These Men Died For Your 3G Signal (And A Paycheck)
By Laura Northrup on May 23, 2012 11:30 AM
59 Comments
In the last few years of the aughts, while many of us privileged jerks were whining about how our iPhones kept dropping calls, and the national mobile network couldn't handle the call volume generated by our data-slorping smartphones, a hidden army of workers were there for us, risking their lives so that we could download podcasts on the bus. These dudes (they're all dudes) scale towers to fix and upgrade equipment, working for subcontractors and receiving relatively low pay of $10-$11 per hour. And some of them fall and die. More »
(D©Bloom)
Smartphone Message Service Read Receipts -- Stress Incarnate Or Peace Of Mind?
By Mary Beth Quirk on May 18, 2012 2:00 PM
22 Comments
As messaging applications on smartphones continue to sidle into the territory previously occupied strictly by traditional SMS texting, users are being confronted with a sometimes uncomfortable proposition. Namely, that whoever is on the other end can see when you've read their message, and you can see if they're ignoring you or not as well. More »
Virgin Atlantic To Allow Some In-Air Mobile Phone Calls
By Chris Morran on May 16, 2012 11:45 AM
20 Comments
If you are fan of the relatively chatter-free ambiance of the airplane cabin, this will probably not come as good news. On the other hand, if you're someone who finds the whole "no cell phone calls from the plane" thing tiresome, this may brighten your day a bit. More »
(coffeego)
Why Does A 10-Second Collect Call Cost $37.66?
By Chris Morran on May 14, 2012 1:30 PM
79 Comments
When a Michigan man's traveling parents called him collect from a payphone a couple hours away, he expected to see a couple bucks on his next bill for the call he says was anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds in duration. But he definitely wasn't expecting to be hit with a charge for $37.66. More »
Five Months Of Verizon Upgrade Runaround, Still No New Phone
By Laura Northrup on May 11, 2012 8:00 AM
37 Comments
Jeremy is eligible for an upgrade of his unreliable Droid X. Or maybe he isn't. No, but today he totally is! It seems like every time he talks to someone new at Verizon, he gets a different answer. More »
Why Do App Developers Release iPhone Versions First?
By Chris Morran on May 2, 2012 11:17 AM
41 Comments
Even though there are still significantly more smartphones running some version of the Android operating system, it's not uncommon to see developers come out with an app for iPhone users weeks or months before they release anything for Android. What's up with that? More »
Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Are Still Renting Home Phones
By Chris Morran on April 30, 2012 3:15 PM
100 Comments
While many of us are ditching landlines in favor of wireless, a large portion of the country still has some sort of terrestrial home phone. But what's surprising is just how many folks out there are still paying every month to lease their phones. More »
FCC Approves Anti-Cramming Rules For Landlines, But Nothing Yet On Wireless
By Chris Morran on April 27, 2012 2:15 PM
13 Comments
It's been almost a year since the FCC finally got around to considering rule changes to keep landline phone service providers from padding customers' bills with charges for third-party services that range from long-distance service to yoga classes. Today, the commission announced some new regulations — but they only goes so far in protecting consumers. More »
Airman Racks Up $16,000 In Roaming Charges In 6 Days
By Chris Morran on April 26, 2012 12:15 PM
69 Comments
Usually when we write about someone racking up insanely high phone charges, it involves a trip outside the U.S. borders, but here's a post about a member of the U.S. Air Force who found himself facing more than $16,000 in roaming charges after short visit to his family in Sacramento. More »
Verizon Charges You Extra $700 For Returning A Phone
By Laura Northrup on April 25, 2012 12:30 PM
28 Comments
Ron is a longtime, loyal Verizon Wireless customer. Things were going quite well until he returned a new phone recently. This phone was somehow never logged in at the warehouse, and Verizon keeps piling equipment fees on Ron's account. Now his service has been shut off, which is bad news for him and for his patients: he's a doctor and on call. He has FedEx tracking info indicating that he sent the phone back, but Verizon didn't record it on their end. More »
How Switching To Cheaper Smartphone Plan For Deaf Customers Can Cost More
By Laura Northrup on April 25, 2012 11:35 AM
30 Comments
Mobile phone carriers aren't about to let the majority of smartphone customers give up their voice plans any time soon, no matter how few minutes you use every month. Jack's girlfriend doesn't have much use for voice minutes, though. She's deaf. She actually talks on the phone rarely, and more often uses the data connection to type to people and make phone calls using a relay service. After a few months, she managed to find someone at Sprint willing to put her on a special plan for deaf customers that has no voice minutes, and even gave her that plan's price going back two months. What she didn't realize was that she would be billed twenty cents for every minute of voice calls she had made during those two months. More »
With Sidekick G4, T-Mobile Casts Me Into Smartphone Replacement Purgatory
By Laura Northrup on April 23, 2012 9:00 AM
25 Comments
Sara really loved her HTC G1 from T-Mobile, and bought the similar-ish Samsung Sidekick 4G as a replacement when its years of loyal service ended. The new phone has not been so loyal. It locks up, won't respond to the touchscreen, and periodically wipes its memory card for no clear reason. Sure, she could back up the memory card content elsewhere, but the non-operational phone is a real problem. Now she's on her third replacement. T-Mobile is happy to send her a replacement, but she doesn't want a fifth phone that will inevitably have the same problems. Sara, welcome to smartphone replacement purgatory! More »
Proration Battle With T-Mobile: For Once, It Pays To Be A Pack Rat
By Laura Northrup on April 20, 2012 10:30 AM
33 Comments
Lured by the iPhone and the potential of less crappy reception, Chris and his wife walked away from T-Mobile and ported their numbers to Verizon. T-Mobile tried to bill them for an entire month's service when they had only used a few days' worth. Chris couldn't accept this, and called up customer service. They told him that the no prorated bills rule was part of the terms of service he signed when he joined T-Mo. Boo. Funny thing, though. He had saved that original decade-old sheet with the terms of service when he signed up, and they said no such thing. More »
Are Mobile Payments Going To Be Bigger Than Cash Or Credit By 2020?
By Maggie Shader on April 18, 2012 1:15 PM
28 Comments
There's no doubt that mobile payments are on the rise. But do they have the momentum and provide enough benefits to give cash and credit cards a run for their money by 2020? Yes they do, says a new survey of technology experts and stakeholders by the Pew Internet & American Life Project released today. More »
Can I Game Verizon's System To Get An Awesome New Phone?
By Laura Northrup on April 17, 2012 11:30 AM
41 Comments
Robert has his eye on a shiny new smartphone, and he's eligible for an upgrade. He's on a family plan, and has devised a scheme to take advantage of some promotions. These promotions are intended for new Verizon customers, so his plan is to discontinue one of the lines on his account, and start a new one in order to get the discounts and perks that come with a "new" line. He wonders: has anyone else out there tried this and succeeded? More »
(Ninja M.)
