Well that didn't take long. Granted the timing of my post yesterday was a little late to the party as the announcement from Verizon to begin charging $2 per month came out just before the new year, but still this is a little weird. It's almost as if they are watching us (checks over should for microphone or video camera). Due to enormous customer outrage, Verizon Wireless has announced it is rescinding it's $2 monthly fee for customers that choose to pay their bill over the phone or with a debit/credit card. Verizon customers have no one to thank but themselves as the outpouring of anger on social media sites caught the eye of the cellphone behemoth, forcing the company to shed the plan that would have added more profits while possibly alienating customers. Much like the plan by Bank of America to start charging a $5 fee, the $2 fee fell by the wayside only to possibly resurface sometime in the future in a business school case.
What's particularly interesting about this situation is, according to
an article in the Boston Globe this morning, is that many companies already have similar charges in place for customers looking to pay over the phone, yet it's because of the sheer size of Verizon Wireless and Bank of America that gained the public's attention and ensuing outrage. Companies such as RCN, NSTAR and even AT&T Wireless already have similar charges in place, yet because Verizon and B of A were forced to announce their plans publicly, it allowed empowered consumers to take to the social media sites and garner up such disdain for the companies over the new policies, that the companies were forced to listen to it's customer base and thus cancel the planned programs. That being said, whether or not customers will be able to get those charges removed from companies that already charge similar fees is yet to be seen, but it's interesting to see the swing in the pendulum back towards the customers. Now more than ever customers who used to not have a voice, are able to take to Facebook and Twitter and quickly gather mass opinion against a company, and for once, the companies are forced to listen. The good news is with two very high profile companies being forced by it's consumers to cancel new plans that are designed to do nothing but increase corporate profits, other large corporations considering similar plans in the future will have to take notice of the possible fall out. Consumers have had enough of corporate greed and feeling like they have no voice and now more than ever are able to force companies to listen to them, or else those customers will simply take their money elsewhere.
If you want to see more stories like this, make sure to tune into CNBC tonight at 9pm EST to see GetHuman.com's own Christian Allen in the documentary "Customer (Dis) Service" which details the sad state of customer service and how now more than ever customers are reacting back to companies that have bad customer service. We know we'll be watching!
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Posted by GetHuman on Thu, 5 Jan 2012 4:01pm