Verizon Wireless Will Now Reveal Full Restocking Fees Pre-Purchase

That awful (insert cusses and other words we can’t publish here) restocking fee, cousin of the ATM surcharge fee and alumni from the same school of cheating loyal customers out of money that many mega-rich corporations have studied from and learned some of their most capital tricks. Its a fee that covers the cost of an employee to put an item back on the retail shelf and for some folks in LA who tried returning a few recently-purchased VZ phones with 2-year contracts, the $35 per unopened phone  charge was enough to raise a stink.

“The restocking fee terms were not adequately disclosed to me and therefore I was not able to make an informed purchasing decision,” said Eric Rose of the aforementioned afflicted couple. “Americans are doing a significant amount of their holiday shopping in the 11 days and it is important that they be made fully aware of hidden fees and charges…”

When filing a complaint with the Manager of the Moorpark Verizon store, they were responded to with something along the lines of “…there’s nothing anyone at Verizon can do about it.” Classic isn’t it? Only after complaining to the company’s media relations group was the fees refunded to the Rose couple.

Verizon will now announce their re-stocking fee agreement clearly to customers prior to making purchases at their store to avoid this bad press again. Shouldn’t this policy have been in place from the get-go?

Readers, please be smart when you go out into stores during the holiday season or otherwise. Read every fine print detail and add up your complete bill prior to paying for it. Ask about any potential penalties that could hurt your pocket and understand that you’re the consumer, just slightly more than a dollar sign to the majority of big  companies. They depend on you to progress their company and ultimately that is what ensures their powerful footing in the market; don’t let yourself be fooled. (Cha-ching.)