 renewal credit for the length of the contract, so $15 off the true value of the total charges ($124.99).

But when I got the estimated bill, it had blown up to $172.85! That's almost $67 more than I thought it was going to cost. I had forgotten about that set top box rental fee, still $19.98. But they also tacked on a "HD Set Top Box" fee for 2 boxes, total $23.98. I interpret that as "you get to rent our set top boxes, but if they are HD boxes, you have to pay $12 more for each one." The total "rental fee" for the set top boxes is thus *$21.98* each! For just 2 TVs, that comes to an extra ~$44 or so per month. This is how Verizon nickel and dimes you to death. Cox and Comcast/XFinity are no better.

I can blame Verizon for not being transparent about laying out all these fees before you commit to the contract. But fortunately -- and because the law requires it -- they give you the option to cancel your order within 30 days. I'm leaning in that direction, because $172 a month is outrageous and I'm not made of gold. If I cannot negotiate them down to what I was paying before, I will opt for Internet only and sign up with Hulu Plus ($7.99/mo) + Netflix ($20/mo). We would transfer our phone number to a wireless account (probably T-Mobile pay-as-you-go for $100/year) and watch my favorite AMC shows when they come out on Netflix because AMC only lets you watch online if you get AMC from your TV provider. I estimate that a net annual cost of $172*12= $2064 can be brought down to hopefully around $700 or so a year or ~$60/mo. I hate having to do so much research just to get decent service for a basic communication medium.

[wtdoor]

Originally Posted by pattonadams

If I cannot negotiate them down to what I was paying before, I will opt for Internet only and sign up with Hulu Plus ($7.99/mo) + Netflix ($20/mo). We would transfer our phone number to a wireless account (probably T-Mobile pay-as-you-go for $100/year) and watch my favorite AMC shows when they come out on Netflix because AMC only lets you watch online if you get AMC from your TV provider. I estimate that a net annual cost of $172*12= $2064 can be brought down to hopefully around $700 or so a year or ~$60/mo. I hate having to do so much research just to get decent service for a basic communication medium.

FWIW, my wife and I did this last year and it works well for us. The only thing I really miss is football in the fall, but now I've got a better excuse to get away from the house on Saturday afternoons. Between Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and the sportsbar I'm pretty much set.

[Gekkota]

Well.....I just got off the phone with "Amber" from Verizon, and here's what she said:
"Blah blah blah fee increase blah blah digital voice blah blah blah can I interest you in Showtime?"

So that's that!