F...Hidden Costs, Fees and Magic Numbers

[saden1]

It's like everyone is trying to rob you legally and some not so legally. They'll rob you of your left kidneys if they could.

[BDBohnzie]

here, here

damn the man, save the empire

[MTK]

Cell phone companies are horrible with all their hidden fees. A monthly plan that they advertise as $39.99 per month with an added line at $9.99 actually ends up costing about $65 per month once they're done with all the fees and taxes.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Cell phone companies are horrible with all their hidden fees. A monthly plan that they advertise as $39.99 per month with an added line at $9.99 actually ends up costing about $65 per month once they're done with all the fees and taxes.

Ever take a look at a home phone line? My cell isn't that bad with extra fees, but my home phone is horrible.
I happen to be paying my home phone bill right now, here are all the fees / taxes...seriously:
From the basic service:
1- Federal tax
2- state tax
3- city sales tax
4- Municipal franchise fee
5- county tax
6- telecommunications relay service
7- 911 fee implimentation
8- 911 fee maintenance
9- FCC USF charge
From the optional service:
10- Telecommunications relay service (again)
11- federal excise tax
12- state tax (again)
13- city sales tax (again)
14- county tax (again)
15- non published number (totally worth the $2.30 a month)
16- residence line
17- call forward fee
18- interstate subscriber line change
19- call block
20- caller id
21- call waiting
22- call return
Those were actually taken directly off my bill.
So even though I have no long distance on this line, what should cost me $25.18, actually costs me $40.13 a month. Horrible!

[MTK]

Yeah land line service stinks too. I used to not have long distance and they charged me $5 extra for NOT having it. Scumbags.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Yeah land line service stinks too. I used to not have long distance and they charged me $5 extra for NOT having it. Scumbags.

That's amazing! I have considered getting rid of a land line anyway, I have a cell, and I have wireless internet...why have the land line?

[MTK]

I'd love to dump my land line but the wife wants to keep it.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'd love to dump my land line but the wife wants to keep it.

MINE TOO!
What is the reasoning behind your wife wanting to keep it?

[MTK]

Originally Posted by jsarno

MINE TOO!
What is the reasoning behind your wife wanting to keep it?

She hates talking on her cell phone, she says it drops calls too much.

Personally I don't talk enough on the phone to really care and I've never had major issues with dropped calls.

But hey, whatever keeps the little ladies happy, right?! LOL

[gibbsisgod]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

She hates talking on her cell phone, she says it drops calls too much.

Personally I don't talk enough on the phone to really care and I've never had major issues with dropped calls.

But hey, whatever keeps the little ladies happy, right?! LOL

you guys should switch to Cingular, the network with the fewest dropped calls!

[MTK]

Originally Posted by gibbsisgod

you guys should switch to Cingular, the network with the fewest dropped calls!

That's what I have, believe me there are still dropped calls

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

She hates talking on her cell phone, she says it drops calls too much.

Personally I don't talk enough on the phone to really care and I've never had major issues with dropped calls.

But hey, whatever keeps the little ladies happy, right?! LOL

Very true...I forgot she talks with her sister for 3-4 HOURS at a time...that would kill my minutes.


Gibbsisgod, we don't have cingular out here. I have sprint. I never have problems with sprint FYI.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'd love to dump my land line but the wife wants to keep it.

Just do what I did...

I dropped all calling packages including long distance...so it's basically just a local line with a dialtone. When I have to call long distance (which I don't do a lot), just use one of those 10-10-### numbers that was popular a few years ago, they're like $0.20-0.30 to connect and for the first 20 minutes...but they're like 2 cents every minute afterwards. They're pretty cost-efficient if you stay on the line for a while, which usually happens since I call my family so infrequently...gotta catch up.

I have Verizon and with DSL INCLUDED...my phone bills are about $45-50 a month.

I only keep the line because I need it for my Dish Network receiver. I'd go Vonage if I didn't have to keep a land line for my TV.

[gibbsisgod]

I had sprint once. They messed up my bill by almost 200 dollars once. When I called to complain they basically told me that I had to pay the entire amount and then dispute the bill. I didn't have the extra 200 dollars ( which I didn't owe anyway) so I only paid what my bill should have been. They cancelled my service and then tried to charge me the cancelation fee. I will never go back to sprint no matter what.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by gibbsisgod

I had sprint once. They messed up my bill by almost 200 dollars once. When I called to complain they basically told me that I had to pay the entire amount and then dispute the bill. I didn't have the extra 200 dollars ( which I didn't owe anyway) so I only paid what my bill should have been. They cancelled my service and then tried to charge me the cancelation fee. I will never go back to sprint no matter what.

If I had to go through that, I wouldn't either.
I had a horrible experience with Carnival cruise lines, doubled my bill and said it was my fault...took 6 months to fix. Never again with I travel with them. It's all Royal Caribbean for me.