The Problem with a Special One-Year Internet-Phone-TV Bundle for $85 a Month

While the introductory price lasts for 12 months, you have to sign a contract for two years—and during that second year, there’s an automatic price hike.

A Consumer Reports blog post takes Verizon to task for a recent “limited-time offer” of $89.99 monthly for FIOS Internet and TV and unlimited phone calls. The offer was so “limited-time” that when I tried to check out the details, it was gone—replaced, actually by a better offer (at least in my area) of $84.99 a month for the same plan.

Nonetheless, CR’s beef was with the offer’s fine print—in a tiny, faint gray font below the big $89.99 announcement were details explaining that the price goes to $109.99 for months 13-24, and a two-year contract is mandatory.

Honestly, this isn’t the worst example of fine print catches I’ve seen. The words are a little hard to see, and they’re one-twentieth the size of the main price, but at least the catch is right there below the main price. You don’t have to scroll down to the bottom of the page or anything.

What is new (or new-ish) is the idea of an early termination fee for canceling TV and Internet service. Many bundled plans do not come with such annoying fees. But this is Verizon we’re talking about here, the wireless provider to raise the bar on the dreaded ETFs for cell phones—up to $350 for canceling your smartphone contract early.

And you do have to scroll way down to the bottom to find out what happens if you try to get out of Verizon’s special Internet-TV-Phone bundle offer. There, among typically tiny legalese presented in dense paragraph form, is the tidbit that you’ll get hit with a $99 fee for canceling the service anytime in the first year. Verizon installation is also required, and for that you might have to pay another $79.99.

Like a lot of special limited-time offers, this one looks worse and worse the more closely you examine what you’re getting and how much you’ll really have to pay.

How You Lose By Paying Your Monthly Bills, No Questions Asked

As Gas Prices Go, So Go Prices for Used Cars

What do prices at the pump have to do with prices at the used car lot? They actually tend to mimic each other. Higher gas prices tend to cause drivers to want to spend less out of pocket on their automobiles. That means rising demand, as well as rising prices, for used cars—fuel-efficient used cars especially. Used car prices spiked last summer as gas prices soared, and then spiked again earlier this year as the national average neared $4 a gallon. Now that gas prices are retreating, relief is also in sight for consumers in the market for used cars.