Can you hear which finger I'm extending now? Good!

[xequalsfun]

I recently got a $220 cell phone bill from T-Mobile.

Comments

[vaticanplum]

I'm actually in the midst of a back-and-forth with Verizon right now. I believe they owe me money, because for a year and a half they were, unbeknownst to me, still charging me Illinois taxes even though I had moved to Ohio (and they were quite aware of this, seeing as I had told them and they had been sending my bills to Ohio the entire time). It wasn't until I noticed this, told them, and got my first Ohio bill that I found that Illinois taxes are about $5 more a month. Multiply that by 16 months, and it's enough money for me to want it back

[stalwartkumquat]

i feel exactly the same way about Verizon. your situation sounds especially thorny, since it involves some relatively intricate weirdness; i hope that works out in $80 fashion

[eustacia42]

Agreed.

[xequalsfun]

That's a pretty bold claim to end with. I'm sure the customer service people get plenty of calls from people who are trying to dick them over, and I'd be hesitant to say who was in the majority. Just because people who work at customer service are often stupid jerks doesn't mean that the people they talk to aren't often more stupider jerks.

[stalwartkumquat]

we talked on the phone for four hours straight? was this one of our trip-organization calls? or are we, in fact, married, and by "my billing cycle," you are in fact referring to a different type of cycle?

if you switch to Verizon, all of our calls to each other will be free. cough.

at any rate, I completely agree about the dickishness. it's not like you were asking for the entire bill to be axed... right? just maybe an allowance given toward ignorance of the rules -- if nothing else, that call-continuation-into-free-time thing should have *some* leeway to it, at least for the first offense.

[xequalsfun]

No, I didn't expect them to waive the whole thing, but a "Hey you're a good customer we'll gouge you marginally less" thing would've been okay. Which they sort of did: they gave me 25% off the cost of the 4 hour call, which amounted to about $20. Not great

[tempted77]

I'm really surprised that the "my contract expires in two months" line did not work. That's usually the magic phrase with cell phone companies.

Mle267 and I are notorious for harrassing AT&T Cingular AT&T. I don't think I've paid more than $20 for a new cell phone since 1998.

One of the keys to success is to ask to be transferred to a supervisor as soon as you're connected - and to tell them that the phone call is being recorded for *YOUR* satisfaction. (Skype has an add-on called Pamela that makes recording calls easy.)

[xequalsfun]

I was pretty shocked, too. I am sure they'll change their tune when I call them up to cancel, although at that point, I'm not sure how much they'll be able to do except for give me a marginally better deal on a free phone.

AT&T has an online deal where you get a free RAZR. It would be pretty sweet to have a cell phone with technology that's been developed in the past 5 years in it. My current phone is a Nokia BRIK.

I can't remember when, or what company I was talking to, but I've only ever asked to be transferred to a supervisor once and they refused to do so.

[ahansen]

I use a Nokia BRIK, also. At times I also call it The Oldest, Most Bare-Bones Phone You Can Get (TOMBBPYCG). TOMBBPYCG has never let me down; not once. All it does it make calls, TXT messages, and has a built-in flashlight in its power-button (which has saved my ass a good number of times).

As a result, I would highly recommend staying with your Nokia BRIK. All of my friends or relatives who have the fancier, new phones (from RAZRs to Chocolates to iPhones) have had nothing but problems. Lost phone books, broken screens, dead batteries, and worse. Keep it simple; the more crap they cram into a cell phone, the more can go wrong. I have this same feeling about cars. ^_^"

Also, I would like to say that all cell phone companies put you over a pillar and let David Duchovny ass-rape you. It's just what they do. They know you "need" a cell phone, so they can basically do whatever they want to you; especially when you don't read the fine print on those evil contracts. No dinner, no date, no lube.

[stalwartkumquat]

but at least it's David Duchovny, right?

[eustacia42]

I have U.S. Cellular and I like 'em, but am not sure if they have a presence in SoCal. My plan gives me 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends starting at 7pm, and unlimited free incoming calls anytime. Also, free mobile-to-mobile within the US Cellular network. And I believe they count certain holidays as weekends. My bill is usually about $50 per month for the phone part, I think. And then $10 for something like 750 texts or something (incoming texts might be free as well).

Hope that helps.

[xequalsfun]

Thank you for your interest in U.S. Cellular. Unfortunately, we do not provide wireless service in the Zip code you have entered. Please try another Zip code or select a State/City combination.

Sounds like a pretty good deal, though.

[eustacia42]

Ah, so sad.