$400 in text messages!!

[Mommy2TheGirls]

For their birthday's about 2 years ago my husband and I bought Abby and Autumn cell phones for their birthday. They had text unlimited text messaging on their phones. But about 3 weeks ago since their contracts were up they decided that they wanted new phones. So we went out and let them pick out the phones that they wanted we gave them unlimited talk but I forgot to put on unlimited text. So I told both of them not to send very many text messages since they werent unlimited and that I would just change it when I got a chance. So yesterday I got their cell phone bills. It turns out that they sent more than a few text messages. Between the two of them they racked up $400 in text messages!!! :eek: I dont know if I should scream or cry. Im taking their phones away for 2 weeks and then they are going to have to wait another 2 weeks before I even think about putting unlimited text back on their phones. I cant belive they did that!!!

[Nancy in VA]

Sounds like they need some "pay as you go" plan and pay for it themselves for a while.

I have a friend that said before she would get a cell phone with unlimited text, that her son had to "pre pay" for the year's worth of service for unlimited text (what is that, about $120 a year) before she would get it.

[Illinifan]

Most everyone I know with kids who have cell phones has gotten burned this way (us too although our total wasn't quite $100.). The worst case was one family we know that allowed themselves to get burnt this way two months in a row (>$700 total) !

In our house, text messaging has become an integral part of life. It is indespensible for getting information to and from the boys during the school day. It's worth every penny for the Family Plan we have with AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular).

You can text message in situations that you can't make a phone call. Like everything else, the parents have to set the ground rules, but it is far easy to embrace the technology instead of fight it.

[MamaC]

You can try to talk to the provider to see if they can give you a break (are you with the original provider?).

Or you can always say it was supposed to be on your plan and what the heck happened?

~~Becky~~

[caspi]

You can try to talk to the provider to see if they can give you a break (are you with the original provider?).

Or you can always say it was supposed to be on your plan and what the heck happened?

~~Becky~~

I was thinking the same thing! :D

[frizzyrazzy]

I took texting off my daughter's phone. It was getting too much AND I found that the friends were not being nice with the texting...some kids were texting things they'd never say in public. So off the whole text went.

I on the other hand text all the time LOL. but I have unlimited on mine and dh's.

[Treysmom]

So sorry !! I would call the provider and see if they could work with you. My niece ran up a $700.00 phone bill going over the texting limit. VERY SCAREY....We have Att w/ unlimited text I think its $19.99 a month extra. BUT worth it with 2 texting girls. We can still add Trey to ours when we are ready for 4.99 a month.

[saxmaniac]

Cost of texting is insane - they charge many times more for voice minutes than text, and it's about a billion times easier to carry text. So, the profit they make off text is utterly ridiculous. It's like paying $400/gallon for gasoline.

[OSUMom]

Talk to the company. We only pay $5 per person for unlimited text messaging within our family cell phone plan. They're making way too much money on you. I'm so sorry- what a shock. Texting is like breathing nowadays for teenagers and young adults, but it is a privilege not a given.

[MReinhardt]

Call you cell phone company right away, there is away that can help you. Not just make payments, but when chell did this, they credited my account, then them made sure that I had the unlimted texting.

It cant hurt to call the company.

[Shannon's Mom]

Had something very similar happen. I called the company and told them the unlimited should have been carried over to the new contract. They credited the amount that had been charged for the text messages and charged the monthly unlimited amount.

[Flutterby]

you know, this is probably really rotten, but I'd call the phone company and tell them you requested unlimited text messaging and its not on there.. they can see that you've had it all along, they may just give you a refund on those text! I have been having a problem with my phone, and its only mine.. they are charging me roaming AND long distance on every call.. both months I've called and they've refunded me the $300.. Its worth a shot.. most companies are good like that:)

[blessed]

We got our cell bill today as well, and get this! My 14 year old SON did almost 18000 texts in ONE month. How rediculous is that! Here I am posting it online so that all of you can laugh at me I guess. Lucky for HIM, we do have unlimited texting. Crazy Crazy Crazy. I think we are going to need to have some rules around here for the summer, well maybe just during the school year. You would think he was a girl though! He did break up with his gfriend today though so maybe he will slow the texting down this month!

