# Are cell companies ripping customers off w/ text msg. charges?



## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Interesting article.

Looks like Congress might be getting involved.


----------



## vankai (Jan 22, 2007)

I do all my _text_ messaging within email......no limits, no charge.


----------



## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

I've got the Simply Everything plan for my Blackberry anyway, so for me it's not an issue, but I can understand why a lot of people are pissed.


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

I've always thought it was a ripoff.

The article's right. A text message can't be more then a couple of bytes of data.

Of course, the amount of data being texted from my daughters phone each month.... :lol:

Mike


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I rarely text, and honestly I'm more often annoyed by the people who do text me. I understand that the young people exist in a constant state of multitasking, where one social engagement is not enough, but if you want to talk to me, call me. If it's not that important, send me an e-mail or wait.


----------



## dhhaines (Nov 18, 2005)

MicroBeta said:


> I've always thought it was a ripoff.
> 
> The article's right. A text message can't be more then a couple of bytes of data.
> 
> ...


 I know what you mean with the daughter texting! When she first was allowed to text she was averaging 300 texts per day! :eek2: Now she "only" averages about 150 per day. :nono2:

The "good" thing is she only uses about 15 minutes of talk time on the plan a month.


----------



## brant (Jul 6, 2008)

I have my bill paid automatically out of checking, and just looked over the past few months recently; alltel was charging me over $300/mo for a package that is supposed to cost less than $100/mo.

I called to talk about it, and they said it was because of text messaging. I had a text package for $5.99/mo that 'mysteriously' disappeared. I didn't get ugly with them, but let them know i had copies of all my statements showing the text plan i had and they better find a good explanation of where it went.

so, all my previous bills have been adjusted and applied as credits, and i won't have a cell phone bill for awhile. 

they tried to cheat me though, and that really pisses me off. this isn't the first time something like that has happened. i want to switch carriers, but what's the point; it seems like you hear these kinds of things about every company.


----------



## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Name one thing about the cell phone carriers that isn't a rip-off.


----------



## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

I never got into the texting thing... when I get one I just call the person instead of replying. 

"it's much faster to just call me ya know"

To the question: I would not call it "ripping us off" as all the costs are known at the time of signing. Being as my wife uses texting (and I have a teenager in the making), I just sign up for an unlimited plan. 

I do not feel that the cost is justified.


----------



## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Name one thing about the cell phone carriers that isn't a rip-off.


:scratchin

I kinda like that free.... errr.... the discounted...... um, the uh bargain.....

D'oh! /slaps forehead/ You win. :lol:


----------



## Fontano (Feb 7, 2008)

While I don't like the higher cost of having a cell phone, I average about a $100 for two phones. And I do agree that the prices of texting are high, it isn't as "clear cut" as that article is trying to paint it.

That article misses one big segment: Infrastructure

You still need the towers.
You still need power to those towers
You still need the man power to maintain the towers
You still need to get the signal from the tower, to the "grid"
You still need support people to solve issues (like when an SMS from one carrier doesn't make it to another carrier)

And yes, the companies are in it to make money. 
So they give you 1000 minutes to talk anytime, so they can justify the higher base rate. But now you never exceed that with weekends/nights free, the things that are now EXPECTED on plans, instead of things that were once optional.

As for TEXTING. I as an adult, probably use texting more often then actual phone calls. Significantly.

It is so much easier to send a quick message:
-) Im hm to my wife, or her to me, to let each other that we made it home on a bad weather night. No real conversation needed, no need to have the phone on my ear for the few minutes, just wanted to send an update.

-) Pkr Tnght 8pm
Poker Tonight 8pm, sent to 20 people in about 1 minute. 
How long would it take you to call everyone, about an hour if you include just a few minutes of HowYa doings.

And so on. 
While I do have my blackberry, that is for more elaborate emailing (while it does do SMS as well), not the same.

