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Increase in Billing

Has anyone else noticed that the billing has been increasing on the Freedom Essentials? I switched over in January and my bill has increased by$300 + taxes so far.

Comments

GrannyG

Oops by $3.00 so far. They should have a preview before posting.

[Deleted User]

GrannyG wrote:
Oops by $3.00 so far. They should have a preview before posting.

Hello and welcome, GrannyG,

There is a Preview Post button above the window you type the post into. You also have one hour to edit your original post by going to the top right hand corner of your post and clicking Options, then Edit Post.

autumn

mine has increased by more then that and I was given a paper saying it was going to increase more. I am now on the phone for over 30min on hold trying to get my back to basic service I can not afford it anymore. If it wasent for the dsl I would have my phone cut off completly and the way they are going I may just do that anyhow and get comcast internet it will be the same price.

GrannyG

The Freedom Essentials that I have is just the unlimited calling to anywhere in the US. I can't get the DSL where I live. Mine was supposed to be $46.99 + tax. Now it is $49.99 +tax and the inside wire maintenance went up a $1.00 too.

FrugalMom

Yes, I have noticed!! My bill just keeps going up, every month, now that my one year contract is up. I am really fed up and can never get a decent answer when I call. I am now considering changing back to cable as the reason I switched was to save money, NOT spend more!!! Verizon is not what I thought they would be!! I am VERY disappointed. The Direct TV is nice, but not worth the money I am paying just for non premium channels, and I may just go to using my cell phone to save even more!!

upset

Seeing red on the increases, now they are charging if you have to call in for help> talk about being gouged to death. geesh Smiley Mad

up 13.00$ then when I wanted to cancel long distant service--I was charged for that. I feel we are being tricked into "bundling" so later on they can "get us" with the same and ever more charges than before. When will it end? I remember GTE and how nice they were--since "Verizon" took them over, its been hell dealing with the monopoly. Man Mad

Message Edited by upset on 08-11-2008 05:04 PM

kyle

my bill has gone up $6.00 ~ i'm going to try flat rate local instead of freedom value. i think i saw in another post a moderator tell a person they have to call customer service to change plans, but you do not - it's in your account area near your billing info. all plans and info on them are located there also, just like on this page here:

http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Phone/

GrannyG,

I just noticed today the $3 increase. It's amazing that they keep going up. I have not looked at charter seriously because I have the DSL, phone and wireless with verizon but when the increases just keep coming I will. At least charter will try to keep you happy by offering discounts when you call concerned about prices.

Unbelievable.

bootsykowaan

That's why I'm here. Just got the increase. I've been trying on line to find out how I can change the plan to just basic local/regional. It always is a problem in the phone business to make you pay for long distance even though you don't want to. They did show me a page to just get basic local/regional calls. I'm an old lady and I don't need all this fancy stuff. I don't need to support rich people. I'm poor. I just need basic emergency contact. I prefer my own ISP for ethernet. This is getting ridiculous. They make you pay taxes so rich kids can play games on ethernet all over the globe. It's good to know that I'm going to have a hard time because I'm poor and old. I hope I can find a phone number to call to change my plan.

bandmom

I just got my bill today and it also has increased $3.00 this month for verizon freedom. I looked atthe previous month and there was a $3.00 increase in July also. I just switched from Comcast to Verizon bundle in June. So far my bills have been $166.00; $157; and this month a whopping $198.80!!!! This is a far cry from the $119.00 a month I was quoted. I wonder if we can cancel early since they are not living up to their end of the contract. We can't even get all the features with the Verizon freedom in the area where we live. I still get to pay for them though! Why can't we call one person to discuss our bill rather than having to call for phone, cable, and then Direct TV..I wish I had never switched from Comcast.

GSnicker

Maybe I'm out of line, but hasn't anyone noticed that all prices go up and not down? I've spent much more in increases on gas, food, movies, eating out, car prices etc., etc., etc. This is really no different. It's a fact of life that prices go up because everything these companies use to provide services has gone up (e.g. gas,materials, etc.). I feel I get a very good service and don't like seeing my rates go up either, but you either just manage without certain things or pay for what you need. I really studied my bill last month and my bill is exactly as I was told, my bundle rate, plus the extras I choose to receive (not mandatory), plus taxes and surcharges (which are high but that is government and not the company). I imagine it is very hard to regulate customer service because most calls probably come in at certain times of the day and you can't really hire a bunch more people just for those times without raising prices even further, etc. It's a no-win situation but I love my FiOS and do all I can online and noticed the last time I had to call Technical Support they told me they'd call me back in 15 minutes instead of having me wait on hold and they did just that with a technician ready to help. I just called (888) 553-1555 (I usually call later at night) and used the option to speak to someone when I got this offer. I do like the unlimited calling and feel I make enough calls that it stills saves me lots of money each month over per-minute rates...just my opinion...

