I recently renewed my Verizon FIOS service (as painful as the process was) and noticed that, for some reason, my monthly bill had crept up another $8. I looked into a bit and found that that $8 came from a fee that they snuck back in called the Inside Wire Maintenance fee. Essentially, this is insurance so that if Verizon ever comes out and has to do any repair to the phone wiring in your house, you won’t be charged a service fee. Let me ask you something: in your entire life, have you ever had to have a physical phone wire inside your house be repaired? Probably not. And if so, paying nearly $100 every year for x number of years probably was significantly more than the visit would have been otherwise. On their own site, Verizon even owns up to how rare it is:
Telephone wire and jacks have a long life and do not normally go bad just because of age. But many things, including everyday wear and tear, can damage the telephone wire or jacks inside your home. For example, damage can occur from activities such as home repair, someone accidentally cutting the wire, an animal scratching through the wire, something knocking the jack loose, or other unforeseen events.
Thanks, Verizon, but I’ll do my best not to accidentally chew through the wires.
(This is a charge that can be removed with a phone call. Go for it.)
Posted in Consumer Commentary