Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time
New York Times ^ | 1/9/05 | LISA W. FODERARO

Posted on 01/09/2005 2:51:02 PM PST by wagglebee

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-56 last
To: wagglebee

"I felt like I lost a piece of me"


How sad is that?!


41 posted on 01/09/2005 5:45:56 PM PST by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: grundle

The New York Slimes' agenda is that big business is ALWAYS at fault.


42 posted on 01/09/2005 5:46:58 PM PST by wagglebee (Memo to sKerry: the only thing Bush F'ed up was your career)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Text messenging is so dumb


43 posted on 01/09/2005 5:49:20 PM PST by montag813
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

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

DUH!!!

44 posted on 01/09/2005 5:56:05 PM PST by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: kcvl

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

Actually, these days, cell phones have become an alternative to real phones due to their competative pricing, (40$ per month) special features like long distance North American phone calls, 3 way, caller ID and call waiting, plus the portability factor plus the free phone vs 40 dollars for a land line that has call waiting and 3 way, but has zero portability and none of the features of a cell phone. And then there's that pesky uncaring monopoly problem.

I abandonned my land line after it was costing me around 120 dollars for the same features and the pleasure of dealing with an uncaring monopoly that wanted to charge us for a phone line that doesn't work in our house, which they were supposed to fix for free.

And we're not the richest family in the world, let me tell you.


45 posted on 01/10/2005 8:16:26 AM PST by TypeZoNegative (Isn't it ironic that the spleen, most useless organ in our body is also on the left side of our body)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Capriole

I know what you mean. Not only is trying to get clear explanations of how the additional services work, as well as the pricing, it seems that these additional services are pretty much mandatory, given the new telephones.

I recently needed to buy a new telephone, because the batteries in my 3 year old phone weren't holding charges anymore. The cost of new batteries was really out of site, so I decided to go with a new telephone. Trying to buy a cell phone that's nothing more than a telephone is like finding hens' teeth! You just can't find them anymore.

I wound up getting the brand I wanted (LG, which I've had excellent luck with, as opposed to Motorola), but it's got alot of features I'll never use, like text messaging, and even Internet access! I've got everything I can have disabled on the phone, but I'm still worried that I'm going to wind up getting spammed with text messages.

Mark


46 posted on 01/10/2005 8:40:53 AM PST by MarkL (That which does not kill me, has made the last mistake it will ever make!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: rdb3
Well, that is capitalism at its best.

They are overcharging for an UNNECESSARY luxury on an nonessential apparatus.

You have a problem with capitalism? No one has a .44 at this young man's head.

While I didn't post the message you're responding to here, I'd just like to say that I'm all for it! I think that his quote is perfect! "Overcharging for an unnecessary luxury on a non-essential ..." I love it! Hey, the guy who came up with the concept of the "Pet Rock" has always been one of my heros!

Mark

47 posted on 01/10/2005 8:44:46 AM PST by MarkL (That which does not kill me, has made the last mistake it will ever make!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: rdb3
I work for Nokia in an R&D recovery lab. I don't have a cell phone. I don't want one.

Ironic, isn't it?

I work on computers, and have installed networks in a number of banks. I still don't use ATMs or electronic banking! (Don't trust computers!)

But I don't think that I'd want to lose my cell phone. I had my home phone turned off two years ago, and have never missed it. I typically use my cell phone for less than 100 minutes a month!

Mark

48 posted on 01/10/2005 8:47:53 AM PST by MarkL (That which does not kill me, has made the last mistake it will ever make!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: CurlyDave
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.

I believe that it was Clark Howard who coined the phrase "Customer No-Service," or "Customer Dis-Service" when dealing with cell phone companies.

It's reminiscent of the old Laugh-In TV show with the operator... "We're the phone company... We don't have to care!"

Mark

49 posted on 01/10/2005 9:38:19 AM PST by MarkL (That which does not kill me, has made the last mistake it will ever make!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

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

Now that's a real Father. Let this kid learn his lesson about money and debt now while he's young, make him much more savvy by the time he's old enough to really do damage.

