What’s this, Verizon giving customers premium content for free? I don’t believe it. Well, it’s true. Verizon is allowing 4G LTE smartphone users free access to NHL GameCenter Premium. Normally a $9.99 premium feature, NHL GameCenter Premium gives hockey fans all the great features of the free version along with:
A couple of weeks ago, football fans received the good news: “The Super Bowl, Pro Bowl And NBC’s Wild-Card Playoff Games Will Be Streamed On Mobile Phones For The First Time.” I was excited to hear the big game would be streamed via the NFL Mobile app on Verizon, and quickly began gloating about how I’d have “the game cued up on my brilliant Samsung Galaxy Nexus.” In a bit of irony, my premature excitement was soon squashed by none other than Verizon. Apparently the Galaxy Nexus was not a supported device of the NFL Mobile app, and I was left only to hope Verizon would fix this before Super Bowl Sunday.
I have some good news for all you Verizon customers who were as upset as I was over the whole “convenience” fee fiasco. Verizon has decided to jump ship on the whole “convenience” fee idea after receiving immense backlash from customers as well as oodles of bad press (probably the bad press that did it). At one point it even looked as if the FCC was going to get involved, and for good reason: Verizon was simply trying to nickel and dime its customers. It’s not often we get to score one for the good guys, and this news has certainly put a smile on my face. Kudos to everyone who voiced their opinions, eventually forcing Verizon to release the following statement:
After a long day of 4G LTE outage, Verizon has finally broken its silence about the issue by informing us via Twitter that the issues are resolved. In classic nonchalant Verizon fashion, they go on to claim 3G was not affected (tell that to the thousands who could not connect). There was no apology or link on who to talk to about a possible credit, but did I really expect one — no.
Good ol’ Verizon, always passing the savings onto its customers. If you didn’t catch the sarcasm in that last statement, prepare yourselves for disappointment. Verizon apparently believes you should be charged a “convenience” fee for paying your bill. Yea, I know — what a convenience it is to shell out hundreds of dollars to a company that has three outages in one month. Okay, so the “convenience” fee really only applies to anyone trying to pay their bill online or over the phone with any method other than electronic check. You’re also safe from being charged a fee if you are enrolled in AutoPay.
