Released: December 31, 2011

Verizon backs off plan to charge $2 convenience fee amid consumer backlash

Source: Ylan Q. Mui, The Washington Post

Verizon backed away on Friday from plans to charge customers a $2 fee to pay their bills online or over the phone after receiving thousands of complaints, the latest victory in a wave of consumer activism that has roiled some of the nation’s largest companies. The announcement came a day after the fee was made public. Consumer advocacy groups derided the charge as “pay-to-pay.” The fee also caught the eye of Verizon’s regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, which had said it would look into the issue. But it was individual consumers — amped up after battles this year with corporate giants such as Bank of America and Target — that the company said tipped the scale.

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