An Illusion of Choice is No Choice at All...

So, I'm basically fed up with Verizon.

When I moved into my apartment over a year ago, I knew I wasn't going to get bundled Phone/Internet/TV from Comcast, and FiOS was not yet available at my apartment complex so that was not a consideration.

I signed up for the barest-bones Verizon home phone line I could set up, which still somehow amounts to over $20/mo basically for a dial tone and the ability to place outgoing calls.

Having a dial tone allowed me my choice of DSL providers. I chose DSLeXtreme, who have provided me excellent service and support since my DSL was activated. They actually resell FiOS service, but that does not appear to be available in my neck of the woods, yet.

I got my bill today, after believing I had unsubscribed from my long distance service. As far as I can tell, both from the website and the bill I had, but there's still a $5.00 'VLD Shortfall Charge' which apparently they can tack on to the bill of anyone they feel isn't already paying them enough.

"A spokesperson for Verizon told KING 5 that even if a person doesn't make long-distance calls, they still have access to the phone network. The "shortfall charge" helps pay for maintenance of the network."

If so, then why do you charge me $8.27/mo just for a dial tone? What does that pay for?

I'm not complaining about the $9.94 per month in taxes in fees which, if they're not labeled deceptively, are all federal and state charges that have been passed through to me.

To add insult to injury, when I "canceled" my long distance, I was unable to also demote my local service from the 'unlimited' to the 'pay per minute' level since I'd already initiated one change to my plan that day.

I wonder if it's a coincidence that I can't currently login to my account page after telling them I was 'very dissatisfied' with the website in the customer-service survey.

So, anyway, do I even have any options for local phone service (that will allow me to keep my DSL service)? It looks like AT&T might be an option, but I can't fathom them being any more pleasant than Verizon.

Any suggestions?