$30 upgrade fee is for Wireless Workshops and Backup Assistant Plus?

I recently upgraded my device, over the phone, using the 2 year discount price of $199. I was completely unaware and never told by the VZW agent that I would be paying an extra $30 to help VZW offset the cost of Wireless Workshops and their Backup Assistant+ crap. The agent on the phone told me to expect a $199 + tax charge on my next bill but failed to mention the extra $30 and, to be quite honest, I'm pretty upset about this. I called the customer support line and was told the $30 free is there to support the cost of the Backup Assistant Plus service (which I do not use and have completely removed it from my phone because it's trash) as well as the Wireless Workshops they offer in their stores. This is complete ** and if I had been made aware of this nickle and dime scheme by VZW when I was upgrading, I would have canceled my upgrade and gone with another carrier instead of signing another 2 year contract. I will NEVER go to a workshop for a device, service, whatever that I know how to use or could spend an hour researching online so why am I having to pay for this? I use Titanium Backup Pro and the Android SDK environment to backup my phone and data instead of the clunky Backup Assistant Plus trash. In fact, I've completely removed all traces of BA+ on my phone...
So why am I "donating" $30 to Verizon for services that I, and I'm willing to bet most people, don't use? Why wasn't I made aware of this by the VZW agent I spoke to on the phone?
/rant

steelystan wrote:
The final price of the phone was $260. I was told by the VZW agent to expect a ~$199 + tax ($215) charge on my next bill. There was no mention of a $30 upgrade fee. I was not notified BEFORE the purchase, and if it's listed on the discount upgrade page it's not very clear.
I did not see the articles in the news about this fee in the past and VZW did not make it clear to me that I would be charged this fee. I expect the VZW phone agent to make me aware of the fee's associated with any service I use, like this upgrade, but the agent failed to mention it.
Yes, I am complaining about the discount. I'm already unhappy that I was forced to lose my unlimited data plan when upgrading (unless I paid for the phone in full), but being charged an extra $30 for "services" like BA+ and workshops is absurd. Regardless of how much of a discount it was I don't like having surprise fee's come up on my cell phone bill. Why don't they include that free in the displayed upgrade price? Why not show $229.99 instead of $199.99?
And it's 57% discount, not 60%+
Well according to the stats you just posted sales tax is 8% so since you insist on including that, then at full price a $600 phone plus 8% is $648. $260/$648 is 40% thus you received a 60% discount. Also even at 57%, you are complaining about a 57% discount? Really? If you went to a car dealer and got a 57% discount you'd be ecstatic. If you got a TV for 57% you'd be ecstatic.
This fee was announced April 11th 2012 It made ALL the major news sources.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/11/verizon-upgrade-fees/
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/11/technology/verizon-upgrade-fee/index.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/verizonwireless-upgradefee-idUSL2E8FBGQ820120411
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/04/verizon-upgrade-fee/
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/04/verizon-to-start-charging-30-upgrade-fees-on-april-22/
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/verizon-wireless-to-add-30-upgrade-fee-for-all-existing-customers/29184
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/verizon-wireless-phone-upgrade_n_1417959.html
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Starts-Charging-30-Phone-Upgrade-Fee-119201
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57412428-1/verizon-to-start-charging-for-phone-upgrades/
http://news.yahoo.com/verizon-jumps-board-upgrade-fee-train-230900778.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-04-11/verizon-wireless-upgrade-fee/54173448/1
Just to name a few sources.
There is no way you were not told in some fashion. You say VZW agent. So you ordered this over the phone? Ok so where did you see the phone you wanted? Um at this site? Well the fee is listed VERY clearly on the price of the phone. if youw ent into a VZW store it;s CLEARLY listed on the price tags.

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