Wireless Carriers Band Together To Form Theft-Prevention Database
By Mary Beth Quirk on April 10, 2012 10:00 AM
30 Comments
It appears someone has produced a magic ring and activated it, calling U.S. wireless carriers together to create a database that will help protect consumers against cell phone theft. And while the carriers, representing 90% of phone service subscribers, aren't really superheroes, there are high hopes that this new database will help thwart thieves. More »
Sprint Insists I Owe Them $800 For Nonexistent Account
By Laura Northrup on April 5, 2012 8:00 AM
45 Comments
Samit isn't a Sprint customer. He doesn't have a Sprint phone or service. He doesn't have a customer number. But somehow he owes Sprint $800 for service that he neither signed up for nor received. See, he had tried to become a customer. After starting the process of setting up Sprint service, someone took down his social security and credit card numbers, then wandered off. Samit received an iPhone that he never asked for, sent it back, and somehow has racked up $800 in phantom phone bills. More »
(jasmined)
Our New Favorite Drinking Game: Condom Brand Or Android Device?
By Chris Morran on March 28, 2012 2:15 PM
25 Comments
There once was a time when popular cellphones had names like StarTAC, meant to appeal to early adopters and the tech-savvy. But today's smartphones are now equal parts communication device and fashion accessory, and the names have gotten sexier to match that change. But have they gotten so sexy you can't tell whether you're buying a phone or a condom? More »
(imtfi)
T-Mobile Customer Demands Refund For Two Years Of Too-Slow Data... And Gets It
By Laura Northrup on March 21, 2012 8:00 AM
18 Comments
When Sam was having problems with his T-Mobile smartphone, he did what he thought he was supposed to do: call up support. The agent on the phone couldn't restore his phone's Internet connectivity, but they did try to upsell him on some new services. He'd rather have the services he was already paying for working, thanks. When he took the phone to a retail store for help, he learned the real cause of his problems: he'd been wandering around for two years with an old 2G SIM in his 4G phone. He thought that he should have the extra cost of a 4G data plan refunded to him, and T-Mobile acquiesced... but only after he launched an executive e-mail carpet bomb. More »
FCC Reminds Everyone That Cellphone Jamming & Jamming Devices Are Illegal
By Chris Morran on March 6, 2012 4:30 PM
57 Comments
Even while the Federal Communications Commission is asking for comments on the temporary blocking or disabling of wireless signals by law enforcement, it wants to stress to everyone that there is no legal gray area when it comes to cellphone jamming and jamming devices. More »
FCC Wants To Know If It Sometimes Might Be Okay To Jam Cellphones In Interest Of Public Safety
By Chris Morran on March 2, 2012 3:30 PM
74 Comments
Chief among the reasons given by the Federal Communications Commission for outlawing the practice of using signal-jamming devices for cellphones is public safety. With 70% of 911 calls now made on wireless devices, the FCC has argued that deliberately blocking cell signals could put people at risk. That being said, the agency is now willing to hear from people who think it might occasionally be in the public interest to jam wireless signals. More »
What Can Cops Look At On Your Phone Without A Warrant?
By Chris Morran on March 1, 2012 4:45 PM
85 Comments
Ten years ago, most of us had little more on our mobile phones than other phone numbers. Then cames texts, photos, video, web pages, passwords, credit card info, and most importantly Sudoku scores. But how much of that should be readily available to police if you are believed to have run afoul of the law? More »
Is The Philly Cellphone Jammer A Hero Or A Jerk?
By Chris Morran on March 1, 2012 12:15 PM
205 Comments
A man in Philadelphia decided he'd had enough with listening to his fellow bus passengers blab away on their cellphones. But instead of buying himself some noise-cancelling headphones or politely asking people to pipe down, he chose to fight back with a handheld device that jams their signals. More »
Your Annual New T-Mobile Phones Were Just A Beautiful, Forbidden Dream
By Laura Northrup on February 24, 2012 10:30 AM
60 Comments
Every year since 2007, Jim and his wife have celebrated the arrival of their federal income tax refund by going to the T-Mobile store, renewing their contract, and picking out shiny new phones at the new-contract discount. Year after year, they've done this, even though they're renewing the 2-year contract every year. This was just part of what made being T-Mobile customers so awesome. Until, suddenly, the carrier stopped being as awesome, and insisted that the last five years and all of those discounted phones were all a dream. More »
Would You Pay Extra For Those Services That Use The Most Data On Your Smartphone?
By Chris Morran on February 23, 2012 2:30 PM
56 Comments
As wireless carriers try to balance the growing demand from smartphone customers with the constant demand from investors to make a profit, some say the future of wireless data plans might stray away from the current tiered structure and toward a model that has customers paying for the services they use the most. More »
Report Predicts Mankind's Greatest Nightmare, Says Mobile Devices Will Outnumber Humans This Year
By Mary Beth Quirk on February 14, 2012 2:00 PM
23 Comments
Good thing we all have those emergency underground bunkers that don't use any machines or computers whatsoever because robots are about to take over the world. Well, at least the robopocalypse is starting, as a report says mobile devices will outnumber humans in 2012. More »
Have You Tried Swapping Your Wireless Plan With Someone Else? We Want To Hear From You
By Chris Morran on January 30, 2012 11:15 AM
56 Comments
We're constantly being asked for advice on how people can get out of cell phone contracts early without being knocked upside the noggin with a brass-knuckled early termination fee. More »
HTC: We Can't Make Better Phones If We're Always Fixing Yours
By Laura Northrup on December 23, 2011 9:00 AM
67 Comments
William has tried everything to get a working HTC smartphone: he's e-mailed executives and he's visited his local Sprint store for help. The company replaced his broken Evo Shift with a Design. Yay! ...except that on the new phone, no one can hear him. HTC won't send a replacement phone. Not because he's not entitled to one, but because William tried had swapped in a battery from his old phone when the replacement had shipped with a bad one. More »
If You Want A Cell Phone Without A New Contract, Don't Go To The Verizon Store
By Chris Morran on December 19, 2011 2:15 PM
74 Comments
If you're already a Verizon customer and all you want is a new phone — no change of plan, no contract extension, just the phone — it would make sense that you should just be able to go to the Verizon store and pay full price for a new one. But as Consumerist reader Greg learned, things rarely go as easily as you'd expect when you're dealing with the wireless world. More »
Legislators Kill Bill To Allow Robocalling Of Cell Phones
By Chris Morran on December 14, 2011 5:00 PM
50 Comments
Less than three months after introducing a bill that would legalize automated robocalls to cell phone numbers, the Nebraska Congressman behind the legislation has listened to reason and pulled the plug on it. More »
(elle_emm)
Minneapolis Looking To Stop Cabbies From Using Cell Phones
By Chris Morran on November 30, 2011 3:30 PM
42 Comments
Most of us who've lived in major city for long enough have had those experiences of sitting in the backseat of a cab, irritated and possibly concerned by the driver's incessant yammering on his/her phone. Wouldn't it be nice if such distracting chit-chat was illegal? More »
Call T-Mobile Customer Service And Reality Will Shift Beneath Your Feet
By Laura Northrup on November 16, 2011 9:00 AM
70 Comments
At what point is a company responsible for the things that its customer service reps tell customers? Gus got a new T-Mobile smartphone on an unlimited plan, then took a job in the oil industry that requires him to travel out of the country frequently. While he could have a company phone, he's still under contract. He chose to keep his T-Mobile plan with a company subsidy, and not pay an early termination fee. When he called T-Mobile to find out how much roaming in Colombia would cost with his plan, the startling answer was that he wouldn't have to pay any roaming fees at all. He quadruple-checked this with the customer service rep, who confirmed it. But he should have just hung up and broken through the walls of reality to reach another rep, who would have told him something entirely different. More »
Why Doesn't T-Mobile's Phone Blocking Feature Make Any Sense?
