

Is Verizon Wireless Making It Harder to Avoid Charges? - inmygarage
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/technology/personaltech/17pogue-email.html?pagewanted=all

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ajg1977
"First, she flatly denied a customer service rep can be fired for suggesting a
data block. "If a customer calls and indicates to a representative that a data
block would solve his or her problem, the representatives can and should
suggest a data block"

That's some really careful wording.

If you call and say you want data blocked they will do that, albeit after
suggesting up-selling alternatives. But if you call and say "how can I stop
getting these charges", then as the rep said you won't hear about the option
to block data.

It's a shame Pogue didn't do a better followup on this part.

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pmcginn
The truth is that this practice of "don't offer, but do if asked" is the basic
operating method of most large companies. As a customer you have to learn to
be equally careful in wording your requests. If someone calls in wanting a
credit but doesn't say those words, there are many examples where you're not
allowed to offer the credit. But if they're smart enough to ask for a credit,
and they've never had one before for that specific issue, then generally you
can provide it. This goes for banks, telcos, utilities, whatever.

The next time you're on the phone, if you get a response that sounds like the
CSR has had to say it a thousand times, the truth is you're probably just not
asking the right question.

Case in point: at two companies I've worked for, we've had a military
discount. But, we weren't able to offer it, even if it came up in
conversation. If someone told me "I'm being deployed so I need to make sure my
wife can pay my bill while I'm gone," I would have been required to walk him
through adding her as an authorized user on the account.

On the other hand, if he said the exact same thing and finished with "oh, by
the way, do you have a military discount," then all of a sudden his monthly
bill is going to get lower (lowered by a lot in one case.)

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dieterrams
"As longtime readers know, I think the cellphone industry is one step away
from a big-city mugger."

I think they're worse. You at least know what you're getting into with a
mugger. The carriers, however, are all about hiding information, causing
unintended charges and profiting off their customers' lack of 24/7 vigilance,
and manipulating you with crazy pricing plans. It astonishes me that this
industry isn't better regulated (in the US), or given effective incentives to
behave like good citizens.

It's a real shame that with companies like these, the engineers who actually
do the work of adding value are not the ones driving these companies. Instead,
it's some jerk in a suit whose job is to figure out how to use their leverage
to wring more money out of people.

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rbritton
Verizon now forces you to subscribe to a data plan (at varying prices) on the
majority of their phones. They only have a handful that do not require one.

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pyre
I was under the impression that ETF had to be pro-rated now, but the
information in the article seems to indicate that they are still flat fees are
Verizon... is this true?

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bbatsell
It's still prorated ($10 off per month), but the starting fee was doubled.

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grandalf
Mobile pricing was coming down, etc. until the Sprint/Nextel merger. After
that rates went up, plans got stingier, etc.

I don't understand why anyone would sign up for a 450 minute plan. Wouldn't
every minute of phone usage be stress-inducing since the next minute might be
billed at $0.45 ?

I also don't know why mobile companies don't automatically switch customers to
the plan that would have been cheapest in a given month before sending the
bill.

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cdr
My two college-age siblings plus both parents are all on a Verizon "family"
plan with something like 1000 minutes. It's absurdly stress-inducing, with
fights and fingers pointed etc if the minutes start to run out.

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gte910h
It sounds like you have nothing like enough minutes

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killoman
What is the best GSM network in the USA to sign up for using an unlocked Nexus
One? T-mobile has lower rates if you DON'T get a contract, but perhaps
somebody knows of a provider with even more attractive rates?

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barake
If you are wanting a single person plan Simple Mobile is a MVNO using
T-Mobile's network. Unlimited texts/minutes/data for $60. I think prepaid
cards are available via eBay that makes it even cheaper.

