Thread: Do you think cell phone companies scam you?

I use Verizon. My plan has unlimited minutes and 400 texts. I never have overage problems.

The one thing you should do with any telephone bill is look through it for superfluous items. The telcos will add charges that are solely for making money and provide no real benefit to the customer. You can ask to have these removed.

The only fees I see that have no effect on me are those "government and fcc etc" fees. They linger around $10, so I am not so worried about those as I have seen them in Nextel, AT&T, and now Sprint.

I really need to just get Verizon, but with a $150+ (with the credit issued) bill and a $200 breach of contract fee, its a bold move.

I just switched over from Nextel to Sprint cuz I though Id save some money in May and I have gotten nothing but trouble since the switch. My main reason was the coverage. Where I live and work, my coverage sucks. I always had "No Service" with Nextel, but now with Sprint I get dropped calls left and right! At least Nextel didnt fuck around and tease me.

What I would like to do is to have my same number and if another phone company would PAY my breach of contract penalty. Then Id gladly switch.

Id be surprised if they didnt do this already...

a lot of people just pay the bill without checking it. once i caught bad charges and had them taken off with verizon my bill became accurate. shouldn't they provide you with an itemized bill if you ask for it saying what numbers these questionable texts were sent from?

I actually read about a case recently where cell companies are getting worse about demands in their contracts. ATT, for example, won't let you cancel by sending a notice of cancellation and/or calling them. Apparently they now refuse to cancel your service at your request unless you participate in a sales retention team conference. In other words, it becomes a major hassle.

I know you are talking about cell phone here, but land-line is also getting harder to change. I've caught Verizon before selling ultra-speed broadband service in locations they can't provide it - so people pay the higher fee for a lower speed of service.

It's also a good idea to check any taxes/fees attached to the bill - they seem to go up every few months at my location. In some states, the tax/fee rates are outrageous - in mine, it adds up to almost 18% of the total telephone bill.

Originally Posted by Little Wing

a lot of people just pay the bill without checking it. once i caught bad charges and had them taken off with verizon my bill became accurate. shouldn't they provide you with an itemized bill if you ask for it saying what numbers these questionable texts were sent from?

I agree. I never let the phone company just automatically deduct a bill payment from my bank account for that very reason. They make mistakes more frequently than most people realize.

Originally Posted by Little Wing

a lot of people just pay the bill without checking it. once i caught bad charges and had them taken off with verizon my bill became accurate. shouldn't they provide you with an itemized bill if you ask for it saying what numbers these questionable texts were sent from?

Actually, I was taking a dump and thought "hmm, let me go on my My Account page on my phone to see how much cheaper this will be from Nextel." Thats how I saw it.

I then went to my Work computer and looked it up and things still didnt add up right, however, some things were blocked from the firewall.

It just occurred to me that if they say you went over your texts or minutes and you know you didnt, what can you do? Really, what the fuck can you do?

That's why I prefer a VoIP solution, but unfortunately wireless internet isn't available everywhere (yet).

Why don't you just get unlimited text ($10/mo) you cheapskate? lol.

I know what you mean though; they add up quick. Sprint charges you to send and receive texts. Are you sure you aren't thinking you only get charged for one or the other?

Just use email to text someone and use the phone only as a phone, until these companies can get their shit straight I'll refuse to use services I can do for free on another device....

Hell with all the wireless hotspots popping up around my town I'll probably be able to get VOIP in my car soon.....

Originally Posted by maniclion

Just use email to text someone and use the phone only as a phone

Easier said than done. I tried this for a while before getting text myself, but you can't do this 95% of the time you actually need texts. For example, at the bar/club, at a concert, in class. And how d you check back for a response? Email. Or are you talking abut using the email on your phone? Because if so, wouldn't you already have a certain amount of text messages?

Originally Posted by AKIRA

Well, somehow I managed to go over 400 txts on my new bill.

Did you verify that these texts werent junk texts? I saw something on the news the otherday about spam incomming texts that the user pays to recieve..

CTV.ca | Text-message spam proves costly for cellphone users

whatever it was if you are sure they are wrong take the time to call them and be persistent. companies do what they can get away with. imo it's everyones responsibility to not let them get away with fucking people over.

about every 4 months i'd spend a few hundred at rite aid. i started checking my receipts and they overcharged me an average of 15 dollars every time. a grocer was charging me double the price of a hot sauce i like and probably did it for years till the day that was the only thing i had to pick up and noticed...

some of the richest men in the world watch every penny.

Originally Posted by maniclion

Just use email to text someone and use the phone only as a phone, until these companies can get their shit straight I'll refuse to use services I can do for free on another device....