By Laura Northrup on November 4, 2011 12:32 PM
132 Comments
Michael's daughter has a phone on the family plan, and he'd like to do something to it that seems simple enough. He wants to block her phone from all use during school hours, except for the numbers she would need in an emergency. Except the system doesn't work that way. For some reason that no one understands, phones can only be disabled in certain blocks, and during certain times the main account holder can't limit the phone's use at all. Some of these times happen to conveniently fall during the hours when Michael's daughter is at school. He's not the only one with this problem. More »
Consumers Union To Wireless Providers: Don't Wait To Implement "Bill Shock" Alerts
By Chris Morran on November 2, 2011 11:45 AM
29 Comments
A couple weeks ago, details were announced about the Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines, which give wireless providers one year to roll out a system that lets customers know when they are nearing or over their allotted data, text, voice or international roaming limits. But our cohorts at Consumers Union are urging these companies to not wait until the last minute. More »
Cell Phone Company With Only 1 Million Customers To Get iPhone 4S
By Chris Morran on October 19, 2011 12:30 PM
27 Comments
Until a few minutes ago, most of us had barely heard of C Spire Wireless, even by its previous name of Cellular South. Regardless, the wireless provider with only about a million customers announced today that it is now taking orders for the iPhone 4S. More »
Cheap AT&T Text Message Plan IS Compatible With iPhone 4s
As reader Hillary discovered, AT&T's cheapest text plan ($5 for 200 messages) isn't compatible with the new phone, so people with that combination just don't get their messages. Update: We heard from an AT&T rep, who told us that there's no reason why the 4S shouldn't work with a 200-message texting plan, and isn't sure why this happened to Hillary. More »
By Laura Northrup on October 19, 2011 9:30 AM
94 Comments
Have you fired up your new iPhone 4S, only to feel lonely because no one is texting you? Don't be sad. You might still have some friends after all.
Wireless Customers To Receive Free Text Alerts To Avoid Overage Charges
By Chris Morran on October 17, 2011 11:30 AM
41 Comments
After months of talking about the issue, the FCC and the nation's wireless providers have announced a deal that will provide almost every wireless customer in the country with free text alerts to help them avoid "bill shock" from unexpected overage charges. More »
(Ninja M.)
BlackBerry Outage: Can I Get Reimbursed?
By Chris Morran on October 12, 2011 2:15 PM
42 Comments
The spreading BlackBerry service outage of the last few days has brought two questions to the forefront: Will I be able to get some sort of compensation for the outage? And... People still have BlackBerries? More »
AT&T Promises To Let Me Keep Unlimited Data Plan With New Phone, Doesn't
By Laura Northrup on October 7, 2011 10:30 AM
69 Comments
When he upgraded his AT&T phone to a Samsung Galaxy S II, Matthew was under the impression that he would get to keep his old unlimited data plan from his iPhone. That would be a good reason to upgrade to a newer, snappier phone. The problem is that it was not, strictly speaking, true. More »
T-Mobile Charges $5 For Every Failed Call From Cruise Ship
By Laura Northrup on September 29, 2011 12:30 PM
44 Comments
Kayla left her phone off and safely stowed away during her Caribbean cruise, where it couldn't run up roaming charges high enough to ruin any vacation. When she learned that there had been a minor earthquake and a hurricane back home, she decided to eat the roaming charges and pay the high per-minute prices to check in with her loved ones. Everyone else on the ship evidently had the same idea, and it was difficult to get a call through. When her bill came, Kayla learned the hard way that T-Mobile, at least, imposes that $4.99 per minute roaming charge on calls that don't complete. More »
Sprint Changes Contract, Still Won't Let Me Out
By Laura Northrup on September 22, 2011 11:00 AM
62 Comments
Mobile phone companies have to let you out of your contract if they make a materially adverse charge to your contract. That is, if they raise a fee, impose a charge, or change a rule that applies to the contract you are under right now, they have to let you out of your contract without an early termination fee. (Changing the contracts for new customers going forward doesn't count.) If you want out, this is traditionally your chance, even if companies try to put up a fight.. Unless you're reader Mark, a Sprint customer, who Sprint won't set free. But Mark is no ordinary, naive Sprint customer. He not only reads Consumerist, but he worked for Sprint just a few short years ago. He knows how this is supposed to work. More »
(sfxeric)
Verizon Takes Away Unlimited Picture And Video Messaging, Point Of $20 Unlimited Prepaid Plan
By Laura Northrup on September 21, 2011 9:00 AM
60 Comments
Sam uses a prepaid Verizon plan that includes unlimited messaging and more expensive voice minutes. But that's okay: "messaging" even includes picture and video messages. What more could the modern mobile phone user ask for? At least, until Verizon changed how the plan works and began charging per recipient of your text messages. More »
(Ninja M.)