[Nancy in VA]

We got our cell bill today as well, and get this! My 14 year old SON did almost 18000 texts in ONE month. How rediculous is that! Here I am posting it online so that all of you can laugh at me I guess. Lucky for HIM, we do have unlimited texting. Crazy Crazy Crazy. I think we are going to need to have some rules around here for the summer, well maybe just during the school year. You would think he was a girl though! He did break up with his gfriend today though so maybe he will slow the texting down this month!

And this is why I wouldn't recommend getting unlimited text. Yes, its financially smarter but personally I think the kids aren't learning a couple of lessons- to ration their money and to ration their time.

Do you realize that that is actually an average of one text EVERY 2.24 MINUTES, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. If you take out 6 hours a day for sleeping, its one text every 1.68 minute the entire month.

[OSUMom]

I just had a crazy thought. What if we were charged every time we checked the childrenwithdiabetes threads. :D

Back to the topic. Let us know if you called the company and if they worked with you any on the charges. I'm curious. I hope so!

[karpoozi123]

We got our cell bill today as well, and get this! My 14 year old SON did almost 18000 texts in ONE month. How rediculous is that!
:eek:I thought I was bad that I use about 6 1/2 thousand. OMG. 18,000 is a LOT.

By the way, phone companies are very negotiable. I scrutinize my bill every month and have them remove charges that I don't feel belong. I am basically able to get something off every month. :D

They don't want to loose you as a customer, so tell them you'll cancel otherwise and they will gladly give in.

[karpoozi123]

Do you realize that that is actually an average of one text EVERY 2.24 MINUTES, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. If you take out 6 hours a day for sleeping, its one text every 1.68 minute the entire month.

Or more like 10 in a minute if you are having a conversation with 5 different people at once. It doesn't mean you never break from it. Trust me. I am a horribly addicted texter. :rolleyes:

[Brensdad]

Emmasmom and I starting dating in high school, and I went off to college (about 350 miles away). And this was back in the day before email, text messaging, cell phones etc. Well my dad let me charge long distance calls to his business phone account, and Emmasmom and I talked....a lot....by phone. He came for Christmas to see me one year and told me our long-distance bill that month was $500! He had planned to give me a big new TV for my dorm room, but he gave it to my brother instead! We laugh about it now, but he didn't think it was so funny then. Funny how grandchildren help soothe some of those old memories!

[MamaC]

Kim - I'd almost swear you have Sprint. I feel like I am calling them every month over one thing or another. They always comply, after I sit on hold for 30 minutes...I think that's the key - they help you if you sit through the holdathon.

Dayna - I am amazed. Guess I won't ping Jenn too much for her 5000 - a new monthly high.

~~Becky~~

[caspi]

And this is why I wouldn't recommend getting unlimited text. Yes, its financially smarter but personally I think the kids aren't learning a couple of lessons- to ration their money and to ration their time.

Do you realize that that is actually an average of one text EVERY 2.24 MINUTES, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. If you take out 6 hours a day for sleeping, its one text every 1.68 minute the entire month.

Nancy, I agree with you. What is wrong with good old fashioned TALKING to one another?! I guess I'm just old school! ;)

[karpoozi123]

Kim - I'd almost swear you have Sprint. I feel like I am calling them every month over one thing or another.

I had this on verizon too. I was over billed every month and spent hours and hours on the phone with customer service "retrieving" my money. Once they put me through such a hassle that I demanded an additional credit...another time I insisted on a new phone even though I was not due for an upgrade for a year. It worked though. Got my new phone! :p

[momofsingingdiabetic]

Our unlimited text is built into our Verizon plan. However, it's not my kids who text all the time, it's my DH. He's a restaurant manager and they are forever texting him about something.

