Posted on 11/18/2007 5:58:21 PM PST by Graybeard58
That ringing in Becky Strawn’s ears came from her cell phone bill.
Buried in the minutiae was a $9.99 charge for “Premium Features.” When she called her provider, Verizon, to learn what that meant, she was told it was for ringtones.
Because she never ordered ringtones, that was news to Strawn, a Kansas City resident.
It’s also news to other cell phone users who are learning to their chagrin that they are being targeted by unscrupulous text message spammers and now cell phone “crammers.”
Cramming is when mysterious and unauthorized charges show up on your phone bill, courtesy of aggressive — and dishonest — telemarketers. It’s been the bane of landline phones. But now it’s happening to cell phone users, who up to now thought their privacy was protected.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Strawn told me.
When she called Verizon, she was told she must have inadvertently given someone her cell phone number, “which then ended up in the hands” of a ringtone vendor.
Verizon refunded half the charge. But Strawn still didn’t think it was fair. “They (the ringtone vendor) still got $4.99 from me for nothing! I never used it,” she said.
A number of Internet companies sell ringtones to cell phone users. At least one has been sued for fraudulent billing.
I called Verizon spokeswoman Cheryl Bini, who acknowledged Verizon and other carriers are increasingly besieged by spammers. They are fighting back, including suing illegal telemarketers.
But she explained carriers are obligated to pass on legitimate third-party charges to customers. However, she said, if the charges are unauthorized, a carrier will usually grant customers a credit.
After checking Strawn’s bill, Bini said she should have gotten a full credit. Strawn said she has since received one.
How is this happening? Bini said it’s hard to know in
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
Makes me glad I went with the cheap Tracfone with the prepaid minutes. I got 600 double minutes (1200) for the price of 300 minutes. Also I can call to and from Canada without any extra charges.
Now I found one reason to keep my business/land line.
I use my phone a lot. Last month my bill was over $400. That’s one of the reasons we switched my wife to prepaid, to save cost.
I’m trying to figure out how I can make the old string and tin can method work.
I’m thinking of switching our three-phone family plan from AT&T (Cingular) to cricket. Any suggestions?
I would say that you should talk to some of your family or friends in the area. My experience has been that not all providers are equal in terms of signal and that it varies from area to area.
Thankx. It looks like they are offering unlimited minutes and messaging for $50 per phone. I’ll have to check out their signal strength in our areas.
Sprint did that to us for over a year......they nearly bankrupted us. We had them shut off our service and paid the last couple of months for nothing. It was cheaper. They were crooks. We us Tracphones now.
I have the net10 prepaid. 10 cents a min nationwide. So simple.
I use an aT7T phone card for my home phone long distance. It is 5 cents a min (in state is double mins, a rip off). There are no taxes on it, no additional charges, no access fees, just 10 cents a min. To dial the numbers, I use the speed dialer for the phone number and another speed dialer button for the pin number.
I recharge it at Wal Mart.
.....Bob
I may have to leave Verizon for another cell phone company. They refuse to list charges for each call. I pay a certain amount every month, and that is all I pay.
But, I want a listing on my bill of every call made. They will not give it to me.
Buh bye, Verizon.
Home phone...we're still using Vonage (VOIP). Excellent voice quality, no billing problems. The unlimited plans includes all local and domestic long distance and Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the UK are considered local calls also. Has all the bells and whistles as most domestic carriers..caller ID, voice mail...you know the junk. Runs about $30.00/mo total.
The last time I called Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the UK was ......Well, never. So I do not need it.
I have my home phone line simply because I use qwest internet. do not have call waiting, call forwarding, caller id and the rest of that crap. With the phone and the i=net together, it is $45/mo.
The whole idea of "Watts Lines" (the 800 numbers) was to allow customers to call clients long distance without costing the customer the traditional long distance fees. With most cell phone packages, long distance fees are a thing of the past.
However, with a cell phone, you are charged by the minute used, both incoming and outgoing. So it doesn't matter if you call a toll-free 800 number: You're still charged for the time used. There are, however, some "free" calls that you can make, that do not get charged against your allotted time. They typically include 911 and 611 calls. Depending on your service, there may be others, for instance in KC, there are some radio stations that allow you to dial *-then a number and you can call the station at no charge.
Mark
The best way to save money is to alienate friends and family, so they never call you. And don't call them! I don't think that I use more than about 25 minutes a month on my cell phone, and most of that's for ordering take out!
Silence is golden!
Mark
Is there any reason that cell phones shouldn’t have charges pop up with an accept/reject option? That would seem to solve a lot of problems.
You a very wise Dr. Mark. I shall begin using your plan immediately.
Your ideas intrigue me, I wish to subscribe to your newsletter
I have Verizon and simply go to verizonwireless.com, login to my account and can view all calls made and received for both my phones..
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