Am I being unreasonable? Re: My overage phone bill.
Let me start off by saying I pay my bill in full on time every month. I never call and complain. I have the 900 minute plan and I use less than 300 minutes a month every month.
I received a bill yesterday for twice my normal bill with nearly 200 minutes in overages. I noticed a couple of extremely lengthy calls (over hour long each) that I do not remember being as lengthy as is stated on my bill. I called to ask them to credit the account (possibly the phone didn't disconnect when I wanted it to, call was lost and not actually lost? I have no idea.)
Anyway, the customer service rep told me she couldn't credit my account because I had no proof. Anyone have any advice on how this issue should be handled? I do not think I have been...
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I received a bill yesterday for twice my normal bill with nearly 200 minutes in overages. I noticed a couple of extremely lengthy calls (over hour long each) that I do not remember being as lengthy as is stated on my bill. I called to ask them to credit the account (possibly the phone didn't disconnect when I wanted it to, call was lost and not actually lost? I have no idea.)
Anyway, the customer service rep told me she couldn't credit my account because I had no proof. Anyone have any advice on how this issue should be handled? I do not think I have been...
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I think you are being unreasonable. It sucks to go over your minutes and receive a high bill, but it's your fault and you should accept it. Did you check #MIN throughout the month?? probably not. Do you recognize the phone numbers called? probably so.
If you don't recognize the numbers, then call and complain - otherwise, you are being unreasonable.
If you don't recognize the numbers, then call and complain - otherwise, you are being unreasonable.
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Thanks Chaos for your honesty. Yes, I recognize the numbers and no i didn't check my number of minutes throughout the month. Why would I, i usually have a 600 minute bit of padding.
I guess I could be wrong, I just don't remember making those extremely lengthy phone calls, which would account for the overage. Is there any way to check on the specifically lengthy phone calls or am I to just trust them?
I guess I could be wrong, I just don't remember making those extremely lengthy phone calls, which would account for the overage. Is there any way to check on the specifically lengthy phone calls or am I to just trust them?
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Yeah, were you talking to them on their cell phone as well. If so they should show the same lengthy phone conversation on their bill. If it is the same then you don't have much else you can do. If it shows something different, well then you have your "proof".
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If you can't remember for sure then I think you are being unreasonable. That's just my opinion.
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spartanthug said:
Anyone have any advice on how this issue should be handled?
Pay your bill.
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I always pay my bill, i am more worried about the part of the bill that is not mine.
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hey spartanthug,
are most of your call "in" calls? if so ask around and see if some of the folks you talk to have recently gotten their cell number id blocked. calls in this situation 90% of the time cant register as "in" calls and uses your anytime minutes.
other than that do you have a bluetooh headset that can auto connect to a or a bar phone that can make calls while in a pocket?
i know if you dont hang a call up on your end while talking with a bluetooh headset you line may sometimes very well still be connected. espically if using a bluetooh 1.1 headset and or phone.
my moto v551 did it all the time while connected to my moto hs 801 headset. was a pain in my rear.
hope this helps.
are most of your call "in" calls? if so ask around and see if some of the folks you talk to have recently gotten their cell number id blocked. calls in this situation 90% of the time cant register as "in" calls and uses your anytime minutes.
other than that do you have a bluetooh headset that can auto connect to a or a bar phone that can make calls while in a pocket?
i know if you dont hang a call up on your end while talking with a bluetooh headset you line may sometimes very well still be connected. espically if using a bluetooh 1.1 headset and or phone.
my moto v551 did it all the time while connected to my moto hs 801 headset. was a pain in my rear.
hope this helps.
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On your phone, if you go to your calls it usually has a timer telling you when and how long each phone call was. I'd check that. Also, this sounds obvious, but maybe someone else in your household was making calls from your phone? Just a guess.
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The one thing that is rarely and pretty much not in error is the calls, meaning lenth and to whom. As is the case with all carriers, it is directly generated from SID/Switch station reports and is derived from the usage of your ESN through that systems. It is relentlessly reliable.
If you have a billing issue, it would be with some component in the carriers billing system not 'being right' and misbilling the actual minutes used to the wrong bucket (anytime vs. night and weekend vs. mobile to mobile/IN calling). However, before you'd make a call armed with the information, look at your bill as compared to other bills and if your N/W and InCall minutes are reasonably comparable but your anytime has leaped, it's that you may not have kept tr...
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If you have a billing issue, it would be with some component in the carriers billing system not 'being right' and misbilling the actual minutes used to the wrong bucket (anytime vs. night and weekend vs. mobile to mobile/IN calling). However, before you'd make a call armed with the information, look at your bill as compared to other bills and if your N/W and InCall minutes are reasonably comparable but your anytime has leaped, it's that you may not have kept tr...
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this is true. the billing systems carriers use are extremely accurate. they have to be to pass fcc standards. i receive calls from customer call frequently asking me to verify the authenticity of calls. call records will show which esn made the call, and usually disputed calls have been to numbers the customer recognizes, and just has a hard time believing that the call was as long as was billed. if you recognize the numbers then the bill is most likely accurate. rarely i see records where maybe 2 different esns show up in call records. which means somehow there is a different phone with the same number programmed in it trying to make calls, such as an older phone that customer had has been powered back on, or someone who had that number pre...
