Can You Hear Me Now???

Mom

 

Let me set up this story for you. My mother is 82 years old and is living in a wonderful extended care facility in St Petersburg, Florida. She's been there for about 3 years and she simply loves it. With the medical care requirements being so technical and her needing attended to all through out the day, it would be impossible for her to get that same amount of care and attention at any other location.

Bon Secours Maria Manor

She has all the comforts of home including TV, refrigerator, three hot meals a day, all in bed, a roommate and plus plenty of interaction with other people. Oh, and a telephone. A "land line". Through Verizon.

 

We selected the very basic home package the company had; Local calls only, no long distance. That works fine, all her kids and family lives locally and any friend that lives far away always calls her. She is allowed 30 outgoing calls a month. That might sound low but she'll go for a week or more without calling anyone, we all call her. Incoming calls are unlimited. 

Even if she went over her allotted 30 out-going calls she would just have to pay a small charge for every call over the 30. That has never happened.

She gets all this service for $11.99 a month. Sounds like a good deal huh? I have the monthly bill sent to me and I make the payment. The average bill is usually $22.26 each month..... Let's recap. The phone plan costs $11.99 each month. I pay $22.26 each month. Why?

Because of "Taxes, Fees and Other Charges". That's what the section of the bill says right below the heading that says "Current Charges Subtotal..$11.99".

Here is the breakdown for those "Taxes, Fees and Other Charges":

Taxes, Government Surcharges and Fees
Federal Excise Tax..................................   .55
FL Local Communications Services Tax.....  1.21 
Fl State Gross Receipts Tax.....................    .46
Telecommunications Relay Service...........    .11
County 911 Funding Fee..........................    .50

Verizon Surcharges and Other Charges and Credits
Federal Universal Service Fee....................  .94
Federal subscriber line charge................... 6.50

Total taxes, Fees and Other Charges........ $10.27

An Example of A Verizon Bill, Not Mom's

So $11.99 for the phone service and $10.27 for the taxes and fees, for a total of $22.26. Wow. The taxes and fees are almost as much as the entire charge for the phone service!


And does any consumer really understand what those taxes and fees actually are for? I don't. "Telecommunication Relay Service"? "Gross Receipts Tax"? "Communications Services Tax"? How about the "Universal Service Fee"? Does that actually cover the entire universe? And the largest charge of all, the "Federal Subscriber Line Charge"? When did I "subscribe"? And what did I subscribe for? Magazines? 

To be fair, I know that there has to be taxes and fees for certain things in this world. I can understand the "County 911 funding fee". As a retired law enforcement officer I must admit I am quite fond of the 911 system and 50 cents a month doesn't bother me. But the remaining fees really bug me. I'd rather pay a 7% state sales tax on the phone service or even a 10% total tax to be split by the state and federal government, even though I can't figure out why our federal government is getting a penny for a service that is being sold by a private company.

So take a peek at you next phone bill and see how you are being charged. And if you ever find out how I can "unsubscribe" to the Federal subscriber line, please let me know.

Are We All Just Crazy.....

My wife and I spent almost 3 weeks at our cabin in western Kentucky and I really just wanted to point out something that simply amazes me whenever I see it.

While taking a day-trip on our vacation we were in Bowling Green, Kentucky.This was back in late August. Gasoline prices for the area we were in, including the area around our cabin, was averaging about $3.59-$3.69 per gallon. When we got to Bowling Green and were on on of the main streets looking for a White Castle, I noticed there must have been a half-dozen gas stations within a 3 block area.
All of the stations were selling their gas for $3.69 and one advertised $3.68 per gallon. Then, in the middle of all these stations I saw a Raceway station with its huge sign advertising their gas for $3.44 per gallon. I'll let that sink in....... Go ahead, go back and read that again, I'll wait......

All of the stations were selling their gas for $3.69 per gallon and the Raceway was 25 CENTS cheaper per gallon! (I should have added about 10 exclamation points to show my amazement).

Now you would think my next comment would be that the Raceway had cars backed out onto the street waiting for gas and the other stations were empty. But I can't say that. Sure, Raceway was doing a good steady business and I filled up there also but all of the other stations had customers also. Lots and lots of people were paying the extra 25 cents per gallon and not using Raceway.

Please, can anyone out there explain to me why that would happen? I also saw that same scene at one other location while on our trip and it also involved another Raceway. It is mind boggling why people would pay more money for gas than they have to.

That's a perfect example of why we are paying whatever prices the oil companies want to charge us. Gas prices have been falling every week for the past couple of months, but only by a penny or two every other day. When gas prices rise they jump by 8-10 cents a gallon or higher EACH day. You NEVER see them fall that fast.

So please do me a favor and if you are one of those people that would pay even a nickel more for gas than a station a block away from you, please tell me why. And if you are one of the people that paid 25 cents more for gas in Bowling Green, please tell me you escaped from a mental home so I won't think you are just a stupid fool.