Sprint Shuts Down Your Phones, Demands $500 Deposit 2 Days After Activation
By Laura Northrup on September 9, 2011 9:00 AM
72 Comments
Peter is a longtime, but not particularly happy Sprint customer. Still, his nephew could get more from Big Yellow than with his previous provider, so the two went to the Sprint store to move his service over. It wasn't unexpected that a young man without much of a credit history would have a limits on his account, but Peter was surprised when Sprint disconnected his nephew's phones and demanded a $500 deposit that they had been assured at the Sprint store wasn't required. More »
T-Mobile Keeps Replacing Defective Phone With More Defective Phones
By Laura Northrup on August 31, 2011 8:00 AM
26 Comments
Some months ago, Elliot upgraded the phone on his T-Mobile plan. He chose the Motorola Defy, which turned out to be a poor choice. At least, it was for Elliot, who enjoys having a phone that actually works. T-Mobile has cast him into smartphone replacement purgatory, where he will be stuck until he gives up and changes carriers, or his warranty expires and he pays for a new phone. More »
Verizon Tech Support: Make Your Smartphone Stupider So It'll Work
By Laura Northrup on August 25, 2011 1:05 PM
68 Comments
Last fall, David upgraded his Verizon Wireless phone to the Samsung Fascinate, That's a decently powerful Android smartphone with a decent processor and the ability to run all sorts of online apps. You wouldn't know that if you were David, though. Even his warranty replacement phone is appears to be having software problems that make it unusable unless he uses it just for phone calls and texts, disabling everything else. That's what Verizon support has advised him to do. Because that's what people buy Android smartphones for. More »
My iPad Has An Evil Twin
By Laura Northrup on August 24, 2011 1:00 PM
22 Comments
Kimberly and her Verizon Pad 2 didn't know it, but her tablet has an evil twin lurking somewhere in the country. It lurked, waiting to steal her iPad's identity and rob it of its network connectivity. Who created this horrible monster? Er... Verizon Wireless. More »
Verizon Wireless Employee Closes Sale By Forging My Signature
By Laura Northrup on August 22, 2011 11:00 AM
110 Comments
Brandon probably should have known better, but the purchase of a wireless plan upgrade and some smartphones is pretty straightforward. So he thought. He tells Consumerist that when the point-of-sale system said that he should be receiving a paper copy of the contract he was signing, but the salesperson wouldn't hand it over until he signed. Then the salesperson reached over and "signed" for Brandon. Problem...not exactly solved. More »
Senator Wants Wireless Companies To Do More To Disable Stolen Phones
By Chris Morran on August 22, 2011 10:30 AM
76 Comments
In an effort to discourage cell phone theft and fraud, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has asked wireless companies to do more than disabling a stolen phone's SIM card. He wants the whole phone bricked so it can never be used again. More »
Study: Sprint Smartphone Users Hog The Most Data
By Chris Morran on August 17, 2011 1:15 PM
42 Comments
Ever since AT&T and Verizon did away with unlimited data plans and T-Mobile offered unlimited-but-throttled plans, Sprint has been bragging about both that its unlimited plan has no cap and that its 4G network is quite speedy. And according to the results of a new study, Sprint users are gobbling up much more data than subscribers to any of the other companies. More »
Warning: Cell Phone Coverage Map May Not Reflect Reality
By Laura Northrup on August 11, 2011 1:34 PM
25 Comments
Like many of its fellow regional wireless carriers, Cricket has a relatively small coverage area, and then roaming agreements with other carriers so their customers can make calls more or less nationwide. If you don't live within that native coverage area, you can't sign up for service with that particular company. Thom's dad thought that he lived in Cricket's coverage area, what with the area where he lives being shaded on one of their maps. But it isn't so. More »
(Bods)
Google Voice Fails, Results In $700 T-Mobile Bill
By Laura Northrup on July 29, 2011 8:07 AM
119 Comments
Sophie makes a lot of phone calls to France, so she does the responsible, frugal thing. She uses the Google Voice app on her smartphone to make those calls over the Internets instead of using the T-Mobile network. Except somehow, the Google Voice app failed, and the phone itself placed those calls while making it sound like they went through the Voice app. "Complain to Google about it and give us $700," says T-Mobile. "If the call doesn't show up in your Voice history, it went through the cell network," says Google. More »
Sprint Loves You, Kinda Creeps You Out
By Laura Northrup on July 15, 2011 8:00 AM
50 Comments
Jerry doesn't really have a problem with Sprint, his mobile phone carrier. But what the carrier's site told him when he looked up the status of his contract has him holding back a bit. "We love you," it proclaims, offering a discount on a new phone. Sprint loves him? More »
AT&T Wireless Acknowledges Their Crappy iPhone Service, Shrugs
By Laura Northrup on June 23, 2011 9:00 AM
106 Comments
In 2009, loyal Sprint customer Matt jumped ship to AT&T, enticed by the glorious glossy screen of the then-exclusive Jesus Phone. I mean, iPhone. He sends $300 per month to AT&T for the four iPhones on his account. One would think that this would entitle him to an actual working mobile phone. Don't be silly. Matt's tale of woe includes months of frustration, including huge business deals lost due to crappy phone service. More »
Keep Calling T-Mobile's Executive Office, Get Charged With Harassment
By Laura Northrup on June 17, 2011 8:00 AM
102 Comments
Gary's mom uses a prepaid T-Mobile phone, but doesn't use it a whole lot. She missed the deadline to re-up her account by three days, and is now stuck with a useless $50 refill card and a shut-off cell phone. After four fruitless attempts at calling regular customer service, Gary tracked down the executive customer service number, hoping to reach someone in the United States with some power. Instead, the person he reached was hostile and unhelpful. When Gary eventually reached that person's boss to complain, the boss said that if he kept contacting the executive offices, they'd have him charged with harassment. All of this seems like a lot more trouble than turning some old lady's phone back on. More »
(bytehead)
AT&T Doesn't Need To Actually Read Your Pathetic E-mails
By Laura Northrup on June 16, 2011 9:30 AM
53 Comments
T. is in the military, and has recently deployed to Afghanistan. He has an AT&T phone, and wanted to see about switching to a different plan so he could leave his phone active for occasional calls, but pay less. What with being in Afghanistan and all. He e-mailed their customer service department to inquire about this, and received a response that indicates that while someone at AT&T Wireless is answering customer e-mails, they're not necessarily reading them. More »
Report: Cellphone Use Is "Possibly Carcinogenic"
By Chris Morran on May 31, 2011 3:07 PM
60 Comments
Since the first Gordon Gekkos of the world picked up their 10-pound brick mobile phones more than two decades ago, there have been numerous studies into the relationship, if any, between mobile phone use and cancer. And it's a debate that won't disappear anytime soon thanks to the World Health Organization's announcement that it has categorized wireless phone use as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." More »
A Sprint Phone Upgrade Is Immutable, Never To Be Undone
By Laura Northrup on May 19, 2011 12:30 PM
42 Comments
If you upgrade your mobile phone, then return the new phone because software problems render it unusable, does this mean that you've used up your upgrade and cannot receive a new subsidized phone again for the term of your current contract? Based on reader Jason's experience...yeah, that's pretty much it. More »
Will Customers Shafted In Verizon/Alltel Deal Get Shafted Again By AT&T/T-Mobile Merger?
