We’re having a hard time figuring out how Vonage can justify pulling their “Visual Voicemail” scam on customers without even offering the option of a refund, but that’s exactly what they’re doing to Daniel. They quietly turned on the feature over a year ago. You’d think in a year of logging onto the website, an observant customer would catch that sort of thing—only Vonage makes it actually look like it’s not enabled on your control panel, all the better to sneak it past you. Here’s how they pulled it off with Daniel’s account.
bills
Verizon Wireless Accused Of Wrongly Billing NY Customers State Tax
By 2.25.09
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Verizon Wireless accusing it of passing directly to customers a “metropolitan commuter transportation district” tax that the company was actually supposed to pay. Albert Levy, who filed the lawsuit, points out that Sprint has never charged the tax to customers. Verizon Wireless calls the accusation “silly,” and says they’re billing it correctly. Perhaps not surprisingly, the actual wording of the tax law leaves the matter up in the air.
Cancel Cable Without Losing Your Favorite Shows
By 2.21.09
Cable is one of the first things you should cut to keep expenses down, but that doesn’t mean you should ditch your favorite shows. J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly cut his cable bill from $65.82 to $11.30 without missing a single harrowing plot twist. Here’s how he did it…
Is This Gas Company Lying About Reading Meters? Nope!
By 2.16.09
Update: As several readers have pointed out, there’s a simpler explanation for the confusion: both the OP and I were misreading the meter. The first digit should be rounded “down” to 9, so the meter in the photo actually reads 997.4 MCF—which is more in line with the previous bill. Thanks to everyone who caught this and wrote in or commented! We hope this helps you out, Michael.
Ten Ways To Take $100 Off Your Cable Bill
By 2.5.09
Adam from Free Press sent us his tips for lowering his cable bill. Using these strategies, Adam reduced his monthly bill from $190 to $90, and added three movie networks, a sports package, and two additional boxes.
Texas Family Sad That The Buyer Of All Their Possessions On eBay Will Pay But Not Take Their Stuff
By 2.1.09
Meet Gregg and Brittiny Peters. They’ve had a pretty terrible year. Two of their children were diagnosed with costly medical disorders, and as the bills began to mount, they decided to start over by selling all their worldly possessions on eBay. Enter Donnia and Keith Blair, who upon learning of the Peters’ plight, bid $20,000 and won the auction. Here’s the catch: the Blair’s are willing to pay, but they don’t want to take any of the Peters’ things. This has apparently infuriated the Peters.
Sprint Clears Up 'Unlimited Messaging' Confusion
By 1.20.09
We got an email today from a Sprint representative addressing the confusion over just what “unlimited” means in their unlimited messaging package. If you recall, Erica says Sprint told her she would still be billed per message when sending pics or video, which runs contrary to the offer she signed up for. Now Sprint has officially responded that unlimited means no additional charges, and they’re investigating the matter. Below is their statement.
Sprint's 'Unlimited' Messaging Package Charges You Per Message
By 1.17.09
Sprint offers an “Everything Messaging Family” package that promises “unlimited nationwide, text, picture and video messaging to anyone on any network.” The catch? Unlimited seems to mean “you have the capability to send messages, but you’ll still have to pay for each message you send.” Erica has called in twice to clear up the mistake, but the CSRs are telling her it’s not a mistake. Oh. Well then, is it a lie?
Village Sends Woman $3600 Water Bill
By 1.13.09
Here’s another good reason to monitor your utility bills. A woman in Illinois saw her quarterly water bill shoot from $150 on average to $3600, after the village where she lives finally fixed a broken outside meter that for 25 years misreported her home’s water usage.
How To Read A Water Meter
By 1.13.09
To make sure you’re paying the right amount on your monthly water bill, you should know how to read your water meter and compare it to the amount your utility company thinks it should charge you. As several readers pointed out previously, in some cities you can even do your own meter reading and call in the number each month. “But how do I read my water meter?” Here’s how.
Utility Bill Surprisingly High? Check Whether It's 'Estimated'
By 1.12.09
Paul wants to know how his gas company can get away with estimated meter readings instead of actual numbers, especially since they lead to much higher bills. “This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of,” he writes, “And we are hoping that The Consumerist will be able to help us out.” It’s pretty common practice, actually, and the solution is to call the company and request a real reading as soon as possible.
Beware: Credit Card Minimum Payments Are Messing With Your Mind
By 12.18.08
Credit Card minimum payments are supposed to help keep the accumulation of interest on credit card debt from getting out of control — but a new study reported in the Economist suggests that minimum payments do more harm than good.
I Lowered My Time Warner Bill In 4 Minutes, Just By Asking
By 11.25.08
Yet another success story for our “Just Ask To Pay Less Money” technique. Commenter tinyrobot was paying too much for Time Warner Cable, so he called them up and told them so. Now he pays less. It’s not a Thanksgiving miracle, you can do it, too.
Alert: You Cannot Send A Drawing Of A Spider As Payment
By 11.14.08
David didn’t have the money to pay his account (for some mystery service—we don’t know what), so he decided to see if they’d accept a drawing instead. Turns out they won’t. The email exchange that follows is hilarious, and much more entertaining for both parties than the old put-the-wrong-check-in-the-envelope trick.
Consumer 101: 3 Ways To Lower Your Out Of Control Cable, Internet And Phone Bills
By 11.13.08
How much to spend on cable, internet and telephone is something nobody had to worry about only a few generations ago. Today, the Pew Research Center says that after housing, cable and satellite TV service was most frequently cited as a regular household expense (78%), followed by cell phones (74%) and internet service (65%). By contrast, just four-in-ten adults (42%) say they make a car payment. If you’re looking for a way to cut the amount of money you spend on these “information age” expenses, we’ve got three of them to choose from.
Threatening To Cancel Saves Man $65.52 On AT&T Phone Bill
By 11.6.08
Here’s how with a little patience, persistence and pricematching, reader Scott is saving $65.52 on his phone and internet service with AT&T:
3 Ways To Get Help With Paying For Heat
By 10.23.08
If your wallet is naked and shivering this winter when it comes to paying your heating bill, here’s 3 ways to get help.
AT&T Says Your Jesus Phone Can Be In Three Places At Once, So Pay Up
By 10.9.08
Wow, those iPhones really are amazing. Chris’ iPhone can make a call from Nicaragua the same time it’s incurring a data roaming charge in Mexico—all without leaving Chris’ side in the U.S. Some skeptics will probably just say there’s a problem with AT&T’s records, or the phone’s SIM card was cloned or something, but AT&T believes. That’s why they want Chris to pay that bill each month it keeps happening.
