Inquirer Editorial: Consumers ask Verizon: ‘Can you hear me now?’
Who says “Power to the People” is a tired, old slogan from the ’60s? It worked to get Verizon Wireless to back off a price-gouging measure.
The country’s largest cellphone company said last week that it would begin charging a $2 fee for customers to make a one-time credit or debit card payment on the phone or online.
The “convenience fee” was scheduled to take effect Jan. 15, but outraged customers decided to fight back, and they struck a nerve with other irate consumers.
The protesters used social media and online campaigns to rally the public in a furious outcry that Verizon could not afford to ignore. Only a day after Verizon announced the fee, more than 100,000 people signed a petition on Change.org to lodge their protests against the charges.
Even the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the telecommunications industry, said it was concerned about the fee and announced it would look into the matter.
With pressure mounting quickly, it did not take Verizon long to realize that the fee was a public- relations disaster and a bad marketing move. The company smartly dropped the fee Friday, citing “customer feedback.”
Other carriers should take notice and scrap any plans to impose similar fees.
The campaign against Verizon was led by Molly Katchpole, a Washington woman who can now boast two successful campaigns against big business in recent months. Katchpole also spearheaded a protest that forced Bank of America to abandon a $5-per-month fee for debit-card use after she obtained 300,000 signatures on a petition.
There’s no guarantee that such excessive fees won’t rise from the dead again. But at least for now, consumers have had the last word.
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Article source: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20120104_Inquirer_Editorial__Consumers_ask_Verizon___Can_you_hear_me_now__.html
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