My teen is not normal. She very seldom talks on her phone or texts. Half the time I have to remind her to take it with her and ask her if it's charged.

[Brensdad]

I personally blame Myspace, text messaging, and instant messaging (with a smattering of blame toward video games) for childrens' and teens' lack of basic grammar, spelling, and communication skills. In addition to my full time job, I also teach college courses in business, and the lack of writing skills is truly appalling!

People make fun of my texting because my texts are spelled correctly, punctuated, and grammatically sound. I'm the Marsha of grammar!

[MamaC]

Nancy, I agree with you. What is wrong with good old fashioned TALKING to one another?! I guess I'm just old school! ;)

Once I was talking to the dean of students at Jenn's college. I was bemoaning the fact that kids today don't know how to TALK to each other...instant gratification through IMs, texts, email, etc.

She told me they get a few cases every week where roommates are fighting via text and/or IM...sitting 10 feet from each other and communicating only electronically.

Ay yi yi.

~~Becky~~

[karpoozi123]

Brensdad-my text are also always spelled correctly, and I am made fun of it too. Texting has taught me spelling, because T9 won't recognize the word if it is spelled wrong. ;) I FINALLY learned how to spell their. :rolleyes:

I think the thing we have to blame texting for is lack of communication skills. People don't know how to talk to each other anymore. I feel closer to my IM and text friends than to my old friends from school who I only speak to. It's pretty pathetic. :o

[saxmaniac]

What is wrong with good old fashioned TALKING to one another?! I guess I'm just old school! ;)

I don't really text, but I do use IM a bit.

Talking voice is totally "synchronous" in that you both have to talk at the exact same time. When you talk to someone, it blocks out everything.

Texting is more asynchronous like email, and so you can ignore a message for a minute or two or longer. It's pretty efficient.

These days I use IM (which is roughly the same) mostly in place of the phone calls for personal use. It's just easier for Beth to IM me a "please pick up milk" than to call, hope I'm there, leave a message when I'm not, and play phone tag to say I heard her. Ugh.

IMs/text have the neat ability to turn into a full synchronous conversation as needed. Email isn't so good for that. You can't have a comfortable informal conversation over email.

I guess you really have to try it, to see how it's useful.

That said, people can be really rude. My sister was visiting us from out of town, and we were having dinner together. She pulled out her phone and started to disappear into it, instead of talking to us. Beth threatened to flush it down the toilet. Remember when you text, you are withdrawing from the people around you.

I also remember going to a bar with friends, and the table next to us? A bunch of folks in their 20s, sitting at the same table... starting at their cell phones bip-bip-bipping. Totally ignoring each other. Sad. You know, when you go out with friends physically, they deserve your attention too.

[momofsingingdiabetic]

Our unlimited text is built into our Verizon plan. However, it's not my kids who text all the time, it's my DH. He's a restaurant manager and they are forever texting him about something.

My teen is not normal. She very seldom talks on her phone or texts. Half the time I have to remind her to take it with her and ask her if it's charged.

As a note to this, she dropped her phone in first period today and didn't have a clue it was missing until she got home from school. I called it and luckily her teacher was walking by the office and answered it, so at least we know where it is. I told you, my teen is not normal.

People make fun of my texting because my texts are spelled correctly, punctuated, and grammatically sound. I'm the Marsha of grammar!

Same here. Takes me forever to type a message because of it too.

[Flutterby]

Kim - I'd almost swear you have Sprint. I feel like I am calling them every month over one thing or another. They always comply, after I sit on hold for 30 minutes...I think that's the key - they help you if you sit through the holdathon.

Dayna - I am amazed. Guess I won't ping Jenn too much for her 5000 - a new monthly high.

