For anyone still caring about this topic, here's my anecdote: a few weeks ago, I finally got a new phone (been riding with release-day-ordered iPhone 6 since Sept 2014); paid in full, purchased direct from Apple.
Got my latest bill notice this morning (due date first week of August), and it included the $30 fee. I planned to use chat to see if I could get it waived, but I first tried clicking on the links described upthread. While the "learn about this fee" link worked, when I tried to "dispute" the charge, all I got was an error message (sorry, can't recall exactly what it said).
Anyway, I got it removed via chat after having to read all the circular logic the rep was required to dish out justifying the fee. Only took like 10 minutes of my time.