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Cell phone users throwing money away, report says

Posted March 10th, 2009 by csnyder

UCAN In the Media

 

Consumer Advocate: Cell Phone Users Unaware Of Overcharging

POSTED: 5:05 pm PDT March 9,
2009
UPDATED: 9:11 am PDT March 10,
2009

 

SAN DIEGO (10News.com) -- Many cell phone users might not be getting the deals they think they are, according to the Utility Consumer Action Network.

After reviewing 700 San Diego-area phone bills, UCAN said cell phone customers are paying as much as $3 per minute.The
majority of landline long distance customers pay over 10 cents per
minute, with 20 percent of people paying more than 50 cents per minute
and 10 percent paying more than $1 per minute.

Michael Shames of
UCAN said, "The phone companies aren't really playing it straight with
the customers. The regulators don't really know what's going on out
there and the customers are clearly confused.

"Shames said phone companies have been systematically overcharging customers."They
count on … they base their rates on the expectation and the facts that
customers don't use the full allocation of minutes that they're paying
for," said Shames.

Not all plans offer rollover minutes, meaning customers are still paying for those unused minutes."Wireless
companies will rarely say, 'We'll switch you to pre-paid service. That
might work better for you.' They won't do that. They say, 'We'll put
you on a different amount of minutes, we'll change the minutes,' and
then you run the risk of paying a rather hefty premium if you go over
that allocation," said Shames.

10News forwarded a copy of the
study to AT&T and they responded in part: "While AT&T is still
reviewing this report, our initial assessment is that it is
significantly flawed and fails to recognize how consumers utilize
today's technology ..."

Shames urged consumers to pay close attention to any and all bills they receive, and to review their plans on a regular basis.

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless - Landline -

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I agree

On March 17th, 2009 Anonymous (not verified) says:

I have known this for a long time.

Pay $40 for 100 min. and use 2 mins in the month , you are paying $20 a min!

I kept track of what I used for a year and my cost was always over $1 a min.
I got rid of my cell Phone!

Outrageous cost of cell phone

On March 17th, 2009 Anonymous (not verified) says:

I know exactly what kind of person you are. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I am not defending the Cell phone carriers nor do I disagree that they overcharge. I mus admit tho, when I read your comments I was compelled to respond because I was curious to know whether you have always been this stupid, or if you were involved in some kind of accident which involved the removal of the part of your brain that is responsible for critical thinking.

Lets review:
You pointed out the fact that if you pay $40.00 for 100 minutes, and you only use two, you are paying $20.00 per minute. This is a bad example of the point that you were trying to make. Anyone that only makes two calls a month and subscribes to a calling plan that allows 100 minutes..deserves to be tarred and feathered. If that person actually occupies a space on this planet, I would like to know where his dumbass is at all times so that I can avoid the misfortune of ever have to attempt to have a conversation with them. I suspect that the reason why they have only made two calls in a month is because....NOBODY WANTS TO TALK TO THEIR DUMBASSES!!! They don't deserve to own a cellphone. What they need to be communicating with is two cans attached at the ends with a long wire. The phone company should be charging them 20X (thats times, for you) as much as the rest of us and tack it onto their bill as a "Fucking Dumbass Fee" Oh, and one more thing. I am glad that YOU don't own a cellphone anymore. It would probably take you a year or two to figure out how to get it out of the box.

Nuff said.

Where did you get these numbers

On March 14th, 2009 Greg (a different one :-p) (not verified) says:

First i have to say i rarely side with telecom companies. I think they overcharge for data plans and do use evil billing strategies.

However, that said, how do you justify the $3 a minute statistic? I ran the numbers and i pay between $0.05 and $0.10 a minute. Remember to include the "free nights and weekend" and "mobile to mobile" minutes 'cause you'd pay for those separately in a pay-as-you-go type plan. I encourage you to run the numbers yourself before posing obviously inflammatory stories.

-greg

as much as $3.02 per minute, but $0.1925 average

On March 11th, 2009 chris (not verified) says:

good job using statistics to generate debate, but give it to the public straight....

Pay $39.99 for a 450 minute plan. Use only 13 minutes (mol) and you are pay $3 a minute.

Using their "average bill" ($37.15) and and "average minutes" used (193 minutes), one comes up with an average per minute charge of 19.25 cents per minute.

Thanks for your useless interpretation/explanation of your study.

Dude, who uses just

On March 17th, 2009 Anonymous (not verified) says:

Dude, who uses just three minutes a month, and if they do, why would they need a darn cellphone. You're just as dumb as the other guy with his stupid comments. Why not take your point to it's logical conclusion? If you make NO calls your paying $40.00 per month, for a service you don't even use!

This is ridiculous

On March 11th, 2009 Greg (not verified) says:

I can't even begin to try to figure out how you got to this $3 per minute number. Even if you had a bare minimum plan of 100 minutes, you would have a pay $300/month for it. This study is garbage. If people think they are being overcharged, then change providers. There are dozens of them. UCAN try harder not to be misleading.

And nice work screening your comments for obvious ads. Do you take sponsored ads from NET10, or is it just a coincidence?

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