from: The Massachusetts Curmudgeon [1]
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Verizon is Scum
Verizon has been hard at work in Massachusetts finding new ways to screw over this state's residents. First off I notice that my phone bill has gone up by $2 for the last month. I check and find out that they now have no long distance plans that don't have a minimum fee. My wife and I never use Verizon long distance, so we get wacked a 2$ monthly fee because we don't use it. I want to find a business where I can send people a $2 bill for not using me. By the way if you are looking for this weasal fee, it's listed as a "shortfall charge" in the Verizon long distance portion of your bill. Currently I have phone and dsl service through them, but underhanded moves like this have me considering pulling out my landline all together and getting my internet through the cable company.
Next Verizon has decided to blackmail the state with regards to rolling out their FIOS service Unless the state gives them a blanket video franchise they are planning cease further expansion of the service. They are already going at a snails pace for anyone in Central or Western Mass, and I suspect they actually have no plans to provide the service out here for the next 10 years no matter what happens, they are just being scummy corporate weasals.
The final thing is that Verizon avoids paying property tax in Massachusetts due to a corporate loophole created in the 1920s to encourage expansion of phone service. Governor Patrick is proposing that this loophole be dumped, but Verizon is screaming like a stuck pig and has enacted the aid of House Speaker Sal DiMasi who is apparently in Verizon's pocket to defeat this simple act of tax fairness.
Verizon is not the only company that pulls shit like this, by their nature most corporations care about nothing but profit. Profit trumps social responsibility, environmental concerns, or basically any sense of ethics. They will say different but it's quite simple they are lying.
If you get a chance check out the movie "The Corporation" it's an eye opener.