KI MAE HEUSSNER of ABC News just published an extensive story on wireless phone abuses that relies heavily on UCAN's Staff  Attorney, Art Neill. We've summarized the "Seven Deadly Sins" below, but for the whole ABC story, click here. And if you have a cell phone gripe and want to complain, click here.

1) The mandatory instructions for voice-mail - These are a profit center for phone companies that charge by the minute. The longer the instructions, the bigger the profit.

2)  Text messaging fees - It costs your phone company about a third of a penny to transmit a text message (and that estimate is probably high) yet many companies are charging 10 to 20 cents to people who don't have text plans or have exceeded their minutes.

3)  Double dipping - In the USA, both the caller and callee pay for the cost of a cell phone call. In Europe, only the caller pays a per-minute charge - the recipient pays nothing.

4) The Mexican Cell-Tower Shuffle (International Roaming) - This is where a caller in San Diego County gets wrongfully charged for an international call because it was mistakenly transmitted by a Mexican cell phone tower. Even worse, some carriers charge international roaming charges for calls made to your voice mail while you are in another country.

5) Data Services - Charges for miscellaneous data services such as sending pictures to e-mail addresses, streaming video or audio; accessing Facebook or MySpace can send your bill through the roof, but knowing how much you are being charged by slippery phone companies with vague and complicated rates can be a challenge.

6) Third-Party Fees - These include ringtones, wallpaper and games offered by third-party vendors. Many of these services use trickery to get customers to sign up. Many are never used by customers who are unaware of the costs, terms, or even the fact that they have purchased something until it is too late. 

7) Cell phone subsidies - You may pay a fraction of the retail cost for that cool new iPhone 3GS, but you have also locked your self into a long-term contract that means you will paye for the cost of the phone many times.  

Get the full ABC story here.  

If you live in California and you've been ripped off by a wireless service provider, click here to complain.