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 the major culprit. If you get your bill and it's uncharacteristically high, most of the time it's because you went over your limit whether in minutes, text messages, or Internet use or a combination of those. The problem with going over your limit is that the charges are ridiculously high compared to what your rate is for the services within your limit. Fortunately, you bill will not bundle everything together: you will get the detail what you went over on and you will be able to see exactly what your overage charges are.
How to keep this under control: move up to a more generous plan in terms of minutes, text, or Internet usage. The initial reaction to this is usually "But I'm trying to SAVE money". To this I reply that consistently going over is certainly more costly than moving to a plan allows for more of your most used services. If this is not a possibility, either because you don't want to or can't afford it, your last resort will be to just keep a close eye on your usage and stop using the phone when said usage is getting too high. Not easy, but doable (and certainly economical).
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. The final cause for a higher than usual bill is those fees that typically are a one-time affair. such as activation (or re-activation) fees, upgrade fees, or non-payment fees. Cell phone companies (and utilities companies for that matter) do not miss the opportunity to charge a hefty re-activation fee in order to get service turned back on after the account has been suspended because of a past due bill that the customer failed to pay for. Those fees will rarely ever get waived or credited back to your account, but you can ask for discounts. Ask about discounts or waived fees for employees of the company you work for. You can also wing it and try and ask nicely to have the fee waived/credited back. This will be a lot easier if you've been a customer for a few years and have a good record of paying your bill on time.
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 the bill is really high or you're really in a bind, there's always the option of calling customer service and making payment arrangements with the company. Just like I mentioned earlier, if you're a good customer, they will try and work out something with you. As you can see, with a little research, and with some discipline thrown in for good measure, you can definitely find more than one way to lower your phone bill.
1. Going over your allotted quota. This is the major culprit. If you get your bill and it's uncharacteristically high, most of the time it's because you went over your limit whether in minutes, text messages, or Internet use or a combination of those. The problem with going over your limit is that the charges are ridiculously high compared to what your rate is for the services within your limit. Fortunately, you bill will not bundle everything together: you will get the detail what you went over on and you will be able to see exactly what your overage charges are.
How to keep this under control: move up to a more generous plan in terms of minutes, text, or Internet usage. The initial reaction to this is usually "But I'm trying to SAVE money". To this I reply that consistently going over is certainly more costly than moving to a plan allows for more of your most used services. If this is not a possibility, either because you don't want to or can't afford it, your last resort will be to just keep a close eye on your usage and stop using the phone when said usage is getting too high. Not easy, but doable (and certainly economical).
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. The final cause for a higher than usual bill is those fees that typically are a one-time affair. such as activation (or re-activation) fees, upgrade fees, or non-payment fees. Cell phone companies (and utilities companies for that matter) do not miss the opportunity to charge a hefty re-activation fee in order to get service turned back on after the account has been suspended because of a past due bill that the customer failed to pay for. Those fees will rarely ever get waived or credited back to your account, but you can ask for discounts. Ask about discounts or waived fees for employees of the company you work for. You can also wing it and try and ask nicely to have the fee waived/credited back. This will be a lot easier if you've been a customer for a few years and have a good record of paying your bill on time.
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 the bill is really high or you're really in a bind, there's always the option of calling customer service and making payment arrangements with the company. Just like I mentioned earlier, if you're a good customer, they will try and work out something with you. As you can see, with a little research, and with some discipline thrown in for good measure, you can definitely find more than one way to lower your phone bill.
About the Author:
You can find plenty of ways you can keep both your residentialphone bill and your mobile phone bill in check. Learn more about how to reduce your phone bill by dropping by Reduce Phone Bill.
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