Thing One had her cell stolen while she was away in Kingston for the summer. Idiot that stole it ran the usage up to 172 pages before I could get it canceled. The unlimited package really paid for itself! DJW I both sympathize and cheer for a Wyoming Dad who took a hammer to his 13 year old daughter's cell phone after she rang up a nearly $5000.00 bill, mostly by text messaging.
Many parents have given their teens cellphones. Thing One and Thing Two, our teenage daughters have had them for quite a few years. Initially paid for by Mommy and Daddy.
Other parents call parents like us crazy, but try to follow us around for a few weeks and you'll know why our kids have these units.
A number of years ago, Thing One made some transgression that suspended her internet privileges for a time. She discovered that she could access the internet from her cell, not knowing that it was $50 a megabyte and not knowing that Daddy would flip. Subsequently, she lost her cell until she paid the bill off.
Late last year, Thing Two got a new boyfriend, and discovered texting. She didn't have a text plan. The ensuing 44 page invoice caused yet another blood pressure record, and suspension of privileges until payment.
Earlier this year, we renewed our contract, we all got shiny new phones with cameras, and most of us got QWERTY keypads. This time though, Mommy and Daddy would pay for the basic service, and the Sisters Thing would have to pay the extra for the enhanced, unlimited plans, which ring up at about $20 per month each. As they both have part time jobs, this was no problem for them.
We got our new units just before Thing One embarked on a nearly 2 week journey to Halifax, including 30 hours on a train each way. It was great to get updates on her progress, and pic's from crossings at places like Miramachi and Sackville. We kept in touch with her and she with all by text and picture from across the country, a marvel of modern communication.
Long ago we switched to electronic billing.
Our Letter Carrier should thank us, because the invoice for the first month of unlimited usage was 144 pdf pages, with Thing One setting the new household record of 88 pages on her own.
I am thankful for unlimited usage packages, and my cell carrier is shaking its head.
I'm betting Wyoming Dad wishes he had gotten an unlimited deal.
DJW
DJ has two daughters with very strong thumbs.
1 comment:
DJ, I can't begin to imagine what it was like for the parents to get a $5K phone bill, especially if they thought that they had a texting plan that, while not unlimited, was at least comprehensive. Talk about shock! Without debating the appropriateness of the volume of the rampant texting, I get particularly riled when parents are stuck with huge bills; I hear about this all the time because I work for the consumer advocacy website http://www.fixmycellbill.com, powered by a company called Validas, where we slash the average cell bill by 22 percent. People like the Christoffersons may not have been actively misled by their providers, but they were clearly unaware of the vulnerability of their cell plans to their kids’ texting habits. I could go on and on about how shifty these cell companies can be in their attempts to make you overpay. I'll mention that at Validas, we stop them and have currently put over $5,000,000 back in the pockets of consumers. You can check out Validas’s fixmycellbill.com in the national news media, most recently on Good Morning America at http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6887412&page=1.
Good luck to everyone trying to cut your wireless expenses in this rough economy.
Dylan
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