Anyone that is sending more then $5 worth of texts a month, should most certainly add it to their plan. I just added one for each of my lines. Costs me $11 extra month, but saves me more then $50 a month, because just the casual texting was costing us about $20-25 per line.

Including text services such as Google Search, that knocks out 411 costs when you are looking for a phone number or an address.

As for CONGRESS getting involved. 
The only things I would like to see Congress get involved with this matter:
-) CAP the amount text messaging (per message) costs increase, after you start a contract.
-) Make sure that every carrier has to offer a bulk text messaging option, to eliminate per message fees.
-) INCOMING texts are at no cost to the receiver. You could really jack up someone's bill really quickly
-) Something be in place like phone number blocking, that you can completely block any form of subscription text services.

So where is the discussion on DATA plans, that are almost manditory now with these advanced phones.


----------



## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I rarely text, and honestly I'm more often annoyed by the people who do text me. I understand that the young people exist in a constant state of multitasking, where one social engagement is not enough, but if you want to talk to me, call me. If it's not that important, send me an e-mail or wait.


You've nailed what seperates a few generations of folks. The old don't want to be so multitask oriented and the youngsters are all over it and prefer it to actually talking and getting together in person.

I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that since humans need face-to-face interactions.


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

I have five phones on my account (wife, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and me). We pay an extra $20/mo for unlimited texting. Most of that is done by the "kids", but my wife and I use it some, too, but even at $0.10 each, we'd never come close to break-even on the unlimited package. But of course "the kids" offset that. The granddaughter once sent/received 13,000 (yes, 13K!) message in one month.

Really, this does not bother me so much as the "Get It Now" crap! $3 ringtone downloads and $5 games and "monthly subscription services" must be a huge profit center. We have $20-$30 of this stuff on our bill! What's even worse is that Verizon has crippled their standard phones (like the RAZR, etc.) to prevent customers from downloading ringtones from their computers! You can only get them from Verizon! I did find one interesting strategy to combat this. Instead of the granddaughter having a regular cell phone, I bought her a PDA. It's a refurb XV6700 I found for under $100. She now has a full keyboard (so she'll stop destroying the RAZR's) and it *doesn't* do Get It Now. Instead, she can put her own MP3' on it for ringtones and get plenty of shareware games and such. I just disabled the web access so she can't run up any bill there.


----------



## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

For subs without a text message plan, Qwest charges 5¢ per message while Verizon and Sprint charge 20¢


----------



## mhayes70 (Mar 21, 2006)

I do some texting and I do think it is a rip of how much they charge. I have the unlimited text package with Verizon mainly because I get a lot of picture jokes from friends.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I wouldn't use text messaging if they paid me, but that's a whole 'nother topic... I want a phone to talk on, not type on 

That being said... I've seen the charges, and I agree they are outrageously profitable for the company based upon the provided service... BUT the prices are up front, so no one can complain about it.

It's like trying to complain the pavement is hard after you hit your head on it.


----------



## vankai (Jan 22, 2007)

smiddy said:


> You've nailed what seperates a few generations of folks. The old don't want to be so multitask oriented and the youngsters are all over it and prefer it to actually talking and getting together in person.
> 
> I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that since humans need face-to-face interactions.


There are many times when face-to-face is needed, as well as a phone call should not always be replaced by text or email.

What I don't understand is what can a text message do that an email can't?

It seems that Texting is a Fancy way of charging you for email, so what am I missing out on?


----------



## txtommy (Dec 30, 2006)

I got tired of receiving and paying for text messages that I did not want. Neither of our teenagers or my wife used it so I called Cingular (now ATT) and canceled the service. Our one son admitted he was annoyed by receiving messages that said 'call me' or 'hi'. If someone wants to get a message to any of us they need to call or email. For less than what text messages were costing we now have more voice minutes than any of us can use. Our plan worked out to 6 cents per minute for voice and 20 cents per text. I can say a lot more for 6 cents than someone can text for 20 cents.

