Roadsidemobile

Ok, so overall the service is decent. I called in and stated I needed my car towed. They took my information, and got my location. They gave me an ETA of a little over an hour, and arrived within about 15 minutes. The towing service was great. My concern is with Verizon's roadside mobile service's mapping and billing. I was having it towed to a specific auto service center, which was within the 10 mile free' tow zone. The most direct route, using the highway, was 9.7 miles. She quoted me 12.5 miles, which would incur an additional fee. Now the additional fee was $10 plus change, which isn't much. But, to get that extra fee, they must have their mapping service set on - "Take the Longest Route"! Instead of going almost directly SW, by getting on the freeway at the closest entrance point, they showed a route taking the driver north, then west, then SE, adding about 3 miles. Again, the $10 isn't much, but multiply that by their 1000's of customers, and they're doing a great job padding their bottom line, at the consumer's expense. It's that nickel and dime mentality of so many service providers that I find infuriating. The entire premise is, to pad the bill by small enough amounts, that the consumer won't complain. Real Estate starting doing this back in the mid 90's. If you sold a house, you signed a contract agreeing to pay a percentage of the sales price as commission. Then the gurus started marketing the idea that adding a small office fee, wouldn't even be noticed by the consumer at closing, when they're about to fork over thousands. So, $100 dollar office fees started popping up on closing docs. That worked! Let's try $200. Yeah! How bout $300! That worked so well, that other fees' began to emerge. That same mentality has percolated throughout the service business industry. Now we, the consumers pay a set fee for service, yet when the service is provided, there often is an additional fee created one way or another.