More FP charges?

Telecom
1

Saw news alert pop up talking about new terms on Taxes and Surcharges. Page claims it was updated 9/25/2018, the poster noticed it on 11/13/2018.

https://www.freedompop.com/service_plan_terms.htm

Taxes & Surcharges
Stated prices for the Services do not include applicable sales taxes, surcharges, fees or other government or regulatory charges, which may include without limitation, mandatory surcharges for federal and state Universal Service Fund contributions, state and local 911 fees, and cost recovery surcharges. We charge applicable federal, state and local sales taxes, surcharges, fees and other government charges on all purchases made through our Site. The amount of these taxes and other surcharges is subject to change and may vary from time-to-time and by geographic area. We may also become subject to additional regulatory requirements in the future which may require us to charge other additional amounts. Our charges may also include administrative charges, and we may also include other charges related to our operational costs. We set these charges; they aren’t taxes, they aren’t required by law, they are kept by us in whole or in part, and the amounts and what they pay for may change. All applicable taxes, surcharges and other amounts billed to you will be viewable through the My Accountfeature (or other feature made available to you) on the Site.

2

Some folks have been reporting $.97 (?) surcharges popping up. Most, and perhaps all, of the reports I've seen are from folks who have some type of extra service (paid plans, voicemail, rollover, etc.). If FreedomPop is really doing this as a cost recovery, it kind of makes sense, as most taxing jurisdictions add their fees on a per-payment-transaction basis. (No payment on the base free plan, so most of the local fees aren't really charged........)
If FreedomPop is doing this purely to generate income, they'll probably end up rolling it out to the free plans, too, since the TOS specifically indicates that they can charge a recovery fee that isn't really 'recovering' taxes and fees they have to pay......

Dennis Bournique reported that his San Francisco based line suddenly saw a recurring monthly charge of a little under $4, and confirmed that this was a SF fee. Apparently, this one hasn't been based solely on a paid-transaction occurrence, and applies to the basic fee plan, too.

3

I'm seeing 97¢ surcharges on my rollover accounts and am gradually using them up and cancelling rollover as I empty them.