Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time

New York Times ^ | 1/9/05 | LISA W. FODERARO

[snopercod]

I've examined these brochures myself and there is nothing in there about the charge for texting.

Hell, the brocure I got with my Verizon phone had absolutely zero information on the service itself - it only covered the phone, and not very much of that.

I've had to call Verizon several times to ask them "Hey, what does this little icon on the display mean?", because it wasn't covered in the manual.

That said, I LOVE Verizon. Their manuals are very poorly done, though.

[dakine]

"they don't warn you"

Can't figure out something is going to cost you money is "they/their" fault....hmmmmm

"Raise your hand if you have a phone company billing horror story. Ah, as I thought: it's unanimous."

must be the monopoly that is keeping them in business...

[ladyjane]

Then her father started to hide his phone: on top of the refrigerator, under the sofa, behind the television set, in his pillow.

There is something very wrong with this picture. What kind of father is he? A real father would just say "stop using my phone" and his daughter would stop - or else.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

My dad was just like: 'Hey, it's your problem. Pay it.' "

Dang, I was not aware I had other siblings.

[wagglebee]

The New York Slimes probably interviewed a number of parents with this attitude but didn't want to print those comments because it was inconsistent with their political agenda. And as far as they are concerned the cell phone companies are at fault here, not he ignorant kids.

[grundle]

School officials also know firsthand the widespread financial duress caused by cellphones. At Mission High School in San Francisco, where three-quarters of the 975 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, the principal, Kevin Truitt, says that many students were blindsided by costs associated with text-messaging and other features, like customized ring tones.

Anyone who can afford to pay for a cell phone should not be getting free lunches.

[CurlyDave]

On the other hand, that fifteen-year-old who was stealing her father's cell to text her friends needs her butt whipped. The idea that he should have to hide it from her is outrageous.

Wouldn't that mean that he could also read the text messages intended for her. He might just get a real eyeful...

[wagglebee]

Or the $200 basketball shoes, $200 sports jerseys, gold jewelry and etc.

[theDentist]

It's in the small print. Just as photos and calls from these camera phones cost money, so do vtexts. Again, it's up to the buyer to inquire about all charges. It's their responsibility if they sign a contract without knowing what's in the small print.

We'll just agree to disagree.

[BrooklynGOP]

Yea, you got to be an educated consumer, that's all. I only pay $20 a month for unlimited internet/text messaging on my sidekick 2.

[grundle]

School officials also know firsthand the widespread financial duress caused by cellphones. At Mission High School in San Francisco, where three-quarters of the 975 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, the principal, Kevin Truitt, says that many students were blindsided by costs associated with text-messaging and other features, like customized ring tones.

"It's causing family fights; the kids are broke, and a lot are graduating with debt because of cellphones," he said. "The carriers just seem to be adding new features that cost more and more and more. The students are not reading the fine print. No one understands the contract until they get the first bill and it's $800."

So the fault belongs with the cell phones, instead of with the people who are using them? Very interesting.

[sushiman]

My 16 year old daughter must be the only HS kid in Japan without a cell phone . Oh , she wanted one , but we convinced her she didn't need one . I gave her a computer , which she wanted anyway , with cable internet access so she can email her friends . My wife and I both do not own cell phones .

Japanese HS kids routinely rack up $ 200 or $ 300 a month phone bills . Some kids work part-time just to pay their phone bills . Expensive toy ...

[CurlyDave]

Actually, the kids are not stupid. Cell phone packages are deliberately difficult to understand and are full of hidden charges.

Neither my wife nor I can understand our cell phone bill, and if we call up & ask, the person on the other end of the line can not explain it to us.

We are not stupid--she has a Ph.D. in Psychology, I have a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering.

I am certain we are overpaying for what we use, but we have a family plan and 4 phones cost us less tha $200/month, so it is not really worth my time to have to deal with changing plans to cut $20-30 per month out of this.

Plus, in what is either a deliberate move to discourage changing plans, or just utter ineptitute, every time we have tried to change anything on the phone plan, it has always been screwed up somehow & it takes weeks to get the issues resolved.

If I walk into the Sprint store & try to get a problem resolved, they tell me they have no customer service & that I have to call up to get that. As much as I am against government regulation, I think we need a way to fight back.

[Overtaxed]

What? :)

[Zuriel]

My job requires a cell phone, my question is: Is there a cell phone that is 100% made in USA? I'm growing ever insistant on finding domestic made products to satisfy my needs, even if it means doing without.

I look at the reckless, mindless, consumer spending on foreign products and am reminded of the pathetic "blood letting" that was considered a medical practice (didn't that kill or help kill George Washinton?). We are killing our independence from other countries one product at a time.

[ikka]

Verizon is happy for a million txts per day?

Here in the Philippines, wher e people too poor to have a land line get a cell phone and just text, each text is about 2 cents USD to send, and free to receive (as it should be, since you can't control who texts you).

There are 70 MILLION txts sent each day. I have a cell while I am here and have only received a few phone calls, instead I get txt'ed a lot.

The phone companies are ripping people off on the charges - 160 characters (bytes) for 10 cents - that is ... 64 cents per KByte, or $640 per Mbyte of data sent, if my math is right.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

I made it through the first 30 years of my life without any need for a cell phone.

Ditto. I wonder if the kids put the attention from schooltime text messaging into paying attention to the roughly 2/3 of the nation's teachers who passionately DO seek to teach 3R course material, whether they'd do better on their SATs?

I see people who obviously are at low income levels walking down the street, talking, talking on their cool cell phones--about nothing urgent. I see kids like the kid in the story, using cell phones and text messaging--and I wonder if there is ANYTHING in their minds that's yet been thought through well enough to be worth 20-45 cents a minute. (Sometimes there IS--usually from FReepers like our Eagle nominees Daughteroftgsl, Minor49er, NikkiUSA, TaxDeduction1, Tim Buhler--and homeschooled kids!)

MSM tripe and ineffective interpersonal communication is the true Opiate Of The Masses. Worthwhile interpersonal communication--even through typically-proxy names such as our FR nicknames--is better. Real face-to-face is better yet. And working shoulder to shoulder to defeat liberty-threatening evil causes--and saving lives from emergencies like the aftermath of 9/11--is the most meaningful communications venue of all. Without ACTIVISM, our FR communications at times may be educational or therapeutic--or risk being merely "text messaging" no more worthwhile than the kids in the story. WITH activism, we change the world for the better!

Blurblogger

[KateatRFM]

When I see these stories about poor stupid kiddies who rack up $800 worth of cell phone calls or $1200 worth of calls to a porn line at their stepmother's house, and the parents try to get the COMPANY to remove the charges, I don't wonder why those kiddies go on to demand that everything they want be "affordable" [FREE].

The first time a kid of mine ran up $800 worth of charges on a cell phone, I'd take the cell phone away from her and change it to a "pay and talk" plan, which she would get back once she'd paid off that $800.00 in charges.

If she ever used my cell phone for anything but a certified emergency, I'd take her out of public school and send her to a convent in Nunavit. No, not really. But I can guarantee you no child of mine would do that.