What is Digg?120 Comments
- digitalgopher, on 10/12/2007, -1/+47I can't believe many people haven't called these phone companies out on this crap. Seriously, many things here are borderline extortion. This is class action material here folks.
- bmcnally, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31The Spanish American War was actually paid off earlier this year, so that tax was repealed, saving you an entire $1.02.
- streak, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31On my Cingular cell phone bill, I found "Courtesy Tracking Service" for $0.00. I guess Cingular was interested in monitoring my movements, because I never requested it! Got it removed with yet another phone call to them.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28Telcos are thieving vampires that sell you out to government snoops. Use VoIP, encrypt, and *****'em.
- karn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25Aren't prices supposed to go down, due to competition?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24I canceled my land-line phone years ago. The charges kept creeping up with no addition to the value provided. Now, I just use my cellphone for all my calls, and my wife uses hers.
- wesmoc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20FYI, the Spanish-American war tax was finally ended (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2006-05-25-phone-tax_x.htm) back in May.
"Phone companies and cellular carriers must stop billing for the tax Aug. 1. Individuals and businesses can file for refunds next year on their 2006 tax returns for excise taxes paid on long-distance calls since March 1, 2003."
When my wife worked for a small telco company (~5 yrs ago) in the accounting department, she told me of what I saw as a scary scam. The telcos were (and I think they still are) required to put on a lot of those fees.
The FCC line tax is the one to highlight here to point out that the FCC was already dipping in and getting their $$. As she explained to me, the FCC had required the telcos (her place included) to place another tax on the invoice, but they could not say that it was an FCC related tax (because it would appear as if they were double-dipping.. which they were/are). They did not care how it was referenced on the invoice, but it could not be referenced, in any way, to the FCC. Additionally, they required that if customers inquired about the fee, they (the company) could not say that it was related to the FCC in any way. To top it all off, they were told that if they did not comply, they could no longer sell phone services as the FCC would revoke their ability to do so. As an added threat, if they did mention that the FCC was the source of the surcharge, (1) the FCC would deny it and (2) the FCC would fine them for each offense some astronomical amount of money and (3) revoke their ability to provide land line services.
Basically, they had to put that additional tax on there and take the brunt of the blame when customers inquired about it, otherwise they would be run out of business by the FCC.
Scary.. it was like government sponsored extortion. - lordTalus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18don't worry, they will add it back next month with increased fees...then when you call and use the last four digits of your social to bypass their security measures...
- osbjmg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18VTmruhlin - It was lame and totally wrong as well. If the time is > 9 AND < 5... when exactly is the time > 9 AND < 5 ? The answer is: NEVER
Well, sure I guess you could change 5 to be 1600, but that's not the point... the comment was craptastic. - Whitey04, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18Qwest charged me for "installation fees" for my landline. I never agreed to that. Some time later they took off the charges though. Of course it took me 4 hours on the phone and two weeks past the install date to get service. But at least I got out of a bogus 20$ fee :).
As for reading my bill... I read it. And I can't understand any of it. Its completely illegeble. - khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16@crawfish
Yes, I do have ammunition. They got $200 billion of our tax dollars to "upgrade the nation's infrastructure" with a promise of far faster internet speeds, fiber to the premises, and more.
Guess what the hell we ain't got, yet? - Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21VoIP FTW.
- xtrememotion, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Cingular kept adding a "Roadside Assistance Fee" to my bill that I've had to remove 3 times now, and they keep claiming I called them to add it every month
- ccheath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I tried to call cingular on some BS on my bill where a regulatory fee was showing twice, but they said that I wasn't getting billed twice for it...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16I had sunrocket for 1.5 years. The only thing I regret is Not Cancelling after the first month.
Skype + Skype in/out FTW - courtarro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"cost-recovery fee" is an amazing term. It's like they're trying to imply that there's some other sort of fee. How many fees don't recover costs?
I think "corporate profit increase fee" would be even better. They both get the point across that "hey, we don't really have a reason to charge this except that it allows us to deceive you about the true cost of service" - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Re: 911 calls: People ALWAYS claim that as being a problem with VoIP. Okay, just take any of your old cell phones and keep them charged (switch them off after charging). Even withouth a service plan and being diactivated and/or not having a chip in them they still allow you to make 911 calls. Problem solved.
- umrgregg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11This bill is three years old, so I imagine the costs are even higher now.
- tsunamisteve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I like how you can get "free" phones with an agreement, but your plan includes a $3 "cost-recovery fee" that "only covers the very basic fees associated with maintaining the network." Ha.
- whosyourdiggdad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Drop the inside wire maintenance... it's a scam
- aeproberts, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I agree.....that is the exact reason why I switched to VOIP. I didn't even really want a home phone but my fiance really wanted one. For the most basic package Verizon offered it was about $22 after taxes and this only included 50 local calls a month or I got bumped up to the next plan which was about $28 a month. Thats no long distance.
Vonage is $24 a month and gives me call waiting, caller ID and unlimited long distance even to my relatives in europe. - exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I can only get DSL, not cable, so I'm paying these fees regardless.
- Pdj79, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Yes, I can call 911 with my VOIP. I've had to do it twice now and both times it worked flawlessly.
