topic Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees in Scams & Fraud

Consumer Cellular hidden fees

dax212 — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 17:07:14 GMT

Did you notice the "operational compliance fee" increased 75% on your recent Consumer Cellular bill. There was no notice or substantiation. No wonder they provide an AARP discount since they just make it up in this bogus fee.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

LeeP5060 — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 18:43:48 GMT

Yes, I see in every aspect of life this happens, a store will have a great sale, after raising their prices...the entire system is rigged.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

ag6476 — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 01:43:47 GMT

I'm so over CC. My mom's phone didn't work for six months. I kept calling them and they told me a variety of things each time. The interent in the area went down, then the next one told me we had great internet connection. The volumne was too low then the next one told me that they keep it at 85% but they could increase it to 100%. (She has almost lost all of her hearing and doesnt want to wear a hearing aide.) Then she couldn't dial out to her contacts but there was nothing they could do. Then the next one told me that they were upgrading the teleopones and that's why the lack of service. I constantly asked for a refund since the whole reason I bought this device was for her to have communications with the family. She's 100 years old for God's sake. They told me no because they were able to see that she was able to make a call every once in a while even if she couldn't hear anyone. Then I asked them if they had new phones as I was tired of dealing with them, They said yes but it would be a refurbished one! Now how can that be if they upgraded to a new (maybe 5g) and she's getting a refurbished, almost new, phone! I told the agent I wanted a new phone, and they said no! So we were supposed to get the new one in 3 days but I had to make the request through their insurance company which I did. Two weeks went by and no working phone. I called again. Oops, someone forgot to put in the order! Another week and no refund or discount on the weeks of service that she was without a phone. Sounds like I should be complaining to the AIG or the BBB. I'm so disappointed with their service, it is incredible.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

dax212 — Mon, 01 May 2023 16:13:57 GMT

They've done it again: increased the OCF with no notification or justification. Last year they told me the increase was the first in years and so they didn't expect another increase any time soon. Liars and scoundrels!

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

ds75185044 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 23:48:49 GMT

Consumer Cellular has over 4 million customers. The OCF on my last bill was $7.11. That means they collect over $28,000,000 to fund their Compliance Department. Must have a HUGE Compliance Department. Where is government oversight on these types of fees?

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

bkniffin — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 20:26:42 GMT

Mine has gone up now to $9.36 as of November 1. Every 2-3 months it goes up another $2 or so. They say it's a Federal fee and they have no control. The Federal USF (whatever that is) rate has gone up as well. They say since it's a federal increase I should speak to the government about why there is no notice. They're not offering any new or increased promotions to offeset these increases. For a company marketing itself to seniors, you'd think they'd do a better job in trying to keep our business.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

JoeM250146 — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 17:21:42 GMT

I am looking at my latest CC bill. I see 2 different areas for fees. Surcharges & Other Charges for $12.32 and the second area, Government Taxes & Fees for $12.65. So $24.97 for the monthly bill. That is about a quarter of my bill. I think it is time to start looking for a new provider.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

ElizabethG812502 — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 22:46:27 GMT

This is a "made up" charge. They say that it is to cover the costs of complying with the government requirements, whatever those might be. The government doesn't charge Consumer Cellular the fees that they are passing along to the customers.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

StephenLee — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 16:11:16 GMT

And by increasing the Operational Compliance Fee, it actually increases multiple other fees and taxes which are based on the overall bill, as well!

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

kyjweber — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:15:32 GMT

The world around us is now designed to sell, sell, sell at every turn. Making more profit - an increasing bottom line - is what drives the competition. Maybe we should curtail our consumerism?!?!

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

jt53034901 — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:37:26 GMT

Let's not forget who steered us all to Consumer Celluar to begin with.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

JoeM250146 — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 23:58:28 GMT

I guess I forgot. Who are you referring to as who steered us to Consumer Cellular?

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

StephenLee — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:29:58 GMT

AARP’s 5% discount and promotions…

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

LouieC802457 — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 00:39:13 GMT

Consumer cellular is ripping off seniors with there so called gov fees. I went to them, and my previous carrier was less money, I called and was told fees can not be reduced. I went back to my previous carrier and have a much lower bill.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

AlexS795094 — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 00:58:43 GMT

i hear ya. i went with cc becuz of aarp AND they hand hands on in target. well, they dropped the help in target, my bill was creeping up past 30/mos. last straw was they told me i needed to ''upgrade''.

during it they ended up bricking my phone and a NEW one was $400. i went to TELLO, and got a refurbished for $170. mt plan has more than before and it is $9/mos. the taxes and fees bring it to a whopping $9.12!

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

AlexS795094 — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 01:00:49 GMT

exactly!! please read my comment to dax212

aarp are not here to help...

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

NancyR888566 — Sat, 18 May 2024 20:38:04 GMT

is the fee per line or per account?

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

JoeM250146 — Sat, 18 May 2024 22:21:43 GMT

Nancy.

When I look at my bill it does not break down the fee for each device. I don't know if an Apple watch or a tablet has lower a fee then a phone would have. As far as I can tell the fees are for all devices on the account. My current bill is broken into two parts. The first one shows 4 different fees.

Consumer Cellular Surcharges & Other Charges
DESCRIPTION RATE AMOUNT
Fed USF Cellular: Federal 32.80% $2.24
FCC Regulatory Fee (Wireless): Federal flat $0.05
Operational Compliance Fee flat $9.91
Total $12.20

The second shows 6 more fees.

Government Taxes & Fees

Statutory Gross Receipts (Wireless): SD 4.00% $2.40

P.U.C. Fee: SD 0.15% $0.09

Sales Tax: Summerset 2.00% $1.25

Telecom Relay Surcharge (Wireless): SD flat $0.60

E911 (Wireless): SD flat $5.00

Total $11.96

Fee totals $24.16.

Your fees will be different then mine. It depends on where you live.

You can also get a discount if you are a member of AARP. My Discount is $3.00.

Just looking at my last bill from Verizon from last June I only paid $6.05 in total fees for 2 phones, 1 Apple watch and 1 Tablet.

So I broke down my total bill of $81.16 for 2 phones, 1 Apple watch and 1 Tablet, using 5GB of data, I am only paying $20.29 per month per device.

I hope this answers your question.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

AlexS795094 — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:44:09 GMT

just found this...

i am not sure.

online, they asked questions about use and funneled down my choices.

Re: Consumer Cellular hidden fees

ewburger — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 02:11:16 GMT

Well, now that it is 2025, the fee is up to $10.47. Not a fan! There is something to be said for an AARP-promoted provider imposing a pure profit 'fee' of 15%. I switched from T-Mobile. At least when T-Mobile says, "this is the price", it is the price you pay, nothing more. That all said, my savings from T-Mobile is still 12%.