Of course, I'm all in favor of those who are willing to pay high costs for text since that helps keep the cost of voice calls down. If they lower one cost they'll just raise something else to compensate.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

I only text to my wife. We text a few times per day since it's easier when she's at work.

I think I pay about $5 for a couple hundred texts that I've never gone over.



smiddy said:


> I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that since humans need face-to-face interactions.


Says the guy with 8000 posts in 2 years on an internet forum.


----------



## xIsamuTM (Jul 8, 2008)

if i have something important to say i'll call and have someone meet me somwhere (usually peaberry's) and chat. some things just don't have the same inflection over the phone or in txt.


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> smiddy said:
> 
> 
> > I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that since humans need face-to-face interactions.
> ...


Priceless! :lol:


----------



## mikeny (Aug 21, 2006)

rudeney said:


> I have five phones on my account (wife, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and me). We pay an extra $20/mo for unlimited texting. Most of that is done by the "kids", but my wife and I use it some, too, but even at $0.10 each, we'd never come close to break-even on the unlimited package. But of course "the kids" offset that. The granddaughter once sent/received 13,000 (yes, 13K!) message in one month.
> 
> Really, this does not bother me so much as the "Get It Now" crap! $3 ringtone downloads and $5 games and "monthly subscription services" must be a huge profit center. We have $20-$30 of this stuff on our bill! What's even worse is that Verizon has crippled their standard phones (like the RAZR, etc.) to prevent customers from downloading ringtones from their computers! You can only get them from Verizon! I did find one interesting strategy to combat this. Instead of the granddaughter having a regular cell phone, I bought her a PDA. It's a refurb XV6700 I found for under $100. She now has a full keyboard (so she'll stop destroying the RAZR's) and it *doesn't* do Get It Now. Instead, she can put her own MP3' on it for ringtones and get plenty of shareware games and such. I just disabled the web access so she can't run up any bill there.


Google bitpim. You don't have to pay verizon to customize ringtones.

As for the text discussion, there are times when it's practical to send a silent message (text) that a person can be readily access in lieu of disturbing them and/or the people they work with. As for the comparison with email, not everyone is around their email 24/7 as they have their phone with them. Texting can be also good in scenarios where you don't have ideal cell service. For example, I work on a floor of building that really doesn't get good enough service to carry on a conversation but I can get and receive texts fine.


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I've always thought the text message charges was the coupe of the century -- maybe the greatest of all technology! When a text message of a few bytes with no priority or guarantee that it gets there costs $.05 each!

They can be inserted between the 'uhs' of any phone conversation - typically unlimited if you're on the same carrier! What a revenue stream!


----------



## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

dennisj00 said:


> I've always thought the text message charges was the coupe of the century -- maybe the greatest of all technology! When a text message of a few bytes with no priority or guarantee that it gets there costs $.05 each!
> 
> They can be inserted between the 'uhs' of any phone conversation - typically unlimited if you're on the same carrier! What a revenue stream!


That is right up there with the "handset recovery charge" that you incur when you get a "free" phone.


----------



## roadrunner1782 (Sep 28, 2008)

I think what was a big rip off was my former cell carrier would charge for a text sent to you if you didn't have a text message package on your phone!!!:eek2: Like you control what other people do, and why should you have to call everyone and tell them don't send me a text it's costing me money!!!


----------



## vankai (Jan 22, 2007)

mikeny said:


> Google bitpim. You don't have to pay verizon to customize ringtones.
> 
> As for the text discussion, there are times when it's practical to send a silent message (text) that a person can be readily access in lieu of disturbing them and/or the people they work with. As for the comparison with email, not everyone is around their email 24/7 as they have their phone with them. Texting can be also good in scenarios where you don't have ideal cell service. For example, I work on a floor of building that really doesn't get good enough service to carry on a conversation but I can get and receive texts fine.


So instead of comparing texting to email, it would equate more to Instant Messaging that we have pc to pc.

So in essence, Text Messaging is a way to charge you for Instant Messaging phone to phone? Is there a difference between these two?