By Chris Morran on May 6, 2011 12:15 PM
43 Comments
While most of the country wasn't directly affected by Verizon's purchase of Alltel, a handful of both companies' former customers have now ended up — through no choice of their own — as AT&T subscribers. Many of these people are peeved about being stuck with a company they never signed up with. They also want to know if AT&T's pending purchase of T-Mobile means in terms of their already slim pickings. More »
E-mail To Sprint CEO Gets $400 Rebate Check Re-Issued
By Laura Northrup on May 5, 2011 9:30 AM
17 Comments
Sprint owed Sean and his wife $400 in rebates for their shiny new LG Optimus phones. They tried to be patient, but a few months passed and the rebates were clearly overdue or missing. A few days ago, Sean finally sat down and sent this brief but effective email to CEO Dan Hesse. More »
Survey: 88% Of Americans Think Cell Phones Should Be Compatible With All Networks
By Chris Morran on April 27, 2011 1:15 PM
131 Comments
Even though you've been able to port cell phone numbers from one carrier to another for several years, many mobile phone customers find themselves having to buy new phones whenever they switch providers. Not surprisingly, a new survey by our benevolent benefactors at Consumers Union shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans not only want to be able to take any device to any carrier, but they also support legislation that would require it. More »
(stobist)
How To Use A Smartphone Overseas Without Ruining Your Entire Life
By Meg Marco on April 20, 2011 1:30 PM
23 Comments
Using a smartphone over seas can be annoying at best, and at worst, well... this. The Wall Street Journal has some tips to keep you relatively stress free while you're jet-setting. More »
You Could Be Under Sidekick Contract Or Not, Depending On T-Mobile's Whim
By Laura Northrup on April 8, 2011 9:00 AM
26 Comments
Chad is a T-Mobile customer who used to be a Sidekick user. He also still is a Sidekick user, depending on which situation is more advantageous to T-Mobile. See, he signed a new contract and got a shiny new Sidekick last February. Earlier this year, that phone died and he bought an inexpensive Android phone to use while he waits out his contract. T-Mobile is ending Sidekick service soon, and has offered users still under contract the choice of leaving their contracts with no early termination fee, or switching to a different subsidized phone and sticking around. Chad is still under the original contract that he signed when he got his Sidekick last year, but at the same time is not under a Sidekick contract according to T-Mobile, so neither option is open to him. More »
Modern Technology Is Stalking Your Every Move
By Laura Northrup on March 30, 2011 5:00 PM
47 Comments
Who knows where you are and what you're thinking right now? Your phone company. If you carry a smartphone, or even a not-so-smart phone, your mobile phone carrier knows more about your whereabouts over the past few months than you'll ever be able to remember. Comforting, isn't it? More »
Sprint: AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Will Harm Consumers & Competition
By Chris Morran on March 28, 2011 3:15 PM
74 Comments
Last week, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse voiced concern about the pending sale of T-Mobile to AT&T for $39 billion. Today, the company issued its official statement on the matter, saying it's not just concerned about its own bottom line, but about you, the consumer. More »
AT&T To Purchase T-Mobile USA For $39 Billion, 1000 Rollover Minutes
By Laura Northrup on March 20, 2011 3:24 PM
175 Comments
AT&T Wireless has made its next move in the race against Verizon for nationwide mobile phone domination: it's acquiring fellow GSM carrier T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for a combination of cash and AT&T stock currently valued at $39 billion. DT will then have an 8% stake in AT&T, and AT&T will gain 33.7 million current T-Mobile USA customers. More »
Too Bad Your Dad Died: Now Give Us $363
By Laura Northrup on March 15, 2011 4:00 PM
143 Comments
Melissa's father passed away at the end of January. She's just now settling his estate, and most companies she has dealt with have been accommodating and understanding. The exception? Verizon Wireless, which told Melissa that it was her fault she hadn't been able to contact them until they sent a collection notice. She owes—or, rather, her father's estate owes—$362.80 that she doesn't have on hand. They're making a sad and difficult time even worse. More »
Wireless Industry Group Says All Those Overages Are Actually Saving Us Money
By Chris Morran on March 9, 2011 4:48 PM
48 Comments
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about cellphone bill shock and overages and what can be done to stop it. Now comes a new study by a wireless industry trade group that claims consumers are actually saving money because of all these overage. More »
HTC: Phone Repair By Sprint Store Voided Warranty
By Laura Northrup on February 18, 2011 10:45 AM
35 Comments
If Sprint is the exclusive seller of the HTC Evo, and Sprint stores will also repair your Evo when you have a problem with it, isn't it logical that having Sprint repair your smartphone won't void the warranty? Not so fast, smart guy or gal! Rodney writes that he and his wife actually left Sprint because a local Sprint store charged for a repair that actually voided the warranty. That repair? The phone's 4th in seven months. Update, 2/23/11: HTC is issuing Rodney a refund. More »
Virgin Killing Off Unlimited Mobile Broadband Plan
By Ben Popken on January 27, 2011 5:00 PM
46 Comments
Say "sayonara" to another unlimited mobile plan, Virgin is adding a 5GB cap and throttle to its $40 "Unlimited Broadband2Go" MiFi plan. After you surpass the threshold in a month, your transfer speeds will get reduced to 256 kbps or lower for the rest of the month. The changes go into effect Feb 15. Happy Valentines Day. More »
Coming Soon: Port Your Number To Google Voice For $20
By Ben Popken on January 20, 2011 12:00 PM
46 Comments
Looks like soon Google Voice will let you port your own phone number over to their service for $20. More »
T-Mobile Store Can't Explain Why You Can't Have This Deal: You Just Can't
By Laura Northrup on January 13, 2011 9:00 AM
89 Comments
Kevin and his wife tried to take advantage of a buy one smartphone, get one free promotion that T-Mobile e-mailed them about. At the time, Kevin was at the end of his contract and eligible for a full upgrade. His wife was a few months away from her full upgrade, but willing to pay a fee to replace her non-working phone. Because Kevin's wife wasn't yet eligible, the local store refused to honor the promotion, even after corporate intervened. More »
At Least This Journeys Promotion Gets Your Attention
By Laura Northrup on December 31, 2010 9:30 AM
47 Comments
"Try on shoes, get a free smartphone," declared a sign in the window of Ryan's local Journeys store. That sounds like a deal that can't possibly be true. And it's not. More »
Are There Advantages Of Switching To A Prepaid Cell Phone?
