Recently, Verizon settled a lawsuit that alleged the company was adding unnecessary administrative costs to its customers’ bills.
As reported by FOX Business, the lawsuit said that “the company ‘falsely advertis[ed] its wireless services at lower monthly rates than it actually charges customers by not disclosing, and not including in the advertised price’ the monthly administrative charge that it ‘imposes each month on every line purchased by its post-paid wireless service customers.’”
While Verizon denied any wrongdoing in its settlement, the lawsuit sparked a discussion about the many fees and charges that the company levies upon its customers.
One piece of this discussion is a video posted by TikTok user Angel Ardito (@thelousypoledancer), which currently has over 1.3 million views as of Sunday.
In the video, Ardito shares “what’s infuriating me today”—specifically, the fact that “Verizon decided to start charging me an extra $6 and some cents a month, even though they’re not providing me with any more services than they were last month.”
“That’s an extra $80 a year,” she says. “I decided to do a little research and it turns out that in 2023, Verizon had 144 million customers. What does that mean? Well, that means that Verizon made a pretty penny at the tune of $11.5 billion if they decided to upcharge everyone the way they did me.”
“That’s right,” she continues. “They’re earning an extra $11.5 billion for doing absolutely f***ing nothing.”
In the comments section, other TikTok users claimed that they’ve seen similar unexpected bill increases.
“I had Verizon for 10 years and my bill varied every single month- for absolutely no reason,” a user said.
“No because I’m sick of my month bill changing EVERY MONTH. I’m sick of Verizon,” added another.
“I have Verizon and on my bill it says it is a hot spot has been added,” offered a third. “Never use hotspot and it’s an extra $8 and it’s wild that they started doing this.”
@thelousypoledancer 11.5 BILLION DOLLARS FOR DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING #FYP #VERIZON #PHONEBILL #INFLATION #IYKYK ♬ original sound – Angel Ardito
This isn’t the first Verizon billing story to go viral in recent memory. Earlier this week, several users captured the internet after alleging that the company sent them bills for nearly half a billion dollars.
Further commenters simply advised changing carriers away from Verizon.
“Ryan Reynolds would never do that. I switched from Verizon to Mint and I’m mad I didn’t do it sooner,” stated a commenter, referring to the actor’s Mint Mobile company.
“Straight talk girl – $45 a month always and they use Verizon or att towers,” suggested a second.
“Same! my bill is now $9 more! I’m.about to switch plans because it’s BS. I’ve been a Verizon customer for over 20 yrs,” detailed an additional TikToker.
The Daily Dot reached out to @thelousypoledancer and Verizon via email.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/verizon-secret-upcharging/