I am kind of with you on that one. This is why I dont bother with getting the "top model" phone with all those gadgets I dont need, e.g. camera.

With Nextel, I remember they charged me for incoming texts as well. So I called them and asked them to turn my txt receiving capability off cuz I didnt want them. They said they couldnt and gave me 500 free texts. Nextel mightve lost power in the cell phone business, but they kept their customers happy for the most part. It just so happens that I hardly have any service with them here in Gainesville, FL. Then again, Sprint has fake service...if that makes any sense.

Until I get a detailed paper bill (which could be here today), I wont be able to focus on certain details of the bill.

I do know, however, that they do NOT list texts.

Originally Posted by KentDog

Why don't you just get unlimited text ($10/mo) you cheapskate? lol.

I know what you mean though; they add up quick. Sprint charges you to send and receive texts. Are you sure you aren't thinking you only get charged for one or the other?

I agree... unlimited text is simple and cheap. For the cost of this one bill going over, you could have got unlimited text for a year.

Originally Posted by KentDog

Easier said than done. I tried this for a while before getting text myself, but you can't do this 95% of the time you actually need texts. For example, at the bar/club, at a concert, in class. And how d you check back for a response? Email. Or are you talking abut using the email on your phone? Because if so, wouldn't you already have a certain amount of text messages?

I don't use texting at all, what is so important that a person can't wait to get to a place where they can make a call? I used to have a Palm powered SmartPhone and the web package so occasionally I would do some emails from my phone but that phone had a touchscreen keyboard and also handwriting recognition....that was the best phone I ever had, scribbling notes was so easy with the stylus....I think my next phone will be another smartphone, Ithink they've gotten better and the thought of WIFI capability and using it as a modem for my laptop sounds like a great option since I've been doing alot of webpage updates for some of the companies I manage sites for....

Sprint: Sprint Responds To Your Request To Block All Internet Services By Signing You Up For A Data Package


Akira noticed several mistaken charges on his Sprint bill for internet access, along with a late fee even though he was enrolled in automatic bill pay. Sprint quickly reversed the erroneous fees and suggested that he block access to the internet. Akira replied that this would be perfectly acceptable, so long as it was a free service. In response, Sprint signed him up for a $15 per month data plan.
Akira writes:

I've had Sprint service for seven years because I receive a state employee discount, and it's been pretty smooth sailing. Luckily when I renewed my plan in May, I was paired with a sales manager who seemed both friendly and efficient. Going through my first bill I noticed four incorrect charges, including mysterious internet usage and a late fee, despite the fact I've been on automatic payments for years. I emailed Sprint about these charges and promptly received a long and apologetic response from someone named Steffi. She credited all of the charges and informed me of a way to block internet access altogether. This all was great, so I wanted to express some gratitude:
Thank you for responding so quickly. I really appreciate your help with this invoice. If there's no charge in preventing internet access, I would like that to be applied.
You know, there's a lot of Sprint hatred out there, but I've never had a huge problem with anyone. Seeing weird charges on my bill had me worried, but I'm happy to see Sprint sticking to their word to provide good customer service.
Thanks again.
Soon after that email, I received this reply:
Thank you for contacting Sprint.
I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to write



regarding the excellent service you received. Our goal is to serve you



with world-class customer service, and feedback from customers like you



is a great source of motivation in our endeavor to achieve that goal.
I have added Sprint Vision Pack for $15.00 on the account effective June



20, 2008.
Now you can enjoy:

• Unlimited Web/Data Access on Handset
• Unlimited Picture Mail and Video Mail
• Multimedia - Sprint TV Channel 1

Have a nice day!




Sincerely,



Peter P.



Sprint

......Wha-? I re-read my email to make sure I didn't somehow authorize this, but no, I mentioned preventing internet access. What a fool I was, doting on Sprint before the job was done. Instead of calming down and being rational, I replied with a crazy email rife with superfluous exclamation marks and all caps. I pointed out that's the exact opposite of what I asked for and asked if anyone even read my email.
The response email from Gloria D. wasn't nice and certainly lacking any apology. But Vision has been removed, so oh well. A toast to Sprint and another glorious two years.

For some reason, that confused me!

Originally Posted by AKIRA

For some reason, that confused me!

That is how they operate!
They pulled a fast one on her and she thanked them for it.

Cingular (now ATT) somehow got me for a $900ish phone bill by going over on texts and minutes, after over 2 years I asked where the fvck are my rollover minutes? I hardly used my phone until that month.

Overpriced marthafuckers.