Ever experienced bill shock?
Cell phone service providers charge some hefty prices when you exceed your cell phone minutes. Most companies charge up to $.45 per minute in overage charges, which quickly add up. What’s worse, you might not even be aware that you’ve exceeded your limit, especially if more than one person is on your plan.
So why is it that a carrier can’t send a simple text message to warn you that you are dangerously close to a sky-high cell phone bill? It seems there isn’t a good reason why they can’t. In fact, European providers are already doing it. In a public notice posted in May, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calls attention to Europe’s regulation that requires cell phone service providers to notify customers with a text message warning them that they are close to using more minutes than their plan provides:
Certain of these provisions, commonly referred to as the “bill shock” provisions, are designed to ensure that a consumer is fully aware of the roaming charges he or she is incurring so that the consumer does not receive a higher than expected bill for these services.
The new EU regulations, require providers to do the following:
- Notify the customer with a free text message when roaming charges may apply, including prices for sending and receiving calls and text messages.
- Notify a customer using a data roaming service when he or she has reached 80 percent of the data limit in the plan.
- Notify the customer when he or she exceeds the established monetary or volume roaming limit of applicable costs and procedures if the customer wants to continue to use the roaming data service.
The FCC’s public notice asked for input from both consumers and providers about whether U.S. carriers could provide similar warnings. But obviously they can because one provider is already doing it.
Free alerts already an option with U.S. Cellular, apps
In the U.S., only U.S. Cellular provides free alerts to consumers, sending text messages as they near their limit, and allowing them to temporarily switch to a plan with more minutes, with no penalties for switching back to a cheaper plan the next month.
While it’s true that customers of any of the big providers can view their usage on their phones or on the provider’s website, many times people don’t realize that they are nearing their max, or that someone else has been using the family plan more heavily than usual. The text message alerts, on the other hand, provide instant notice.
If you’re not sold on switching your cell phone provider, you can still avoid bill shock with an app like AT&T’s myWireless Mobile or the Pageonce Mobile Minute Tracker, described by Consumer Reports as follows:
The [Pageonce] app, which has been available since 2008, alerts you when you’re within 20 and 5 percent of your voice minute, text message, and data limits, and when you go over. To download it, use your smart phone to search for Pageonce, then launch the app from your handset.
Until the other providers follow U.S. Cellular’s (and Europe’s) lead, it’s up to the consumer to keep tabs on cell phone usage to prevent a shocking cell phone bill. Find how your service provider makes your current usage available and what it charges for exceeding plan limits, or use a minute-tracking app for peace of mind.
