Cord Cutter/Installation Fee

[rbonafair]

I have been a cord-cutter for two years...today, after I noticed that my internet cost jumped 50% because "discounts had expired" I discussed the issue with a very friendly representative who was able remove the increased fee. Out of curiousity, I reached out to her about the cost of adding cable (Custom Sports and News Package w/ RedZone). The fee was a little high but reasonable. Then I found out that there was a $99 "installation fee" on top of the monthly charge. She insisted there was no way to remove this fee because it was designed to cover the "administrative set-up fees" associated with a new account. I offered to do the installation myself, then I discovered that this cost WAS for self-installation. 

Multiple outlets show that Verizon Fios lost nearly 50,000 video subscribers in the last half of 2017 alone. It is unfortunate that these outdated practices of "installation charges" are still in place. For what it's worth, they have driven this customer away. 

[jonjones1]

It’s not just Fios that is losing video subscribers cable is losing them at an alarming rate.

the number of customers for Fios tv is far less than cable tv. So Verizon is not looking to preserve such subscribers. I was reading Verizon is going to partner with Amazon or Hulu or Netflix to bring streaming services to customers. 

This could actually work since the same high costs that are rising daily to Fios and cable tv customers is causing streaming subscribers to increase. DirectTVNOW is a good example of growth. However as of late even these streaming services are raising prices just like the companies customers are cutting the cord for. So we as consumers must watch how these price increases transpire or we will be caught up in ever increasing costs.