10 December 2010

Nickled and dimed to death

Before signing up for a media package from AT&T (U-verse), we calculated our previous years' expenditures for telephone + internet + cable television and decided the new offering would be a good financial deal.  When the bill arrived, there were the (expected) installation and other one-time fees, but also...
Wisconsin State Sales Tax
Wisconsin County Sales Tax
Wisconsin Police and Fire Protection Fee
Wisconsin County 911 Service Fee
Wisconsin Local Video Service Franchise Fee
Wisconsin Universal Service Fee
Federal Universal Service Fee
... which added over 10% to the cost of the media package.  We still came out ahead, but by very little.  I'm not blaming AT&T for deceiving me - rather just reminding myself to be more wary in the future to get more details on offerings.

3 comments:

  1. nolanddaDecember 10, 2010 at 3:46 PM

    Are you sure all those fees are legitimate?

    http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Shouldnt-Bogus-Fees-Be-Part-Of-FCCs-Transparency-Push-106549

    Both AT&T and Sprint have been the subjects of lawsuits for collecting bogus "taxes" that are not due by law.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 10, 2010 at 10:09 PM

    "The government taxes you when you bring home a paycheck. It taxes you when you make a phone call. It taxes you when you turn on a light. It taxes you when you sell a stock. It taxes you when you fill your car with gas. It taxes you when you ride a plane. It taxes you when you get married. Then it taxes you when you die. This is taxual insanity and it must end." ~J. C. Watts, Jr.

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  3. AmyDecember 13, 2010 at 3:21 PM

    This is why I won't get long distance service, cable or internet access. I'm not a Luddite, I just don't know how to budget for all the extra taxes and fees. Comcast will send me "real price" quotes but I simply do not trust them. They're all slimy little devils.

    ReplyDelete