By Phil Villarreal on December 28, 2010 2:40 PM
110 Comments
Prepaid cell phones aren't only for drug dealers on the HBO show The Wire. Those who rarely talk or text and would rather not be tied to an electronic leash may want to look into prepaid plans. They could be cheaper than monthly plans, and could work for those who are on a tight budget. More »
A Cautionary Comcast Tale: Decimal Points Are Very Important
By Laura Northrup on December 2, 2010 8:00 AM
37 Comments
When a California retiree missed a decimal point and sent Comcast an online payment of $6,894 instead of $68.94, the massive overpayment didn't raise any red flags in Comcast's system. It didn't cause a cascade of overdrafts in his bank account, either, since he had enough money to cover it. To bring the situation to Comcast's attention, though, he had to enlist the help of a local newspaper and a television station. More »
Virgin Mobile And Walmart Team Up To Make Great Mobile Broadband Plan Disappear
By Laura Northrup on December 1, 2010 9:30 AM
29 Comments
Scott tried to do a nice thing and buy a low-cost, low-bandwidth mobile Internet plan for his mother. Unfortunately, there's some confusion between Virgin and Walmart, and the plan that Scott thought he was buying has disappeared into a reality vortex. One where customer service reps insist that he purchased the item from Walmart.com when he didn't. More »
Why Does AOL Instant Messenger Mobile Use Text Messages Without Telling Me?
By Laura Northrup on October 28, 2010 4:30 PM
129 Comments
Heather tells Consumerist that has AOL Instant Messenger installed on her smartphone, but doesn't really use it. Lately, she's left the program running more often, and made an alarming discovery: she was charged for 800 text messages, even though she didn't send 800 text messages. The culprit? AIM, of course. Each IM to and from her phone was charged as a text message. More »
I Don't Want To Give Up My Droid X For Forced Switch To AT&T
By Laura Northrup on October 22, 2010 9:00 AM
125 Comments
Nick is one of the current Verizon customers whose contract has been transferred to AT&T due to Verizon's acquisition of Alltel. He writes that he would be okay with this if AT&T actually offered a phone comparable to his current Droid X, and if he didn't have to pay $200 for the sort-of-comparable phone they're offering, the Samsung Captivate. More »
Mobile Devices Harbor More Germs Than A Men's Room Flush Handle
% times more bacteria than a typical men's bathroom flush handle. Furthermore, "If you put virus on a surface, like an iPhone, about 30 percent of it will get on your fingertips," said the study's co-author. And, "a fair amount of it may go from your fingers to your eyes, mouth or nose." Next time you borrow someone's cellphone, you might want to bust out the rubber gloves and Lysol first. More »
By Ben Popken on October 15, 2010 10:00 AM
40 Comments
A new study finds that the mobile devices are excellent virus vectors, harboring 18
FCC Doesn't Want You Spending Too Much On Your Mobile Plan
By Chris Morran on October 13, 2010 8:45 AM
73 Comments
Last week, we asked you what annoyed you most about your mobile phone plan, and most of you picked "cost." Now comes news that the Federal Communications Commission is going to review new proposals intended to keep you from spending more on your phone bill than you'd planned. More »
(zoomar)
What Annoys You Most About Your Mobile Phone?
October 5, 2010 4:15 PM
189 Comments
From AT&T to Zoom Mobile, we here at Consumerist have fielded complaints from every domestic mobile carrier we can think of. Additionally, just about every company has been labeled "the worst" by scores of readers. But today, instead of picking on any one carrier, we want to get at the bigger issue of what's bothering cellphone users in general. More »
VIDEO: Sprint Store Laptop Filters Out Anti-Sprint Consumerist Content
By Chris Morran on September 27, 2010 3:15 PM
30 Comments
Consumerist reader Brian got bored while he was waiting for his friend to finish up a transaction at their local Sprint store. So he decided to kill time by trying out the in-store public laptop. That's when he discovered something of interest. More »
(dooley)
Verizon Wireless Wants You Back, Turns Into Creepy Stalker With No Concept Of Time Zones
By Laura Northrup on September 15, 2010 9:30 AM
24 Comments
Verizon Wireless really, really loved Mike. That's the only conclusion we can draw from the carrier's attempts to woo him back. Unfortunately, the company with a nationwide customer base doesn't seem to understand this whole "time zones" thing we have going on, and called Mike a little too early for his taste. More »
(genebob)
Walmart's New Cellphone Plans Are Great If You Skip The Data
By Chris Walters on September 14, 2010 9:30 AM
38 Comments
Yesterday, Walmart announced that starting next week it will offer a new wireless plan under its own brand, but running on T-Mobile's network. The rates are good compared to national carriers: $45 per month for unlimited texting and minutes, and $25 per month for each additional line. There's also no contract, and you pay the bill at the end of each month instead of loading up a pre-pay account. It's one of the better family-style deals available, except for one thing: the data plans are actually more expensive than AT&T or T-Mobile. More »
(Ninja M.)
AT&T Comes In Last In Latest Network Quality Survey Among Consumers
By Chris Walters on September 13, 2010 9:00 AM
32 Comments
J.D.Power and Associates released a new survey last week that measured customer complaints among national cellular networks, and although different companies excel in different regions, AT&T is still consistently the laggard when it comes to call connections and overall quality. Of the six regions covered in the survey, AT&T places last in four of them. The only part of the country where it does okay is the North Central Region, where it places third, and where the otherwise highly-ranked Verizon comes in last. More »
Day 5 Of Our Verizon Data Outage With No Explanation In Sight
By Laura Northrup on September 8, 2010 9:30 AM
25 Comments
Micah tells Consumerist that he and his wife just signed a new Verizon contract and bought new smartphones—a Droid X and a Droid Incredible. They're both heavy smartphone users, but weren't too worried about a recent data outage... until it stretched on for four days. Verizon can't explain what suddenly went wrong, or fix the problem. This is sort of the opposite of the provider's current "Rule the Air" ad campaign. More »
This Cellphone Ad Needs More Anxiety!
By Ben Popken on August 3, 2010 2:00 PM
11 Comments
As any Mad Men fan can tell you, ads are all about creating the itch and then selling the cream to soothe it. You stoke the desire and then offer the solution. Sales ensue. But what the modern dreamweavers on Madison Ave have figured out is that the two don't even have to be related. You could show a bunch of elephants trampling a village - an anxious event, indeed - and then "Pencils! Get 20 for $2" and you have yourself a great ad. Very Eisenstein, and for some reason, this tactic seems especially popular in cellphone ads. I remember a Verizon one where a girl had to have a llama and it was socially awkward. Inspired, I wrote up a short sketch to demonstrate: More »
(Reznicek)
Do You Still Use Your Land Line?
By Chris Morran on July 20, 2010 12:00 PM
209 Comments
According to a recently released study, there are more than 5 billion cell phones in use around the world today, with 20% of those just coming into use in the last 18 months. More and more, people are either ditching their traditional land lines or relegating it to a secondary role, especially in large metropolitan areas. More »
(Gunns)
AT&T Still Wants Some People To Have Unlimited Data: BlackBerry Users
By Laura Northrup on July 8, 2010 9:00 AM
50 Comments
Michael writes that his wife uses a BlackBerry for her work e-mail, but pays for the service herself. It's part of a family plan with Michael's iPhone, to be precise. When Michael tried to put their phones on a limited data plan, he learned something interesting and hilariously backwards: customers can only pay $15 for Enterprise access (e-mail on a Microsoft Exchange server) if they're also paying $30 per month for unlimited BlackBerry data. What if they don't use that much data? Well, too bad. More »
(Ninja M.)