~~Becky~~

LOL.. you've got that right, I do have sprint.. they promise I won't have a problem next month.. they said that last month too!:rolleyes:

[Flutterby]

I had this on verizon too. I was over billed every month and spent hours and hours on the phone with customer service "retrieving" my money. Once they put me through such a hassle that I demanded an additional credit...another time I insisted on a new phone even though I was not due for an upgrade for a year. It worked though. Got my new phone! :p

I despise verizon so much.. they gave us such a hard time.. we tried to get a new phone through them.. took 6 months, they took our CC number 5 times.. never did get that stupid phone, then we canceled our phones because they pissed me off.. I had to pay a 200 termination fee, I told them I wasn't paying it because my service sucked.. they tried to tell me that the service was fine.. Yeah, the PHONE service was, the customer service on the other had blew!

[caspi]

I personally blame Myspace, text messaging, and instant messaging (with a smattering of blame toward video games) for childrens' and teens' lack of basic grammar, spelling, and communication skills. In addition to my full time job, I also teach college courses in business, and the lack of writing skills is truly appalling!

People make fun of my texting because my texts are spelled correctly, punctuated, and grammatically sound. I'm the Marsha of grammar!

Spelling is a big one for me! Not that I never misspell, but the biggest pet peeve for me is the misspelling on a business sign or in an advertisement. That usually means that a number of people have looked at it before it was printed and approved it! I think that text messaging, IM and the like have really added to this. And it's a shame......... :(

[blessed]

I think that perhaps some of you might think that I was happy or ok with my son's rediculous amount of texts. SOOOO not a cool thing. That was his first full month of having texting. We are definiely going to be reevaluating his privilages, because in our home it is a PRIVILIAGE not a right to have a phone @ texting ablilities.

Yes, I was imbarassed, but knew I was in the midst of friends and could share.

[usbornetheresa]

We had a bill like that, I called and they retroacted the unlimited texting and took away the extra fees. I wouldn't hurt to ask.

[karpoozi123]

I despise verizon so much.. they gave us such a hard time.. we tried to get a new phone through them.. took 6 months, they took our CC number 5 times.. never did get that stupid phone, then we canceled our phones because they pissed me off.. I had to pay a 200 termination fee, I told them I wasn't paying it because my service sucked.. they tried to tell me that the service was fine.. Yeah, the PHONE service was, the customer service on the other had blew!

Here is one of my verizon customer service stories: I saw in the middle of the month that I was going over my texts, so I called up and asked them to change my plan from the $15 dollar plan (1500 messages) to the $20 plan (5000 messages). The rep said no problem it's all taken care of, and I merrily texted as if I had 5000 messages. When I got my bill I saw that the rep took off the $15 plan, but neglected to add the $20 plan, thus I was charged 15 cents for every text message and 25 cents for every pix message, a total of about 3-4 hundred dollars. :eek: Needless to say I didn't pay for it. I didn't even pay the $20 for the plan :p I said it was compensation for what they put me through. LOL
I am now on sprint, which I detest also, but I got a really cheap plan on it and I am saving lots of money.

I think that perhaps some of you might think that I was happy or ok with my son's ridiculous amount of texts. SOOOO not a cool thing. That was his first full month of having texting. We are definitely going to be reevaluating his privileges, because in our home it is a PRIVILIAGE not a right to have a phone @ texting abilities.

Yes, I was embarrassed, but knew I was in the midst of friends and could share.

If it was his first month with texting that explains it. It is still a novelty, it'll wear out and he'll text less. Don't be embarrassed. Be proud that your son is so popular! :D

Is this the son with diabetes? Does he have a diabetes buddy that he can text his diabetes related things to? I have one and it makes such an unbelievable difference. It really motivates the two of us to have much better control. We have both lowered our a1cs dramatically since we started. Maybe that can be a way for him to "earn" his texting privileges? Just a thought.....

[MamaC]

Dayna,

I didn't think you were proud of it! I cringed for you!

I think Jenn's numbers have gone up because she gort a new phone with a full keyboard.

~~Becky~~