Nowadays, pretty much everybody has a cell phone, and the associated bill that comes with it. On some months that bill can be so high that you almost get a heart attack when you open it, especially on those times where you had no idea it would come up to that amount. I'm going to give you a couple of pointers that should help you avoid such unpleasant surprises in the future. Keep reading if that catches your interest.
1. Going over your allotted quota. This is by far the biggest reason people end up with a larger bill than they should. Going over your minutes, or your text messages, or your Internet usage limit carries a prohibitive cost because cell phone service carriers charge exorbitant fees for this. But don't worry, you won't have to guess what caused the bill to go up, it will be prominently displayed, separately from your "regular" bill.
How to keep your bill low: sign up for a plan that gives you more minutes or text messages or Internet usage. This might sound odd to be advised to move to a higher plan when we're talking about keeping the phone bill low, but it's pretty much a given that the higher plan will cost you less than you would be paying if you constantly went over. If a more generous plan isn't an option, then all you need to do is monitor your cell phone use and stop using any service that you risk going over your limit on. We never said this was going to be easy!
2. Third Party Subscriptions. There seems to be no way of getting rid of the companies that sell those subscriptions, no matter how many complaints and lawsuits are filed against them. Their subscriptions services offer anything from a "free ringtone of the month" to a "horoscope of the day" to a "sexy wallpaper picture of the day". In theory, the only ways to subscribe to those services is to send them a text to a number they give you, or to log on to their website and enter your cell phone number there. Of course, if it were always like that, things would be simple; the problem is that they have a tendency to appear out of nowhere on customers' bills. In the end, pay close attention to the "direct bill" portion of your bill because that's where you'll be able to eventually spot them.
Not too long ago, AT&T settled a class action suit about this business practice. From then on, they've agreed to notify their customers (by text message) every time there's a new subscription that's being added to their account. Actually, technically it's not a notification, but more of a call to action: if the customer doesn't reply to the text, the mentioned subscription can't be added to his/her account. The other carriers should definitely follow suit.
3. One-time fees. Lastly, one-time fees might be the culprit for your higher cell phone bill. These are typically non-recurring fees, and include activation fees, re-activation fees, upgrade fees, or non-payment fees. Companies will usually not rescind the fees stemming from an account suspension for an unpaid bill. Rarely ever do these fees get waived or credited, although you can definitely ask if there are any discounts you might be eligible for, such as an employee discount. Alternatively, you can attempt sweet-talking customer service into waiving the fee. How accommodating they are will depend largely on how long you've been a customer and by your bill-paying record.
Strategy. Depending on your habits, there are a lot of options you can use to curb your use of cell phone services. If you talk a lot in the early evening, it might be worth it to pay a little extra for early night and weekend minutes. Skype, Vonage, MagicJack, T-Mobile, and so many others offer phone service that uses your existing Internet broadband connection, saving you minutes when you're at home. Also, you should always ask for discounts. We're talked about employee discounts, but if you are a student, ask if the university that you go to gets a discount. If you are retired, ask if the company you retired from gets one. If you're self-employed, put the account under your business's name. As long as you can prove that you use it for business purposes, you'll be eligible for a business discount.
In case your bill is too high for you to pay if off in one payment, make sure you call customer service and let them know, and ask whether or not you can arrange some type of payment plan. Just like the previous example, your past record will be the deciding factor to determine how flexible they will be. Bottom line is, with a bit of research and if you restrain yourself a bit, your cell phone bill will no longer cause you to get into shock. - 15224
1. Going over your allotted quota. This is by far the biggest reason people end up with a larger bill than they should. Going over your minutes, or your text messages, or your Internet usage limit carries a prohibitive cost because cell phone service carriers charge exorbitant fees for this. But don't worry, you won't have to guess what caused the bill to go up, it will be prominently displayed, separately from your "regular" bill.
How to keep your bill low: sign up for a plan that gives you more minutes or text messages or Internet usage. This might sound odd to be advised to move to a higher plan when we're talking about keeping the phone bill low, but it's pretty much a given that the higher plan will cost you less than you would be paying if you constantly went over. If a more generous plan isn't an option, then all you need to do is monitor your cell phone use and stop using any service that you risk going over your limit on. We never said this was going to be easy!
2. Third Party Subscriptions. There seems to be no way of getting rid of the companies that sell those subscriptions, no matter how many complaints and lawsuits are filed against them. Their subscriptions services offer anything from a "free ringtone of the month" to a "horoscope of the day" to a "sexy wallpaper picture of the day". In theory, the only ways to subscribe to those services is to send them a text to a number they give you, or to log on to their website and enter your cell phone number there. Of course, if it were always like that, things would be simple; the problem is that they have a tendency to appear out of nowhere on customers' bills. In the end, pay close attention to the "direct bill" portion of your bill because that's where you'll be able to eventually spot them.
Not too long ago, AT&T settled a class action suit about this business practice. From then on, they've agreed to notify their customers (by text message) every time there's a new subscription that's being added to their account. Actually, technically it's not a notification, but more of a call to action: if the customer doesn't reply to the text, the mentioned subscription can't be added to his/her account. The other carriers should definitely follow suit.
3. One-time fees. Lastly, one-time fees might be the culprit for your higher cell phone bill. These are typically non-recurring fees, and include activation fees, re-activation fees, upgrade fees, or non-payment fees. Companies will usually not rescind the fees stemming from an account suspension for an unpaid bill. Rarely ever do these fees get waived or credited, although you can definitely ask if there are any discounts you might be eligible for, such as an employee discount. Alternatively, you can attempt sweet-talking customer service into waiving the fee. How accommodating they are will depend largely on how long you've been a customer and by your bill-paying record.
Strategy. Depending on your habits, there are a lot of options you can use to curb your use of cell phone services. If you talk a lot in the early evening, it might be worth it to pay a little extra for early night and weekend minutes. Skype, Vonage, MagicJack, T-Mobile, and so many others offer phone service that uses your existing Internet broadband connection, saving you minutes when you're at home. Also, you should always ask for discounts. We're talked about employee discounts, but if you are a student, ask if the university that you go to gets a discount. If you are retired, ask if the company you retired from gets one. If you're self-employed, put the account under your business's name. As long as you can prove that you use it for business purposes, you'll be eligible for a business discount.
In case your bill is too high for you to pay if off in one payment, make sure you call customer service and let them know, and ask whether or not you can arrange some type of payment plan. Just like the previous example, your past record will be the deciding factor to determine how flexible they will be. Bottom line is, with a bit of research and if you restrain yourself a bit, your cell phone bill will no longer cause you to get into shock. - 15224
About the Author:
You can find several ways you can keep both your home phone bill and your cell phone bill under control. Learn more about ways to reduce your phone bill by visiting Reduce Phone Bill.