AT&T Salesman's Lies Stuck Me With A Stupid Obsolete iPhone
By Laura Northrup on June 16, 2010 3:00 PM
136 Comments
Tim writes that back in April, he walked out of a local AT&T store with a shiny new iPhone 3GS and a tiny pack of lies. A pushy salesman told Tim that he had heard from corporate that there was no new iPhone model planned for the rest of this year. Nope, no way. (Clearly neither Tim nor this salesman are regular readers of Gizmodo.) More »
Sprint Charges A $10 Monthly Awesomeness Fee To Own The HTC EVO
By Laura Northrup on June 9, 2010 10:15 AM
132 Comments
The HTC EVO is a sophisticated and pretty sweet smartphone that runs on Android and is exclusive to Sprint. That's all pretty normal. What isn't normal is that Sprint is charging EVO owners a $10 fee above the cost of their normal data plan—an unlimited data plan—and no one at Sprint can really explain why. Promotional materials claim that the fee is for a "richer data experience with an advanced processor," which makes no sense. They might as well call it an "awesome phone fee." More »
Tracfone And Straight Talk Are Not Entirely Sure Why They Canceled My Account
By Laura Northrup on May 13, 2010 12:00 PM
29 Comments
Having trouble reaching a human at Tracfone or its new, Walmart-exclusive cousin Straight Talk? Call their corporate office at (800) 876-5753. This bit of information comes courtesy of reader Michael, whose service was canceled out from under him for a reason that no one fully understands to this day. Here's his story, in the form of an open letter to Straight Talk. Which, thankfully, he didn't send, because it sounds like nobody there would have had time to read it. More »
Should I Keep A Free Cell Phone Line That I Can't Actually Use?
By Laura Northrup on April 8, 2010 10:05 AM
45 Comments
John has a mobile phone service dilemma. He writes that he's not able to get any reception in the dorm room where he lives. Even his carrier, AT&T, seems to have admitted defeat and has offered to waive the bill for his line for the next six months. John wonders whether he should give up on AT&T and change to a carrier that actually works. More »
AT&T Wireless Directs Salt Lake City 911 Calls To Seattle
By Laura Northrup on March 27, 2010 2:30 PM
31 Comments
For some reason that no one has been able to figure out yet, on Thursday night, all 911 calls that AT&T Wireless customers in the Salt Lake City, Utah made area ended up routed to dispatchers in Seattle. More »
Close Reading Of Press Release Shows Why Everyone Hates AT&T Wireless
By Laura Northrup on March 26, 2010 3:44 PM
65 Comments
The 3G Microcell, the mini cell tower that AT&T has been threatening their customer base with since last fall are coming soon. AT&T Wireless customers remain underwhelmed. Why? Using technology similar to Consumerist's own Megglefish, Tested's Will Smith translated the press release from PR-speak to English for us, and teased out the precise reasons why this is a terrible, terrible idea. It's all there. You just have to find it. More »
Make Sure You Know Which Version Of Android Is On That Phone Before Buying It
By Chris Walters on March 15, 2010 12:39 PM
32 Comments
That brand new smartphone you want to buy may not be running the latest version of Android, reports Wired, and the manufacturer or cellular provider might like it that way. It costs money to push updates out to existing customers, assuming the hardware is compatible. Besides, carriers can charge extra fees for add-on services (like turn-by-turn navigation) that newer Android OS versions include free of charge. Check out Wired's article for a comparison chart of the Android version on each handset. More »
Don't Let AT&T Convince You That Your Phone Needs A Data Plan
By Laura Northrup on March 4, 2010 12:00 PM
50 Comments
At the beginning of February, we began hearing from AT&T Wireless customers who AT&T helped out by putting them on a smartphone data plan that they didn't ask for. AT&T Wireless implemented this policy back in the fall for new subscribers, and is now apparently identifying smartphone users and putting them on data plans. However, you don't have to keep the plan if you'd rather not...as long as you bought the phone before September 6, 2009 or it is an unlocked device. More »
(Samsung)
Virgin Mobile Isn't Quite Clear On The Meaning Of "Playlist"
By Laura Northrup on February 28, 2010 10:00 AM
77 Comments
Jennifer writes that she bought a new phone, a Samsung Mantra, based on the features listed for the phone on Virgin Mobile's web site. The problem is that the phone doesn't actually seem to have the advertised features that led her to buy the phone in the first place. More »
AT&T Offers Me $.08 Service Credit For My iPhone Downtime
By Chris Morran on February 25, 2010 12:25 PM
45 Comments
Consumerist reader Aaron wrote in to share his experience of attempting to get a service credit from AT&T Wireless after experience a data outage on his iPhone. On one hand, he was successful in getting some money back. On the other hand, he probably spent more money getting the credit than he received. More »
AT&T Credits New Customer's $200 T-Mobile ETF Just To Be Nice
By Laura Northrup on February 24, 2010 3:15 PM
39 Comments
Mike shared with Consumerist a story that is almost baffling for many reasons. First, he writes that T-Mobile charged his wife a $200 ETF when there were only 90 days left on her contract. But then a delightful, wonderful AT&T customer service rep offered a $200 credit for AT&T service—effectively paying her T-Mobile ETF and earning themselves two delighted customers in the process. More »
Verizon Not Charging Soldiers For Mobile Calls From Haiti To U.S.
