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Thinking of ditching my phone...
Topic Started: Apr 23 2009, 04:27 PM (259 Views)
NAK
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Senior Carp
...and getting used to living without one again.

Got my Rogers bill today. Once again, a bunch of charges that I don't remember incurring. Just about every bill I get, I find something to dispute. A few times they've dropped the charges, but only when it cost them under ten bucks. For the larger questionable charges I've simply modified my plan to accomodate my phone habits. But the more I adjust my plan, the more these charges keep popping up. And my circle of friends certainly isn't getting any bigger, so how I go from a 150-minute plan and spending $10 in additional minutes, to a 200-minute plan and spending $36 in additional minutes, eludes me. Especially when the 5 numbers I call most often are free.

Anybody else not trust their phone company?
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
Get a prepaid cell phone, and top it up when you need to. You can keep it's use to a minimum, but still have a phone for emergencies and other situations you'll need it.

President's Choice Mobile has the cheapest rate for prepaid at $0.20 per minute.
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apple
one of the angels
will you quit calling me?
it behooves me to behold
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
Phone companies are evil, evil, evil! Well, at least Verizon is.

I had lots of problems with inappropriate charges appearing on my bill in the first year I had a plan. They soon changed the features of their basic plan, though (such as, calls made to other Verizon customers don't count towards your monthly minutes allowance), and I haven't had to deal with that crap since.

I would bet a limb that they have no problem throwing bogus charges on people's accounts when they think they can get away with it. My dad, for example, seems to have to call them every other month or so to debate questionable charges, now that he has four lines on one account. I bet they assume it's harder to keep track of charges when there are multiple lines (especially when two of those lines are teenagers who get a lot of "extras," like texting and internet).

I remember I was one of the last people I knew who didn't yet have a cell phone. I tried to hold off as long as possible, because it's something that can easily feel like a necessity that doesn't really have to be. (Though, with land lines becoming less common, I guess they can be a necessity, in a way.)

I'll be ditching my phone at the end of the summer and not using one for a few years, though, and the whole idea of it sounds kind of liberating.
PHOTOS

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Frank_W
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Verizon sucks. Our local Verizon office, the sales agents all line up shoulder-to-shoulder, so that when you walk in, you feel like you're about to be jumped. And they're rude. I nearly got into a fistfight, the last time I was there. I need a new protective shell for my LG phone, but I'd almost rather buy one over the internet and pay for the shipping, than to deal with those assholes again.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
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NAK
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Riley
Apr 24 2009, 06:00 PM
Get a prepaid cell phone, and top it up when you need to. You can keep it's use to a minimum, but still have a phone for emergencies and other situations you'll need it.

President's Choice Mobile has the cheapest rate for prepaid at $0.20 per minute.
That does sound like the way to go, if you want to be absolutely sure you're not getting your pants pulled down.

Opti, I, too, avoided getting a cell phone until last year. Now that my job requires me to be on call, it's more of a necessity. And I totally agree about phone companies stacking charges on unsuspecting customers. What's funny is that my last bill only had a record of the excess calls for which I was billed, not the 200 minutes included in my plan. Apparently now they want you to pay for detailed billing.

Nice, they charge you for not being able to trust them. :rolleyes:
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sue
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Riley
Apr 24 2009, 06:00 PM
Get a prepaid cell phone, and top it up when you need to. You can keep it's use to a minimum, but still have a phone for emergencies and other situations you'll need it.

President's Choice Mobile has the cheapest rate for prepaid at $0.20 per minute.
Wow, thanks for that, Riley. I've walked by their phones many times, but never paid attention to what they offer. I'm impressed. Very reasonable pricing, and well set up. Sounds like they are trying to please the customer, shocking as that sounds. My next phone will be through them. :thumb:

I have a telus pay & talk phone, at .33/min, and I thought that was pretty good!

NAK, rogers just sucks; dump them.
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Jane D'Oh
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Riley
Apr 24 2009, 06:00 PM
Get a prepaid cell phone, and top it up when you need to. You can keep it's use to a minimum, but still have a phone for emergencies and other situations you'll need it.

President's Choice Mobile has the cheapest rate for prepaid at $0.20 per minute.
I do this, but with Cingular. It tells me how much each call costs, and how much I have left in my balance, and how long the minutes are good for (they roll).

The only time I've really regretted it is when one of my friends called me to debate a decision I'd made - at some length - and as I hung up my phone told me "this call cost $5.00" :mad2:
Pfft.
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
Optimistic
Apr 24 2009, 06:09 PM
I would bet a limb that they have no problem throwing bogus charges on people's accounts when they think they can get away with it.
I wouldn't be surprised if they do. When you have your whole family on a plan, and they tack on a little extra long distance, or internet time, a lot of people would just assume their family members did incur the charges.
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