Whoops. Eric switched to Sprint where apparently he has the "For the Love Of God Don't Use The Internet" data plan. Eric writes:

I downloaded a single ring tone for my new phone, and paid $2.50 for it.

When my bill arrived, it included a $11.85 charge for "data transfer," at $.03/kb. It took me 5 hours of calls to reach someone in the Philippines call center who explained that Sprint charges this overage on every data transaction; that a single photo upload could cost up to $5 in data fees.
...
The testy CSR eventually credited my account, but not without a stern and mocking lecture first.

Yikes! Make sure you've got some sort of data plan before you start downloading ringtones! Or before your kids do. We can see this happening to a lot of parents who wouldn't ordinarily care about stuff like ringtones. This, of course, begs the question: If $2.50 plus data charges, is it really $2.50? — MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: Maulleigh)