And I am tired of people always using the "no power" argument against VOIP. I have a UPS that has kept me connected to the Internet while the power was out briefly, so in theory, my phone should have still worked, considering its also plugged into my UPS. See, I only own 1 phone. Its cordless. If the power goes out, I'm not using the phone regardless of whether I have a POTS connection or VOIP, unless it so happens to be plugged into the UPS. I know of others that have only cordless phones and DON'T have a UPS, so when the power goes out, they're not making calls. Now, if you argue about Internet disruptions, then you have a winning argument. No matter what, VOIP is always crippled by this one issue. - crawfishsoul, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Anybody notice the date of this bill? What sources are being used to back up his little red arrows? I'd like to see something like this that we could actually use in a phone call to the phone company. This "DirtyPhoneBill" is pretty much worthless and reads like a wannabe funny email attachment.
Anybody have some real ammunition against the telcos? - buddyfarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@ HarryBauzonia
now that was funny...everyone wants to blame bad things on bush. I am not a supporter of him but come on people, he is not to blame for everything... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10No, they're supposed to go up due to inflation. And corporate greed.
- khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7***** burglars dont' snip phone lines. First step - disable all communications with security companies.
And the best part is you don't even need to snip the wire. Just find the junction box on the side of the place and grab the wire, and yank really hard. You'll snap the wire inside, and it'll look like nothign got damaged on the outside.
I've spent my share of time in prison. Movies or not, some of us ex-cons aren't that stupid, and we can bypass many things you stake your very life upon while you take everything else for granted. - spidrw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6My bill in Charlotte is over $29/month for basic local. No long distance, and no features. The only calls I get on that line are sales calls from BellSouth trying to get me to use their DSL. When I tell them that I'm about to cancel the phone line because they're the only ones who call me, they get pissy. I don't know why I keep the service, but I do.
- exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Competition isn't really there for phone service.
- molecool, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"Of course it took me 4 hours on the phone and two weeks past the install date to get service. But at least I got out of a bogus 20$ fee :)."
This is exactly the point - they KNOW that most people make more than $5.-/hour and will simply not bother fighting the charge. If I had been you I would have quoted the 4 hours, multiplied it by your average hourly charge and asked for free phone calls for that amount. - ynggrsshppr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8We just keep our land line for peace of mind, but the charges are insane. Since we don't make much calls most of the bill consists of taxes. The second biggest item is the dial tone charge.
It is like $21 every month even if you don't make any calls. - HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Gotta be evil if he was able to get that Spanish-American War tax thrown in there 48 years before he was born. How old are you Odin?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The cable company's worse. When I moved, they charged me $35 to send a guy to my house and ask if everything was working.
- ptaylor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I love VoIP (AT&T), I HATE the Internet Access (Comcast).
- blueskydiver76, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8http://duggmirror.com/
- courtarro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Natural gas is the same way during the summer. This summer, when I was using very little gas, my natural gas bill ran about $35-40 per month, which itemizes as:
$17 Atlanta Gas Light base charge
$6 customer service charge
$3 sales tax
$11 actual gas used - djtoRn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This happened WAY before Bush..
- hobnob, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12well that was lame @ VTmruhlin
- willcode4beer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Where Vonage was better than the landline for me was after getting hit with 3 hurricanes two years ago.
Power was out for a week. But with my inverter, my phone service with vonage was uninterupted. Bellsouth took almost two months to get the normal phone service up. - Astravian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I do the same exact thing, and I think more and more are doing it that way as well. Landlines will be obsolete in a few years.
- dggeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I have a feeling that your wife took the story from her higher-ups hook, line, and sinker. FCC Line Charges "line" the pockets of the CEO.
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"This isn't the movies. Burglars don't snip phone lines."
stalker/rapists/psycho boyfriends do. - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6As stated further above - even old inactive cell phones allow you to make 911 calls. Everyone has one these days... even if they don't have a chip they still allow you to make those 911 calls.
This argument is the usual FUD spread by the encumbants (phone companies). - Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've got Vonage on Comcast cable, and the phone service has been stellar. Internet service has been okay, I've had to restart the endpoint a couple of times. But they're still doing a lot of building in my neighborhood, so it's kind of to be expected.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Yeah, I really had too much blood in my caffine when I wrote that comment this morning. It's definitely my worst ever. Sorry all.
- austin-dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Being this is digg with all the Internet geek here. If you didn't look closer at the TeleTruth website, their main focus is on how Americans got ripped off for a broadband network that we paid for, that the telcos never delivered on.
http://www.teletruth.org/
PBS show was on last week about this. How far the US is behind even other countries in the world. Even how the telco and cable companies are trying to stop others from building the networks they refused to build. - Germophobe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Good advice .. and remember, when you have an inside wire problem, have the service activated until repairs are complete, then cancel it again (I used to work at a telco; they HATE it when you do that)
- Swift2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you read Larry Lessig's blog, he has one stark fact there: we're way down the list of advanced countries for telecommunications. Our average speed for Internet connections is quite low. And the average cost of phone/Internet/TV here is over $100. And even in France (not surrender monkeys in all things), the same package is $32.
- toxicredm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It points out "Hidden Taxes"? They're not hidden if they're on your bill.
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6My laundry came out pink, it's a conspiracy that Bush created that causes red clothing to stain things in the wash.
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