New iPhone 5, Verizon Fee question

[adam61]

I have had a corporate phone for years and not really utilized a personal cell phone. I bought a new iPhone 5 for me and my wife and have been really enjoying them. Knowing cell phone companies can be a little shady, I was very meticulous to review the pre-order information and the order page as well as the confirmation to ensure there weren't any "gotcha" fees before I ordered the phone. Well I got the phone Friday, got a customer agreement Monday of this week, and my first bill today.

You may see where this is going, but there were 2x$35 activation fees on that first bill. This wasn't disclosed anywhere in the ordering information or my order confirmation which included today's charges and monthly charges. The only thing in the customer agreement said you may be charged an activation fee, but I got that 3 days after my service started and it didn't even state the amount.

Is this standard practice and is there anything I can do about it? I contacted customer service and they were like well we did disclose it to you... when you got your first bill. Guess after several years out of the personal cell phone game they have just gotten more brazen about their hidden fees.

As a follow-up question, are there any other fees I should be expecting? Since they don't have to tell me about them til after they charge them, I'm not sure what else is coming down the pike.

Thanks!!

 

[willmtaylor]

I have had a corporate phone for years and not really utilized a personal cell phone. I bought a new iPhone 5 for me and my wife and have been really enjoying them. Knowing cell phone companies can be a little shady, I was very meticulous to review the pre-order information and the order page as well as the confirmation to ensure there weren't any "gotcha" fees before I ordered the phone. Well I got the phone Friday, got a customer agreement Monday of this week, and my first bill today.

You may see where this is going, but there were 2x$35 activation fees on that first bill. This wasn't disclosed anywhere in the ordering information or my order confirmation which included today's charges and monthly charges. The only thing in the customer agreement said you may be charged an activation fee, but I got that 3 days after my service started and it didn't even state the amount.

Is this standard practice and is there anything I can do about it? I contacted customer service and they were like well we did disclose it to you... when you got your first bill. Guess after several years out of the personal cell phone game they have just gotten more brazen about their hidden fees.

As a follow-up question, are there any other fees I should be expecting? Since they don't have to tell me about them til after they charge them, I'm not sure what else is coming down the pike.

Thanks!!

Anyone upgrading phones is charged this fee. It sucks, but it "cannot" be waived, and I've yet to read about one being waived. The only consolation is that sometimes the primary line is given a "new every 2" or "customer loyalty" credit on the account, and this more or less negates this fee.

To my knowledge, there are no more fees.

EDIT: Wait, were you a continuing/upgrading customer or a new customer starting a new line of service?

 

[adam61]

I'm a completely new customer to Verizon. I've never had an account with them before.