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As everyone else is saying check your call timer on your phone and check out the call timer on the other person's phone.
Also, are you sure the phone hung up? I know in a few older phones, it would sometimes not hang up when you closed the flip. Make sure you always press the END button when you are done.
If you find no discrepancies, just cough up the money and remember to check #MIN every week or so just to verify your usage.
Good luck!
Also, are you sure the phone hung up? I know in a few older phones, it would sometimes not hang up when you closed the flip. Make sure you always press the END button when you are done.
If you find no discrepancies, just cough up the money and remember to check #MIN every week or so just to verify your usage.
Good luck!
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I know. I like the big bills on text messaging. Customer comes in about 40 bucks in text messaging charges. I RE EXPLAIN how the texts are billed (10 cents each w/o a plan) The customer refuses to pay anything for a plan. Also, the customer is very insistant that they "rarely" use this feature. But the thing that made me laugh...it took me half an hour to explain this because every second they were getting and sending texts. So much for very rarely. I counted at least 30 texts just in a the 30 minutes they were there. One a minute. Do the math.
I looked at their phone and their inbox had about 80 and their outbox had about 50 and when one alert came in the error message was memory was full. I showed this to the customer and they ...
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I looked at their phone and their inbox had about 80 and their outbox had about 50 and when one alert came in the error message was memory was full. I showed this to the customer and they ...
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I think they are the same people that "never" use it and when I look at who the messages are to/from it's the other people on the plan or people they call all the time! Do people think we don't have any record of what's going on? We just randomly generate bills with overage to keep the calls flowing in....
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Im just curious, when your water bill is high for the previous month do you complain or do you think you didn't use that much water that month. Same goes for the electric bill. Do you call them up?
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Ive found that often customers get to comfortable with their cell phone. They just simply forget that they have minutes and just begin talking more and more and never realize their usage has increased untill they get the bill, my advise, know your bill cycle date and always check your minutes two to three days before, if your pacing to go over minutes call them up and they wil be happy to back date a higher plan for you, the day before day of or after your bill cycle date, own up and take your medicine. I have seen many many cases of people like you that dispute the calls, they'll go through fraud, tech support, and everything else just to end up finaly admitting that yeah they did make those calls, every single time.
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to clarify on this e-mail since something is wrong. we cannot backdate a plan once you are past the bill cycle. since then you started a new set of minutes and any plan changes will only affect the current cycle not the month that just past. also we cannot always guarantee back dating a pp. making sure there were no other plan changes suspends or reconnects and going to a higher plan does help your chances. also we recommend to check your mins online or #646 every couple of days or week to check where you are at before you go over. hope this helps
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The Timer function on my phone lets me see the total number of hours and minutes the phone has been used. If yours does that, you can check it at the end of each day and record for the entire biling month, then compare that with your bill. Or you can, as someone else already suggested, check minutes used every day via your account on the website. My carrier lets me dial 612 on my phone which immediately connects to my account details and tells me minutes used without having to engage a customer service person and without going onto the website; it's very handy.
Not that you'd want to switch to another carrier, because Verizon has a phenominal network in the US, but I know Sprint and Nextel have the "Fair & Flexible Plans" that let you buy o...
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Not that you'd want to switch to another carrier, because Verizon has a phenominal network in the US, but I know Sprint and Nextel have the "Fair & Flexible Plans" that let you buy o...
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one thing also the counter on the phone counts per second so this would be incorrect after a while since with verizon and far as i know everycarrier bills per minute. So the best would be the my account website or the #646 from the phone. Both pull the same minute info.
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And dont forget on unlimited night minutes, if you make a call at 8:59pm and talk for three hours, youve just used 3 hours of peak time, with every carrier your minutes always count from the time the call originates. Just a helpful hint if your a heavy n&w caller.
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Wow. I never knew this and I've been a customer for years. (I never get even close to using my peak or my N&W minutes any month, so I wouldn't really notice.)
Bet CSR's get lots of unhappy calls on account of this sort of thing. I'm just surprised this is not made clearer anywhere. I'm sure it is 'worded properly' in the documentation but I always assumed my minutes switch over at 9:00. I don't know- it just made sense that they would.
So does this official start time go by the time displayed on your phone?
Bet CSR's get lots of unhappy calls on account of this sort of thing. I'm just surprised this is not made clearer anywhere. I'm sure it is 'worded properly' in the documentation but I always assumed my minutes switch over at 9:00. I don't know- it just made sense that they would.
So does this official start time go by the time displayed on your phone?
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actaully that is wrong if your call start at 8:59pm at 9:01pm your night and weekend minutes start so you would only have 2 mins pk and the rest off pk.
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I tried 646 and #646 on my wife's Verizon phone and could not connect to minutes used function. Please explain how "646" allows Verizon customers to access minutes used report.
Thanks
Thanks
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this used text messaging to check your mins so you dial #646 it would send u a free text messages now if you have text messages blocked it will not work. also if you not in a verizon wireless area it will not work. If you want to have it checked out you could post your zip code to see if u can do this in ur are or not
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I hate it when I go to sleep at night and the phone gnomes sneak out and make calls on my phone without me knowing it so I go over my minutes. Funny, I told that the gnomes used up all my minutes and they wouldn't help me either! 😳
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