Verizon is once again raising its prices, this time impacting several discounted customer perks.
The carrier raised eyebrows earlier this year when it increased the monthly price of its Netflix and HBO Max streaming bundle from $10 to $13 on May 6. A day later, it hiked the price of its Unlimited Ultimate wireless plan, which has a three-year price lock guarantee, by $5.
The pricing changes came after Verizon CEO Dan Schulman vowed to be more cautious about enforcing price increases following the loss of roughly 2.25 million wireless customers over the past three years. He reaffirmed this promise on an earnings call in July.
“We will not raise prices without adding corresponding value for our customers,” said Schulman.
Verizon increases prices of several streaming perks
Despite this effort, Verizon has decided to hike the monthly prices of its Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ plan perks.
Its Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ (with ads) perk is increasing from $10 per month to $12 per month, according to a new notice on Verizon’s website.
The monthly price of its Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ (premium upgrade ad-free) perk will also climb from $20 to $23, while For Movie Lovers on Simplicity will be $25 per month, up from $23.
Verizon’s non-perk Legacy Disney Bundle will also spike from $24.99 to $27.99 per month. However, the Legacy Disney Bundle perk will remain at $15.
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On its website, Verizon states that the rate adjustments take effect on Sept. 17 and blames Disney for these upcoming changes.
“At Verizon, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best entertainment for the best price,” said Verizon. “As our partners at Disney invest in new content and adjust the rates of their services, we periodically need to adjust our perk rates.”
Disney recently confirmed several price increases for its streaming bundles. Beginning on Sept. 17, its Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Basic plan (includes ads) will spike from $19.99 per month to $21.99.
The premium version of this plan (without Disney+ and Hulu ads) is also jumping from $29.99 to $32.99.
Additionally, its legacy Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select bundle will increase from $24.99 to $27.99. This bundle includes Disney+ without ads and Hulu and ESPN Select with ads. It is no longer available to new customers, and existing customers cannot enroll in it.
Verizon customers aren’t happy about the upcoming changes
The upcoming pricing changes are already frustrating some Verizon customers, with a few taking to social media platform Reddit to reveal they are canceling their streaming perk to cut costs.
“These costs are crazy. And they wonder why people are jumping ship. Streaming has become as bad as basic cable, and they keep cancelling shows prematurely too!” wrote one consumer on Reddit.
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“I cancelled my perk. I get espn unlimited through youtube tv, so no reason for me to pay verizon extra and not just sign up for disney+ and hulu no ads directly through disney for $20,” wrote a Verizon customer.
“I was keeping my play more plan for Disney and espn. I don’t give a sh-t about hulu. Now that YouTube tv (I’m not dropping that any time soon) has espn unlimited I think I’m gonna drop Verizon for us mobile and just get stand alone Disney. Should still work out a bit cheaper,” wrote another.
It is no surprise that customers are irritated by rising streaming costs. According to a survey by Reviews.org in June, 52% of Americans have canceled or downgraded a streaming service because of a price hike.
Also, 43% said they are likely to cancel at least one streaming service in the next three months, while 55% said they use free ad-supported streaming services because they cannot justify paying for another subscription.
Michael Goodman, a senior analyst at Parks Associates, said in a report from TheWrap in April that U.S. consumers are reaching their limit with streaming price increases amid economic uncertainty.
“We are in a period of trade-offs from a consumer’s perspective,” said Goodman. “The cost of everything is going up. There’s a lot of uncertainty both in the world and in the U.S. as to where things are going to go.
“People are holding onto their dollars a little bit tighter because of that uncertainty and it’s going to lead them to make really hard decisions on what is necessary and what’s a must-have and what’s a nice-to-have,” he continued. “And those nice-to-haves, frankly, are where cuts are going to be.”
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