Hobnob123

I remember years ago switching to Verizon from AT&T after being gouged for too long on Long Distance, etc. My, how I loved Verizon. They actually provided *decreases* in prices for DSL while they improved the speed and service. There were enough options to shave as much from my phone bill as desired, without being forced into premium "packages" or alternative providers. The last several years Verizon has taken on the practices that made me despise AT&T. Every other month it seems like another "minimum usage" fee or other hike is added. In response, I've dropped Verizon and found *much* cheaper provider options for such things as Regional calling, Long Distance calling, and switched to low usage Local bare bones calling. There isn't a lot of Verizon left to shave or I would. I've lost the love, and so I now hesitate to take a shot at the recently available internet FiOS service - it may even be time to consider cable.

bluknight12

yea, i see the same thing - increases every month. Every time i reconfigure my services by deleting a service (like call waiting) to save money, the next month they increase the charges for basic services. So after saving money one month, the next month I am right back to the amount I was paying before I got rid of the service and now I don't have that service. Considering going back to Cable Internet and get rid of phone bill altogether and using VoIP.

MetWestBOSMan

My Freedom Value went up $3 too. I paid $34.95 for this service in Aug 2006, $39.99 in Feb 2007, $41.99 in Dec 2007, and now $44.99 in June 2008. So that's a 29% increase over 2 years. Clearly these rates are going up much faster than inflation. Further, because there is no calling detail -- not even minutes of local, regional and long distance used, it is hard to compare to any alternative other than a similar bundle. What looked like a good deal in when I signed up in 2006, is not looking like such a good deal today.

Justin46

I'm not arguing with any of you, but I don't understand why you are seeing what you are seeing. My bill has remained exactly the same, to the penny, for many months, including my August bill. I have the FiOS Triple Freedom package (Verizon Freedom Essentials, FiOS Internet (15/2), and FiOS TV Premier) for $109.99. Then add in the additional stuff, like DVR, SD STBs, and Movie Package (total $35.96), plus various taxes and fees ($25.20), a constant $171.15. And my bill very clearly lists every call made, date, time, location, number, minutes, and cost ($.00).

What is the difference? Are none of you using the Triple-Freedom package? If not, you should really look into it, it will protect you for one or two years.

Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
Keller, TX

Message Edited by Justin on 09-07-2008 04:24 PM

GSnicker

You are correct Justin, if you sign a contract your rates "do not" go up for the term of that contract. Mine are exactly the same for the term of my contract. If you don't sign a contract your rates will go up, just like groceries and gas. Do you really think it costs no more to buy gas for the phone company for phone repairs, etc.,? Why wouldn't those rates increase just like rates for gas, food, electricity, etc.??? You must commit to a contract then you don't have to worry about the rates going up until your contract expires.

GrannyG

I finally called them and found out why mine was going up. In Feb.'08 is when I switched over to unlimited calling. I live to far away to get FIOS and I already have Directv. And the person that signed me up for the Freedom Essentials didn't tell me that it had to be bundled in order to continue getting the low price for the year. So I told them it was a waste of money giving me the unlimited calling for that price when they can't even give me the FIOS price because it isn't available here. So they put me back to my unlimited local calling and the 10 cents per sensible minute which I barely used before. It is saving me $15 a month.

1414alissa

Are they really charging you for calling into Verizon to get help? Is that technical support or regular calls about plans and billing? I have to call in about a "cramming" issue. On the BACK of the last page of the last two bills we have received charges for "VOICEMAIL MO FEE" and just today I noticed that it's not even a Verizon charge but from TriVoice International. talk about cheating us out of money, I never authorized this company, never even HEARD of them and now I have to call Verizon to get their contact info (since they have to provide contact info to verizon but verizon isn't required to put it on the bill I have to ask them for it. I don't want to have to pay for this call because verizon can't do anything about it but block future charges )

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