50 posted on 01/10/2005 9:40:50 AM PST by HamiltonJay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

We've just got to stop paying interns by the word.


51 posted on 01/10/2005 9:44:07 AM PST by Old Professer (When the fear of dying no longer obtains no act is unimaginable.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TypeZoNegative
Actually you can port your land line phone number to another carrier. I just faxed over the LOA to my new carrier this morning and my home phone number will be transferred to my Voice over IP phone number. For $25/mo. we get unlimited local and long distance phone calls (including international calls to some countries!), caller ID, call waiting, etc.

We're going through these folks: VoIP2Save who are basically retailers for RNKVoIP. (I'm not affiliated with either company, just a customer) You need a broadband internet connection since the VoIP uses approximately 72kbps in either direction. You could also check out Vonage.

52 posted on 01/10/2005 9:49:08 AM PST by whd23
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee
When I see some of these people with a cell phone permanantly affixed to their ears I really am tempted to ask sarcastically them how it is that they ever survived without it. I made it through the first 30 years of my life without any need for a cell phone and to this day, I wouldn't know how to send or receive a text message on one.

It IS amazing, isn't it? They NEED, don't they?
I especially love it when you see some girl walking down the street, yakking on the phone....and she;s walking with another girl, totally ignoring the person she is WITH, blabbing with someone else.
Boggles the mind.

53 posted on 01/11/2005 8:06:02 AM PST by starfish923
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: rdb3
Well, that is capitalism at its best. They are overcharging for an UNNECESSARY luxury on an nonessential apparatus.
1. You have a problem with capitalism?
2. No one has a .44 at this young man's head.

1. Did I say that I did? Why do you ask? Do YOU assume that I do? What a strange question. It seems rather snide of you, but then that's just an opinon. I might be wrong.

2. That's the obvious, isn't it? You seemed to have completely missed my point.
No matter. I don't really care. I simply threw up an opinion. Didn't expect such angst. Lol.

54 posted on 01/11/2005 8:11:06 AM PST by starfish923
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: starfish923
Did I say that I did?

That was the open-ended inference you left.

Why do you ask?

Because as a rule, those on the Right don't criticize capitalism.

Do YOU assume that I do?

I made no assumptions. Your comment begged the question.

What a strange question. It seems rather snide of you, but then that's just an opinon. I might be wrong.

You're flat wrong.


55 posted on 01/11/2005 8:42:11 AM PST by rdb3 (Real men don't whine. It's 2005 and everyone's gonna feel it this year.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: rdb3
That was the open-ended inference you left.
That, of course, is YOUR opinion.

Because as a rule, those on the Right don't criticize capitalism.
Well, first of all, you assumed that my comment was a criticism. That is an incorrect assumption on YOUR part. It was, if you couldn't tell, partly sarcastic and partly factual. Sarcasm IS allowed on this site, at last reckoning. So are facts.
Also, what is wrong with cricizing captialism anyway? I wasn't, but what makes it such a sin to criticize our system? It ISN'T perfect. Are you the thought police? Do YOU decide that, along with incorrect assumptions, you are the arbiter of what I ought and ought not criticize?

I made no assumptions. Your comment begged the question.
Yes, you did. You assumed that I was criticizing captialism.
Perhaps my comment begged the question to YOU but it didn't to anyone else. Perhaps your skin is a bit thin. Or you got up on the wrong side of bed.

What a strange question. It seems rather snide of you, but then that's just an opinon. I might be wrong.
You're flat wrong.

Well that's nice. I'm glad you weren't being snide. You were just making an incorrect assumption about what I said/meant and criticizing what you THOUGHT I was saying.
Failure to communicate. Of course, I wasn't communicating with YOU originally, but no matter. I think you get my point. Lol. Maybe not. You didn't before, so I am not sure you will now.

56 posted on 01/11/2005 9:08:49 AM PST by starfish923
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-56 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson