Calling the bill “uncollectible,” Verizon Wireless has dropped $9,000 in charges owed by a Massachusetts family.
The four-year-old case got notoriety last month after the Boston Globe wrote about $18,000 in charges that a customer incurred by tethering his cell phone to a laptop connected to the Internet. The family’s free data access had ended when Dad renewed the family’s cell plan. But Bob St. Germain argued that Verizon needed to do a better job informing its customers of skyrocketing rates before their bills land in their mailbox. Verizon agreed to cut the bill in half, but that wasn’t enough for St. Germain, who still refused to pay.
Today, we’ve learned that Verizon is forgiving the rest of the family’s debt. The whole case has generated bad publicity for the company, but it’s also gotten support from many in the blogosphere who believe the company shouldn’t be responsible for a customer’s failure to thoroughly review the terms of his or her contract.
This case has prompted the FCC to take a look at the whole issue of “bill shock.” The agency is taking comments about how to deal with situations like this and will likely implement some sort of new policy once the suggestions have been debated.
