Well, here's an example of a telecom company that got too big, and I hope you're happy with the results. The old saying used to be you gotta pay if you wanna play, but in Verizon's case, it's you gotta pay if you wanna pay.

gerryvz · Member

RE: US to block AT&T, T-Mobile deal over antitrust issues

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

Private sector monopolies are almost always a bad thing, though there are some private sector oligopolies I understand the need for.

You work for one such oligopoly player directly, and I work for one indirectly.

-- Edited by PowerStroker on Monday 19th of December 2011 11:17:38 PM

gerryvz · Member

And you buy your petroleum products from ... an OLIGOPOLY?

The largest of which just commenced building itself a new corporate HQ not 5 miles from my house, to relocate & hold around 15,000 people ... making my property values already go up and up and up.....

You and your bank does business with a MONOPOLY ....

You watch movies produced by an oligopoly...

You get your telephone and cable service from an oligopoly.....

You read books and magazines published by an oligopoly.....

You watch your network TV news produced by a vast left-wing oligopoly.....

It's likely the diamond on your loved one's (and I'm not talking about your penis, PowerStroker) ring finger came from .... a monopoly.....

The goods you buy were very likely transported cross-country by an oligopoly.....

Your mail is delivered by ... a (private but government-sanctioned) monopoly.....

The monopolies that you love so much, Powerstroker, are objects created and sanctioned by government. Which means they are artificial and rely on the government for their existence. Which is a bad thing. Capitalism and free markets should determine everything !!!

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

There are things that must exist artificially and rely on the government to exist.

The interstate highway system, the military, The Centers for Disease Control, The Food and Drug Administration, the Post Office, The FAA, The FBI, The CIA, The NSA, the IRS, the USDA, the Criminal Justice system, and the Courts, are all examples of things the unregulated free market would fuck up. These agencies provide essential services that require they be run by a free elected government and accountable to all, not just their shareholders.

Would you like to pay a toll to a private corporation every time you back out of your driveway? Would it be cheaper for you to have Halliburton and Blackwater fight our wars?

Have you already forgotten what de-regulating Wall Street did? I realize Libertarianism is seductive because it's simple to understand, but it has NEVER worked on a large scale in the history of the planet. By the time the free market forces a food or drug company to change it's practices, the bodies are already piling up in the streets.

gerryvz · Member

PowerStroker wrote:
I realize Libertarianism is seductive because it's simple to understand, but it has NEVER worked on a large scale in the history of the planet.

And socialism / communism / income redistribution HAS ?!?

gerryvz · Member

Movies and media, gasoline, diamonds, and railroads exist artificially and rely on the government to exist?

LOL !!!

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

No, those would be examples of things that don't require government to exist, though the oil companies should be regulated by the government.

The examples I gave of things that do require government to exist are 3 posts above^^^

or right here:

"The interstate highway system, the military, The Centers for Disease Control, The Food and Drug Administration, the Post Office, The FAA, The FBI, The CIA, The NSA, the IRS, the USDA, the Criminal Justice system, and the Courts"

You are generally pretty good about paying attention Gerry, so I'll let this one slide.

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

gerryvz wrote:
PowerStroker wrote:
I realize Libertarianism is seductive because it's simple to understand, but it has NEVER worked on a large scale in the history of the planet. ~PowerStroker
And socialism / communism / income redistribution HAS ?!?

Actually there are several Socialist and Communist countries which are doing just fine... Denmark, France, and China ring a bell?

I personally prefer mix of capitalism and socialism with a freely elected Representative government.

I'll admit though there is a current experiment in Libertarianism though, with absolutely no real government to get in the way of the free market. That place is called Somalia, and I stand by my statement that it doesn't work.

I'd be happy to buy you a one way ticket though!

SELLC · CERTIFIED POST WHORE

^^^ Did he just say he loves socialism?

confuse

What an asshole.

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

So do you Rex, every time you drive on a public road.

PowerStroker · UNSTOPPABLE!

Well, here's an example of a telecom company that got too big, and I hope you're happy with the results. The old saying used to be you gotta pay if you wanna play, but in Verizon's case, it's you gotta pay if you wanna pay.

Verizon to add $2 bill-pay charge, admits 4G network issues

Reuters 4 hours ago

(Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, which this month angered customers with three separate data service problems, said on Thursday it will add a $2 fee for one-time telephone and online bill payments.

The planned change, to take effect on January 15, was greeted by a storm of criticism.

Consumer blog Engadget said charging customers to pay was "downright ludicrous." Another tech website, cnet.com, said the move "made little sense."

"The fee is designed to address costs incurred by us for only those customers who choose to make one-time bill payments in alternate payment channels (online, mobile, telephone) and who choose not to use the other options available to them ...," Verizon Wireless spokesman Thomas Pica said in an email.

Verizon Wireless rivals AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp said they do not charge their customers for any bill-payment options.

In addition, some customers complained on Verizon's online forum on Thursday about problems activating their new phones.

The episode followed reports of a problem with the company's high-speed network on Wednesday. Verizon said on Thursday that it had resolved that issue overnight.

"GROWING PAINS" WITH 4G NETWORK

Verizon, the biggest U.S. mobile service provider, admitted on Thursday it was having "growing pains" with its new fourth generation, 4G, high-speed wireless network and had suffered several separate technical problems that caused service outages.

After saying earlier in the day that services on its older third generation, 3G, network were not affected, the company admitted Thursday night that 3G customers were also affected.

Verizon said it had proactively "moved" its fourth-generation (4G) wireless users onto its third-generation (3G) network to ensure all would have a data connection.

However, Verizon admitted that for brief periods, such as on Wednesday, 4G customers could not connect to the 3G Network as quickly as the company would have liked.

The company also said that it is working closely with its network suppliers to ensure smooth functioning of its 4G network, while estimating that connectivity has been available at about 99 percent of the time this year.

Verizon Wireless statement is available at:

http://r.reuters.com/wav75s

Some customers had earlier complained that they were having 3G service problems, while others said their 4G service was being restored on Thursday morning. One person complained about the lack of a public announcement.

"At least acknowledge there is a problem, do you really expect your paying customers to not notice??" one person wrote on Verizon's online message board.

Verizon Wireless spokesman Thomas Pica told Reuters that the company does not plan to compensate its customers who had experienced service problems.

Earlier this month the company, which has long boasted that its service is "most reliable," faced two data service problems.

On December 8 some Verizon customers were unable to access the Internet on their wireless devices for about 24 hours. The company had to fix another problem on December 21.

Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Matthew Lewis, Steve Orlofsky and Ed Lane

-- Edited by PowerStroker on Friday 30th of December 2011 10:13:49 AM

SELLC · CERTIFIED POST WHORE

This is where your regulator buddies are messing up PowerStroker.

This practice of trying to charge customers to make a payment is BEYOND insane! It's just flat out theft and extortion! More and more companies are trying to do it, in fact my GOVERNMENT regulated utility company (Consumers Energy) charges $5.00!

AT&T also charges to make payments if done over the phone with a representative! So the claims made that AT&T does not charge is false! Sometimes I have to spend 1/2 hour arguing and refusing to pay before they will reverse charges like that.

Their has to be some kind of law in place that makes this practice illegal. At it's core, the very idea to charge a customer to be able to pay their bill is beyond despicable! It's an outright scam!

I have to agree with you on this one PowerStroker! Even though I don't even use Verizon, I have been asked to pay similar fee's and refused. Spending 1/2 hour arguing about it becomes more about the principal of the charge, but I shouldn't have to waste that time.