Thank God they don't charge you a penny for Text Posting here.


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Name one thing about the cell phone carriers that isn't a rip-off.


Umm...I got nothin'. :grin:


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

mikeny said:


> Google bottom. You don't have to pay verizon to customize ringtones.


Oh, I used to do this, but a year ago, Verizon sent new software down that disabled it. You can download the ringtones all you want via BitPim or anything else. You can see them via the phone's media player program, but you can't use them as ringtones. I did find a "hack" to undo Verizon's lock, but it's fairly complicated and dangerous as it reflashes the phone's ROM.


----------



## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> I only text to my wife. We text a few times per day since it's easier when she's at work.
> 
> I think I pay about $5 for a couple hundred texts that I've never gone over.
> 
> Says the guy with 8000 posts in 2 years on an internet forum.


That's one of the funniest things I've read in awhile. +1 to you.


----------



## AlbertZeroK (Jan 28, 2006)

Text Messaging Charges are called "Mailbox Money" and me and my boss both like "Mailbox Money"! It's part of a good buisness strategy.

I do agree that cell phone cost is too high, but what can you do? If you want something, you must be willing to pay for it.


----------



## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

Lord Vader said:


> *Are cell companies ripping customers off w/ text msg. charges?*


Yes, and I didn't need the article to tell me something I already knew.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I rarely text, and honestly I'm more often annoyed by the people who do text me. I understand that the young people exist in a constant state of multitasking, where one social engagement is not enough, but if you want to talk to me, call me. If it's not that important, send me an e-mail or wait.


So you participate in e-mail? What is texting but e-mail to thine phone?  


Fontano said:


> ...As for TEXTING. I as an adult, probably use texting more often then actual phone calls. Significantly.
> 
> It is so much easier to send a quick message:
> -) Im hm to my wife, or her to me, to let each other that we made it home on a bad weather night. No real conversation needed, no need to have the phone on my ear for the few minutes, just wanted to send an update.
> ...


I'm a middle ground text user, I call more often, but text fairly often too. And receive lots of alerts via SMS as that is more reliable than email updates whilst on the road. (And generally more instantaneous.) And yes, the 3 other lines on my account text at a rate of 50 to 1 of mine (each.) 


> As for CONGRESS getting involved.
> The only things I would like to see Congress get involved with this matter:
> -) CAP the amount text messaging (per message) costs increase, after you start a contract.
> -) Make sure that every carrier has to offer a bulk text messaging option, to eliminate per message fees.
> ...


The last two points are very important. If I didn't have all you can eat plan, they spam would add up very quickly. And crank lonely texters can send a bunch very quickly. Can't block them, a major failing of the system.

All that said, at 3 cents per, I thought the carriers were over charging for basically 3-7 packets of info. (Some of which likely can be piggy backed on the normal "I'm here" packets.) If they can get rate plans at 10 cents per minute, each minute being hundreds of packets...

When they went to 5 cents, then 10 cents, now often 20 cents! I agree, something needs to be done. But government involvement? Ouch.

Then again... these are restricted airwaves, so competition is limited. Some regulatory involvement might be required.

Happy New Year!
Tom


----------



## ampman337 (Aug 24, 2007)

The biggest rip-off is being charged for receiving a text! Especially when its SPAM!!!!!
(Sorry if someone already said that, I just wanted to vent.)


----------



## mikeny (Aug 21, 2006)

rudeney said:


> Oh, I used to do this, but a year ago, Verizon sent new software down that disabled it. You can download the ringtones all you want via BitPim or anything else. You can see them via the phone's media player program, but you can't use them as ringtones. I did find a "hack" to undo Verizon's lock, but it's fairly complicated and dangerous as it reflashes the phone's ROM.


I don't know what phone you have but I used it a couple weeks ago, converting a .mp3 and editing it to the segment/length I wanted all within BitPim. I sent it to the phone and it worked. It's true that not every phone is supported.


----------