By Laura Northrup on February 20, 2010 3:00 PM
12 Comments
Verizon Wireless now says that the astronomical bills some customers received after making cell phone calls from Haiti shortly after the catastrophic earthquake there last month were due to a computer glitch. According to the Fayetteville Observer, mobile calls placed in Haiti showed up in their system as being placed in Jamaica. Calls from Haiti to the United States should have been free all along, and Spc. James Crawford does not owe Verizon almost $2,000 for phone calls he placed to his pregnant wife back in North Carolina. More »
T-Mobile's Response To Poor Reception: "You're Welcome To Leave"
By Laura Northrup on February 11, 2010 12:19 PM
68 Comments
Matt writes that although he has been a loyal T-Mobile customer for a long time, the company is no longer interested in keeping his business. At least, that's what it looks like. More »
HTC Says They're Shipping My New Nexus One: I Don't Believe Them Anymore
By Laura Northrup on February 4, 2010 4:29 PM
19 Comments
The launch and early customer support of the Google's Nexus One phone, manufactured by HTC, has been a bit problematic. But let's try some optimism! Maybe now that the early hype has died down and HTC has had some time to get used to the situation, warranty replacements will take place in a timely fashion! Or...well, as reader Michael writes, evidently not. Update: Thanks to this post, Michael's new phone is on its way. More »
(esparta)
Save Serious Money On Your Cell Phone Bill By Making One Phone Call
By Laura Northrup on February 4, 2010 11:47 AM
28 Comments
Theresa had a contract with Helio/Virgin Mobile that ended this month, putting her in a position to negotiate. She writes that by comparison shopping and politely asking for the customer retention department, she and her girlfriend were able to knock $35 per month off the bill for their family plan. Here's how she did it. More »
(Photo: rutlo)
Chart Makes Comparing Cell Phone Carriers Slightly Less Confusing
By Laura Northrup on January 20, 2010 12:21 PM
38 Comments
If you're in the market for a new cell phone and calling plan, the sheer number of options is terrifying. According to Billshrink.com, there are (theoretically) 10,000 possible combinations of voice plans, data plans, other add-ons, and ... I think I need to lie down. But wait! Here's a nice, objective cell phone plan comparison chart that can help you make sense of all this madness! More »
(Photo: United Nations
Development Programme)
Text Message Donations For Haiti May Be Delayed Up To 3 Months
By Laura Northrup on January 17, 2010 7:30 AM
95 Comments
It's quick, easy, and convenient to donate to relief efforts for Haiti earthquake victims by sending a text message, but not such a great idea if you want to be sure that your donations reach people and organizations in need before sometime in April.
Mobile carriers don't actually submit your donation to the charity until after you've paid your bill. Experts agree that the donations will take at least one billing cycle for pledges to reach their destination. More »
(Photo: simone.brunozzi)
Google And T-Mobile Will Charge Up To $550 To Break Your Nexus One Contract
By Laura Northrup on January 13, 2010 2:40 PM
56 Comments
If you're interested in the new Google/HTC Nexus One smartphone with a T-Mobile contract and can look past the problematic 3G access and buck-passing technical support, that's great. Just, before you go through with the purchase, make sure you really, really like the phone and the service. Because, according to the Android fan site Phandroid, T-Mobile and Google have partnered up to charge you as much as $550 in "equipment recovery" and early termination fees. Update: T-Mobile has confirmed that they will be charging their own ETF on top of Google's fee. More »
Sprint Imposes $5 Monthly Fee Because You Might Pay Late
By Laura Northrup on January 10, 2010 2:00 PM
73 Comments
If you have a spending limit on your Sprint account because of your credit history, or in order to prevent runaway data bills, as of today you'll have to pay for that privilege. Sprint has imposed a $4.99 per month surcharge on all mobile phone accounts that have spending limits in place. More »
Make Free Cell Phone Calls With...MagicJack?
By Laura Northrup on January 9, 2010 2:00 PM
59 Comments
Do you have poor cell phone reception in your home? You could pay your carrier $150, then $20 per month for a mini cell tower, or femtocell, that lets you make calls using the magic of the Internet. Or you could pay a tiny fraction of that amount for MagicJack's version of a femtocell. More »
(Photo: 1Happysnapper)
AT&T Customer Service: "New York City Is Not Ready For The iPhone"
Update: New York customers are now able to order iPhones via AT&T's Web site. It would appear that the company has once more modified its "promotions and distribution channels." We've requested a statement from AT&T, and will update this post if and when we receive it. More »
By Laura Northrup on December 27, 2009 5:30 PM
100 Comments
AT&T has apparently found a workable solution to the reported data congestion in New York City. They've quietly stopped selling the iPhone from their web site to customers in the New York metropolitan area.Update: New York customers are now able to order iPhones via AT&T's Web site. It would appear that the company has once more modified its "promotions and distribution channels." We've requested a statement from AT&T, and will update this post if and when we receive it. More »
AT&T Tries Pushing WiFi Instead Of Tiered Mobile Data Pricing
By Laura Northrup on December 23, 2009 11:00 AM
82 Comments
Realizing that their customers are not keen on the idea of tiered mobile data pricing, AT&T has a new solution: offer delicious carrots instead of beating already-dissatisfied customers with sticks. Instead, AT&T Mobility President Ralph de la Vega told BusinessWeek that AT&T is looking to expand their public wi-fi network, and use access points—free or free to AT&T customers—at sites such as McDonald's, Starbucks, and Barnes & Noble to help alleviate the strain on the 3G data network. More »
(Photo: Marvin Kuo)
Second BlackBerry Data Outage This Week Now Over
By Laura Northrup on December 23, 2009 8:30 AM
33 Comments
Blackberry users on all mobile carriers in North and South America experienced e-mail and Internet outages for about eight hours late on Tuesday. This follows a shorter outage on December 17th that only affected e-mail services. More »
(Photo: husin.sani)
Dry Out A Wet Cellphone
By Ben Popken on December 21, 2009 8:38 AM
78 Comments
Tragedy! Your phone got wet and now it won't turn on! What to do, what to do?! Well, there's actually several things you can do to draw out the moisture and rescue your phone from a watery grave: More »
Photo: MyGift
T-Mobile Doesn't Believe That You Moved To England
By Laura Northrup on December 13, 2009 4:00 PM
80 Comments
Chelsea moved to London while she was still under a T-Mobile USA contract. This would be a perfectly legitimate reason to let her out of her contract without an early termination fee. Unfortunately, she wrote to Consumerist, she can't prove to T-Mobile's satisfaction that she no longer lives in the United States. More »
TracFone Offers Delightfully Competent Customer Service
By Laura Northrup on December 12, 2009 5:00 PM
29 Comments
Perhaps Greg is just lucky. Or it could be that TracFone's customer service has improved quite a bit since we posted their executive customer service number a little over a year ago. Whatever the case might be, Greg had an unexpectedly hassle-free experience with the prepaid mobile phone provider, and wanted to let Consumerist know about it. More »
Help, Verizon Doubled My ETF Behind My Back!
By Laura Northrup on December 10, 2009 2:45 PM
37 Comments
The spark had left his mobile phone relationship, and Dean left his iPhone 3G for a Droid. He happily paid an ETF to escape his AT&T contract, only to find himself trapped in a strange void between Verizon's previous early termination fee for smartphone contracts and the newly doubled fee. Now, he tells Consumerist that due to the ETF change, he is trapped in a contract that he claims he never signed. More »
Photo: Sklathill
FCC Questions Verizon $350 ETFs For Smartphones
By Laura Northrup on December 5, 2009 1:00 PM
42 Comments
The Federal Communications Commission has a few questions for Verizon Wireless about their decision to double the early termination fees for contracts that include smartphones and other "advanced devices." More »
