Verizon to Charge Customer $2 to Pay Bill Online or Via Phone

Not to pile onto Verizon, but this is a little grating: Verizon is planning to start charging its customers a $2 fee for any payments made online or by phone, according to a leaked memo posted by Droid Life. In order to dodge the fee, customers will have to use an electronic check (aka “ACH”) or via AutoPay.

According to the memo, those attempting to pay online will be notified of the $2 fee and given options to avoid it.


Sure, it’s just $2, but that’s $2 every month just to pay a bill, which is absurd (though not unprecedented) especially given the high costs customers are already paying for service. There’s a term for this sort of thing: nickel-and-diming.

A little passive-aggressive revenge could be had if all Verizon customers just started paying their bills by mailing in paper checks.

Update 12/31/11: Verizon is backing down, per this message posted on its website:

Verizon Wireless has decided it will not institute the fee for online or telephone single payments that was announced earlier this week.

The company made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions. The company continues to encourage customers to take advantage of the numerous simple and convenient payment methods it provides.

“At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless.